PRACTICAL FARMER. 



29 



HOEINO CORIf. 



The object of hoeing and working tbe soil 

 about corn, are, first, to destroy all weeds; and 

 secondly, to loosen tlie soil at the surface, that it 

 may tlie more readi'y absorb dews and rain which 

 fall upon it, and prevent the evaporation of mois- 

 ture, wliich takes | lace iijuoli sooner where the 

 soil is hard, than where it is kept loose and mel- 

 low. Tlie practice so prevalent, of de p cultiva- 

 tion by the ], lough between rows of coin is not to 

 be recommended. If the ground has been prop- 

 erly pre{)ared before planting, when not too wet, 

 it will not need this additional loosening. After 

 the corn has arrived at the usual size for hoeing, 

 the soil should only be disturbed at the surface. 

 For as the plants increase in size, they send out 

 long fibrous thread-like roots in at! direciioiis, 

 which branch every way and run all over the 

 ground ; and it is tliroiigh these that they receive 

 a large portion of their nourishment. To break 

 or injure these would therefore materially retard 

 the growth of the plants by cutting off their accus- 

 tomed supply of food. And yet surprising as it 

 may seem, a notion is very prevalent, that it is 

 serviceable to break tiie roots of corn. But what 

 should we think of such reasoning as this, were it 

 applied to animals What should we think if it 

 were declared to be serviceable to cattle to de- 

 prive them of their supply of food ? Or as a wri- 

 ter somewhere asks, what would be thought of 

 the reason of a man, who should declare it as his 

 opinion, and practically enforce it, that the best 

 way to fatten a bullock, is to wound his tongue, 

 break his teeth and batter his jaws, whenever 

 he reached forward his head for food ? Why then 

 treat plants, which, as much as animals require 

 their proper nourishment, in the same way? 



Hilling corn we would also disapprove, although 

 it is very commonly practised. Not unfrequently 

 in performing this operation, all the loose mellow 

 earth is scraped away from between the rows and 

 heaped up round the plants, forming a sort of roof 

 about them, throwing off the rain, which runs 

 down into the hard soil thus laid bare at the bot- 

 tom of the furrows, which the first dry weather 

 bakes to the last degree of hardness, so that the 

 roots can receive no moisture here, and little with- 

 in these artificial pyramids. A reason is assigned 

 in favor of hilling, — that it makes the corn stand 

 ^firmer and more erect, and is less liable to be bro- 

 ken down by the wind. This may be the case 

 when the j[)lants are small and do not need any 

 such help; but when they attain a height of sev- 

 eral feet and are loaded with leaves and ears, it 

 must be evident that a little loose earth piled about 

 the roots is totally insufiicient for such a purpt)se. 

 It is the strong bracing roots which radiate from 

 the stock which are to support it there ; and to 

 bury these roots deep under the surface while 



they are growing, and thus shut out from them 

 both heat and air, and render them weak and ten- 

 der would only help to bring about the very thing 

 we wish to prevent. 



It is important to farmers that this subject be 

 well understood; for a little knowledge may save 

 many weary steps, and be the tneans of an abun- 

 dant crop in the bargain. But if any farmers doubt 

 the accuracy of our reasoning, we would request 

 them to test it by experiment ; by ploughing'and 

 hilling high one part of their corn, and using the 

 cultivator and applying the same amount of labor 

 in mellowing the flat surface of the other ; and 

 then measure the results. — Yankee Far. 



Wool. — In many sections of our State, Agri- 

 culturists fiie turning tlicir Bcrio\ia nttciition to the 



growing of Wool, with a certain prospect of a fair 

 remuneration for the enterprise. It has been 

 proved by experience that in this country, flocks 

 of sheep can be doubled in a short period of time, 

 and no doubt remains that eventually more Wool 

 will be produced than will suffice for our own 

 consumption. In 1831, the number of Sheep in 

 the United States was estimated at twenty millions. 

 Since that period the increase has been rapid, and 

 the number at present may with safety be set 

 down at thirty millions, producing at a fair calcu- 

 lation, one hundred and eight millions of pounds 

 of washed wool. The price of wool has ranged, 

 and is at present high, so that estimating the new 

 clip at an average of 43 cents per pound, the total 

 value will amount to $43,200,000. In 1830, the 

 number of sheep raised in Great Britain, was thir- 

 tytwo millions, producing one hundred and sixty 

 millions of lbs. of wool. In France in 1828, there 

 were thirtytwo millions of sheep, which produced 

 upwards of one hundred millions of lbs. of wash- 

 ed wool. In Prussia in 1828; the number of sheep 

 amounted to 11,606,200, of which, upwards of 

 1,734,000, were merinos. The number of sheep 

 in the state of New York, at present, is computed 

 at full five millions ; in Pennsylvania, three and a 

 half millions, and in Vermont, one million one 

 hundred and fifty thousand. — Phil. Com. List. 



Interesting ExpERtMENT. — A bar of heated 

 iron to whiteness, held against a strong current 

 of air from the blowing apparatus of u forge, in- 

 stead of cooling, as might have been expected, 

 burned brilliantly, throwing off scintillations in 

 every directions. The editor of the Scientific 

 Tracts who relates the account, does not undertake 

 to account for it : but it is evident that the addi- 

 tional oxygen thus fiirced upon the already ignit- 

 ed metal, })romoted the continuance of the com- 

 bustion, chemically, in a much greater degree 

 than its cooling power retarded it. — . Boston Me- 

 chanic. 



