MAIZE 



MAIZE. 



duct, which is never so well filled after the 

 blades and tops have been removed in a green 

 state. This has been proven by actual experi- 

 ments, for the particulars of which see tiuefs 

 Fanner's Instructor ; also Farmer's Register, vol. 

 ii. p. 91 ; and Caiman's Fourth Report, p. 16. 



All, or nearly all the accounts we have pub- 

 lished of great products of Indian corn, agree, 

 says the editor of the Cultivator, in two par- 

 ticulars, viz. : in not using the plough in the 

 after culture, and in not earthing, or but slight- 

 ly, the hills. These results go to demonstrate, 

 that the entire roots are essential to the vigor 

 of the crop ; and that roots to enable them to 

 perform their function as nature designed, 

 must be near the surface. If the roots are 

 severed with the plough, in dressing the crop, 

 the plants are deprived of a portion of their 

 nourishment; and if they are buried deep by 

 hilling, the plant is partially exhausted in 

 throwing out a new set near the surface, where 

 alone they can perform all their offices. There 

 is another material advantage in this mode of 

 cultivating the corn crop it saves a vast deal 

 of manual labor. 



There is another question of interest to 

 farmers, which relates to the mode of harvest- 

 ing the crop, that is, whether it is best to top 

 the stalks, cut the whole at the ground when 

 the grain is glazed, or cut the whole when the 

 grain has fully ripened. Experiments made 

 by Mr. Clark, of Northampton, one of the 

 best practical farmers of Massachusetts, and 

 of other gentlemen, show that the grain 

 suffers a diminution of six or eight bushels to 

 the acre, by topping the stalks ; and there 

 seems to be no counterbalancing benefit to the 

 fodder, unless at the expense of carrying the 

 stalks to the borders of the field, that they may 

 be secured before the crop is gathered, and 

 before they become blanched and half-ruined. 

 And it is no protection against early autumnal 

 frosts, but rather exposes unripened grain to 

 be more injured. Hence so far as regards 

 these two modes, all who have made a com- 

 parison seem to concur in the opinion, that 

 stripping the corn of its tops and leaves is a 

 bad practice. 



The blades and tops of corn, if well cured, 

 furnish an excellent fodder for neat cattle and 

 horses, all kinds of stock being very fond of 

 them. They serve greatly to increase the 

 amount of manure, collected in the cattle-yard. 

 In Pennsylvania, in the Southern parts of 

 which the crops of corn are very luxuriant, the 

 fodder is generally considered worth at least 

 $4 per acre as provender. A distinguished 

 farmer in Whitemarsh, Montgomery county, 

 obtained, in 1842, from a 30 acre field, suffi- 

 cient corn-fodder to winter 30 large steers in- 

 tended for spring beef. The stalks had been 

 cut down with blades, &c., attached. Corn is 

 occasionally sown broad-cast for the purpose 

 of being mown down as green provender for 

 milch cows, &c., for which it answers an ad- 

 mirable purpose. It has been also cured as 

 hay, and on some highly fertile or rich spots 

 has yielded 6 tons of hay or fodder. 



Preserving Corn. Corn is usually preserved 



l/y storing away the ears cleared from the 



husks, in small or narrow granaries called 



754 



cribs, the sides and ends of which are con- 

 structed of logs or laths, so as to leave inter- 

 stices of about an inch, or rather more, per- 

 mitting a free circulation of air. If the cribs 

 be wider than 8 or 10 feet, the middle part is 

 very apt to have the corn injured, especially 

 when put away before becoming thoroughly- 

 dry. In the Southern States, corn Jn the crib 

 is often seriously injured by the weevil when 

 attempts are made to keep it over the summer. 

 But in the Middle and Northern States, it may 

 be preserved for many years on the cob. In 

 the Louisiana Register it is stated that sprin- 

 kling the corn whilst housing, with a solution 

 of common salt and water (in the proportion 

 of about one pint of salt to a gallon of water), 

 will entirely prevent the insect from breeding. 

 The ears of corn are there frequently stored 

 up in the husks, which are rendered much 

 more grateful to stock by the addition of salt. 



There is perhaps no plant certainly none 

 of such vigorous growth, which will so long 

 continue highly productive when raised year 

 after year upon the same soil. In a communi- 

 cation to the Farmer's Register, by Mr. Shul- 

 tice,of Mathews county, Va., he says that there 

 are in the county named, small tracts of land 

 which have been in corn, year after year, as 

 far back as the recollection of the oldest in- 

 habitants extends. The same fields planted in 

 corn successively for more than half a century, 

 at present yield fair crops. Such land, when 

 new (judging by the product of contiguous 

 recently cleared land), yielded from 3 to 5 

 barrels per acre. At present the product is 

 from 2 to 3 barrels, with the occasional appli- 

 cation of a very meagre dressing of manure. 

 With a fair supply of manure, the land can be 

 readily made to yield as much and even more 

 than it did when first brought under cultiva- 

 tion. As, in the tillage of this crop, all vege- 

 tation is carefully destroyed, the materials 

 constituting the soil or mould must have de- 

 composed very slowly indeed. Where there 

 is much sand in the soil, exhaustion takes 

 place very quickly ; but Indian corn can be 

 cultivated on land, long after it has ceased to 

 afford compensating crops of any other grain. 



Expenses of Culture. These are very differ- 

 ently estimated in different parts of the United 

 States, being influenced by a variety of local 

 circumstances. The following estimate and 

 accompanying statement is from Jonathan Ro- 

 berts, Esq., a very eminent agriculturist re- 

 siding in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania : 



"An estimate of the expense of cultivating 

 an acre of maize 15 miles northwest of Phila- 

 delphia. Soil, a calcareous loam. 



Ploughing sward *3 00 



Harrowing to proper fineness - 



Marking out and planting - - - - - * ^ 



3 loads (2-horse wagon) manure to dress the 



hills 



Horse-hoeing, at least three times - 

 Moulding and horse-hoeing - 



Harvesting 



Saving fodder ------- 1 00 



Rent of land 50 



Wear of gears and plough - ... - I 00 



Amount of expense - - $ 23_00 



Amount of crop 60 bushels, at 60 eta. per bushel 36 00 



Fodder 4 00 



$40 00 

 Leaving a balance in favor of the corn-crop of $17 00 



