mr. putnam's address. 7 



adopt my opinions any farther than they arc approv- 

 ed by your own good sense and experience, I ven- 

 ture to notice, somewhat minutely, several of our 

 common crops and operations. 



Indian corn is one of the most important produc- 

 tions of our soil and skill. What varieties shall be 

 cultivated ? The early or the late ? — The cold and 

 frosts of '36 and '37 aroused almost every agricultu- 

 ral pen in recommendation of the early kinds ; the 

 tongues of Commissioner and address-makers were 

 eloquent in their praise ; and farmers generally be- 

 came anxious to procure them for cultivation. The 

 arguments of the many pens, the power of eloquence, 

 and the more persuasive language of the prudent 

 farmer's actions, could never, in my judgment, stand 

 before a simple and unimposing array of facts and fig- 

 ures. During more than half a century the later corns 

 have not failed, in more than three seasons, to come 

 to maturity in my ancestral fields. These varieties, 

 I should ijudge, generally yield at least twenty-five 

 per cent more of both grain and stalks, than the ear- 

 ly kind. A very simple arithmetical process brings 

 me to the conclusion, that there is little wisdom in 

 abandoning the cultivation of the more productive 

 varieties. It was a maxim with one, now deceased, 

 who ranked among the best cultivators in my native 

 parish, that he would rather have a crop of larger 

 corn every other year, and a larger growth of stalks 

 and green corn the intervening years, than an annu- 

 al crop of small stuff. This maxim, in its spirit, if 

 not in the letter, is perfectly sound. I have facts that 

 seem to prove it. In 1837, when the corn was bad- 



