FARMERS' REGISTER— TILLAGE OF INDIAN CORN. 



459 



gest a more simple one. A frame only five feet 

 liigh, so as not to obstruct the view of the garden ; 

 the posts of wliich sliould be about six inches in 

 diameter, and made of cedar, locust, or some otlier 

 durable timber; and the ends intended to go into 

 the ground, should lie charred and planted ten feet 

 apart. There should be three rails from post to 

 post, one of which shoukl be two feet from the 

 ground; one within a few inches of the top; the 

 other, half way between them. They should be 

 let into the posts and pinned, to prevent their slip- 

 ping out. Good heart cedar poles, about three 

 inches in diameter, will be found very convenient 

 and durable for tlie rails. ^ ines for a frame of 

 this kind, I should suppose, ought to be topped and 

 tied to the post, as soon as they are long enough to 

 reach the upper rail, and all the buds rubbed off of 

 the stem except six, two of which should be left 

 near each place where the rails enter the post, so 

 that the branches from the six buds could be easily 

 trained to the railings on each side of the post; the 

 branches to each rail should be tied in three places 

 — once, half way between the posts, and again, on 

 each side of that, half way between that place and 

 the post. But vines tied in this way, I have found, 

 are apt to keep slipping, until they get to the under 

 side of the rading, alter whicii (he strings alone 

 have to support them ; and not unfrequently, from 

 the weight of the grapes and vines, the strings 

 give way, and the grapes are ruined. I would 

 therefore suggest another way to tie them, which 

 I think preferable to the foregoing, and one that I 

 have never seen recommended. Let each rail have 

 three auger holes bored through it from the top to 

 the bottom, at the same places that they have been 

 directed to be tied; then put the vine over the au- 

 ger hole on tlie upper side, and take a white oak 

 split, or bark of some kind, and run the two ends 

 through the auger hole, one on each side of the 

 vine, and bring the ends up on each side of the 

 rail and tie tliem at top. The middle tie should 

 confine the ends of the two branches, each one of 

 which should pass (he auger hole one eye or bud. 

 This would confine the branches to the top of the 

 rail, and the shoots from the branch would hang on 

 each side of the rail, and balance each other, even 

 if the strings should give way. The ensuing 

 winter, as these branches must be cut off, provision 

 should be made to supply their places, which can 

 be done by leaving in the spring one of the finest 

 shoots on each of the six branches, within an inch 

 or less of the stem, and rubbing off (he other shoots 

 near it. The branches lied to the railing should be 

 cut off within about an inch of the stem ; this will 

 form six spurs about an inch in length, fi-om each 

 of which a shoot should be annually raised to sup- 

 ply the place of the one to be cut olF. The reason 

 why shoots should be raised annually, is because 

 nearly all the fruit is produced from the shoots of 

 the year, thrown forth from the growth of the pre- 

 ceding year — each eye generally producing a shoot 

 with three or four bunches. But should there be 

 any barren shoots, they should be rubijed off. 



1 do not know that it is necessary for me to say 

 any thingon the culture of the vine, as my remarks 

 have been mostly confined to those ingrafted upon 

 the native stock, which will require none, and 

 those planted in a garden, Avhich will of course be 

 cultivated as the garden is. But I will merely 

 state it is the opinion of European writers, that 

 working vines when in bloom is apt to cause tlie 



blight of the blossoms. How far this is applicable 

 to our native grapes, I am not prepared to say ; 

 but I have frequently observed them, not only to 

 shed their bloom, but even their young grapes, in 

 those places where the vines are left so thick as, in 

 a great measure, to exclude the sun and air from 

 the bloom. Decayed vegetable matter, lime, ash- 

 es, &c. are thought valuable manures for vines; 

 but not animal manures, unless applied in small 

 quantities at a time. These are said to cause the 

 grapes to rot. This I believe correct, for I think 

 I have seen this the case in my own garden. 



The longevity of the vine is said to be very 

 great — that of several hundred years — if so, we 

 l)lant not only for ourselves and our children, but 

 tor generations to come. 



I hope you will excuse the length of this com- 

 munication, as the grape is more generally esteem- 

 ed than most any fruit we have, and as yet but lit- 

 tle lias been said in the Farmer's Register on this 

 subject. 



Yours, respectfully, 



EDMUND F. NOEL. 



Oy THE TILLAGE OF INDIAN CORN. 



To the Editor of tlie Faniiejs' Register. 



In the sixth number of the Register, from an 

 essay on corn culture, 1 perceive a request for the 

 information and experience of others on this head, 

 which induces me, though it may appear like pre- 

 sumption in one whose knowledge is so limited, to 

 offer his system, or opinions, as a criterion for oth- 

 ers ; nevertheless, 1 am emboldened to take this 

 course ; first, by a disposition to lend my feeble 

 aid in support of a puidication from which much 

 good has already been derived, and ?io doubt, much 

 more may be anticipated : secondly, as the Al- 

 mighty has created men dependent creatures, and 

 established among them social relations, I deem ic 

 a duty incumbent on every member of the human 

 family, to impart that information to others from 

 which benefit has been derived, and which it is no 

 longer their interest to withhold; for, doubtless, 

 there is scarcely any one, however limited his 

 sphere may be, who, in the course of life, has not 

 stumbled on something original, worthy of being 

 made public. 



When I commenced farming, it was without 

 theory or practice — indeed, like one on the ocean, 

 without quadrant, chart or compass. My farm 

 was the mere skeleton of an originally fertile soil, 

 which had been reduced by the old fashioned three- 

 shift and grazing system, in addition to other bad 

 management. It is very broken, and has a great 

 variety of soil, generally stiff, and a considerable 

 portion of it red clay. The first year, I Iiad no 

 opportunity before Christmas, of making prepara- 

 tion for the succeeding crop : in January, the fal- 

 lowing for corn commenced, with what is called 

 the 1-| D plough, using two or three mules, ac- 

 cording to the difficulty of draught. By the first 

 of April, with "scuffling," and hard driving, I 

 managed to get through with the fallow : the next 

 thing was, to get my corn in the ground, which 

 was commenced by laying off my land one vvay, 

 with the trowel plough, the rows five feet and a 

 half asunder, running E. N. E and W. S. W., 

 which is the course to be preferred, where the land 

 will readily admit of it, for the following reasons — 

 that, in the latter part of spring, and early in the 

 summer, the prevailing winds with us, are from 



