CORN, INDIAN. 



'• To recapitulate, row No. 2, on which the 

 experiment was commenced, taken by itself, 

 is as follows, viz. : 

 4t) hills, on which the stalks had 



not been cut, gave 42 lbs. 8 



oz. dry shelled corn, equal to, 



per acre ... 60 bush. 8 lbs. 



46 hills, from which the stalks 



had been cut, gave 33 lbs. 7 



oz. drv shelled corn, equal to, 



pera6re . . . 47 " 18 " 



Loss by cuttin? the stalks, per 

 acre . . . . 12 " 46 " 



The four rows, taken together, stand as fol- 

 lows : 



Nus. 1 and 4, on which no 

 stalks were cut, gave an av- 

 erage of, per acre . . 60 bush. 8 lbs. 

 Nos. 2 and 3, from which half 

 the stalks were cut, gave an 

 average of, per acre . 54 " 25^ " 



Loss by cutting one half the 

 stalk's, per acre, . . 5 " 384 " 



On cutting all the stalks, would 

 make a loss equal to, per acre 11 " 21 " 



" The difference in the result of the 

 two cases is 1 bushel and 25 pounds 

 per acre ; or in the two experiments 

 (if it may be so termed) there is an 

 average loss, by cutting the stalks, 

 of 12 bushels 5h pounds per acre ; a 

 loss quite equal to all the expense 

 of hoeing and harvesting, especially 

 when we consider that in hoeing the 

 labour of making hills was dispensed 

 with. 



" If I had cut all the stalks, and ob- 

 tained a crop of forty-eight bushels to 

 the acre, the very fact of having forty- 

 eight bushels would, I think, be con- 

 sidered by farmers generally, in this 

 section of the country, as proof posi- 

 tive that the stalks were cut without 

 injury to the crop. Or, if I had gone 

 one step farther, and made large hills 

 at an additional expense of one dollar 

 per acre, and thereby reduced the 

 crop to forty-five bushels per acre, 

 the forly-five bushels would be con- 

 sidered sufficient proof that making 

 hills (which, by-the-way, are usually 

 made equally large and high on wet 

 or dry land, without regard' to soil or 

 situation) was labour well laid out ; 

 for although you occasionally give 

 us a large corn story, swollen a little, 

 perhaps, by guessing it off in baskets, 

 yet, judging from what we see and 

 know about raising corn, we call for- 

 ty-five bushels per.acre a- good crop. 



" A measured bushel from the cut 

 hills weighed 57 lbs. 6 oz., one pound 

 less than from the uncut, the shrink- 

 age being very near equal to the 

 whole loss in weight. 



" If this experiment is a fair test, it 

 seems that about twenty per cent., or 

 one fifth part of the crop, is destroyed 

 by cutting the stalks in the icay they are 

 usually cut. If farther experiment 

 should establish this fact, I think 

 there are few farmers that will hesi- 

 tate long in deciding which is the 

 most valuable, one acre of corn or 

 five acres of top stalks. But this 

 twenty per cent, is not saved at the 

 expense of losing the stalks ; they 

 are worth as much, and, I think, more, 

 all things considered, after the corn 

 is harvested, than they are gathered 

 in the usual way. If, after being 

 bunched up in a green state, they heat 

 or become mouldy (a case of frequent 

 occurrence), they are utterly worth- 

 less, except it be for manure ; I know 

 of no animal that will eat them. But 

 after they have once been dried by 

 the frost and wind, a subsequent mod- 

 erate degree of mouldiness seems to 



j be no injury. 



" The course which I have pursued 



I with them, and for the present I know 

 of no better, has been as follows : In 

 the first place, they are cut off near 

 the ground, and for this purpose a 

 short scythe is found the most con- 

 venient instrument. The expense 

 of cutting in this manner, however, 

 is but a mere trifle, if any, more than 



I cutting the stub stalks in the spring, 



, and may, with propriety, be entered 

 as an item of expense against the 



I next crop, for which it is preparing 

 the ground. After cutting, they are 

 gathered into bunches of suitable 

 size for binding, and three good 

 sheaves of rye straw, if wet, will be 



. sufficient to bind a ton. In gather- 



j ing them up and laying in bunches, 

 an active boy will do as much as a 



J man. In this way, the whole ex- 

 pense of gathering, binding, and load- 

 ing will not exceed 75 cents per ton. 

 As they are very bulky, for want of 



j barn room, I have them stacked near 



I the barn-yard ; and I think I may 



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