24 



The product of such cultivation is estimated at 70 



bushels 70 00 



Corn fodder at 12 00 



82 00 

 Expenses . . . 49 75 



Profit . . . . $32 25 



Farmers in general estimate the corn fodder or stover upon an 

 acre as equal to three fourths of a ton of English hay ; many con- 

 sider it as equal to a ton of hay. The only instance of exact 

 measurement which I have met with is from a Pennsylvania farmer. 

 On corn yielding GG bushels to the acre there was obtained of 



Tons. Cwt. lbs. 



Blades, husks, and tops . . . 16 13 



Stalks or butts 1 7 00 



Total, 2 13 13gr's. 



The stover of the Pennsylvania corn, wiiich is a gourd-seed 

 variety would probably yield from a third (o a half more than ours in 

 weight ; yet our stalks being smaller, more of the fodder in propor- 

 tion would be consumed by the cattle. 



I have dwelt thus largely upon the crop of Indian corn because I 

 deem it among the most valuable crops that can be raised among us. 

 It constitutes a nutritious food for man and beast. With the excep- 

 tron of the clayey, wet, and frosty soils, no crop is more adapted to 

 general cultivation. In the emphatic but just language of a Virginia 

 farmer it is " Meal, Meadow, and Manure." It is a comparatively 

 certain crop. There has been no general failure of the corn crop 

 until within the last two years, since the year ISIG, when a frost 

 occurred every month in the year. In the last two years, however, 

 fields have ripened perfectly where an early variety was planted. 

 The Pickwacket corn, an early eight-rowed variety, highly pro- 

 ductive and yielding under good cultivation 70 to 80 bushels to an 

 acre, has been sound and good in many places within the county the 



