154 



Calico Corn. — The Compost heap. — Caterpillars. Vol. VIII. 



For the Farmers" Cabinet. 



Calico Corn. 



The readers of the Cabinet may be pleased 

 in hearing of an article of grain, that ap- 

 proaches nearer than any other in making 

 flour and bread similar to wheat. I send a 

 sample of the flour and two common sized 

 ears of the corn. The hull or covering of 

 the grain, is of so many and various colours, 

 that when ground fine, some of the particles 

 being bolted through with the flour, may 

 have a tendency to darken it some ; but as 

 to the colour of the flour or bread, few, if 

 any, could discover from the appearance of 

 either, which was made from the corn, or 

 which from the wheat, when laid by side 

 each other. The bread of the corn, when 

 mixed and prepared for baking in the same 

 manner as wheat flour, will become light 

 sooner than wheat; and in mixing, is more 

 difficult; and tor pies, does not stick together 

 as well as wheat flour. In taste, a difference 

 can be discovered. But let a person who has 

 no knowledge of the article, make use of the 

 bread, pudding, or pies, which occurred at 

 my own table, and let him be asked of what 

 the article was made, and he would pronounce 

 it wheat — so near does it approach to it. 



I have said enough by way of recommend- 

 ation, as it will recommend itself more ra- 

 pidly than seed can be procured. The 

 object of my present remarks, is more par- 

 ticularly to those who may become possessed 

 of a portion of it to plant, that they may be 

 careful to prevent it from becoming adul- 

 terated by mixing. It is not sufficient to 

 plant a portion in the garden, and having a 

 corn-field of other corn near by. It will 

 mix much further than I could have be- 

 lieved, had I not seen it. 



In raising what little I have, I planted it 

 the 24th day of Sixth month, and gathered 

 it the 10th inst. ; and my neighbour having 

 a lot of corn near by, I purchased the privi- 

 lege of topping, or cutting off" the tassel, to 

 prevent mixture. I am told, and believe, as 

 much per acre can be raised, as of other 

 corn; the stalks frequently have two ears 

 on, and the ears generally have as much on 

 as other corn. I have observed almost every 

 colour among the grains of this corn, but I 

 have not seen yellow, without believing it 

 was a mixture. I have seen some lots that 

 retained all the colours, but I had no doubt 

 of their being much adulterated, from the 

 hardness and shape of the grain, — of their 

 compactness on the cob, and their straight 

 rows, which do not often occur in the 

 genuine Calico corn. 



Please retain the two ears of corn and 



flour at the office of the Cabinet, for inspec- 

 tion. 



I have omitted to mention, that it ought 

 to be gathered as soon as it is ripe, or it will 

 swell, sprout, and damage ; particularly if 

 the weather should be wet or damp. I had 

 one and three-quarter bushels of shelled 

 corn, weighing 72 or 73 pounds, when taken 

 to the mill; and had 30 pounds of superfine, 

 and 20 of common flour — and 21 pounds of 

 bran; and several millers agreed in opinion, 

 that much improvement in grinding might 

 be made, with a little preparation. 



Respectfully, A. W. Townsend. 



New Brighton, Pa., Tenth mo. 30th, 1843. 



The Compost Heap. — Begin with the 

 arrival of the first favourable weather to 

 gather materials for compost. Don't let a 

 particle of matter capable of being converted 

 into food for plants, slip through your fingers. 

 Manure is the farmer's capital — the wand, 

 by the favourable instrumentality of whose 

 mystic and occult operations, he diversifieth 

 the surface of the earth with the smiling 

 beauties of vegetation, and causeth the waste 

 places thereof to bloom, and the desert to 

 blossom as the rose. "Give me a sufficiency 

 of manure," said an elderly farmer to us, 

 recently, "and I can work out a living in 

 any country, and from any soil." The mer- 

 chant must have capital — the mechanic must 

 have instruction, materials and tools, and the 

 farmer whose heritage is the broad fields and 

 fertile valley of his "mother earth," tnust 

 have MANURE. It therefore behooves every 

 one to be attentive to tliis grand point, and 

 to gather up the means of enriching and 

 rendering fruitful the soil, the products of 

 which sustain his life. 



No one who has not made the experiment 

 will be able easily to appreciate the import- 

 ance of attending, practically and habitually 

 to the rules thus hastily laid down. Let 

 every one, therefore, be sedulous in his ef- 

 forts, and our word for it, he will never have 

 occasion to deprecate the results. — Maine 

 Cultivator. 



Caterpillars. — An English Agricultural 

 paper gives the following method of destroy- 

 ing caterpillars, which was accidentally dis- 

 covered, and is practised by a gardener near 

 Glasgow. A piece of woollen rag had been 

 blown by the wind into a currant bush, and 

 when taken out was found covered by the leaf^ 

 devouring insects. He immediately placed 

 pieces of woollen cloth in every bush in his 

 garden, and found next day that the caterpil- 

 lars had universally taken to them for shel- 

 ter. In this way he destroys many thousands 

 every morning. Try it. 



