CULTIVATION OF PLANTS. 



mixture applied to the hill is of course unknown, but the theory of the applica- 

 tion is good, and deserves a repetition. 



We give another extract from the Ploughboy, of December, 1820. "There 

 was raised on the farm of R. H. ROSE, at Silver Lake, Pennsylvania, the pre- 

 sent year, Indian corn at the rate of one hundred and thirty-six bushels per 

 acre. It was the short white eight rowed corn, planted in rows three feet 

 apart the stalks nine inches from each other in the rows. Rather before the 

 usual time of topping, the stalks of every other row were cut off just above the 

 highest ear. The corn was planted on the third day of June, and gathered on 

 the sixteenth day of September." A writer in the Genesee Farmer, vol. i. No. 

 20, seems to have mistaken the object of thus cutting every other row. He 

 says, "In order to take advantage of this operation, (of topping,) the stalks 

 should be cut as soon as they are up, and before the blossoms appear, because 

 after the blossoms have shed their pollen, then their functions are performed, 

 and all the stalks might be taken off as well as half." The object of topping 

 every other row was undoubtedly to give the plants more benefit from the sun's 

 heat; but we doubt whether in this, or any other method of topping, the loss is 

 not greater than the gain. The sap must be elaborated in the leaves, or it does 

 not become fit food for plants; of course topping must be prejudicial. 



In 1831, Mr. BUTLER, of Chenango ^ county in this state, reported for the New 

 England Farmer a crop of corn raised by him that year, and the method of 

 cultivation. The ground was a stiff loam. The land ploughed but once, yet 

 thoroughly and completely done. Twenty-five cart loads of sheep manure was 

 then put on an acre, and spread evenly over the surface. It was then rolled 

 and harrowed with a light double harrow containing forty teeth, until it was 

 a complete garden mould. The land was planted on the ihhid and 23d of May, 

 on an even surface, with the early, small white flint corn, steeped in a solution 

 of copperas and saltpetre, and then tarred and rolled in plaster, and planted 

 three and a half feet from centre to centre of the middle of the drills. The 

 plants stood singly from twelve to thirteen inches on the drills. The corn was 

 kept clean, plastered well en the plant, topped at the usual time, was ripe on 

 the 15th of September, and was harvested the middle of October, and found to 

 yield "at least one hundred and thirty bushels of shelled corn, sixty pounds to 

 the bushel, or one hundred and forty bushels, at fifty-six pounds per bushel, to 

 the acre. 



But the greatest crop of corn, we have reason to believe, ever raised in this 

 country, was that reported by the Messrs. PRATTS of Madison county, and 

 which was well authenticated in every respect, amounted to one hundred and 

 seventy bushels per acre. Their mode of preparation for planting does not 

 appear to be superior to those mentioned above, but they increased their crop 

 by adopting a system of planting which gave a greater number of stalks, and 

 of course ears. 



It is admitted that these are extraordinary cases of productiveness; but the 

 ordinary crops of Mr. STIMSON of Galway, and Judge BUEL of Albany, averag- 

 ing as they do from eighty to one hundred bushels per acre, clearly demon- 

 strate what may be accomplished by sound theory and corresponding practice. 

 We think that farmers in general are not sufficiently aware how much the 

 amount of the crop depends on the method of planting. This is an operation 

 which more than most others requires attention and system; for let the soil be 

 ever so rich and productive, if there is not half the seed put on which the land 

 can support, or if it is not properly distributed, there will of course be a defi- 

 ciency in the crop. To show how much greater the number of stalks will be 

 in one method than in another, we have prepared an estimate collected in part 

 from an address by Judge BCF.L, and the statement of Mr. CLARK of Northamp- 

 ton. In a favourable soil it rarely happens that every original stalk does not 

 produce one ear, and sometimes two, of corn; allowing these ears to produce in 

 shelled corn one gill each, and they must be very inferior not to exceed that 

 quantity, the amount produced per acre by different methods of planting, will 

 be as fo'llows, four stalks being allowed to each hill when planted in that form. 



An acre in hills four feet apart, and four stalks in a hill, will have two 

 thousand seven hundred and twenty-two hills, or ten thousand eight hundred 

 and eighty-eight stalks. An acre planted three feet apart will have four thou- 



