FARMERS' REGISTER— CORN CROP, HOME MARKET, &c. 



599 



^reat staple of the west, yet there are many of the 

 lighter soils suited to the profitable culture of bar- 

 ley. We will therefore make some suggestions 

 as to its culture, which may benefit those who are 

 not already familiar with it. The two rowed, 

 which is thin skinned, we believe is the most es- 

 teemed variety. The best seed for sowing is that 

 which is free from blackness at the tail, and is of a 

 pale lively yellow color, intermixed with a bright 

 whitish cast; and if the rind be a little shrivelled 

 it is so much the better, as it shows lliat it has 

 sweated in the mow, and is a sure indication that 

 its coat is thin. The seed for strong land should 

 be grown on a light or warm soil, as it will ripen 

 some da)-s earlier, and has the thinnest skin ; and 

 the seed for light should come from strong land, 

 otherwise it degenerates in bulk and fulness. A 

 change of seed is more important in this than in 

 most other grain. 



Barley produces best upon a light rich loam ; 

 and is neither adapted to a light sand nor a stiff 

 clay — it does better upon corn than wheat soils. 

 It may be sown upon a clover ley, or after a hoed 

 crop, which has been well manured ; but recent 

 manure should by no means be applied to the bar- 

 ley, as it induces a rank growth, and causes the 

 grain to lodge. When the plants are three or four 

 inches out of the ground the roller may be passed 

 over the field with great advantage. By often bu- 

 rying the crown it causes the grain to tiller, or 

 multiply its seed stalks, and causes a beneficial 

 compactness to the soil. It should be sown upon 

 the fresh ploughed soil, and well harrowed in. 

 Grass seeds may be sown with this crop to advan- 

 tage. The product is from 20 to 70 bushels per 

 acre, according to the fitness of the soil, its fertil- 

 ity and the favorableness of the season. b. 



A CROP OF CORN IN COLUMBIA, N. Y. 



The follo%ving article has an additional value from 

 relating to the same farming region, which was treated 

 of in the communications from Dr. Beekman, and Mr. 

 Harder, presented in the Febi'uary No. of the Far- 

 mers' Register. 



From the American Farmer. 



Mr. Sanders of Clermont, Columbia county, New 

 York, raised the last season a crop of corn averaging 

 about eighty bushels (of shelled corn) to tlie acre. 

 He was honored as he well deserved to be, with a 

 premium from the Agricultural Society of the 

 county, in his application for which, he gives the 

 following account of his way. 



Extract from Mr. Sanders' Communication. 



" The ground on which the above crop was 

 raised, is a sand loam in excellent heart, with a 

 rich clover sod, two years from seeding, turned 

 over in the early part of May last; and with a 

 view to mellow the surface, once harrowed over 

 before planting. The corn was planted about 20th 

 of May, and as near as the furrows could be cal- 

 culated accurately, as made with a com plough, 

 planted about 2 feet 8 inches apart each way, pla- 

 cing 4 kernels in each hill, so as to insure the 

 growth of three stalks, which is a desirable num- 

 ber, although four were felt, if their appearance 

 was healthy. The land was again harrowed when 

 the blade became about six inches long, if ex- 

 tendetl — in a few days thereafter, say ten, the corn 

 pkmgh was passed through in one direction, and 

 the whole well hoed ; and again, when the blades 



becames 18 or 20 inches long, the plough was 

 passed through twice in the contrary direction, 

 whicii was the last operation until the stalks were 

 topped, and tiiat not done before they were nearly 

 ripe that the grain might derive full benefit of sus- 

 tenance from them. 



"I am confident in the opinion, that while the 

 blades are small, say until 18 or 20 inches, corn 

 land cannot be too much stirred, as it subdues all 

 vegetable matters that subtract from the nutri- 

 ment that should apply to the growing stalks, and 

 properly mellow the soil to be penetrated by the 

 tender roots of the plant in search of food. But 

 after the plant has attained the height of 2 feet or 

 more, I conceive any operation on the soil, (ex- 

 cept upon the surface, by a corn cultivator or sim- 

 ple hoeing,) injudicious ; for the plants having 

 then extended their roots in great number, must 

 be injured by any process of ploughing, by the 

 same parity of reason, as the growing tree is fre- 

 quently destroyed where its roots have been dis- 

 turbed. 



" The observation of your applicant upon this 

 mode of cultivation was, that his corn field kept 

 remarkably free from weeds, or any vegetable 

 substance that might injure the yield. The ex- 

 pense beyond the most ordinary mode of cultiva- 

 tion, did not exceed that of harrowing, as until the 

 middle of September last, I did not indulge the 

 idea of entering for premium. Had it been so 

 intended in spring, I should have tested the ex- 

 periment on J. Buel's plan, by drills, selecting 

 from the three modes proposed by him, the two 

 drill system, as most applicable to my land. The 

 method in relation to the corn crop above detailed, 

 is that generally pursued by me, of its propriety I 

 am induced to think well, as upon 35 acres of land, 

 I am full in the belief, I have raised this season 

 1700 bushels of corn, and so little defective that 

 an ordinary farmer would have cribbed it without 

 sorting; and I indulge the idea that if a drought 

 had not injured the plants on an upland field at a 

 critical time, my produce would have been much 

 increased." 



THE H03IE MARKET FOR AGRICULTURE 

 CREATED BY PROTECTING DUTIES. 



From the Banner of ihe Constitution. 

 The Dog and the Fleas. 

 A certain shepherd of Boeotia was rearing a 

 sprightly young hound, whose gambols were ofterp 

 interrupted by the fleas, w hich were feasting at 

 his expense. To relieve himself of these hungry 

 blood-suckers, the puppy was continually using 

 his claws and teeth, and soon became very expert 

 in hunting and destroying this small game, which 

 he munched and swallowed as if fleas were deli- 

 cious food. The shepherd — (who was a man of 

 that kind of genius which, in our times, would 

 have made him admirably suited for a chairman of 

 the committee of manufactures, or might even 

 have raised him to be Secretary of the Treasury, 

 if he had been a member of Congress from Penn- 

 sylvania) — the shepherd, I say, observing the use 

 made of this new kind of food, conceived the sub- 

 lime idea of making his dog live entirely upon his 

 own fleas, and thus provide a home market fbr his 

 surplus produce, (that is, as much blood as be 

 could spare,) and afterwards to recover it, impro- 

 ved by the domestic industryj and increased by 



