360 



FARMERS' REGISTER— INDIAN CORN— MANURES. 



preniiuin of the Berkshire Agricultural Society. 

 This, however, I state from recollection only, and 

 not from any documents in my possession. 1 have, 

 likewise, the assurance of his neighbors, who pro- 

 fess to know the facts. 



In the communication to which your correspon- 

 dent refers, I there stated, that Jesse Buel, Esq. 

 President of the N. Y. Agricultural Society, rated 

 his corn crop, from the measurement of a part of 

 it, at 103 busiiels to the acre ; and deemed it prac- 

 ticable to obtain 154 bushels to the acre. The 

 above n)casurements aj"e all understood to be ripe 

 and shelled corn. 



I am perfectly aware that these are extraordi- 

 nary statements ; but I have not a doubt of their 

 correctness. I have not, myseli', been able, with 

 the best cultivation that I could apply, though I 

 have never had a very favorable opportunity, to 

 obtain near one hundred bushels; though, in one 

 case, I gathered eighty -six from an acre; but I do 

 not on that account the less doubt that it has been 

 done. 1 know, likewise, very well, the utter in- 

 credulity of many persons on this subject, who 

 say, " they never can, and never will believe it 

 possible to obtain one hundred bushels of Indian 

 corn from an acre of ground." In such cases, I 

 ask them if they would make such statements un- 

 der oath, if they were not true; and if they did 

 make them, whether they would not expect to be 

 believed, or feel that they ought to be believed ; 

 and then, if they are not willing to render equal 

 justice to others, or if they regard themselves as 

 the only honest people in the world.'' 



I consider the crop of Indian corn as of the high- 

 est importance to the country. There is, I believe, 

 no farm, in which an acre of ground can be made 

 to yield so much of food for animal life, as by the 

 produce of Indian corn; and no crop by which, 

 where the olfal is well managed, so much is re- 

 turned to the ground to rejiair the exhaustion, to 

 which the crop has subjected it. Rye and oats are 

 very inferior croi)S, compared with it. Wheat is 

 much more precarious ; and with good cultivation 

 we may reasonably calculate upon two bushels of 

 corn to one of wheat. The superior value of corn 

 fodder, where it is well sa\ ed, is, in many cases, a 

 full equivalent for the extra expense of cultivation. 



The average amount of lliis crop, even on the 

 rich alluvians of the Connecticut, is, I apprehend, 

 not more than forty bushels to the acre; and 

 throughout the state of JNIassachusctts, it does not 

 exceed thirty. It is my opinion, that not one fifth 

 of the extent of land is devoted to this cultivation, 

 which might be advantageously applied. Many a 

 farm of one and two hundred acres, has, perhaps, 

 a patch of Indian corn of from four to six acres. 

 This is nothing, and scarcely deserves the name of 

 farming. 



The culture of this crop admits, certainly, of 

 very important improvements. The great things 

 which have been done, show us what may be done ; 

 and present the most emphatical encouragement to 

 experiment and enterprise. I have seen fine crops 

 of this vegetable growing in (hose j)arts of New- 

 Jersey through which I have passed, and the soil 

 seemed to me particularly favorable (o its culture. 

 Indian corn will bear to be cultivated longer in 

 succession, on the same land, than almost any other 

 crop; but its productiveness would be greatly fa- 

 vored by a judicious rotation. It is almost the 

 only crop wliich cannot be too highly manured; 



and lands of a warm aspect, and which have a 

 large pro])ortion of siliceous sand, intermixed with 

 loam, are peculiarly favorable to its growth. Th6 

 durability of the grain is greatly in its favor; as, 

 if well saved and housed, it may be kept in our 

 climate lor an indefinite period, without injury or 

 deterioration; and the farmer may always regard 

 it as having a cash value. When pork is worth 

 six cents per pound, corn may fairly be considered 

 as worth from seventy to seventy-five cents per 

 bushel, provided the animals to be fatted are of a 

 healthy and thrifty kind, and the corn is applied in 

 (he best form, and with proper economy. Its va- 

 rious important uses are too faniiliar to require re- 

 mark. It is, in truth to l)e considered as the gold 

 dust of a country, where it is capable of being 

 abundantly produced. Yours respectfully, 



HENRY C0I.,M;AK. 



MANURES. 



From the Genesee Farmer, 



We have uniformly recommended, (hat dung' 

 should be ploughed in, and not applied as a top- 

 dressing, to the surface. This has been said in re- 

 gard to long or unfermenfed dung, in which state 

 we have considered it far most beneficial for the 

 farmer to apply it. And the reasons are these : 

 The gases which are evolved by fermentation, and 

 which constitute a food for plants, are specifically 

 lighter than the atmosphere, and consequently es- 

 cape, and are lost, if the fermentation takes place 

 upon the surface; but are<irrested by the soil, and 

 fed to the crop, if the fermentation lakes place un- 

 der the soil. Besides, the heat generated by the 

 process, warms the recumbent soil, and renders it 

 more pervious to heat and moisture. But these 

 reasons do not apply to manure upon which fer- 

 mentation has exhausted its powers. This lias lost 

 its gases, and its fertilizing properties consist of 

 ponderous substances, whicli have a tendency to 

 settle, and which the rains carry info the soil. To 

 bury these below the range of the roots, would 

 afford very little benefit to the crop. Rotted 

 dung, tiierefore, may be beneficially applied to the 

 surface, like lime, or concentrated manure, and 

 slightly buried with the harrow. Upon winter 

 crops, and a clay soil, rotted dung, superficially 

 buried, serves often to protect grain from" the se- 

 verity of the weather, and to give it a vigorous 

 start in spring. Nor is there any sensible loss, 

 when dung has rotted in the yard, in applying it 

 as a top dressing to grass grounds, particularly i» 

 autumn. B. 



CONCENTRATED MANURES. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 It is a term we apply to animal substances ge- 

 nerally, and particularly to bones, horns, fleshings, 

 &,c., which are applied to the soil. Although lit- 

 tle known or appreciated among our farmers, these 

 materials, particularly the first, has become an ar- 

 ticle of importance in British husbandry. Bones 

 are not only transportetl from the European, but 

 from the American continent, to the British Isles, 

 to fertilize their fields. Numerous mills have 

 been erected there for breaking and grinding 

 them ; and a mill for this purpose has recently 

 been put in operation upon Long-Island, with a 

 fair prospectj as the proprietor informs us, of a 



