76 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



State House, Boston, Massacliusetts. There is a cabinet to 

 receive it, and each specimen will be labelled and thankfully 

 acknowledged. 



Most of the cereals ripen a great abundance of seed, and are 

 therefore comparatively exhausting to the soil. Indian corn 

 yields a larger return for its seed than most other plants, not- 

 withstanding its great nutritive qualities, yet it takes but a 

 small proportion of its bulk, say from ten to fifteen per cent. 

 of its whole weight, though about half of its dry weight, from 

 the soil. Much of its bulk and about half of its dry weight, 

 appears to be drawn from the atmosphere. 



Indian corn, like other herbaceous plants, when cut for 

 forage or green fodder, does not exhaust the soil so much as if 

 suffered to go to seed and be harvested. When the offal is 

 properly managed it returns more than other grasses to the 

 soil. It also returns more manure to the farm when used as 

 forage than when used as grain ; indeed, in the latter case, 

 commerce too often wholly deprives any given farm of its 

 manure from corn. 



An acre of corn, where only twenty-five bushels is to be 

 expected, requires to restore and constantly improve at the 

 same time, 1,000 pounds of inorganic matter to be added to it, 

 which is rather more than twice the amount which a good crop 

 removes from an acre, in its stalks, leaves, roots, husks, cobs 

 and kernels. 



Corn will not germinate unless the temperature of the soil is 

 at least 58° Fahrenheit, and not above 110°, for then it never 

 germinates. It requires, during the summer months, or in 

 northern latitudes, two and one-half months for its ripening, 

 with a mean temperature of 65°, which is the limit that per- 

 mits any yield of corn, and 68° for a profitable I'cturn. 



When first up it is very susceptible to frost. That and wet 

 weather sometimes require it to be re-planted several times. 

 The early parts of autumn are not so apt to injure the grain in 

 its hardened covering. 



The geographical and climatological limits of the cultivation 

 of Indian corn in the latitude of this North American continent, 

 as determined by the mean ripening temperature of 65°, are 

 almost its limit of cultivation at the north, for even in the valley 

 of the Red River, at the parallel of 51° of latitude, a small 



