THE GENESEE FARMER. 



11 



all measured. The result was 110 bushels to the 

 acre ; and there were 440 bushels of coru on the four 

 acres. It was a yellow twelve-rowed corn, resembling 

 the DuttoQ corn. The Iviml of corn planted makes a 

 ditterence. He takes mucii care in seiecting his seed 

 com. He plants three feet apart, and finds the benefit 

 of j'laster and us'ies mixed to put on Uie hill. 



"Flat culture is altogether preferable to letting 

 the furrow stand edgewise, or inclined, as some have it. 



" Maj. WuHKLEii was in favor of the large Southern 

 corn for feeding green. When it was IS inches high 

 he could cut it once. Then it would grow again if 

 uot cut very close to the ground. When 3 feet high 

 he could cut it again. It would grow up the third 

 time; and he had three crops of it from once seeding. 

 He plants it thick in rows. 



" Sweet corn was mentioned by some as preferable 

 for feeding green, and inquiry was made to ascertain 

 if that point could be settled. 



" Mr. Harvey Dodge said the roots of corn were 

 very thick. No crop leaves the ground in so good a 

 condition for a futm-e crop as corn did." 



We feel confident that Dr. Raynolds, as above re- 

 ported, has mistaken the language of Prof. Johx- 

 STOx, or that there is some error in figures, which say 

 that a pound of corn contains 14J ounces of nutritive 

 matter, while a pound of wheat yields only 11 1-5 

 ounces. Chemical physiologists are not entirely agreed 

 as to what constitutes "nutritive matter" in the 

 seeds, leaves, stems, tubers and roots of plants. It 

 has generally, however, been limited to the nitrogenous 

 constituents in vegetables, such as gluten in wheat 

 and maize, legumin in peas and beans, or what Mul- 

 nF.R, in his Chemistrj/ of Vegetable and Animal 

 Physiology, calls protein compounds. It is in this 

 restricted sense that Prof. Johnston ascribes, and 

 justly, a higher nutritive power to bolted oat meal, 

 per 100 pounds, than to any other meal or flour. 

 Cora contains more oil and less gluten than wheat. 

 If a laboring man were not jjermitted to eat meat, 

 then a pound of oat meal would be better for him 

 than a pound of wheat flom-; and a pound of wheat 

 flour would be better tlian a pound of corn meal. If he 

 ate meat, it wovdd make but little dilFerence in point 

 of nutrition which of the cereals he used as bread. 



Ha^^ng corrected an error of some importance in 

 domestic economy, we call attention to the fact that 

 it is quite as easy in most of the States to grow 50 

 bushels of corn on an acre as 25 of wheat ; and to 

 the statement of Mr. J. W. Proctor (good authority), 

 that in " Essex county it is a very common crop to 

 tuni the furrow after mowing, and produce on the 

 same ground a crop [of corn forage] for Scpteml)er 

 feeding." This great American cereal is capable of 

 yielding far more wealth to its cultivators and the 

 world than it now does. It may not operate equally 

 well on all land; but we are confident that by plow- 

 ing our corn fields two or three inches deeper in the 

 spring of 1853 than they were ever plowed before, 

 the yield per acre, on 25 acres, was augmented 10 

 bushels. No manure of any kind was applied to 

 these old and supposed worn-out fields. Deep and 

 thorough tillage rarely fails to tell on the harvest of 

 corn. We try hard to obtain ashes for this crop, but 

 do not alwavs succeed. 



GUANO ON COTTON. 



Willis Bbnham, Esq., an intelligent planter of Cass 

 county, Ga., in a letter to a friend in South Carolina, 

 which we find in the Laurensville Herald, furnishes 

 the following account of an experiment made by him 

 with guano on cotton. He saj-s: 



" The land on which I used the guano, is what in 

 this section of the country we call Hickory Orchard 

 land, the principal growth being thick bark Hickoiy, 

 with some post Oak and Pine; the color of the soil, 

 darlv red, with very little sand, 'i'he quantity used 

 was rather less than a sack, which was finely pulverized 

 before using. About three weeks before planting I 

 had the land listed three feet distance with a large 

 shovel plow, and as deep as a good mule could pull 

 it. The guano was applied immediately, in the ratio 

 of about 250 pounds per acre, and a high ridge 

 thrown on it with turning plows. It was planted on 

 the 18th of April, as was also the balance of the 

 patch (8 acres), and cultivated in the same manner as 

 the rest of the crop — and now for the result. 



"As soon as my crop generally began to show 

 blooms, I counted on the first row, where I had used 

 guano, 40 blooms, and at the same time counted the 

 blooms on the adjoining row, where no manure had 

 been used, and found 9 — and now for the seed cotton. 



1st picking. 2(1 3d. iih. Total. 



Guano row, 12 lbs. 27 Jbs. 20 Its. 17 fts. 76 11)3. 



Unmanuied row, 3 12 8>i nH 36 



Difference in favor of guano, 40 fts. 



" I attended the picking and weighing myself, and 

 am sure that the above is correct. 



"The rows are 178 yards long, and you will see by 

 calculation that 28 will make an acre, and 



76fts. multiplied by 28 make 2.128 lbs. 



36 " " " 1,008 



Difference per acre, 1,120 lbs." 



The above statement is interesting, as showing that 

 250 pounds of guano may add 1,120 pounds of seed 

 cotton to the product of a single acre. Study this 

 manure in whatever climate, or on whatever soil or 

 crop we may, and it presents facts that challenge our 

 admiration. Old fogies in the production and carting 

 of manure, which is dear at a dollar a load, or ton, 

 are startled, and almost forget their hereditary preju- 

 dices, when overwhelmed with the evidence that any 

 natural dung of animals can be worth fifty dollars 

 a ton for common farming purposes. Manure so in- 

 tensified is a quintessence quite beyond the most 

 cherished records of their e.xperience, and fables of 

 paternal tradition. How can one pound of bird- 

 droppings operate to produce tlu'ee or four pounds 

 of seed cotton, to say nothing of the increased growth 

 of the roots, stems, branches and leaves of the plant? 

 On corn this manure operates with equal power. 

 Let the inquisitive reader call to mind the fact that 

 full 1)5 parts in 100 of corn and cotton plants, are 

 the elements of water and carbon — ingredients' that 

 the atmosphere supplies to the imbibing leaves and 

 roots of plants without cost to the cultivator. The 

 ammonia, phosphates and alkalies consumed in the 

 organization of the seeds of maize and the seeds and 

 lint o; cotton, are not over three per cent, of their 

 solid substance ; and as guano contains many times 



