156 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JsOir. 83, J>-r,f 



(From the Albany Cullivalor.) 



PXPERIMENT IN HARVES-TING CORN. 



Wo tliiiik it has been well established, in re- 

 peated e\|)erinien;s, that the old, and in many 

 cases |ireseut practice, of topping corn, very con- 

 siileraldy <liininishes the quantity of grain, a result 

 which vegetable physiologists had long ago pro- 

 claimed. Desirous of knowing how (ar I he pro- 

 duct would he diminished by cutting up the entire 

 crop, at the ordinary period of top|iing, we invi- 

 ted the public attention to the subject in our ,March 

 number, and have subsequently instiluted a small 

 experiment, the result of which we give below. — 

 We do not mean to intimate that this experiment 

 is conclusive, though the result is such as we ex- 

 pected ; an<l we therefore again invite gentlemen 

 who may have experimented in the matter, to for- 

 vvjinl US the results, in order the belter to arrive 

 at a correi^t conclusion, in a matter which is cer- 

 tainly of high interest to the farmer ; for if other 

 trials justify our conclusions, an immense loss is 

 annually sustained by the practice of topping 

 corn. 



On the leth of September, we selected thirty- 

 two hills of corn — being a good sample of 2 acres, 

 in 4 contiguous rows, 8 hills in a row, and topped 

 them in the old way. 



We selected thirty-two hills in like manner, ad- 

 joining the preceding, whi(di we cut at the roots, 

 and stooked, at the same time. 



And we left thirty-two hills ailjoining the last, 

 to ripen on the entire stalk. 



The three parcels were apparently alike. 

 On the 9th of October, we picked, busked and 

 weighed each parcel separately. The weight and 

 nutiiber of ears, of all descriptions, were us fol- 

 lows : 

 No. 1 st.-mdiug, weighed 624, and had 139 ears. 

 No. 2 cut up, " 63i, " 145 ears. 



No. 3 topped " 5.54, « 135 ear.s. 



We then equalised the nundjer of eai-s, by ta- 

 king four from No. l.and ten from No. 2, leaving 

 135 in each. The weight was then as follows: 



No. 1 standing, 612 Uw. 



M6. 2 cut up, . 60i lbs. 



No. 3 topped, • 554 lbs. 



The field having been planted precisely three 

 feet distant between the rows, and about two and 

 a half feet the other way, wonbi average 5,808 

 hills on the acre. The acre would, therefore, ac- 

 cording to the above results, give the following 

 product in pounds : 



The standing corn 10,616 lbs. 



The cut lip do 10,436 lbs. 



The topped do 9,982 Ib.s. 



It follows that the loss bytopi)ingan acre would 

 be 634 pounds; do. by cutting up 181 pounds; 

 and that cutting up has a;i advantage over topping 

 of 453 pounds, independent of the important gain 

 in the forage. 



We then ehellcd a bushel, which required 78 

 pounds in the ear — the grain weighing 53 pounds 

 and the cobs 25 pounds. When perfectly dry, 

 the corn weighs 60 to 62 pounds. Dividing the 

 total pounds per acre by 78 — the lunidjer of lbs. 

 of ears required for a bushel of shelled corn — the 

 product in bushels, under the different modes of 

 management, would be as follows: 



Standing corn, ... 130 bush. 8 lbs. 

 Cut up '< .... 133 " 62 lbs. 

 Topped " , . . . 157 " 76 lbs. 



Deduct ten per cent, for shrinkage, on drying 

 to a merchantable condition, and the |iro(lnct 

 would then be as follows, omitting fractions: 

 The standing corn, per acre, 122 bush. 



The cut of " '' 120 " 



The topped " " 114 " 



That our soulhern patrons may uiwlerstand the 

 cause of this great product, it will be only neces- 

 sary for us to state, that in our mode of planting 

 we produce on an acre, if theie are no deficien- 

 cies, as there need not be if jdenty of seed is put 

 in, 23,232 stalks, which on the assumption that 

 each stalk produces an ear, and that the ears av- 

 erage a gill each, which is nmch under the mark 

 with the Dutton corn, the product would be about 

 90 bushels. The southern corn, at four and a 

 half feet distance, two stalks in a hill, would give 

 only about 4,300 stalks ; now supposing this to be 

 the Baden variety, giving four ears on a. stalk, the 

 total nund)er of cars would be but 17,200 on the 

 acre, or about six thousand ears, or gills, less than 

 our Dutton crop, with one ear on a stalk. 



(From the Genesee Farmer.) 



SPREAD OF THE CANADA THISTLE. 



Some little observation of the situation of the 

 crops, and the state of farttis the present season, 

 has convinced ns that ft om no cause is there more 

 serious ground of alarm, in- more danger to be ap- 

 prehendeil to the farming interest, than from the 

 spread of this pernicious weed. .Almost every 

 where it was to be seen, throwing up its [irickly 

 spires and red blossoms, overtopping the wheat 

 and oats, and in many cases holding no mean ri- 

 valry with the corn ; and at a later period, before 

 the grain was fit to cut, the thistle had ripened its 

 millions of seeds, and these on their downy wings 

 were spreading far and near, ready to spring up 

 the first moment they should by accident, or by 

 the plough, be buried in the earth. Jn pastures 

 they may not become so fori>iidable as in plough- 

 ed ground, but their thick low tops prevent the 

 growth of grass, or if a few leaves of clover or 

 roots of herdsgrass now and then occupy a vacant 

 place, what creature, having a proper regard for 

 animal comfort or for the safety of his nose, would 

 venture into such a spot to get a mouthful, unless 

 compelled to the measure by the direct necessity 

 of avoiding starvation. The only place where the 

 thistle |)roduces little injury, or rather the place 

 where it produces the least, for in no case can it 

 be otherwise than injurious, is in the meadow, 

 where it is mown every year. In such places it 

 does not ripen its seed, and it spreads compara- 

 tively among the roots of the grasses, while the 

 close mowing it receives, is precisely the kind cal- 

 culated, when frequently enough repeated, to 

 check, if not to exterminate the plant. 



We are fidly convinced that our farmers must 

 turn over a new leaf in their treatment of this 

 formidable enemy, or in many cases, and is tliere 

 not some reason to fear eventually in all, the soil 

 must be partially or entirely, surrendered to its 

 indisputed usurpation. The seeds germinate and 

 gain new foothold eveiy where, and every year 

 witnesses the establishment of thousands of new 

 patches ; while owing to the supineness of the 

 owners of the soil, or rnlhcr as is piobable in ma- 

 ny cases, the great amount of labor to be perform- 

 ed, very few of these patches are totally eradica- 

 ted, and the inevitable consequence is, the weed 

 is gaining on us at every point. 



What is the manner in which we treat our 

 groimds at present covered with the Canada this- 

 tle ? If in a meadow, we mow them when we 

 cut our grass, make them into hay, and trouble 

 ourselves no more about them. If in a pasture, 

 we mow them, perhaps once in a season ; but we 

 know at the time, that not once in a thousaiul in- 

 stances of such mowing, will the thistle be killed^ 

 yet we rest satisfied if we can keep it from seed- 

 ing, and imagine we have done wonders, where 

 the plant is making way underground, at the rate 

 of eight or ten feet a year on every side. If the 

 thistle is in ploughland, we plough it once, or 

 perhaps twice, just enough to do, what a profes- 

 sed gardener would do, who wished to lapidly 

 propagate a plant, that is, to divide the roots and 

 scatter them well, but not enongli to kill a single 

 one of them. We conunence with a jiatch of the 

 size of a parlor, and under our mode of treatment, 

 ere we are aware, it has spread over an acre. — 

 On land so ploughed, we sow oiir wheat, our bar- ' 

 ley or our oats ; and nine times out of ten, we-j 

 fin<l our crofis choked and smothered by this rank 

 and rapid growing weed. It is true, we some- 

 times clip the luxuriant shoots of the enemy, be- 

 fore the earing out of the grain, and this is a 

 praiseworthy act so far, but the stem below will 

 throw out new shoots, and these, if vigorous, will 

 frequently overtake and overtop the more slow- 

 ly ripening grain. At any rate, by these modes 

 of proceeding — and we ask our fiirining friends 

 whether these are not in general, the modes adop- 

 ted in treating the thistle, — "the snake is only 

 scotched, not killed ;" the growth of the plant for 

 a season may be checked, but its permanency is 

 unimpaired. 



What then is to be done ? — and what is the 

 manner in which we should treat our thistle 

 grounds ? The answer is, so as to kill the plant, 

 let the trouble be what it may. Better to let our 

 lands remain unproductive for a year; better to 

 hire an extra hand, whose sole business shall be 

 lo attend to their destruction, than by our anxiety 

 to raise what can scarcely be more than half a 

 crop, every year, shut out thorough ploughing, or 

 be tlriven by farm labor, so as to have no time to 

 attend to thistles. We are in too great a haste to 

 be rich, and in this matter as well as many others, 

 sacrifice a future certain gooil to a little present 

 profit. We have reason to believe the Creator 

 has not made a single plant that cannot be des- 

 troyed, though some of them have apparently as 

 many lives as a cat, and the thistle is one of this 

 number; still, this may be killed without diffi- 

 culty if taken in season, or if pursued with vigor 

 and determination, at any period of its existence. 

 The great secret in the des; ruction of noxious 

 plants, is, never to let them form leaves, or in oth- 

 er words never to let them breathe. Leaves are 

 the respiratory organs of plants; they separalt 

 and prepare for nutrition the carbonic, hydrogen 

 and oxygen gasses of the atmosphere ; for these 

 substances, simple as they are, constitute ainiosi 

 the only ingredients that enter into the inliuitf 

 variety of ]iroducts found in the vegetable king- 

 dom. If this process is intcrru|)tcil in any way 

 the i)lant suffers ; if the forinatiou of the leaves v 

 elTcctually prevented, the root, and of course th' 

 whole plant perishes. No matter by what methot 

 this is done, but if done as it should be, the ohjec 

 is sure to be accomplished. 



But there must be no slighting of the work ;— 

 no scattering stalks left to serve as conductors o 



