'oL. XX, Second Series. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y., MAY, 1859. 



No. 5. 



CULTIVATION OF INDIAN COKN. 



Of the importance of Indian corn to the Ameri- 

 an farmer, nothing need be said. It is of more 

 alue even, in a national point of view, than wheat, 

 ro cereal cultivated in temperate latitudes affords 

 er acre so much nutritious food for man and beast, 

 a •ne sense, too, it is a " fallow crop," as it affords 

 n opportunity of cleaning the land by the use of 

 he horse-hoe while growing. On the rich, new 

 uids of the West, we may apply to corn what has 

 een well said of the turnip in Great Britain — " It 

 ) the sheet anchor of our agriculture." "We fear, 

 owever, that it differs from the turnip in one very 

 nportant respect. Its growth does i not increase 

 he amount of nitrogen or ammonia on the farm. 

 t is a crop for' rich land — land that is too rich, 

 oo low, and too loose for wheat. It will flourish 

 n the best wheat land ; but wheat will not suc- 

 eed well on the best corn land. To grow corn on 

 md that will produce good wheat, is not, as a gen- 

 ral rule, to be commended. 



We have said that corn will succeed on land too 

 )w for wheat. This is true ; but corn requires a 

 ry soil. It is a mistake to suppose that all high 

 md is dry and all low land wet. Mr. Swan, near 

 reneva, N, Y., who has laid over fifty miles of 

 rain-tiles on his farm, found that the highest parts 

 f his farm required as much again draining as the 

 jwer portions. On low land, a few open ditches 

 re often sufficient to carry off' all the water ; but 

 n a springy hill-side, thorough underdraming is 

 ecessary. 



Land for corn must be dry. We recollect walk- 

 ]g through a magnificent field of corn on the thor- 

 ughly underdrained farm of our friend John 

 OHNSTON. One of the underdrains was choked 

 ,p, and tJiere the crop was a failure. Corn delights 

 a a loose, dry, warm soil. If it is surcharged with 

 fater, all the sunshine of our hottest summers can 

 lot make it warm, and all the manure that can be 

 lUt on it will not make the corn yield .a maximum 

 rop. In passing along the various railroads, we 



have often been saddened to see thousands of acres 

 of land planted to corn which, by a little under- 

 draining, would have produced magnificent crops 

 of this grandest of cereals, but which presented a 

 miserable spectacle of yeUow, sickly, stunted, half- 

 starved plants, struggling for very life. We have 

 ever been willing to apologize for the shortcomings 

 of American farmers. We know the diflQoulties 

 under which many of them labor. We do believe 

 them to be, as a whole, " intelligent and enterpris- 

 ing." But these sickly corn fields are well caleru- 

 lated to create a very different impression. We 

 have frequently to repeat the German proverb — 

 " To know is not to be able." These farmers know 

 how to raise good corn, but they are not always 

 able to put in practice improved methods of culti- 

 vation. Many, however, might do better than they 

 do. The country is in an embarrassed condition 

 Willing hands can not find labor. Good crops alone 

 can save us from still greater poverty and suffering. 

 One good harvest would set the wheels of trade 

 and manufacturing industry in motion, and usher 

 in a gladsome period of national prosperity. But 

 it is vain to hope for good crops without good cul- 

 tivation. 



Farmers know how to raise good corn — know 

 how to plant and cultivate. We can do little ex- 

 cept to urge upon them, as a patriotic duty, the 

 necessity of putting forth their best efforts the 

 coming season. Our cities and villages are thronged 

 with idle hands ; set them to work. Do what you 

 can toward draining the land. Plow it well, and 

 prepare a good seed-bed. Mark out the land both 

 ways, so as to plant in straight rows, and then use 

 the cultivator freely. Do not suffer a weed to 

 grow and rob the corn of food and moisture. Con- 

 stant stirring of the soil decomposes its organic 

 matter and renders available the food of plants 

 lying latent in it ; it enables it to attract ammonia 

 and to condense moisture from the atmosphero. 

 while it furnishes a loose and warm bed tor the 

 roots to grow in. 



