NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



175 



sand are benefited by the use of clay, marl, or vege- 

 table matter. 



By burning soils, considerable chemical change can 

 be brought about. The bases of all common soils are 

 mixtures of the prunitivc earths and oxide of iron, 

 and these earths have a certain degree of attraction 

 for each other. When clay or tenacious soils arc 

 burnt, they are brought nearer to a state analogous 

 to that of sajid. In the manufacture of bricks, the 

 general princijjle is well illustrated : if a piece of 

 dried brick earth be ai^jjlied to the tongue, it will 

 adhere to it very strongly, in consequence of its 

 power to absorb water ; but after it has been burnt, 

 there will scarcely be any sensible adhesion. 



The soils improved by burning are all such as con- 

 tain too much dead vegetable fibre ; also, all such as 

 contain their earthy constituents in an impalpable 

 state of division, that is, stiff clays and marls ; but 

 in coarse sands and rich soils, containing a just mix- 

 ture of the earths, and in all cases in which the tex- 

 ture is sufficiently loose, or the organizable matter 

 sufficiently soluble, the process of bui-ning cannot be 

 useful. 



X. Trees improve bad Soils. It certainly is not 

 one of the least recommendations of planting, that 

 it may be made to contribute essentially to the im- 

 provement of a bad soil, as is the case on sterile 

 heath and commons, where three means, the conse- 

 quences of the planting, act together in promoting 

 such improvement. The first is, the shade of the 

 trees, which, by decomposing the vegetable matter on 

 the surface soil, renders it at once more fertile, and 

 easily penetrable by the root. The second is, that by 

 the decomposition of the annual fall of leaves, an 

 addition is made to the vegetable soil, and that of 

 the very best description. The thii-d circumstance 

 is, that as the roots collect a great deal of their sup- 

 port from a depth much lower than field vegetables 

 are used to reach, they hence convert the useless into 

 tiseful. In short, instances arc not wanting, where 

 land previously producing little besides heath, has, 

 after producing a crop of trees, proved, without 

 further means, very tolerable pasture. 



BEIIXAIID REYNOSO. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CULTIVATION OF INDIAN CORN. 



Mb. Editor : In reading F. Ilolbrook's article on 

 this subject, I was much pleased with his manner of 

 cultivation, in some respects, particularly the prepara- 

 tion of the soil, and the method of saving seed-corn. 

 Deep planting, too, in case of frost, is an advantage, 

 as the corn is much more likel^^ to start again if 

 killed down to the ground. But in advocating wide 

 planting, I beg leave to differ from him. lie says he 

 is '* suspicious ^f the reasoning which favors close 

 planting as a protection against drought." Now, if, 

 as ho scenis to imply, in planting double the number 

 of hills, we raise double the number of stalks on an 

 acre, his reasoning might be in some measure cor- 

 rect ; but I think that if, instead of doubling the 

 number of stalks, we leave a less nunilx>r in a hill, so 

 as to have three as often as we should have two at the 

 usual distance, the extra draught upon the moisture 

 of the soil will be fully counterbalanced by the in- 

 crease of shade ! I think, too, that Mr. IL furnishes 

 us witli evidence in favor of close planting, in the 

 fact that the corn planted in drills yielded from ten 

 to fifteen bushels more than that planted in hills. 



Another point, in which I should differ from Mr. 

 H., is iir the application of manure wholly by spread- 

 ing ; although I do not advocate the opposite course, 

 oi applying it all in the hill. 



I think the land should be made rich by spreading 

 manure on the surface, and ploughing it in, and then 

 a small quantity of well-rotted manure should be 

 applied in each hill. In a climate as cold as the 

 central and northern parts of Xew England, some- 

 thing is required to warm the ground, and keep the 

 young plants thrifty during the cold weather which 

 sometimes succeeds the time of planting in the 

 spring. This the manure in the hill sujjplics, while 

 that which is spread carries it through, and causes it 

 to ear better ; thus obviating objections, to which 

 either mode, alone, would be liable. 



I iiave now given you my opinion, in part, as to the 

 best method of planting, and applying mantire, and 

 I will give you a few facts to show how it works in 

 practice. Previous to 1838 we applied our manure 

 mostly in tlie hill, and planted our corn at the dis- 

 tance of three and one half feet each way ; planting 

 as much ground as we could manure in this manner, 

 and hoeing it twice or three times, as we could spare 

 time before haying ; after which, it was generally 

 left until time to harvest. I do not recollect partic- 

 ularly about the crops obtained, as I was young at 

 that time, but I am told that eighty bushels of cars 

 were considered a large crop, and fifty or sixty a fair 

 average. But the summers of 183u and 1837 were 

 so cold, that in this way we got no corn at aU ; and 

 in 183S we planted less than half our usual (quantity 

 of land, and applied as much manure as we had pre- 

 viously allowed for the whole. In addition to this, 

 instead of having the hills three and one half feet 

 in the rows, we planted them about t\\'0 ; and we 

 were careful to hoe thoroughly three timer, before 

 haying, and, immediately after haying, all the weeds 

 wliich had escaped were pulled up and thrown into 

 the hog-yard. The result was, that instead of sixty 

 bushels to the acre, we obtained one hundred and 

 sixty. Since that time, we have pursued a similar 

 course with like success. 



We generally spread about twenty-five loads of 

 manure to the acre every other year, and put from 

 eighteen to twenty in the hill every year. (These 

 loads contain only twenty-five bushels to the load, 

 which, taking the average, would be considerably 

 less than Mr. H. applied.) By keeping the ground 

 wholly clear of weeds in the manner I have de- 

 scribed, which makes the least work in the " long 

 run," wo have obtained from one hundred and forty 

 to one hundred and sixty bushels ears to the acre, 

 and the land was constantly improving. 



On one piece, containing one liundred and twenty- 

 eight rods, after managing it in this way for two or 

 three years, we raised a fraction short of sixty bush- 

 els of "clean, heavy oats ; and there were four apple- 

 trees under whicli but little grew, so that there was, 

 in fact, no more than three fourths of an acre ; be- 

 sides which, eight hens lived on them for some time 

 before they were harvested. This would make the 

 oats yield at the rate of eighty bushels to the acre. 

 While speaking of this piece, there was another fact, 

 which goes to confirm what you have remarked in a 

 former volume. When we seeded it with grass, we 

 sowed hcrdsgrass and clover, mixing them together, 

 and sowing the whole of the piece alike ; but a part 

 on whicli we had raised corn produced clover, with 

 scarcely any hcrdsgrass, and a part on which we had 

 raised potatoes produced hcrdsgrass, with as httic 

 clover. W- !'• ^' 



ASUFIELD, M.V.SS,, April 19. 



liicMAUKS. — As to the distance of planting corn, 

 much depends on the size. The Canada corn, and 

 the small cap corn, will bear n&ir planting ; and with- 

 out close planting, a" full crop cMnnot bo obtained. 

 These kinds require twice as many phuits on an acre 

 as would be proper for the lai'^'O varicJics.. — Ep, 



