CORN, INDIAN 



the last. The practice of ploiighine; 

 among corn and of making; large lulls 

 is justly getting into disrepute ; for 

 the plougii bruises and cuts the roots 

 of the plants, turns up the sod and 

 manure to waste, and renders the 

 crop more liable to suffer by drought. 

 The first dressing should be perform- 

 ed as soon as the size of the plants 

 will permit ; and the best implement 

 to precede the hoe is a corn-harrow, 

 adapted to the width of the rows, 

 which every farmer can make. This 

 will destroy most of the weeds and 

 pulverize the soil. The second hoe- 

 ing should be performed before or as 

 soon as the tassels appear, and may 

 be preceded by the corn-harrow, a 

 shallow furrow of the plough, or, what 

 is better than either, by the cultiva- 

 tor. A slight earthing is beneficial, 

 providing the earth is scraped from 

 the surface, and the sod and manure 

 not exposed. It will be found bene- 

 ficial to run the harrow or cultivator 

 a third, and even a fourth time, be- 

 tween the rows, to destroy weeds and 

 loosen the surface, particularly if the 

 season is dry. 



" In harvesting the crop, one of three 

 modes is adopted, viz. : 1. The corn is 

 cut at the surface of the ground when 

 the grain has become glazed or hard 

 upon the outside, put immediately into 

 stooks, and, when sufficiently dried, 

 the corn and stalks are separated, 

 and both secured. 2. The tops are 

 taken off when the corn has become 

 glazed, and the grain permitted to re- 

 main till October or November upon 

 the butts. Or, 3. Both corn and stalks 

 are left standing till the grain has fuK 

 ly ripened, and the latter become dry, 

 when both are secured. There are 

 other modes, such as leaving the butts 

 or entire stalks in the field after the 

 grain is gathered ; but these are so 

 wasteful and slovenly as not to mer- 

 it consideration. The stalks, blades, 

 and tops of corn, if well secured, are 

 an excellent fodder for neat cattle. 

 If cut, or cut and steamed, so that 

 they can be readily masticated, they 

 are superior to hay. Besides, their 

 fertilizing properties as a manure are 

 greatly augmented by being fed out 

 178 



in the cattle-yard, and imbibing the 

 urine and liipiids which always there 

 abound, and which are lost to the 

 farm, in ordinary yards, without an 

 abundance of dry litter to take them 

 up. By the first of these methods the 

 crop may be secured before the au- 

 tumnal rains ; the value of the fodder 

 is increased, and the ground is clear- 

 ed in time for a winter crop of wheat 

 or rye. The second mode impairs the 

 value of the lorage, requires more la- 

 bour, and does not increase the quan- 

 tity or improve the quality of the 

 grain. The third mode requires the 

 same labour as the first, may improve 

 the quality of the grain, but must in- 

 evitably deteriorate the quality of the 

 fodder. The corn cannot be husked 

 too promptly after it is gathered from 

 the field. If permitted to heat, the 

 value of the grain is seriously im- 

 paired. 



"■Sowing Seed. — The fairest and 

 soundest ears are either selected in 

 the field, or, at the time of husking, a 

 few of the husks being left on, braid- 

 ed, and preserved in an airy situation 

 till wanted for use. 



" In makijig choice of sorts, the ob- 

 ject should be to obtain the varieties 

 which ripen early and afford the great- 

 est crop. I think these two proper- 

 ties are best combined in a twelve- 

 rowed kind which I obtained from 

 Vermont some years ago, and which 

 I call Button corn, from the name of 

 the gentleman from whom I received 

 it. It is earlier than the common 

 eight-rowed yellow, or any other field 

 variety I have seen, and, at the same 

 time, gives the greatest product. I 

 have invariably cut the crop in the 

 first fourteen days of September, and 

 once in the last week in August. The 

 cob is large, but the grain is so com- 

 pact upon it that two bushels of sound 

 ears have yielded five pecks of shell- 

 ed grain, weighing 62 lbs. the bushel. 



"/« securing the fodder, precaution 

 must be used. The butts become wet 

 by standing on the ground, and if pla- 

 ced in large stacks or in the barn, the 

 moisture which they contain often in- 

 duces fermentation and mouldiness. 

 To avoid this, I put them first in 



