1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



217 



For the New England Farmer. 



IMPROVED KING PHILIP OR BROWN 

 CORN. 



Mr. Editor: — Through the kindness of the 

 Secretary of the Board of Agriculture, I received 

 two years ago, a small bag of this corn for seed ; it 

 was planted quite late — the 28th of May — and 

 though the season was very dry, and it sutl'ered 

 from the drought, yet it did very well, and was fid 

 ly ripe and ready to harvest by the middle of Sep 

 tember. I was so much pleased with it, that I 

 planted last year all I could, and though it was 

 planted late again — about the first of June — it was 

 ripe by the lOth or loth of September. The corn 

 was planted on a dry piece of land, and though it 

 looked splendidly in the early part of the season, 

 yet it suffered severely from the drought, which 

 cut short the crop, and made the corn less sound 

 and firm. From what I have seen of this corn, I 

 consider it a gi-eat acquisition, and know of no vari- 

 ety — not excepting even the small Canada — that 

 will ripen so early. It is from a week to ten days 

 earlier than any other I have ever planted. The 

 corn is of a reddish cast, has a large kernel, looks 

 rich and beautiful ; the ears are long and handsome 

 where it has a fair chance. I should recommend it 

 to all who plant corn, and Avant a crop, as it is sure 

 to ripen when other varieties foil. In proof of this, 

 I quote from the Patent Office Report of 1854, 

 w^here can be found reports from different States, 

 where this corn has been sent and tested. 



Gilbert L. Bailey, of Portland, Me., writes : — 

 "Early last spring, I received from the Patent Of- 

 fice a small quantity of what was called 'Improved 

 King PhiHp or Brown Corn.' I handed it to a 

 friend, Mr. Robert Leighton, of Westbrook. He 

 planted the seed early in June, in a soil composed 

 of a dry sandy loam, hills 3 feet apart, 4 kernels to 

 a hill. The corn was harvested on the 10th of Sep- 

 tember, and yielded in good full ears at the rate of 

 120 bushels to the acre. Had it not been for the 

 drought, the yield would probably have been con- 

 siderably more. Our common kinds of corn did 

 not yield more than half the usual crop. A gentle- 

 man living about forty miles in the interior, took 

 40 kernels of the corn, which he planted after he 

 had begun to hoe his other crop, and in two 

 months and twenty-seven days he gathered 5 pecks 

 of fine full ears from the product." 



P. W. Peckil\m, of Westford, Mass., says :— 

 "Last spring I received a small bag of 'Improved 

 King Philip or Brown Corn,' from the Patent Of- 

 fice. To test this corn by comparison with the 

 kinds that I usually cultivate, I planted it at the 

 same time, the 10th of May, and in the same way ; 

 it yielded 208 ears of a large size, although several 

 hills were destroyed by the worms. It eared low, 

 and was harvested twenty days before any of mv 

 other corn. I usually plant the Rhode Island 

 White Flint and Yellow Canada cora* The seed 

 of the latter I obtain every fourth year direct from 

 Canada, as it ripens later by planting seed raised 

 here. I have heretofore considered it the earliest 

 variety cultivated. From the above result I think 

 the 'Brown Corn' is well adapted to our soil and 

 climate." 



Statement of Epheaim Mon. iGUE, of Belcher- 

 town, Mass.: — "Havhig received from the Pa- 

 tent Office a sample of 'Improved lung Philip or 

 Brewn Corn,' I pkmted it the Ist of June, accord- 



ing to the directions given. There were 72 hills; 

 the land was on a pine plain, Hght and rather 

 sandy, with some coarse gravel, on which I seldom 

 raise more than 20 or 30 bushels to the acre with 

 the same amount of manure as was applied in the 

 present instance, I harvested the product early in 

 September ; and the amount raised, after being well 

 dried, was 25 quarts of corn of good quality, being 

 equal to 62 bushels to the acre. 1 believe the vari- 

 ety to be a valuable acquisition to this section of 

 the country." 



J. E. Waters, of West Millburj-, Mass., says : — 

 "On the 25th of May last, I planted a small parcel 

 of 'Improved King Philip or Brown Corn,' received 

 from the Patent Office, following the directions 

 given. It was fit for harvesting twenty days earlier 

 than any other corn in the vicinity, and was very 

 sound and good; the yield was at the rate of 85 

 bushels to the acre. I think it is far superior to 

 any early variety of corn known among us." 



Statement of James Dockeray, of North Can- 

 non, Michigan : — "Last spring, I received from the 

 Patent Office a small package of 'Improved Iving 

 Philip or Brown Corn,' I planted it about the 1st 

 of June. The amount of ground planted was a 

 square rod ; and the product was one bushel of 

 ears, which will undoubtedly furnish half a bushel 

 of shelled corn, or at the rate of 80 bushels to the 

 acre. My other crop of coi-n did not exceed 15 

 bushels to the acre." 



Statement of E. A. Philips, of Coventrj^, N. Y.: 

 — "Last spring I planted 78 hills of the 'Improved 

 King Philip or Brown Corn.' The product was 

 121 quarts of shelled corn, equal to about 90 bush- 

 els to the acre. This proves the variety to be well 

 adapted to our northern climate," 



Statement of W, M, Mahew, of Marcy, N. Y. : 

 — "I received the 1st of June last, a small package 

 containing about half a pint of 'Brown Corn.' On 

 the 9th of June I planted it, but thought it would 

 never ripen. To my surprise, however, it was ful- 

 ly ripe by the middle of September- The yield 

 was 1^ bushels of shelled corn." 



Another writer of Ontario County, N. Y., says : 

 "it is at least two weeks earlier than the common 

 kinds planted here. I believe it to be an excellent 

 variety." 



Another says : — "I would recommend its culti- 

 vation especially because of its extreme earliness." 



I might quote the opinion of many other per- 

 sons from ditl'erent States, all speaking in the same 

 high terms of this corn. And from what I have 

 seen, I am willing to substantially endorse all that 

 lias been said by the above-named persons, I shall 

 plant no other sort this year-, I consider it wor- 

 thy of trial % every person ^lo raises this impor- 

 tant crop. This corn is yet scarce, and is not to be 

 found only at a few of the principal seed stores. 



JVewtoii Centre, March 21. J. F. C. H. 



Cultivation of the Pixe. — We are under a 

 thousand obligations to as many persons, for the 

 kind manner in which they have answered our nu- 

 merous inquires on various topics. In another col- 

 umn the reader will find an article on th£ cultivation 

 of the white pine from the srul, by S. B. Phixney, 

 Esq., of Barnstable, and Editor of the Barnstable 

 Patriot. Tills history grows out of his own expe- 

 rience. On our visit among the Cape Codders last 



