32 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan 



Maryland, and others. It was one of the most 

 profitable discussions on the subject I have ever 

 heard. 



It was maintained by some of the speakers 

 that utility, strength and durability are too often 

 sacrificed to fancy, and lightness. One speaker 

 scouted the idea of making a good economical 

 mower and reaper to be worked with one horse, 

 stating that no such machine could be expected 

 to do the work so well as a good two-horse ma- 

 chine. He maintained that implements should 

 be well made, and of good stock, which, he add- 

 ed, is not the case now. Poor stock and fancy 

 work supply the market with frail and almost 

 worthless wares. 



The demand for low priced tools has done 

 much to bring about this state of things. De- 

 mand good implements, made of good stock, and 

 pay the price, and you will get them. If you 

 have any doubts, try it. Viator. 



Fur the New England Farmer. 



MBASUilEMENT OF CORN CHOPS. 



Mr. Editor : — The luxuriant growth of Indi- 

 an corn the present season, brought to mind a 

 eommunica ion from the veteran farmer of Ply- 

 mouth county, on the measurement of this crop ; 

 and the best mode of determining the quantity 

 grown to the acre. There is no man whose judg- 

 ment and experience is more to be relied on than 

 Mr. Allen's. There is no crop grown upon our 

 farms of more importance than Indian corn. I 

 enclose his letter, to be used at your discretion, 

 omitting such paragraphs as do not relate to this 

 subject. Very truly yours, 



J. W. Proctor. 



Fembrol-e, Feb. 19, 1858. 

 Dear Sir : — In reply to your candid inquiries, 

 I will state the rules which have governed the P. 

 Co. Society in its decisions on the measurement 

 of Indian corn from the commencement of its op- 

 erations. At first the requisition was that the 

 whole crop should be measured in a basket, one 

 basketfuU shelled, and the product of the acre 

 estimated by that. This rule soon proved unsat- 

 isfactory, and it was then determined that the 

 whole crop should be weighed, calling seventy- 

 five pounds a bushel, and that the weight should 

 be certified by the owner and one laborer. This 

 was the practice for many years, but at length it 

 was thought the measurement should be by a 

 disinterested person, and a supervisor was chos- 

 en, who was directed to select and weigh an av- 

 erage rod and estimate the crop accordingly. It 

 is very manifest that in every case there would be 

 some danger of error in judgment, but an agent 

 could not devote so much time as would be nec- 

 essary to weight he whole crop. The last change, 

 from 75 lbs. to 85 lbs. as a bushel, was made, 

 since I ceased to participate in the doings of the 

 society, excepting occupying the place of super- 

 visor a short time after the death of Mr. How- 

 ard. Had I been at the meeting I should have 

 felt bound to oppose the change, because I firmly 

 believe that 75 lbs. in the ear at harvest will 

 make a bushel of shelled corn when ripe for the 

 market, and for this belief have some better evi- 

 dence than conjecture. At harvest, one year, I put 



75 lbs. in the ear into a barrel, covered securely, 

 and let it remain till January, when I shelled and 

 measured and there was a bushel and between one 

 and two quarts. Judge Buel, who was a pretty ac- 

 curate experimenter, said that the shrinkage of 

 corn from harvest to merchantable condition was 

 20 per cent. I have no doubt, we may safely buy 

 or sell at harvest, calling 75 lbs. a bushel. There 

 may be, as you suggest, some difference in the 

 ripeness of the several sorts of corn at the usual 

 time of harvest, but if frosts have occurred, which 

 usually is the case, there is no dange;- of exces- 

 sive weight in the greenest fields, for the weight 

 will be much lighter there than in the well- 

 ripened field. 



It seems to me if all societes would observe one 

 rule in the measurement of corn at harvest, we 

 should soon become less suspicious of the honesty 

 of applicants for jiremiums, and of the fidelity of 

 agents. Your secretary, Mr. Dodge, wrote to me 

 concerning my premium crop of corn, which has 

 occasioned so many remarks, inquiring how it 

 was managed, expressing his surprise at the 

 amount, and saying he thought a large crop had 

 been reported in that county, but it wjs much less 

 than mine. You, or some other friend, soon af- 

 ter sent me your Transactions. I looked at the 

 gentleman's statement, and found his corn was 

 planted so much wider apart than mine, that 

 nothing was wanting to make bis crop equal or 

 superior to mine but the supply of his deficient 

 number of plants. In my experience, many ap- 

 plicants have failed of obtaining premiums mere- 

 ly from the lack of a sufficient number of corn 

 plants. I would not be understood to say that 

 thick planting secures a great crop, but that thin 

 planting occasions a smaller crop in many instan- 

 ces than we might be justified in hoping for, 

 from the preparations of the field. Corn plants 

 will prosper and mature wherever they can find 

 sufficient food and stand accessible to the influ- 

 ences of the air and the.sun. Both the Secretary 

 of the Board of Agriculture and yourself seem to 

 think corn should be dry enough for market be- 

 fore it is measured ; can you describe any way 

 in which this can be done, and not leave open a 

 wide door for suspicion or fraud ? You probably 

 can, yet it would require more labor and expense 

 than you would think a society should submit to. 

 I think if the Board of Agriculture would recom- 

 mend to county societies the measurement of 

 corn crops at harvest by some reasonable and 

 uniform rule, the progress of improvement in the 

 culture of this important article would be better 

 understood, and the motives to emulation in cul- 

 tivation more effectually encouraged. 



Resectfully yours, Morrill Allen. 



Hon. John W. Proctor. 



Buist's Almanac and Garden Manual, be- 

 side felling you when it rains and when it shines, 

 and what he has to sell in the way of seeds and 

 implements for the garden, has a great many con 

 venient things to know about making and man- 

 aging a garden. 



^^The duty on flour imported into Brazil, has 

 been reduced thirty per cent., which is expected 

 to diminish the drain of specie from this country 



