DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. III. 



SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1851. 



NO. 19. 



RAYNOLDS & NOURSE, 



Proprietors. 



OFFICE, QUINCY HALL, BOSTON. 



S. W. COLE, Editor. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE CORN CROP. 



There are two modes of managing the corn 

 crop. One is the old mode of cutting the top stalks 

 and securing them, and when the corn is well 

 ripened, gathering the ears or cutting up the but 

 stalks with the corn. The other mode is a modern 

 practice, which is to cut the whole up at the ground 

 and stook it, or set it up against a wall or fence. 

 Some farmers are so well pleased with the 

 new mode that they practice it invariably. We 

 prefer the new mode, as we think it affords several 

 important advantages, unless the crop is extreme- 

 ly heavy and difficult to manage in this way. If 

 the corn is planted thick, and there is fifty or sixty 

 bushels to the acre, it may be conveniently secured 

 the new way. This new method affords the follow- 

 ing advantages. The whole fodder, buts, tops and 

 husks, are secured in season. The corn may be 

 conveniently moved from the land if necessary, af- 

 foiding the opportunity for the growth of turnips, 

 sowing grass, or preparing the land for future 

 crops. The corn may be moVed from one field to 

 another when it becomes necessary to turn in cat- 

 tle; it may also be moved to a place of safety, to 

 secure it from depredators. This new mode costs 

 much less labor than the old, which is a great ad- 

 vantage, as economy in farming is an important 

 point. We contend that when the corn is suffi- 

 ciently forward to cut the top stalks without inju- 

 ry, it may be cut up at the ground without injury. 

 When a plant can be mutilated without detriment 

 to the grain, it may be cut up at the root without 

 injury; therefore corn may be cut up at the ground 

 as early as the top stalks may be cut. 



In numerous cases the top stalks are cut too ear- 

 ly, which causes a reduction in grain; and we have 

 no doubt that some farmers who follow the new- 

 mode of harvesting cut their corn too early. We 

 advise farmers to make experiments when they cut 

 their top stalks by leaving a few rows uncut, and 

 compare the crop on those rows with that of 

 the same number of contiguous rows whicl 



the tops have been cut at the usual time. — 

 We also advise those who follow the new mode 

 to leave some rows uncut for comparison. These 

 experiments will be very important, as they will 

 show the proper time for cutting the top stalks or 

 cutting up the whole crop. Some farmers who have 

 made experiments have found a loss of ten or fifteen 

 percent, in thecrop of corn, by cutting the top stalks 

 at the time they usually practice. This loss in 

 the grain was greater than the value of the top 

 stalks, and there may be losses equally great by 

 the new mode in cutting too early. 



DIGGING POTATOES. 



The sooner potatoes are dug, after they are ripe, 

 when the weather is fair, and the ground dry, the 

 less liable they are to rot. After digging, let them 

 lie on the surface till thoroughly dry, then secure 

 them in cellars, sheds or barns, as may be deemed 

 best; put them in broad shallow bins that they may 

 be exposed to the air to prevent heating, and con- 

 venient for inspection. When potatoes are inclined 

 to rot after being put in the cellar, the rot may be 

 checked, in some measure, by strewing lime or 

 plaster among them. Dr. Hayes's plan of fuma- 

 gating with brimstone does not succeed well. The 

 potato rot prevails to a considerable extent in tome 

 sections, and to a moderate or small extent in oth- 

 ers; and we have no doubt that if we have abun- 

 dance of lain and warm weather, which has a ten- 

 dency to develope the disease, that it will prevail 

 to a great extent, as in previous years. Therefore 

 farmers should take every possible precaution to 

 guard against it. Numerous cases have occurred 

 where potatoes have been dug while the ground 

 and the vveather were dry, previous to heavy 

 rains, and they have kept well; while others in 

 the same piece dug later in the season after wet 

 weather, have nearly all rotted, either in the 

 ground or after being put in the cellar. And we 

 have had several instances of this kind in our own 

 expeii^nce. 



