56 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



corn crop. If you cannot go into the high-farming system, you 

 had better abandon tlie crop. 



I have said that there should be forty loads of manure to the 

 acre. .If you have 'but forty loads, put it all on one acre, not 

 on two ; because the crop will not be much less at any rate, 

 from one acre than from two, and you add $15 to the expense of 

 raising it, if you cultivate two acres instead of one. 



In regard to the manner of planting, I will say that the dis- 

 tance I have settled upon is three and a half feet each way. I 

 think there should be, for every stalk of corn, at least three 

 square feet. The poorest crop of corn I ever raised was planted 

 with the hills less than three feet apart. It was well manured. 

 It was the best-looking corn that I ever saw in the month of 

 June, but it was so near together that it shaded the ground. 

 The stalks were very thick, but the ears were very short. 



I have been told that in Virginia they only put one kernel 

 into a "hill, and make the hills six or eight feet apart, and that 

 a larger crop is secured with only a single kernel in a hill than 

 with more. I usually put five kernels in a hill, as some of the 

 seed will not germinate, and the worms will destroy some. At; 

 the distance of three and one-half feet, if three stalks are left, 

 it is sufficient. I can then cultivate my corn with the cultivator, 

 and do it with animal power, which is always cheaper than 

 hand labor. The cultivator can be run within six inches of the 

 hill, each way, and then there will be one foot to each hill for 

 hand hoeing. In putting the kernels into the hill it has been 

 my practice to put them as near together as possible. Farmers 

 were formerly in the habit of taking pains to spread the kernels 

 as much as possible in the hill ; I find they grow better by being 

 combined. There are several advantages in that combination. 

 One is, it is much easier to cultivate the ground. The weeds 

 do not come up among the corn, and you are not obliged to 

 use your fingers in eradicating them. 



Another advantage is, that in hoeing, you can bring the earth 

 up around all the stalks, without any trouble at all. Then they 

 endure.the winds much better ; they will stand stronger against 

 the blast than if they stood at a distance from each other. I 

 never have observed a stray stalk of corn in a field that pro- 

 duced a good ear. I consider that corn is a family plant, and 

 that it will grow better in hills than in drills. Then again, in 



