ON SOAKING SEED-CORN. 155 



any vegetable matter to the heap : let this be large 

 enough to engender proper heat, and not lie in the 

 mass after it becomes so hot as to burn a boy's foot. 

 It should be overhauled until it becomes fine enough 

 to be spread and mingled with the soil. 



In light loams we run less risk by covering it deep : 

 in heavy loams, and in clay, we run a greater risk, and 

 there is less need of burying it deep. 



ON SOAKING SEED-CORN. 



Many make a practice of soaking or steeping their 

 seed-corn before planting. 



Some do this to make it vegetate sooner, some to 

 infuse a tincture of nourishment to the plant, some to 

 keep it from the crows, and some to drive away the 

 worms. Some planters wrap the kernel in tar and 

 gunpowder, of which latter article it is said the crow 

 well knows the use, and of which the mere smell is 

 sufficient, and satisfies without tasting. Saltpetre is 

 used for the double purpose of terrifying the crow — 

 as he knows we make gunpowder of it — and of 

 stimulating or nourishing the plant ; and, finally, a 

 steep in copperas has been recommended, long since, 

 as a cure-all, to drive away birds, and worms, and to 

 hasten vegetation. 



We have known some sensible farmers, who, after 

 they had tried those several arts, dropped their seed- 

 corn dry in the earth, and, trusting very much to provi- 

 dence to bring up a live stalk from a dying kernel, 

 have realized most excellent crops of corn. 



As to steeping the seed, we think the practice quite 

 pernicious. Seeds that have been steeped often fail to 

 vegetate. If they once become dry after swelling, they 

 are not likely to start again. Seed coated in tar often 

 fails ; and as to the virtue communicated to the kernel 



