88 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



must })e treated as we treat wheat. Ever since I can remem- 

 ber, w'hen we used to sow wheat, we would roll it in lime 

 and then sow it, and thus get rid of the smut. I have never 

 known a farmer to treat his corn in that way, hut it is as 

 necessary, probably, as it is with Avheat. I should like to 

 know if we can get any further information in regard to those 

 suckers. 



Mr. . If the suckers are necessary, how^ is it that 



they are not necessary to dent corn? As far as my experi- 

 ence goes, there are no suckers in the hills of that kind of 

 corn. 



Dr. Halsted. I think the gentleman did not quite under- 

 stand my point. I did not say, "cut out the suckers;" I 

 said nothing about cutting out the suckers ; but I said the 

 barren stalks, the full-grown stalks without ears, should 

 be cut down ; w^e do not want those at all. That was the 

 point. 



Mr. J. W. Pierce, of West Millbury, Mass. I would 

 like to say one word about these barren stalks. I have made 

 corn a subject of study for quite a number of years. This doc- 

 trine that barren stalks ought to be cut out is quite prevalent at 

 the present time. I believe it is an erroneous doctrine. It 

 came first to my notice through Dr. Sturtevant ; I am not 

 sure but he was the originator of the idea. I believed in it 

 at first, but since then I have examined my cornfields re- 

 peatedly, going through them and examining these barren 

 stalks, and I am satisfied that in almost every instance they 

 are suckers. And, furthermore, by taking my knife and dis- 

 secting them, I have almost always been able to find embryo 

 ears, and I believe that those barren stalks are almost always 

 suckers which produce pollen, which tinishes out the fertili- 

 zing of the ear. I do not know that there is any corn worth 

 planting which will produce barren stalks, providing you 

 fertilize it^sufficiently. Plant your corn on good land and let 

 your suckers grow. I believe they are needed to perfect the 

 crop . 



Mr. . I have planted a kind of corn that we 



call " premium corn," which throws up a large quantity of 

 suckers. I trim my corn down to four stalks in the hill, and 

 frequently have from twelve to fourteen ears on a hill with 



