r 11 A t t C A L F A R M K R , 



157 



land, and it was llien woll cdvcrcd under afiin'fiw 

 "of five or six inches deep. Eiglit loads of lino 

 uiaui5re, coin])Osed chiefly of earth tliat had been 

 deposited in a low sjjot in the yard the prct'eding 

 snmmer, were then spread upon the land, when it 

 was liarrowed with a light seed harrow, till tlie 

 siu-fncB of the ground was well pulverized and 

 the fine manure was mixed, iUid partly covered 

 with the earth. The ground was planted on the 

 13th of May, in rows of three and a half feet asun- 

 der, with a space of two feet between the hills. 

 The seed was soaked about 12 hours in warm wa- 

 ter, mixed wfth plaster, planted five kernels in a 

 hill, and at the first hoeing, thinned out, so as to 

 leave but three stalks standing in each hill. The 

 corn was hoed three tinges, and the last hoeing was 

 (lerformed early, about the 25th of June, some . 

 days before the corn began to show its tassels. I 

 have long been ol'the o[)inion, that cutting or dis- 

 turbing the fibrous roots just before the corn is 

 about to set for ears, is injurious to the crop, as it 

 impairs its capacity of imbibing nourishment at a 

 time when it is most essential. 



The cultivator was used at each hoeing, an<l tiie 

 old practice of hilling up the corn at t!ie last hoe- 

 ing was dis])ensed with. The stalks were cut 

 early in Seiitember, but not until they had gener- 

 i\Uy began to change their color, nor until many 

 of the ears were fully ripe. The corn was not 

 picked till the 30th Sept. and between that and 

 the 5th of October was. husked out and cribbed. 

 From this acre and twelve rods of land, were 

 gathered 217 bushels of ears of good sound corn 

 and seven bushels of ears of poor corn, making 

 224 bushels in the whole. Had I anticipated so 

 large a product, I would have preserved and 

 threshed it by itself, in order to ascertain the 

 exact quantity of shelled corn. But a part of it 

 was husked and mixed with other corn before 

 my curiosity to know the quantity was excited. 

 From the experiments which I have made, I am 

 satisfied that there u^ere, at the time of husking, 

 about half as many bushels of corn as there were 

 of ears. 



My crop suflered a considerable diminution 

 from two causes. A little before the time for the 

 first hoeing, I found that my neighbor's poultry 

 had been very busy in the field, anrl had actually 

 scratched and pulled up at least one fourth of the 

 piece. This had to be planted over the second 

 time, and was nmch less productive than the first 

 planting. 



While the corn was in the milk, a violent gust 

 of wind passed over the field, and laid the whole 

 of it ahnost prostrate. Many stalks were broken 

 off and never I'ose again. But for these two 

 causes, there would have been a considerable 

 increase in the product, and an almost total ab- 



straction of tlie jjoor corn. The green and mouldy 

 ears were wholly attributable to these causes, and 

 without them the poor corn would scarcely have 

 ext:eeded one per cent. 



I am, very respectfully, yours, &c. 



Samuel Latuhop. 

 JVcst Springjield, Jan. 1, 1836. 



P. S. — Can you inform me, whether the seed 

 of Lucerne, sown upon wheat ground in the 

 spring of the year, will take as well as clover. 



By the Editor. — Lucerne is genera'ly, and we 

 beiieve most advantageously sown in the spring, 

 after the ground has acquired a degree of warmth 

 friendly to vegetation, or a!)OUt the middle of May. 

 In England, the practice recommended by Arthur 

 Young, Loudon, and other writers, is to sow oftis 

 or harhi) with the grass seed, and none of their 

 cultivators, so far as we have seen, mention wheat 

 as an accom; anying crop with lucerne. But, per- 

 haps, wheat would answer well for that purpose. 

 VVe sliould be liajipy to have the 0])inion of prac- 

 tical farmers, who have succeeded in raising lu- 

 ceine, on this point. 



The most usual causes of failure in attempting 

 to cultivate lucerne have been the want of a suffi- 

 cient quantity of seed, and the sujothering and 

 starving of the young jjlants by weeds. After the* 

 lucerne has taken [lossession of the soil, it be- 

 comes a hardy (ilant, and will maintain itself in 

 s])ite of intruders ; but wiiile young it is tender, 

 and if the s(jil in which it is growing is infested 

 witli weeds, or vvitii their seeds it will require as 

 much care in their extirpation as a garden crop. 

 In England it is often sown in drills, and cultiva- 

 ted with the hoe, and not urifreijuent'y broad cast, 

 without any other kind of seed to check or inter- 

 fere with its growth. 



Sheep and Wool. — Sheep's woo! is greatly 

 modified by the breeding of the animal ; for it is 

 a coarse hairy substance, mixed with a soft down, 

 close to the skin, on the wild Argali, to which 

 genus all the varieties of the domestic siieep have 

 been traced. That animal, and others with a sim- 

 ilar coat, when placed in a temj)erate climate, 

 under the fostering care of man, lose their long 

 lank hair, and retain their soft wool. Jt has been 

 ascertained that the female has more influence 

 than the male on the form of an animal ; but that 

 tlie male in sheej), in particular, gives the peculiar 

 character to the fleece. 



The produce of a breed from a coarse-wooled 

 ewe and a fine-wooled ram, will give a fleece 

 approaching half-way to that of the male ; and a 

 breed from this progeny with a fine-wooled ram 

 will yield a fleece differing l)y only one fourth 

 from that of the sire ; by proceeding in the oppo- 



