NEW ENGL-AND FARMER. 



VOL. XI 



PUBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Agricultural Warehoose.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



NO. 14. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 17, 1838. 



Couiinnnications. 



ON REMOVING SUCKERS FROM INDIAN 

 CORN. 



Mb Fissexden, 



Sir — Having' l>een a subscribri' to your valua- 

 ble and vrry useful Fanner, ami liaviiig experi- 

 enced much benifit from tlje numerous pieces 

 which you have published ; and finding that all 

 opposition has yielded, and almost every one now 

 acknowledges that the opinions of the Farmer are 

 gener.illy correct, and ought to be respected, I am 

 induced to request your opinion of the propriety of 

 cutting the false stalks and suckers from the corn 

 before the tops are usually cut. Also, the proper 

 time and manner of pruning grape vines. By 

 your attention to the above, and a publication of 

 your opinion in your Farmer you will greatly 

 oblige 0.\E OF rouR SuiscRisEas. 



IlBmarbg by the Editor. 



Agriculturists differ in opinion upon this sub- 

 ject, and we shall not be very positive when prac- 

 tical farmers disagree ; but will merely copy their 

 observations, and leave our readers to dijaw their 

 own conclusions. j 



5Ir Lemuel Davis of Holden, Mass irj a paper 

 republished from the Massachusetts gpj, in the 

 New England Farmer, vol. i. page 8, jivts an ac- 

 count of his method of raising a crop of lorn, and 

 observes as follows : 1 



"Immediately after weeding, I spread two bush- 

 els of plaster on the rows — at a suitable growth 

 gave it a second hoeing; the second week in July 

 hoed it the tliird time ; at that period the growth 

 was very rapid, and there appeared to be a gretter 

 quantity of suckers from the bottom of the sttlks 

 than I ever saw before. The observation stnck 

 me, that it would be worthy the attention of (ur 

 agriculturists to try the experiment of cutting ihe 

 suckers from the stalks, which I did from niosi of 

 it. By observing, 1 found that such a proportion of 

 juice Yrom the stalk wept out where the sucker 

 was taken ofl", that the growth was not so la'ge, 

 and the ear set higher on the stalk : on the pari 

 where the suckers were not taken oft" the corn .vas 

 thicker set and more prominent — the ears set teu 

 or twelve inches niglier the ground and were 

 a good proportion larger." 



Although some part of the following qnotatior 

 is not exactly pertinent to the point to wliicli our 

 correspondent requests attention, it will all prove 

 useful and would he injured by curtailment. 



"Maize, (says Lorain) from its woody testure, 

 and commanding size, might (without straining 

 the point very far,) be called an annual bread tree, 

 producing the best of all corns, and at the same 

 time crops, which in magnitude far exceed thit of 

 any other grain. Also tops, husks and lesves, 

 which can be readily gathered ; and furnish abund- 

 ant fodder for cattle, equal to the best hay ; and 

 independent of this, the stalks supply much vah- 

 able litter for the cattle yard. 



" That part of the leaf which surrounds tie 

 stalk, and adheres so closely that it does not pe-- 

 mit a particle of moisture to escape, is very inte'- 

 esting. The peculiar insertion of the leaf, togetk' 



er with the formation oftli.'it part of the stalk cov- 

 ered by it, forms a i-avity for the reception of the 

 rich moisture, which is gathered into it from the 

 atmosphere by the leaves, and for which they are 

 ailniirably fqrmed. 



"The shoots, which form the ear, commence at 

 tlie joint in contact with the ground. If the soil 

 bi' rich and highly manured, they issue from eve- 

 ry joint up to where the uppermost ear is formed 

 at the foot stalk of the tassel. This last or highest 

 up ear is almost invariably the largest, and ri])ens 

 soonest. It seldom occurs that more than two 

 ears are perfected on one stalk, unless the clus- 

 ters of plants are very distant from each other, 

 and but few plants stand in each cluster. If the 

 plants stand thick on the ground, but one ear is 

 commonly perfected by each of them. The ab- 

 ortive ear-shoots are called suckers. These are 

 commonly removed, so far as the farmer considers 

 conducive to the welfare of his crop. This should 

 he ilone as soon as they are large enough to be 

 pulled off eftectually. No part of them should be 

 left adhering to the stalk, or they will grow again 

 from the stub left behind. 



" If this operation be not early commenced and 

 frequently repeated, they become so numerous 

 and large in fields highly manured, especially if 

 the plants stand thin on the ground, that they are 

 greatly injured. Not only from the loss of nutri- 

 ment, but also from the many and large wounds 

 inflicted by the removal of them. 



" After careful experiment in the removal of 

 suckers, I now pull none above the joint in con- 

 tact with the ground ; and would not remove these, 

 if they did not take root in the soil, and by this 

 means become powerful exhausters. Although it 

 commonly happens that several ear shoots above 

 this point prove abortive, no sucker can be remov- 

 ed without injuring the leaf which binds it to the 

 stalk ; and so much that it is commonly rendered 

 altogether incapable of conducting moisture. If it 

 be not so extensively injured, the receptacle form- 

 ed by it is so much deranged by this operation, 

 that it cannot retain the slight portion which may 

 happen to be conducted by the leaf into it. 



"I am still further encouraged to let so many of 

 these abortive ears stand, as I have observed that 

 so soon as nature has determined the number of 

 ears, which existing circumstances may enable her 

 to fill, all her efforts are directed to them ; and the 

 abortive ones immediately dwindle, and finally 

 wither: and for aught we know to the contrary, 

 nature may cause them to part with the rich mat- 

 ters they had previously gathered, and apply this 

 nutriment to assist in maturing her favorites." — 

 Lorain's Husbandri/, p. 210, 217, 218. 



It appears then that the office of suckers, in the 

 opinion of BIr Lorain, is similar to that of the 

 leaves of plants. They collect and elaborate nour- 

 ishment from the atmosphere for the use of the 

 seeds ; and if so, it is as incorrect to take off' the 

 suckers, at any stage of their growth, as it is to 

 cut off the tops of carrots or potatoes before the 

 roots have arrived at maturity, which experiments 

 have proved to be injurious to the crop. It has 

 however, generally, been the practice of cultiva 



the question relative to the utility of this course of 

 cidtm-e. It would be easy to set apart a row or 

 two in .a field to be stripped of suckers, and com- 

 pare the product of the part thus treated, with sim- 

 ilar rows in which the suckers were suffered to 

 remain. The false stalks, or those plants which 

 have no ears, or none wliich jiromise maturity, 

 may be useful fbr fodder; but it might be 

 well to cut them out of such hills as are well 

 stocked with plants, which are likely to produce 

 ears as well as herbage. 



With regard to pruning vines, we would beg 

 leave to refer our correspondent to an article writ- 

 ten by a scientific and practical cultivator, origi- 

 nally published in the Massachusetts Agricultural 

 Repository, and republished ;u Fessenden's New 

 American Gardener, p. 294. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Mr Rcssell — I send you the following for pub- 

 lication, in order to show the profit to be derived 

 from a little attention to the cultivation of good 

 fruit. 



I have this season sold the produce of three 

 peach trees, for which 1 have received a few 

 cents over fifteen dollars in cash. These trees 

 were set out only six years ago last spring, and 

 have had very little attention or expense devoted 

 to them since. B. F. KEYES. 



Jfcst Do^lston, Oct. 1, 1832. 



AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR AUGUST. 

 LoNDO.N', Sept. 1. — This has been, as it general- 

 ly is, a month dedicated to the labors of the bar- 

 vest. Little was done before the beginning of 

 the month, but then the reapers went to work 

 with the wheat in earnest, and in a short time the 

 greater part of it in the Southern districts of Great 

 Britain was cut and carried. The barley and oats 

 followed, and for about three weeks all went on as 

 prosperous as heart could wish. It was dry, sun- 

 ny, and warm ; without mists, without rain, and 

 freshened by gentle breezes. But an entire change 

 has at length come upon us. For these ten days 

 past the weather has been threatening, and par- 

 tial showers have gone about in some quarters 

 heavy, in others light, and the progress of the har- 

 vest has been considerably impeded ; but on Sun- 

 day night downright serious heavy rain commen- 

 ced, which has continued, with some anxious in- 

 tervals, up to the present time, with a continual 

 heavy water-charged atmosphere. Every descrip- 

 tion of corn that is abroad is drenched and soaked : 

 straw and grain to the very core. Unfortunately, 

 even in the Southern parts of England, there is too 

 much in ilie field cut, and not carried. Of wheat, 

 perhajis, not a very considerable quantity ; some 

 of the backw.wd turnip wheat, some the produce 

 of cold soils, aud some the property of laggards. 

 But oats and barley, particularly the latter, are 

 very generally caught. A change of weather has 

 been indicated for some days, the alteration had 

 been foreseen and expected, and consequently ev- 

 ery one has been hastening to cut and carry as fast 



as he could ; but in this latter operation most 

 tors to strip corn of its suckers, and we believe have been baffled by the teasing flying showers 

 I urther experiments would be useful in deciding that came drizzling over the crops, just as they 



