460 FARMERS' REGISTER— LITERARY MARKET OF THE U. STATES. 



the southward and westward, and in the latter j)art 

 of summer, and early in autumn, the heavy oales, 

 from Avhith most evil is to be apprehended, are 

 from the northward and eastward, so that the air 

 has free circulation, and the corn is not as liable 

 to be blown down ; and if it should, one stalk will 

 support the other. Another reason is, that the 

 corn, by affording a partial shade to the roots, is 

 not as much exposed to the scorchin<r heat of a ver- 

 tical sun, which is considered particularly prejudi- 

 cial in dry seasons, as our maize more frequently 

 suffers from that cause than from too much rain. 



The corn was then planted, from eio;hteen inches 

 to three feet, being governed by the strength of 

 the soil, and the distance regulated by the step of 

 those who "dropped," walking directly in the 

 furrow, putting three or four grains in a spot, to. 

 provide against the dejjrcdations of birds and in- 

 sects. Tiie covering was done by other hands, 

 who followed on with hoes. After this operation, 

 as well as replanting and setting, 1 commenced 

 ploughing with the trowel-hoe, but could make but 

 little impression, as the grass had the ascendency, 

 and the ground was hard from frequent rains. In this 

 predicament, I saw only one alternative to save my 

 crop — and being emulous to establish a character 

 among farmers, I determined to persevere, and 

 make an experiment. So the fallow ploughs, with 

 two mules, were put in, making them walk on 

 each side of the corn, running two furrows very 

 close, and six or seven inches deep, throwing the 

 earth from the plants, which left them standing on 

 a narrow ridge, but amply sufficient, in this early 

 stage, to support them. This deep ploughing is 

 given with a view to enable the roots to penetrate 

 freely, and gain nourishment, in addition to bury- 

 ing the grass and weeds so effectually, as not soon 

 again to disturb me. My coin was then thinned 

 and weeded, leaving only one stalk in a place. Af- 

 ter going over my crop with the ploughs, as before 

 described, I then commenced again, and ran four 

 furrows equally deep, throwing the earth to the 

 corn, which formed beds : these were removed by 

 the five-tooth single horse cultivator, going three 

 times within the row, which leaves tlie land level, 

 and well pulverized. This is the last working 

 that is given, with the exception of chopping down 

 the weeds, where they are likely to be troublesome 

 in putting in the wheat. The advantages from this 

 method are very considerable. It injures the 

 ground less perhaps than any other mode, and 

 causes the grain to mature much earlier, so that I 

 am enabled to commence cutting down my corn, 

 to prepare for wheat, by the first of September. 

 This year being fiivorable, there were nearly six 

 hundred barrels of corn made from a field that, 

 •when previously in cultivation, produced but three 

 hundred. The second ot my farming years, the 

 shift for corn was lessened thirty or forty thousand 

 hills, and with the addition of a little marl, and 

 some manure, the product was upwards of five 

 hundred barrels, notwithstanding the drought in 

 the early part of the season. From this field, the 

 previous crop had been two hundred and seventy 

 barrels. 



This system I continued to practice, as the best 

 adapted to my land, and making a vast saving of 

 time and labor, in addition to its being, in my es- 

 timation, the mode by which the greatest product 

 is to be derived : for it is very evident, that when 

 a plant is perpetually harassed by divers plough- 



ings, in different directions, and by cutting the 

 roots, Avhich are intended by nature as feeders, it 

 cannot mature as early, or as abundantly. I do 

 not pretend to claim the palm for the discovery of 

 any new or improved plan of maize culture, but 

 simply to give my views; neither is it my wish to 

 urge them upon others, as every man must be his 

 own judge of what suits him best. 



A YOUNG FARMER. 



THE LITERARY MARKET OF THE UNITED 

 STATES. 



[Tlie facts presented in the following letter from one 

 of the first publishing houses in the United States, must 

 be highly gratifying to cverjr lover of his country. 

 When literary labor is in demand, and well rewarded, 

 every power of intellect will soon be put to work — and 

 the more rapid improvement of the country, and its 

 inhabitants, may be expected as the certain conse- 

 quence.] 

 To the Editor of the Pennsylvania Inquirer. 



Sir — Your correspondent R. calls in question 

 the flict of ij'SOjOOO having ever been paid to au- 

 thors within a year, by any bookselling house in 

 this country. The writer of this has never seen 

 the article to which your correspondent replies, 

 but as the information was derived from him, he 

 holds himself responsible for the correctness of the 

 assertion that we have paid rnore than ^30,000 to 

 authors and editors within a year. 



We have now before us a list of fifty original, 

 twelve translated, and seventeen edited works, pub- 

 lished within five years, (of many of them several 

 editions) ibr which the authors and editors have 

 received from us ,^131,0.37. A little more time 

 for examination would probably increase it to 

 ■9135,000, or an average of JB'27,000 per annum, 

 being rather less than was stated from memory. 

 Our engagements at this moment require us to 

 pay little less than S40,000 to authors, of which 

 nearly .$30,000 will be for two works. 



"^Ve have never considered booksellers entitled 

 to much credit for paying authors liberally, any 

 more than we should be disposed to admit that they 

 were entitled to censure for not jtaying all who 

 think proper to write. The bookseller is only the 

 channel through which the favors of the public are 

 conveyed to the author. If the stream be copious 

 he will be sure to have a full share. If there be 

 no favor on the part of the public, the bookseller 

 who would undertake to act in their slead would 

 speedily be bankrupt. In these days of brisk 

 competition, there is no author whose books will 

 be read, who cannot be paid, and there is no such 

 author who complains. There are, undoubtedly, 

 at all times, men of talent who have reason to com- 

 plain of the reception their works experience, but 

 the fault lies with the public and not the book- 

 seller, although the author is generally disposed to 

 place upon his shoulders a large portion of the 

 blame. We have suggested to some of our au- 

 thors that a very interesting book might be made 

 of the " Calamities of Booksellers," to match 

 D'Israeli's Calamities of Authors. Authors have 

 at all times taken care to let the world know their 

 troubles, so that only one side of the question is 

 known. We are persuaded that there are few 

 booksellers in extensive business who could not 

 contribute a chapter. carey, lea & co. 



