342 



FARMERS* REGISTER— INDIAN CORN. 



rows 4 V or 5 feel apart, running north and south, 

 and crossinp; them with others at such distance, as 

 left 18 to 20 square feet for each stalk of" corn. — 

 Four or five ploughiii<;s witli a trowel plough were 

 given, first in one direction, and tiicn crossing, cut- 

 ting about tliree inches deep, and two, and some- 

 times three hillings with the hand-hoe. This 

 heaping up of the earth around tiie stalk, was done 

 not only to smother the grass, but to support the 

 stalk, and keep it from being levelled by storms, 

 after the ears were formed. According to this 

 plan of cross-ploughing, the furrows were obliged 

 to run down every hill side, ai\d the washing was 

 not much less than upon Taylor's plan. But it 

 impassable gullies were not opened by a single 

 rain, another ploughing speedily followed across, 

 which filled up, and in a measure, concealed the 

 tract worn by tlie water. Thus, though there 

 might be as much loss of soil, it was less percepti- 

 ble; and we were content to be thus reduced gra- 

 dually, from a rich soil, to a barren and naked sub- 

 soil. 



After abandoning Taylor's system, I introduced 

 by degrees, the cultivation which I shall now de- 

 scribe. 



My fields were not grazed, which made them 

 foul, and increased the difficulty of ploughing, al- 

 though poor. The weeds and grass, however, 

 were nearly all dead al ove ground in the winter, 

 and there was almost no living turf, or sward. 



The field was ploughed flat, and four to five in- 

 ches deep, in the winter. In the spring, the rows 

 for planting were marked off very accurately 5^ 

 leet apart one way, and across them at 3r feet. — 

 The seed were planted in the crossings of these flir- 

 rows, and to insure the greater accuracy of posi- 

 tion, very narrow furrows were made. These 

 were marked off, not by a plough and setting poles, 

 as is usual, but by a marker, made like a horse- 

 rake, which made two of the wide rows, or three 

 or four of the narrow ones, al a time. If the land 

 was not soft, and in toleral le filth, these marks 

 would still need opening and straightening with 

 ploughs: but even if that was necessary, there was 

 much time saved in getting rid of the moving of 

 setting-poles. After one straight row was made, 

 for the marker across a field, all the others were 

 made by keeping one of the outer wooden pins, 

 (which were 2 by 4 inches at bottom,) in the out- 

 side mark, and thus tracing as many new lines, as 

 there were other pins in the marker. The rows 

 cannot be kept asstraight as by sighting with poles; 

 but their distance apart is more regular, which is 

 more important. 



For the principal tillage, an implement was used 

 which very much resembled the cultivator, and 

 which will be called by that name, though there 

 was an important difference. My cultivators had 

 6 teeth; each having 3\ inches of cutting edge, 

 which was like the edge of a broad chisel, set ve- 

 ry sloping. The teeth cut so near to each other's 

 tracks, as to leave no unbroken soil or grass be- 

 tween — and their w hole spread was 26 or 28 inches. 

 They swept the whole narrow interval between 

 the corn rows, at one stroke, and the wide, at two. 

 When land is in good tilth and clean, this is an ad- 

 mirable implement to keep it so — but altogether 

 unfit for either hard or foul land. 



The first running of the cultivator was given 

 (the wide way) as soon as required, after the corn 

 came up — and without any of the usual trouble 



and loss of time, that occurs when we use a plough. 

 By running shallow, it only smoothed the surface 

 (and nothing more was wanting, as there was no 

 grass then growing,) and moved so little earth, 

 that the young plants were less covered by very 

 close cutting, than by the plough, with the farthest. 

 In about 10 days from this beginning, (which time 

 would be commonly taken to get through,) these- 

 cond tillage was begun, by running once in the 

 narrow intervals. This required more care, and 

 if any corn had been planted irregularly, the plants 

 would be cut up. The third tillage (wide way) 

 would be finished about the beginning of June — 

 and as it proceeded, the hoes followed to give the 

 very little weeding that this plan required. Of 

 course,fbr replanting, thinning, &c the same trou- 

 ble was necessary as isusuid. But the cultivators 

 trimmed so close to the stalks, and very often threw 

 the pulverized earth against them, that there was 

 sarcely any space left for grass to grow on. — 

 When there was any, it was trimmed away by the 

 hoes ; but no hoe work was done where there was 

 no grass. I have even left out a strip through the 

 Held in whi>.h no hoe was used, and no hand weed- 

 ing performed, and did not perceive that the corn 

 looked worse. But very little lab(M- would have 

 been saved by this omission, and some weeds cer- 

 tainly thereby escaped destruction, and must have 

 injured the c ropand the land. No hilling was per- 

 mitted in any case: and I have never found that 

 my c(jrn was, on that account, more subject to be 

 blown down, or broken off, by high winds. When 

 corn is laid prostrate by wind, in its growing stale, 

 it will rise again and be erect, except some crook 

 near file root. This prostration never happens un- 

 less the earth is saluraled with rain; and then its 

 softness prevents the hill being an obstacle to the 

 falling of the stalk, though it will be to its rising 

 again, by the earth closing around and hardening, 

 before the sun can raise the corn. The breaking 

 of stalks is most apt to hapi)en when the earth is 

 too dry to yield — and the hill may by its resistance, 

 cause the more to break. However, this I arif 

 sure of — that no injury has been sustained by ceas- 

 insT to hill the corn. 



The fourth ploughing wa? given in the early 

 part of June, and was the only deep one. Trowel 

 ploughs were used, running thrice in the narrow in- 

 tervals, and cutting the earth thoroughly and close 

 to the corn, 4 or 5 inches deep. Sometimes a coul- 

 ter was used instead, (for experiment,) cutting 7 

 inches deep, and also going thrice in a row. From 

 this I expected great benef]f,by its enabling the 

 earth to absorb so muc h rain, and preventing after 

 injury from drought ; but no difference was seen, 

 and the coultering, being very heavy labor, was 

 abandoned. Afterwards the cultivators again 

 passed over the w ide way, making the 5th horse- 

 hoeing— and sometimes, w here the corn was very 

 small and back ward, a sixth was given. The hand 

 hoes again followed the last horse work, and chop- 

 ped out any grass or young bushes that were found; 

 and there was but little for them to do, if the 

 ploughing had been well executed. If the tillage 

 was more advanced than has been staled, the 4th 

 might be also with the cultivator, and the 5th with 

 the pU ugh ; but the last wasalways given m June, 

 and Ibllowed by the last shallow work of the culti- 

 vator. 



It required a good horse to draw these cultivators 

 — and with such a one, they would go over 6 acres 



