264 Forty -Days Corn. 



Salem, No. 53. — This was originally numbered 22 in my private collec- 

 tion ; but, a spurious sort having been put into the market under that 

 number, the number of this variety was changed to 53. The bunch is 

 rather large and broad ; berry inclining to oval in form ; skin thin ; color 

 black ; flesh tender, sweet, and delicate. The flavor is, to my taste, supe- 

 rior to any of the others. In general appearance, the bunch strongly re- 

 sembles the Black Hamburg ; but it is as early as Concord. The vine is 

 vigorous and productive ; and, on the whole, it is one of the best black 

 grapes. 



FORTY-DAYS CORN. 



Our attention has recently been called to a variety of table-corn repre- 

 sented as attaining a size fit for plucking in forty days. We are aware, that, 

 if the planting should be delayed till settled summer weather, germination 

 and growth would be greatly hastened ; but, even under such conditions, it 

 will be difficult to find a "forty-days corn." If the seed is planted in 

 spring as soon as the soil is in proper condition to receive it, from sixty to 

 seventy days will be required for the production of ears suitable for the 

 table, and this for our earliest sorts ; while for the larger, which are gener- 

 ally the later kinds, nearly ninety days will be needed for full perfection. 



All the sorts remarkable for extreme earliness that have come under our 

 observation have been those with quite small ears ; and we are satisfied, 

 that, in proportion as the time for growth and development is shortened, 

 there will generally be found a corresponding decline not only in the size 

 of the ears, but also in the height and general strength and vigor of the 

 plants. A " forty-days corn," if such a sort shall ever be produced, will 

 be quite dwarfish in habit, the ears will be put forth near the ground, or 

 low on the stalk, and will, withal, be so short and small as to be scarcely 

 worth the growing. For those who may be induced to rely on the promise 

 of ears fit for their table in six weeks, there can scarcely be any thing in 

 reserve but little corn, and much disappointment. We pronounce a " forty- 

 days table-corn " a myth. F. Burr. 



