74 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



uniform kind be obtained. Sometimes a mixture is desirable, 

 and can be made at will, as I stated before. 



An instance among several, of success in improving corn, is 

 in Mr. Thomas M. Baden, of Prince George's County, Mary- 

 land, who says he begun with common corn of Virginia, which 

 had hardly two ears to a stalk ; selected for seed from stalks 

 having most ears, only the sound and ripe, of deepest and best 

 color, and least cob, rejected the irregular kernels at both ends ; 

 followed it twenty-three years and more, (several before he saw 

 much improvement,) when he took them only from stalks 

 having more than four ears — some have borne ten. It yielded 

 more shelled corn than other sorts. Ten bushels of ears yielded 

 six bushels of shelled corn ; the common corn will measure but 

 about five bushels. He believes he can raise nearly twice 

 as much as of any other corn. He plants about the first of 

 May, hills five feet apart each way, and two stalks in a hill. 

 One hundred and twenty bushels, it is claimed, have been 

 raised to the acre in Illinois, and it produced more fodder than 

 any other kind ; it is rather earlier than other corn there. It 

 is a white gourd seed, with stalks twelve to sixteen feet high ; 

 ears six to eight feet from the ground, short, and considerably 

 under average size of common varieties ; grain excellent ; 

 removed a little north, to Philadelphia, it seldom matures 

 properly, being injured by autumnal frosts, like all tall oorn ; 

 does not answer for high lands, even in the southern valley of 

 Virginia, but produces abundant grain and fodder in the rich, 

 flat lands of the southern and south-western States. 



I subjoin accounts of some other striking varieties. The 

 Button corn was so called from Salmon Button, of Vermont, 

 who introduced it in 1818 ; it is said to be in the latitude of 

 New England, earlier than any other field corn, being cut from 

 the last week in August to the second week in September ; it is 

 twelve-rowed, and though the cob is large, gives the greatest pro- 

 duct, as two bushels of sound ears yield one and three-eighths 

 bushels of shelled corn, weighing fifty-six pounds to the bushel. 



The white flint corn is cultivated for making the beautiful 

 white hominy of the Philadelphia market. The flour corn, with 

 a round, thick grain, filled with a snowy white powder, resem- 

 bling starch, is much used in New Jersey for grinding up with 

 buckwheat, in proportion of one-fifth or one-fourth of the corn, 



