VEGETABLES. 155 



drill ; the small seed drills worked by hand are of no value ex- 

 cept on ground exceptionally light and well pulverized. On 

 ground to any degree heavy too much strength is required to 

 get the requisite depth, and Avhen this is attained, the earth, be- 

 ing somewhat coarse, is pushed forward by the covering appara- 

 tus. Another practical difficulty is that of having the stalks 

 thinned out to the nght distance. In one sense this could 

 easily be done, but I find that in actual practice it is apt to be 

 delayed so late that injury is done to the crop, and at times 

 overlooked altogether. 



Some years ago I cultivated a variety of corn procured from 

 the Sioux Indians, that surpassed all other kinds in earliness. 

 It was of the starch class ; the ears were very small and thick ; 

 it must have been grown in a high northern latitude, probably 

 at the extreme limit of the corn crop. When our most north- . 

 ern sections are tilled, this variety will have a commercial value. 

 Of the varieties of sweet corn following the extreme early sorts, 

 Crosby's Early, originated by that sterling market gardener, 

 Josiah Crosby, of Arlington, gives good satisfaction. It is from 

 ten to fourteen rowed, the ears of good size and filled out on 

 the end with remarkable uniformity ; in quality it is sweet and 

 tender. Crosby's corn has largely replaced that old standard 

 eight-rowed sort, Darling's Early, which always had the demerit 

 of not being reliable for filling out on the end. Of the later 

 varieties, Stowell's Evergreen is the most extensively cultivated ; 

 this has some excellent characteristics ; the ears are of a very 

 large size, very well filled out, and the kernels are of the horsC' 

 tooth shape, giving them great length ; in quality it is very 

 sweet, while it remains a long while in the milk. The color of 

 this variety, when gathered just past the milk, and dried for 

 seed purposes, is of a remarkably rich tint. The Marblehead 

 Mammoth Sweet is an improvement in size on Burr's Sweet, 

 being in this respect at the head of the sweet corn group. It 

 i^ late in maturing and of excellent quality. I have had single 

 ears green in the husk that weighed three pounds. As this 

 variety grows very stout, and succeeds remarkably, it is of great 

 value for green fodder. Olcott's and Trimble's sweet corn 

 with me are rather poor croppers, and the ears are of small 

 size ; the quality of seed of these is very good, but I cannot 

 rank them with, Mexican Sweet, which I have raised for a dozen 



