5C0 



FARMERS' REGISTER— CULTIVATING CORN. 



What credit would not the government of 

 France obtain, by promoting so great an improve- 

 ment? 



What foreign possession could be put in compe- 

 tition with such an acquisition ; the protection of 

 which would not occasion any expense, — which 

 could not be conquered by any foreign enemy ,-- 

 which would give employment, and subsistence, to 

 such multitudes of valuable subjects, and which 

 would also be the means of rendering France in- 

 dependent of other countries for grain? 

 133. George Street, Edinburgh, } 

 15th April, 1833. 3 



[The pamphlet from which the foregoing article is 

 copied, was sent from Europe to our correspondent G. 

 W. F. by its philanthropic author, and has on it the fol- 

 lowing question in his hand writing: "Could not the 

 enclosed hints be of use in America?" In one point, if 

 no more, they certainly may, by the annunciation from 

 such high authority that the use of calcareous manures 

 serves in a high degree to add to the salubrity of the air. 

 That most important fact, as a deduction from the 

 chemical powers of calcareous earth was presented to 

 the readers of the Farmer's Register ; (page 76, No. 2,) 

 more as a theoretical doctrine, than the result of suffi- 

 cient practical observation. Since, various facts, from 

 different sources, have been brought to sustain the posi- 

 tion ; and none will be more valued than the opinion 

 here stated by Sir John Sinclair. He has probably ar- 

 rived at the result by a very different course of reason- 

 ing, and of observation — and therefore, the more value 

 may be attached to the agreement of opinion between 

 persons as much separated by difference in their habits 

 and studies, as their habitations arc by distance.] 



For the Farmers' Register. 

 PAMUNKY BIGDE OF CULTIVATING CORN, 



The simplest, and best on flat land, and on a large 

 scale, because the most labor-saving. 



I have lately seen so many different ways of cul- 

 tivating corn in our agricultural publications, the 

 Farmers' Register among the rest, that I have 

 thought it would be worth while to publish the 

 Pamunky mode of cultivation, which I had before 

 thought, was the one in general use in Virginia, for 

 crops on flat land, and on a large scale — and which, 

 in my opinion, for such land is decidedly the best. 



The Pamunky mode is as follows, if I have been 

 rightly taught. You break up your land in win- 

 ter and spring, with large ploughs into five and a 

 half, or six feet beds \^Note 1,] and plant as early 

 as you can in April, by first running a tolerable 

 deep furrow with a one or two horse plough right 

 on the top of the bed lengthways, and dropping 

 your corn in this furrow, about three feet apart be- 

 tween the hills, \_Note 2,] and covering either 

 with the feet or hoes. The latter, however, is 

 much the best way, as planting the corn with the 

 hoes, gives the top of the bed, or ridge, a slight 

 working, which is of very great service, if the 

 weeds or grass have begun to grow, as they some- 

 times do after a mild winter on land (hat was 

 ploughed early. Some persons run a light furrow 

 across the beds every three feet distance, to show- 

 where to plant the corn; but the most usual way 



or stick three feet long, to regulate the step oc- 

 casionally, and in tliat way the hands soon require 

 great accuracy. 



After the corn is about six or eight inches high, 

 the two horse ploughs start to " siding down" as it 

 is called, wliich is to*run the bar of the plough 

 next to tlie corn, and throw down a good furrow 

 from the corn, (and not throw the earth to the 

 corn, as Col. Taylor [Note 3,] in his Arator,says, 

 in his first ploughing of corn. I think there must 

 be some mistake in the edition of Arator that I 

 have, for corn will not bear the earth to be thrown 

 to it, with a large two horse plough, while it is so 

 young, and when the first ploughing ought to be 

 given to it, preceding the hand hoeing, instead of 

 succeeding it, as Col. Taylor directs in Arator, 

 which saves a vast deal of labor — however more of 

 that hereafter.) As soon as the ploughs have got 

 a little start in siding down, the hoe hands follow 

 and " ridge out" as it is called ; that is to say, with 

 the hoes they weed, and scrape away the earth, 

 weeds, and grass, from the corn, which was left on 

 a narrow ridge by the siding down of the ploughs. 

 The object of this ridging out, is to expose the 

 young corn as much as possible to the sun, (which 

 is not very powerful at this season of the year,) to 

 strengthen it and drive away insects, such as ants, 

 cut worms, wire worms, and all insects that the 

 sun has the power of driving away. Besides, the 

 corn now being on a narrow ridge, facilitates the 

 hoe work very much, as there is very little left for 

 tlie hoe to do, if the ploughing has been well done. 

 Also if there is wire grass, or blue grass, it is the 

 easiest, and in fact the only way that I know of, to 

 enable the hoes to get the grass away from the 

 corn : and unless you do get it away, you will 

 make no corn to a certainty : for if you cover up 

 blue grass or wire grass by throwing the furrow, 

 that Col. Taylor speaks of, to the corn, so far from 

 their being killed thereliy, they will grow faster 

 than the corn, and choke it while so young. 



Together with this ridging out with the hoes, 

 the hands at the same time thin out, and replant, 

 or set the corn, if the land is sufficiently moist. 

 This ridging out, is generally considered the most 

 important part of the whole cultivation. It gives 

 the corn such a start as nothing else will, by ad- 

 mitting the sun to the roots of the young corn, 

 and driving off insects of all kinds. I have fre- 

 quently made experiments of admitting the sun 

 to the roots of the corn when very young, in this 

 way, and worked some hills in other ways, for in- 

 stance, by weeding the grass well off from the corn 

 while young, and then putting the earth back to 

 it — and I have invariably found the corn that was 

 exposed to. the sun by siding down and ridging out, 

 would take an earlier start, and grow off more 

 kindly, and theother never toovertake it. I have 

 even, on good loamy rich land, scraped the earth 

 away so much from the corn at this early stage of 

 it, as to cause it to fidl down, merely as an experi- 

 ment, and even in that state, it would rise and get 

 the start of corn that had the earth tin-own up to it. 

 But it will not do on j)Oor, or very stiff land, to 

 make the corn so bare as to fall down : the above 

 was merely an experiment to see how far it could 

 be carried with impunity. Corn is very like 

 cotton in this resj)cct, and requires the same sort of 

 cultivation while young. 



As soon as you haxe gone over all your field. 



is for each hand to step off three feet in the row 



Avhile planting, and the overseer carries a measure ] siding down with the ploughs, and ridging out with 



