102 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



that Providence intended the corn crop should be 

 a principal one in New England, and for several 

 reasons. In the first place, our climate is admi- 

 rably adapted to its cultivation. Our dry and 

 hot summers perfect the corn crop when other 

 crops fail. He considered if one of the most 

 beautiful crops that grows. In every part of New 

 England it may be raised for 50 to 00 cents per 

 bushel, and in the event of a general war in Eu- 

 rope, now extremely probable, a great and un- 

 usual demand will be opened for it for some time 

 to come. Even now, our exports of breadstuffs 

 are large, and have amazingly increased over last 

 year. The exports from the port of New York 

 from Jan. 1st to the 19th in the years 1853 and 

 1854, were as follows : 



1853. 1854. 



Wheat, bush 151,419 4*2,648 



Coi- 

 Flour, bbl3 . 



. 16,002 265,076 



. 65,691 150,342 



Making an increase in the value exported in 

 two weeks this year, over last, of $1,247,800. In 

 view of these facts, and the probable increased 

 demand, ]\Ir. Brown thought it would be good 

 policy for New England farmers to pay especial 

 attention to the crop. He considered the fodder 

 obtained from corn-fields, yielding 50 or 60 bush- 

 els to the acre, as worth as much as the average 

 crop of English hay we cut to the acre. 



Major Wheeler said he used to think the corn 

 crop a very exhausting one to the land, but now 

 he felt convinced that there was no crop less ex- 

 hausting. ^ 



The Chairman stated that much attention had 

 been devoted in Plymouth county, to the raising 

 of corn, and with great success, yields of 100, 120, 

 and even 145 bushels to the acre being attained. 

 The corn is planted closely, not more than two 

 feet apart. Some have planted two feet apart 

 one way and 18 inches the other, and succeeded 

 well. On certain kinds of soil, when planted 

 closely. Jthe corn, will shade the ground, which is 

 better^than to expose the soil to the heat of the 

 month of August, particularly if it be high land. 

 Yet he would not recommend as a general rule, 

 or as a matter of economy, the planting of corn 

 less than three feet apart. The corn planted in 

 Plymouth county has a small stalk, with a full 



large ear. 



Mr. SuELDON, of Wilmington, believed that 

 corn did lietter when planted closely. If the land 

 is well manured, there are not so many suckers 

 when planted in this manner. On two lots of 

 which he was cognizant, the thickly planted corn 

 did better than that which was planted with lon- 

 ger intervals between. He believed that a good 

 fair acre of corn fodder, contained as much nutri- 

 ment as an acre of hay, and he thought that 

 raising corn was a good preparation of the ground 

 for hay. It will draw more from the land than 

 hay, but nothing in comparison with other crops. 



Mr. Proctor, of Danvers, thought the com 

 crop was worthy of increased attention, because 

 it was one of the most certain crops. True, we 

 sometimes lose the crop by frost, as in 1816, 

 and perhaps once or twice since, but it is very 

 rarely the case. It is as certain, if not more so, 

 than any other crop of grain we raise. With in- 

 creased attention to culture, our average crops 

 would be increased 50 per cent. — they could be 

 brought up to 50 bu. per acre. Mr. Proctor alluded 

 to the difficulty which has been experienced in as- 

 certaining the amount of a crop, from the lack of 

 a standard measure, and stated that the Board of 

 Agriculture had decided that 80 lbs of corn, as 

 taken from the field in the ear, constitutes a bush- 

 el. Bat when this corn is fit to grind it will have 

 shrunk 20 per cent. One consideration which fa- 

 vors the raising of corn, is that the drought occur- 

 ring in August and September, which is so an- 

 nojang to farmers, may be counteracted by raising 

 green corn for fodder, which is the best article 

 that can be fed to cows. The ^quantity that can 

 be raised has hardly any limit. After cutting his 

 hay, the farmer can turn the s'od, and plant corn. 

 The farmers of Essex County regard it as the 

 bc^t mode of guarding against drought. 



Mr. Lawton, of Berkshire County, stated that 

 the committee of the Housatonic Ag. So. selected 

 a rod in a lot of 40 acres of corn offered for pre- 

 mium, — that rod being neither the best nor the 

 poorest in the lot, but as near an average as they 

 could judge — and reckoning from the yield of that 

 rod, tiiC amount per acre was a trifle over 100 

 bushels per acre. He considered corn fodder ex- 

 cellent for cattle ; it will make a cow give more 

 milk than anything else. The corn used in Berk- 

 shire is the yellow 12 rowed corn, resembling very 

 much the Button. Would plant three feet apart 

 and four kernels in a hill. Turn the furrow over 

 flat and harrow down, and then plant the com 

 with a mixture of ashes and plaster. 



Mr. BucKMiNSTER inquired whether some other 

 variety, as the sweet corn, although less bulky, 

 might not contain more nutriment than the South- 

 ern corni 



]\Ir. Dodge, of Sutton, offered a few remarks 

 enforcing the advantage of plowing deep for corn. 

 He would plow 11 inches. 



The Chairman, then, at half paf=t9 o'clock, an- 

 nounced the subject for next Tuesday evening, as 

 follows, and the meeting adjourned : 



^'' What can he done to make the Home of the 

 Farmer more attractive and agreeable?^'' 



It is expected that there will be a lecture at the 

 next meeting. 



Measuring Corn. — To measure corn in the ear 

 in a crib : Multiply the length, width and depth 

 of the bin together, and their product by 4i. Out 

 off the right hand figure,and the remaining figures 

 will be the number of bushels of shelled corn, and 

 the figure at the right, the decimal of a bushel. 



