48 



disposition, on the part of farmers, to increase the average yield, 

 and to prove that the largest crops are proportionablj the cheap- 

 est, — that fifty bushels per acre cost less per bushel than thirty. 

 Many farmers listen with incredulity to the statement that a hundred 

 bushels can be raised on an acre ; but it has been done before, 

 and it has been done this year, in one instance at least. We refer 

 to the crop of the Messrs. Sias of Milton, an account of which 

 will doubtless be furnished by the Committee on Grains. 



From an experiment made in Dorchester two years ago, it was 

 found that a mixed crop of corn and some lesser vegetable, as 

 cabbage, which does not shade the land, and which lets in light 

 and air, was more profitable than corn alone. Our farmers some- 

 times substantially adopt this method, Avhen they alternate four or 

 five rows of corn with as many of potatoes. May we not suggest 

 that the experiment should be repeated by many individuals ? 

 From a comparison of results, it might be seen whether the plan of 

 mixed crops ought to be gradually adopted. 



As a matter of literary curiosity, we quote a few lines from one 

 of the earliest European navigators who ever saw Indian corn. 

 They will show that we follow the Indian method of cultivation to 

 a great extent, — that we do, in fact, merely perpetuate fashions 

 set by the first cultivators. In 1607, the Sieur de Champlain, 

 captain in the French navy, touched at the mouth of the Kenne- 

 bec river. In his Journal he says, " Here we saw Indian corn, 

 which they sow, three or four grains in a place, covering them 

 with earth. At a distance of three feet they plant as much more, 

 and so on. In each hill of corn they plant three or four beans 

 of various colors. They plant their corn in May and gather it in 

 September." At the Saco river, " the savages told us that all 

 who inhabited this region cultivated and sowed the land like those 

 we had seen." At Cape Cod, July 21st, " we landed and passed 

 through a field of corn, planted like those we had seen before. 

 The corn was in blossom and about five and a half feet high. 

 There was also other less advanced, having been planted later. 

 There were also several fields not cultivated, being left to recruit 

 in fallow." After having passed round Cape Cod, they " found 

 much land well tilled in corn and other grains. All the people of 

 this place are industrious and make provision of Indian corn for 

 the winter, which they preserve in the following fashion. On the 



