378 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



UNE 6, 19S8. 



■Corn folder at 



12 00 



Expenses 



$82 00 

 49 75 



Profit 832 25 



Farmers in general estimate tlie corn forlder or 

 stover npon an acre as equal to three fonrtlis o( a 

 ton of F:nglisli hay ; many consider it as eqnal 

 to a ton of hay. The only instance of exact 

 measurement which 1 have met with is Irom a 

 Pennsylvania firmer. On corn yielding 66 hush- 

 els to the acre there was obtained of 



Tons. 



Blades, husks, and tops 

 Stalks or hntts 



« 

 Total, 



Cwt. 

 6 



7 



Iba. 



13 



00 



13 13 gr's. 



The stover of the Pennsylvania corn, which is 

 a gourd-seed variety would probably yield from a 

 third to a half more than ours in weight; yet our 

 stalks being smaller, more of the fodder in pro- 

 portion would be consumed by the cattle. 



I have dwelt thus largely npon the crop of In- 

 dian corn because I deem it among the most valu- 

 ' able crops that can be raised among us. It con- 

 stitutes a nutritious food for man and beast. With 

 the exception of the clayey, wet, and frosty soils, 

 no crop is more adapted to general cultivation. In 

 the emphatic but just language of a VirginiM far- 

 mer it is "Meal, Meadow, and Manure." It is a 

 comparatively certain crop. There has been no 

 general failure of the corn crop until within the 

 last two years, Since the year 1816, when a frost 

 occurred every month in the year. In the last 

 two years, however, fields have ripened perfectly 

 where an early variety was planted. The Pick- 

 wacket corn, an early eight-rowed variety, highly 

 productive and yielding under good ciikivalion 

 70 to 80 bushels to an acre, has been sound and 

 good in many places within the county the pres- 

 ent year; and even in the interior of NewHamp- 

 ■ shire, from which it was brought. The Duiton 

 or Sioux corn, a large twelve-rowed variety, has 

 likewise ripened in favorable locations. 'I his is a 

 valuable variety abating the size of tiie cob. We 

 have ascertained by repeated trials, made with as 

 much exactness as the case admitted, that in thick- 

 ly set ears, the amount of grain upon a large cob 

 bore iui equal proportion to the size of the cob, 

 with that found in smaller varieties. The objec- 

 tion to the large cob is the quantity of moisture 

 contained in it, in consequence of which it is lia- 

 ble to become heated and mouldy in the bin, 

 though the exterior may appear bright and sound. 

 It is a crop of lasting value, and may be kept in 

 a sound stale for years. I have in my possession 

 an ear of corn grown in 180G, as sound as in the 

 year of its growth ; and some kernels of the same 

 product, planted the last year, came up well. — 

 There is no crop, according to its weight, which 

 will produce more beef, mutton, or pork. There is 

 lioni!, where the produce is consumed on the place, 

 which returns more manure to the land. Mhere 

 i.s none, which may be planted successfully, more 

 frequently on the same land. 1 know an instance 

 of its repetition thirty-seven years in forty, and 

 without any diminution of the product. 'I here is 

 none which affords a better pre|iuration for laying 

 down land to grass, as some decisive experiments, 

 which 1 shall hereafter detail, will show. 'I'here 

 is none, all the processes in the management of 

 which are more simple and certain. 



One of the most valuable improvements in the 

 husbandry of the last twenty years is that of plant 

 iiig this crop on an inverted green sward. The 

 sward is completely turned over after vegetation 

 has considerably advanced. The manure is ap- 

 plied on the top of the soil ; and the field is then 

 rolled in a thorough inanntr. 'l"be ground is next 

 harrowed ; and the corn planted either in drills or 

 hills. When the roots of the corn pierce the sod, 

 they find an abundant pabulum of decayed vege- 

 tahfe matter, equal, by as exact a calculation as 

 can be made, to twelve tons upon an acre; and 

 the crop is forced on at the last of the season, 

 when it particularly needs this stimulus and food, 

 to great advantage. 



It is important in these cases that the sod should 

 remain unbroken ; and where the corn is cultiva- 

 ted on a flat surface and no hills are made, the 

 land may be easily laid down immediately to 

 grass, the seed being sowed at the last hoeing; or 

 it may be thoroughly bai rowed after the crop is 

 taken off, and then laid down with winter grain 

 and grass seed. The benefits of the decomposed 

 sod, being thus all secured in the soil, will be felt 

 for a long time ; and the comparatively small 

 expense of this mode of management strongly re- 

 commends it. 



The importance of this crop to Massachusetts 

 can hardly be overstated. The imports of corn 

 into the port of Rostoii in the year 1837, amount- 

 e|i to 1,725,436 bushels. Imrnen.-(e amounts were 

 likewise brought into other ports ; but it has not 

 been in my [lower to ascertain them. At one mill 

 in Gloucester more than 14000 bushels were im- 

 ported and ground at one time the last season. 1 

 believe that the demand might he supplied within 

 the State, and to a great profit. 



That an average ot 8,000 bushels of Indian 

 corn should be produced to evei7 town in the 

 Commonwealth would not be demanding too 

 much. In several of the towns on Connecticut 

 river ten farmers can be founti, who themselves 

 liroduce this quantity. 'I'his production would 

 require only, that in every town, forty farmers 

 should cultivate each four acres, yielding, under 

 good cultivation, .50 bushels to the acre. In one 

 of the most forbidding localities of the Common- 

 wealth, in Windsor, Berkshire cSnnty, among the 

 mountains, 116 bushels have been obtained from 

 an acre. If this were done, at 50 bushels to an 

 acre, the corn crop, under favorable circumstances 

 through the State would yield 2,400,000 bushels, 

 worth as many dollars, when pork is worth ten 

 cents and beef seven cents. The value of the 

 corn fodder in such case, valuing it only at $5 

 per acre for fodder, leaving out all estimate of it 

 for manure, would amount to §240,000. ijiere 

 is no reason, in any but the most impracticable 

 situations, why every farmer should not cultivate 

 his ten acres; and why many of th^in should not 

 cultivate their fifty acres. No crop requires a 

 less outlay for seed. It v\as said by the celebrated 

 Arthur Young, that a ■•ounlry caiJfable of growing 

 Inilian corn is singulariy blessed above others. 



(Krom^Uie Norwallt Experiment! 



MADDER ROOTS FOR PLANTING. 

 In pressing times like the present, and with the 

 hope of reducing in some degree the enormous 

 tax we pay foreign nations, (thirty millions of 

 dollars per year) for madder, sugar, silk and wines, 

 which we can produce as well as any nation on 

 earth, I will sell, at my usual prices, madder off- 

 sets for planting this spring, to responsible per- 

 sons, at one, two, three and four years credit, with 

 interest, saving twentyfive per cent, which must 

 be paid down. The town of Berlin can make it- 

 self rich by cultivating the above articles. I 

 most sincerely wish that the enterprising capital- 

 ists of the county would call a meeting to consid- 

 er on the propriety of establishing a iilantatiotl of 

 madder, sugar beet and mulbeiry. The capital 

 that vvcnid be required for this year might be very 

 limited, except the sum for a locality. There is 

 lantation ot madder at Birmingham and Brown- 



BrsliskM'ationiii dehl. — K foreign journal com- 

 putes that eight himdied millions of sovereigns, 

 the amount of the National Debt of Great Britain 

 il" piled upon one another, or formed into close 

 column of single files, would extend 710 miles ; 

 and as many millions £1 notes sewed together 

 would cover a road of 40 feet wide and 1,052 

 miles long. 



ap 



helivi, and a plantation of mulberry at Norwalk : 



and I am, as well as others, preparing seed of tht 



Silisian white beet from seed imported from 



France for next year's planting. The cultivation 



of three hills of madder on good land for foui 



years will buy one dollar's worth of wheat. Eigli 



bushels of roots plant one acre. Eight bushels it 



the least quantity that will he sold on one year's 



credit ; $28 ; 16 do. 2 years, $48 ; 24 do. 3 years 



32 do. 4 years — $3 the lowest and f 4 the high 



est price. The article must be taken soon or tlii 



growth of the tops will injure the bo-toms. Ir 



conclusion, I would respectfully solicit the atten 



tion of smne capitalists whom I could name ii 



Norwalk, Huron, Sandusky and Berlin, to jConfe 



on the subject of establishing " The Huron Coun 



ty Madder, Beet Sugar and Silk Company." 



should be pleased to attend and present infbrniii 



lion on the culture and [irocess of preparing fo 



market each article from scientific and practicr 



persons whose information may be relied on. 



would join any gentleman in the undertaking i 



either of the following counties; viz: Ilamiltor 



Huron, Butler, Cuyahoga, Montgomery, Chan 



paigii, Warren or Clark. It is believed that mo! 



editors have iin interest in promoting, as also 



partiality for improving the immense resources < 



our country. Will ihey, and particularly the ag 



ricultiiral editors, give the above one insertion ? 



RUSSELBRONSON. 



Florence, Ohio, March 24, 1838. 



INDIANA COAL FIELDS. 



We are informed by a gentleman who hastrai 

 elled extensively and examined the \\ est wit 

 great care, that the counties of Vanderburgl 

 Warrick, Speucer, Perry, Gibson, Pike, iJuboi 

 .Martin, Davis, Knox, Green, Owen, Clay, Vig< 

 Sullivan, Putnam, Parke, Vetmillinn and Foui 

 tain, contain the richest and most extensive bet 

 of bituminous ccnl in the United States. It i, 

 nites freely and burns with a brilliant flame. Net 

 the summits of the highest ridges, it is four 

 creeping out of the earth, and it may be mentior 

 ed, as a fact worthy of notice, that in boring f 

 salt water to the depth of 527 feet in Lamas. 

 City, and 500 feet on the Big Vermillion up: 

 Danville, lllinoi.s, the miners report at both plac 

 a number of stratas of coal, varying from sjx 

 eight feet thick. The Wabash and Erie and Ce. 

 iral Canals run through those beds of coal it 

 distance of 200 miles or more, 'i'he quantity 

 coiil to be found on the borders of the India* 



