34-2 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



APRIL HG, 1813. 



ANn HORTICULTURAL RRG15TER. 



Boston, Wednesday, April 26, 3843. 



CORN. 



Tliis crop wc tliink better of, compiiratively, than do 

 most fiirniers. It is said in our hearing almost every 

 week, that farmers cannot afl'ord to raise corn : that it is 

 cheaper for thcrn to buy this, and raise other crops. We 

 .Tre not able from CTprrience, observntiiin, or any fair 

 balancing of costs and value, lo find any one of the 

 common productions of the farm, (hay excepted,) that is 

 more profitable than corn. We know very well that 

 the ground for this crop should be in good tilth, and 

 that it wants a good dressing of manure. Suppose that 

 it shall take $30 worth of manure per acre, and that 

 all the labor upon the acre for the season shall cost $20, 

 and that the interLSt upon the land shall be $5. Tiiese 

 sums give $55 as the co.st. Such art acre may be ex- 

 pected to yield 45 bushels of corn, and givo stover that 

 is equal in value to one ton of good hay, or lo be worth 

 $12. Let us charge $15, or one half of the cost of the 

 manure, to future crops, and we reduce expenses to $40. 

 Then if we take from this the twelve dollars' worth of 

 stover, the 45 bushels of corn cost $28. Or the corn 

 costs 62 cents per bu.sliel. Can the coin be bought for 

 less than this ? You may buy it in the city for 55 or 

 60 cents — but you then buy flat corn — less in weight 

 than that which you raise, by 4 or 5 lbs. per bushel, and 

 not quite as good, pound fur pound. Also, it vjiii cost 

 you three, four, five or six cents per bushel, to transport 

 the corn from the city to your home. 



With such views as produce these statements, we of 

 (fourse must advise farmers to raise as much corn as 

 they intend to consume on their own farms. We have 

 found this crop one of the surest, and one which, if it 

 gives no great profit, yet pays for its cost. 



We made hay an exception when we called corn as 

 profitable as any one of the common crops. We are 

 willing to leave it as an exception. But we are not sat- 

 isfied that hay, excepting what grows upon strong, moist 

 lands, pays better than corn. Yuu v\ill not usually get 

 more than a ton and an half per acre, on the average, 

 for three years after you lay down your lands lo grass, 

 unless you apply top-dressiogs. If then you allow one- 

 fourih of th« labor expended upon the crop, in breaking 

 up and tilling the soil, to be charged lo the grass crops — 

 if you charge them with half the manure — and charge 

 the $5 yearly for interest — and charge $3 for grass seed, 

 ynu will find that for the three years, the grass when 

 standing is to cost you $38. If your hay is to be cured 

 bright and fit for market, the expense < f this will be not 

 less than $i per acre. The whole expense of the hny 

 crop then, when put into your barn, is about $17 per year 

 on the acre, for each of the three years. If you keep 

 your land in grass longer than this, it will require top- 

 dressings, and the expense of the crop will be kept up. 

 The marketing ol the hay will cost you .$2 per ton 

 generally, or 3 dollars on the acre. This brings the 

 whole cost of the hay at $20 per acre, or $20 for a ton 

 and an half. The rate at which hay has sold for the 

 last year or two, therefore only a little more than pays 

 the cos(, even upon the supposition that the land is to 

 average one and an half ton per acre for three years, 

 without top-dressing. This it will oftener fail lo do 

 than the well tilled acre will to give 45 bushels of corn. 

 Hay has been the best crop, and perhaps is so now — the 

 belief of this is general — and most persons who can, arc 

 putting their lands to grass. The probable consequence 

 will be a fall in the price of hay for a few years. 



But corn is our subject. Where land is in good lilthi 

 this does well either upon ihe sod or upon land that 

 has been one year or more planted to potatoes or sowed 

 to grain. With us, it has usually done better upon the 

 sod than upon old ground. 'But with many it is other- 

 wise. We have found no ditference between thit upon 

 sod inverted in the autunjn and that plowed in the 

 spring. 



The manun; for iliis crop should be spread broadcast 

 and well harrowed or plowed in. Turning Iho manure 

 down under the sod, does well upon some warm lands 

 with a Jirm and warm subsoil. But generally it is bel- 

 ler upon the furrcjw. When |)lowed into old ground, 

 the manure is not generally buried in the bottom of the 

 furrow, but it is placed in vertical layers between Ihe 

 furrows. This is a fiivorcible position for it. We should 

 care but little whether it was worked in in this way, or 

 well harrowed in. Before corn is planted, the ground 

 should be well pulverized. After once plowing, this is 

 best effected by the roller and harrow. We have no 

 other implement by which we c.in do so much in an 

 hour to make an acre mellow and to pulverize it, as the 

 roller. This should be followed by the harrow, and the 

 harrow should be well loaded. 



We have less faith in the importance of giving corn 

 a sfttr(, by pulling some manure in the hill, than most 

 farmers possess. For we never could fee that manure 

 in the hill hastens its ripening a single day. It does 

 hasten the growth in June, but works against it in the 

 hot dry weather of the last of July and the first of Au- 

 gust. At least, it has so worked when we have tried 

 the two methods on the same field The seasons in 

 which we gel the largest growth of corn, are those in 

 which it makes a rather slow growth in June. 



Time of Planting. — As early as the ground is warm 

 and dry enough, is best. 'I'he first week of Maj-, in 

 most seasons, wo prefer — though any part of the month 

 of May will do. Mr Young, of Kentucky, who has sur- 

 passed all others in corn growing, having obtained more 

 than 190 bushels per acre, says, if we remember correct- 

 ly, that he will defy any man to raise a very large crop 

 of corn, if he does not plant early and plant deej). He 

 plants from 4 to G inches, and says he greatly prefers 

 the latter depth. We think that too deep for New Eng 

 land, but early and deep planting are generally favora- 

 ble to the crop. 



Distance of Ike Rows. — Where land is well manured, 

 we have found about three feet three inches apart, each 

 way, and five stalks to the hill, gives about the proper 

 quantity. This gives about 20,000 stalks per acre. 

 This we have found a good number. With less, the 

 ears will be larger, but not the number of bushels. 

 Whether it be best in drills or hills, we do not know. 

 Our own course has been to plant in hills; but many, 

 whose opinions are valuable, prefer diills. 



Variety —We last year tried five varieties in the same 

 field, and all were treated alike. Among them, the 

 Highgate was much the most productive, and was not 

 late. A pearl-colored corn from the borders of Rhode 

 I.^land, and the Hartwell, came next, and yielded about 

 alike. The Hartwell was the earliest of the two. A 

 very early corn from the north part of Essex county, we 

 have no fault III find with, except that it did not yield 

 enough. The famous Brown corn did less well than 

 either of the others We are unwilling to condemn it 

 upon one trial ; but we had less corn by ten bushels on 

 a half acre of this, than on the adjoining half acre of 

 Highgate. This Highgate corn, so called by some one 

 who obtained the variety from the town of Highgate, 

 Vt., is a yellow eight-rowed corn, of large kernel, with 

 a good sized stalk, and gives a large crop of both stalks 

 and corn. We obtained C7 bushels per acre last year. 



As to the exhaustion of the scil where corn grow 

 we have no means of judging but by observation. W 

 think it less exhausting than potatoes or oats. We hai 

 analysis of the stalks of corn, and therefore cannot te 

 what they extract from the soil. Dr. Dana's analysis! 

 the corn itself, will make a crop of 80U0 lbs., or a litti 

 over 50 bushels, take from the soil — 



Potash, 6 



Soda, • 7.5 



Silex, 13. 



Phosphoric acid, 6.6 



The exhaustion by the corn itself, apparently woul 



not be very great. But it does not follow from this tin 



the stalks are not great exhausters. 



THE PLUM— CURCULIO. 



We have been informed upon very good authorii 

 that in one nursery the plum has been saved by sprini 

 ling salt around the tree as far as the branches extern 

 and thick enough to make the surface white, or decide! 

 ly whitish. This must be done while the tree is i 

 blossom, or while the fruit is setting. If this will prov 

 efl'ectual, it must be by destroying the insects or grul 

 while in the ground, or just as they are ready to emerg 

 The experiment is one that can be tried with great coi 

 venience, and with very little risk — for the plum tree 

 usually benefited by the application of salt. Some ( 

 the most fruitful plum trees of this vicinity are in so 

 that was once salt Diarsh. 



SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 

 From Augusia, Geo. we have received the first fot 

 Nos. of n new agricultural paper with the above tille- 

 published semi-monthly by fJ. W. & W.S.Jones,! 

 $1 per year in advance. Thus far they have done thui 

 work well, anrl they give promise of a useful paper. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



The communications upon the ■" Silk Business," an 

 " Poudrette," as likewise the Premium List of th 

 Rhode Island Agricultural Society, we are obliged t 

 defer till next week. 



DRILL PLANTING. 



A correspondent of the Farmer's Register sajs : " B 

 drill planting, much, 1 think, is gained. We have by ii 

 more than double the number of plants that the usua 

 method allows in safety, and leaving often two togethei 

 when they are nearly equal and flourishing, the distan 

 ces named, (lines 4 1-2 feet apart, corn dropped 10 incli 

 es apart,) will afford eight or ten thousand plants to ill 

 acre, and under the arrangement of the rows north am 

 south, and at least four feet apart, a sufficiency of ai 

 and light is secured. My crops have not suffered froii 

 drought as much as my neighbors', which I altributi 

 chiefly lo the frequent use of the cultivator, preservin( 

 a friable, loose surface, and thus allowing the entranceo 

 the fermentative agents — heat, air, and moisture. 



Undor the circumstances recited, my crops have reach 

 ed, in diflerent seasons, one hundred bushels shellei 

 corn on one acre, and four hundred and fifty on fiv! 

 acres, while my neighbors, under different management 

 have seldom obtained more than half those ratios." 



The writer plants his corn on inverted sward, turnei 

 down the preceding autumn ; with no after applicatiur 

 of manure. 



Thou mayst be sure that he who in private will lell 

 thee of thy faults, is thy friend, fiir he adventures thy 

 dislike, and doth hazard ihy hatred. — Raleigh. 



