NEW ENGI^AND FARMER. 



ARX 



PUBLISHED BY GEO. C. BARRETT, NO. oi. NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Agricultural VVAhEHOUSE.)— T. G. FES.SENUEN, EDITOR. 



VOL. XI. 



BOSTON. AVKDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 13, 1833. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



Wk are liappy in the receptian of the |)llo\\ - 

 in" valuable conimmiication. As it rclates.to ini- 

 pi-oveineuts in cultivating one of the most useful 

 products whkh ever rewarded the skill and in- 

 dustry of the husbaudniim,. we hope that the ex- 

 ample of our correspondent will induce other prac- 

 tical and intelligeut cultivators to state their nnth- 

 ods of obtaining crops of the "Prince of Vegita- 

 bles," worthy of being recorded in the annals oi' 

 improved husbandry. 



For thf New England Farm/:: 

 CUI.TURE OP CORN. 

 Princeton, (M J.) Jan. 2S, 1833 



Mr. Editor, — The idea has often occurred to 

 me, while perusing your valuable paper, tiat 

 farmers might be mutually benefited by makiig 

 public through its columus their mode of cnltivit- 

 ing the various crops which they grow upon thir 

 farms. Under that impression I have talcen ip 

 luy pen with the intention of devoting an ev.en!ig 

 in giving you my views and j)ractice in ciiltiyathg 

 a crop of Indian corn. ' Our soil, principal!' a 

 saudy ioam, in some places inclining a litth to 

 gravel with a clay subsoil, is well adapted to;he 

 growth of that plant, and we consider it the nost 

 profitable crop we cultivate. In the fir^wee 

 we j)refer a sliffherds-grass sward, (by yo'.^led 

 rcd-to]), or berd-grnss,) and clover; ai; ' fepc- 

 rience has taught us that a field which hasbeen 

 pastured for two or three years is much inort cer- 

 tain of producing a good crop of corn than uie of 

 the same quality which has been kept up and 

 mowed for hay the same length of time, thai it is 

 so with us does not admit of a doidit. Wesup- 

 pose it is owing in part to there being fewer in- 

 sects in the pasture-land, — the droppings of the 

 cattle adding more recent animal manure ti the 

 soil, and some suppose that the soil having been 

 rendered more compact by the cattle tram])liig on 

 it for two or three successive years facilitatts the 

 growth of the young, plant by enabling it topush 

 forth its roots more readily, as a certain dcgce of 

 compactness in the soil appears to be necesaiiry to 

 enable a yoimg plant to send forth its roots with 

 facility. After trying various modes of pre|nring 

 my laud and tending the crop, I have for tie last 

 two or three years adopted the following, vhich 

 appears to me to be the best I have yet praci.srd. 



I plough my land in the spring as early a> con- 

 venient, regulating the depth by the depth of the 

 soil, after ploughing put on a roller drawn ly one 

 yoke of oxen and roll lengthwise the furrow after 

 rolling, harrow twice along the furrow, vith a 

 heavy harrow six feet wide with iron teeta well 

 sharpened, drawn by two able horses. Thw take 

 a small plough, drawn either by one or two iiorses 

 and form the field in ridges by throwing two fur- 

 rows together 4.V feet distant from each other 

 across the original furrows, being carcfil the 

 plough does not reach the sward to tmii ;t up ; 

 this cannot be leell clone without the ground has 

 been previously rolled. I then furrow crssswise 

 the ridges last formed, with a sled made for 

 the purpose of two inch plank with three runners, 



each runner having a hole an inch in diaiiictcr 

 bored in the bottom about cqui distant from either 

 end and, a peg of good hard wood driven therein 

 to extend about one and one-half inches below 

 the runner, the part extending below the runner 

 to be twice the diameter of that inserted in it. 

 With this machine, with a tongue or pole firndy 

 attached to the middle runner, one man with two 

 Iiorses can with ease furrow more than twenty 

 acres per day ; — as be makes three furrows at 

 once he must, consequently, furrow as fast as 

 iliree men with ploughs, and it leaves the furrow 

 in a fine state to drop the corn on, the grain not 

 being so liable to scatter and roll as when dropped 

 OH the hard furrow made by a plough. The 

 ground is then prepared for planting squares 4i ft. 

 Iiy 4 ft., and at this distance we put four grains 

 or kernels in each hill. We find a staall quantity 

 of ashes on or in the hill of considerable advantage ; 

 it causes the young plant to come up strong and 

 vigorous. ' When the corn has been up a few- 

 days, we put a small quantity of plaster to each 

 hill, and commence harrowing with a small har- 

 row 3J feet wide, drawn by one horse, twice 

 through each row one way, which prepares the 

 ground handsomely for ploughing, and by which 

 a careful hand can losen the soil close to each 

 hill. In a very few days after the harrowing is 

 completed we commence ploughing by throwing 

 a furrow from each row, ploughing as close to 

 the corn as can be done without covering it up, 

 leaving the middle or spares between the furrows 

 in that direction untouched, we then commence 

 ploughing crosswise throwing the furrow to the 

 corn unless it should be quite grassy, when we 

 throw it from the corn as before, and in either 

 case plough the middle or spaces left between 

 the rows in the direction last ploughed out innne- 

 diately, throwuighalf to each row. After laying in 

 this state some days, we put on the small harrows 

 again and harrow twice through each' row, or 

 rather space between the rows one way — in this 

 state it may bo left for some days untouched, un- 

 less there should be a heavy fall of rain, hi which 

 case experience has taught me that it is of decided 

 advantage to the corn to stir the ground again 

 with the harrow, that a free communication may 

 be kept up between the soil and the atmosphere. 

 As it is all important to the health of an individual 

 that the pores of the skin should be kept open, so 

 it appears to me with the soil, that th? slight crust 

 formed upon its surface after a rain, should be 

 again broken with the harrow or some other im- 

 plement. 



When the ears are beginning to set I commence 

 ploughing for the last time, throwing the furrows 

 to the corn and leaving the spaces between the 

 rows well )iloughed out ; by this system you will 

 perceive the hoe is in a great measure dispensed 

 with, and I can assure you I can keep my field as 

 clean without it as you would wish to keep your 

 garden, unless the spring should lie very wet and 

 warm when we occasiuually find it necessary to 

 use the hoe. One man and a horse will (dough 

 around (as we call it) five acres of corn hi a day, 

 or complete, by ploughing the middle out, 2i 

 acres. If there should be a considerable fall ot 

 rain or heavy showers soon after the last plough- 



iiii', I almost invariably put on my small harrows 

 agjiin, unless the crop should be too forward, but 

 at the last harrowing wc raise the corner teeth of 

 th(i harrow (which is of a triangular form) so that 

 nejr the hills they merely break the surface. 

 W)ien the gorn is nearly ripe, and, if possible, be- 

 foijc it is killed by the frost, we cut it up by the 

 ground and set it in stacks to be husked at leisure, 

 th| stalks are haiih-d and stacked at the barn-yard 

 toibe food through the. winter months. 



;1 have said nothing on the subject of apply- 

 ing manure to the crop, having already extended 

 tlis communication to a much greater length than 

 I intended when I commenced, and I fear it will 

 ►o.ccupy more sjiace in your columns than it merits, 

 liut I leave it with you to publish the whole or 

 my part thereof that you may consider calculated 

 to promote the cau.se of agriculture. A. C. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 DISEASK IN OXEN. 



Mr. Fessekden, — Sir, I have recently become 

 a reader of your valuable paper, and I am happy 

 1 to see the generous and liberal spirit manifested 

 by many of your correspondents : this willingness 

 to conjuiunieate usefid information is certainly 

 highly commendable. 



I observed in your last paper a communication 

 from C. B. II., in answer to the inquiry relating 

 to tli3 cure of a holdfast. From my limited 

 knowledge of such diseases in oxen, the remedy 

 fii-',irescribed, that of extracting the tooth or teeth 

 is no', m my o])iiiion, in this case, the most ad- 

 visable; for, in the first place, if caused by irrita- 

 tion from the teeth it would have increased in 

 size, or separated before any considerable length 

 of time ; ferhaps my opinion may be somewhat 

 biased on atcouut of the great prejudice I have to 

 this operatim. But as to the latter course recom- 

 mended, I am of the opinion it would be the 

 most servicaible (that of applying some stimulat- 

 ing ointinenti and would present the following 

 recipe as one of the best not only for swellings of 

 this kind but for sprains, &c. on man or beast. 



Take of neits-foot oil, one gill ; spirits of cam- 

 phor, two ouEces ; oil of origanum, one ounces 

 water of ammonia, one and one-half an ounce ; 

 N. E. rum, one gill ; mix and apply two or three 

 times a day, and rub it in with the hand for five 

 or ten minutes each time. 



In return from you or from some uf your kind 

 friends 1 would inquire the best mode of arrang- 

 ing and conducting a farm of about fifty acres, 

 (fifteen of which is wood land) also a list of the 

 most useful agricultural implements and some of 

 the most approved authors, being somewhat un- 

 acqiiaiiued with the improvements which hare 

 been made, and having a desire to pursue farming, 

 I should be glad to receive some instruction 

 through the medium of your paper. 



Very respectfully 1 remain yours, &c. 



Jan. 30, 1833. - L. M. P. 



For the New England Farmer. 



AGRICULTURAL. ESSAYS, NO. XVII. 



Oats cannot be sowed too early — 3 bushefe 



to one acre — tlie poorer the soil the more eeed 



must be sowed on it — plough them twice — one« 



