50 



FARMERS' REGISTER— EARLY GATHERING OF CORN, &c. 



earth, and put up in shocks, to remain on the tield 

 until wheat sowing is done, and the corn is dry 

 enougli to put away in houses. The manner in which 

 corn is shocked is varied much by ditTerent farmers ; 

 but in every way there is much labor lost by twice 

 moving the corn and stalks — and the wheat is 

 more or less injured by the final carting away of 

 both. To avoid these disadvantages, I have tried 

 gathering the corn before sowing wheat, and dry- 

 ing it in covered and ventilated pens, which plan, 

 I have been informed has been long practised to 

 some extent in Nottoway. Tlie blade Ibdder and 

 tops of corn are usually secured in stacks (or 

 might be) before the 1st of October, and on good 

 and warm soils, still earlier. It is seldom safe in 

 eastern Virginia, to sow wheat before the lOtli of 

 October, on account of the Hessian fly ; and this 

 interval of ten days or thereabout, may be used 

 for the operation I propose. But before making 

 more general observations, I will give the details 

 of my experiments, and in substance, as noted in 

 my memorandum book at the several times. 



EXPERIMETVT I. 



September 22d, 1832. Begqn to gather the corn 

 from a field of 18 acres, which tlie after measure- 

 ment showed to have produced 88, barrels. The 

 land was unequal in quality, and of course so v.as 

 the corn in maturing. The ears were carted 

 home, shucked, and put up in pens in the follow- 

 ing manner : On three sleepers, or logs of six to 

 eight inches through, laid parallel on the ground, 

 common fence rails were laid across, so as to form 

 a floor. The pen was built on this floor of similar 

 rails, forming a square of nine feet inside mea- 

 sure ; having a flue (a) of four inches through 

 the pen, made by laying two other rails at that 

 distance apart, through the middle. Tlie flue, to- 



( I gether Avith the rails forming it, 



"took up near a foot of the space 

 W'ithin the pen, so that the two 

 -partitions (6 and c) intended to 

 .contain the corn, were each nine 

 by four feet. The side rails were 

 notched where they crossed, so as 



j ~" j to lie close enough to prevent the 

 ears passing between. This trouble was after- 

 wards found to be not only useless but injurious — 

 as the laborers were so much on tlie corn as to 

 shake down the ears closer than they ought to lie. 

 As fast as three ov four rails w^ere put up on each 

 side, the spaces were filled with ears. The corn 

 was 9^ feet high on the 25th, when the pen was 

 completed, and covered with corn stalks a foot 

 thick, and sloping enough to pass off the rain. — 

 It held 56 barrels of corn, or twice that bulk in 

 ears. The gathering and shucking were conti- 

 nued, and a second pen of like dimensions v,'as 

 finished on the 27th, and a third on the 1st of Octo- 

 ber. The stalks had been carted off the field, and 

 many of them to the hog pen, as all that were 

 green were eaten by the hogs. 



The stacking of my top "fodder that year was 

 begun the 12th of September, from Avhich it may 

 be inferred that the corn must have ripened more 

 early than usual. From the 21st of September, 

 the weather was uncommonly cool, and on the 1st 

 of October there was white frost. 



October 7th. Discovered that some of tlie corn 

 in the oldest pen was mouldy, and believing that 

 j».ll was in danger, the two first pens were hastily 



pulled down, and the corn sorted and spread over 

 vacant floors. There is no statement of the amount 

 of damaged corn, nor does my memory supply the 

 omission : but it was so much less than was ex- 

 pected, that the third pen was allowed to stand 

 until the 22d of November, when it was housed, 

 and found to be perfectly sound, with the excep- 

 tion of 20 to 50 ears. This was the latest gather- 

 ed, and from better land, and therefore was the 

 dry est corn Avhen penned. 



The loss sustained from this experiment was 

 apparently caused by not being sufficiently care- 

 ful in separating the unripe ears. 



EXPERIMENT II. 



1824. A pen of like size and construction was 

 filled from a few acres of rich bottom land, and 

 some adjacent high land. At what precise time 

 it was done was not noted, as I was absent on a 

 journey : but it was believed to have been in the 

 last days of September. This remained in the 

 pen until nearly tlic last of December, and proved 

 to be as sound and glry as any corn whatever. 



EXPERIMEXT III. 



Though this plan greatly lessens the whole la- 

 bor of harvesting corn, removing stalks, and sow- 

 ing wheat, still it requires more v/ork, (or spare 

 hands,) during the time of the operation — and suf- 

 ficient time and opportunity were not again offered 

 for the purpose until 1832. 



Every corn grower in lower Virginia must re- 

 member how unusually late the crop was in ripen- 

 ing in 1832. The grain continued soft and milky 

 so long, that the fodder could not be stiipped with- 

 in twelve days of the usual time. Indeed, if we 

 had waited until all the shucks had lost their green 

 color, and no milk remained in the grain, the fod- 

 der -would have been so dried as not to be worth 

 gathering. Still, my crop being very small for 

 the labor employed, I was enabled to secure all the 

 Ibdder by the last day of September. 



Having previously decided to adopt this plan of 

 early gathering this year, the gathering was com- 

 menced on the 4th of October, and contmued thro' 

 the 5th. The part to be gathered Avas selected, 

 because it contained seven or eight acres of the 

 poorest land in the field, Avhicli it Avas desirable to 

 aid Avith manure, before soAvmg in Avheat — Avithout 

 considering that the poorest land Avould of course 

 have the latest corn. This order so thoughtlessly 

 given, Avas as thoughtlessly obeyed : and on visit- 

 ing the Avork on the 5tli, the damage had been car- 

 ried too far to be entirely remedied. All the ears 

 Avere pulled off — mostly carted to the pens for 

 shucking, and thirty barrels or more sliucked. It 

 Avas obvious that much of the corn (from the poor- 

 est land,) Avas too green and full of sap for ga- 

 thering. Nor could all the green ears be sepa- 

 rated after shucking, as the eye did not discover 

 their condition, and the laborers Avould not exer- 

 cise enough care, nor had they enough judgment to 

 make a proper separation. The quantity shucked too 

 (mostly the night before,) had been throAvn to the 

 heap from Avliere the laborers stood, or distances 

 of five to ten yards. This had necessarily bruis- 

 ed or Avounded some of the grains of many of the 

 sappy and heavy ears — and my former trials had 

 shoANii that tlie grains so Avounded Avould mould or 

 rot, though without that injury the whole ear 

 might have kept sound. This error Avas stopped, 

 and the remaining ears Avere placed in baskets 



