8 mr. putnam's address. 



]y injured by frosts, I found by no negligent, if not by 

 the most careful measurement of the crop upon one 

 acre and ten poles of land planted with large and 

 late corn, that it amounted to thirty- five bushels that 

 was quite well ripened, and thirty-six or seven frost- 

 bitten and green ; nearly half of the latter kind, how- 

 ever, dried sufficiently well to grind upon the cob 

 and make tolerable food for cattle and swine. There 

 were upon the farms earlier corns ripening well, and 

 yet yielding a less valuable crop than the one des- 

 cribed. This, let me be understood to say, was in 

 the most unfavorable season, with two, or at most, 

 three exceptions, of the last fifty years. If in such a 

 year the late corns make any thing like a near ap- 

 proach in value, to the early ones, they must be de- 

 cidedly the most profitable in the average of a suc- 

 cession of seasons. Making all the deductions which 

 can be reasonably demanded for the greater exhaus- 

 tion of the soil, and for a supposition that the early 

 varieties with which I am acquainted are less produc- 

 tive than others that might be found, the position, in 

 my mind, can and must be still maintained, that on 

 all our good lands that are not cold and peculiarly 

 subject to frosts, and where we intend to manure 

 well and take proper care of our land, it is unwise to 

 give up the productive for the early corns. 



Which among the early, and which among the late 

 varieties are best? I am but poorly qualified to 

 answer the question. Can only say generally, that the 

 dimensions of the kernel, particularly in depth, are 

 worthy of much regard. The Dutton, in all its va- 

 rieties, is no favorite with me. Its bright and sound 



