No. 144.] 133 



sition; when several feet higher a gale from the south leveled it 

 in the other direction; on both occasions it soon recovered its po- 

 sition, and when ripe was vertical. It yielded 100 bushels per 

 acre of shelled corn. On examination I found that the roots had 

 not extended themselves in any direction beyond six inches. In 

 that short space it found the desirable chemicals, assimilated 

 them, made its growth above ground rapidly, produced its crop 

 in profusion, and in good season, whereas, the next field, plant- 

 ed at the same time, and taken care of in the same manner, yield- 

 ed a late crop of less than forty bushels to the acre. On exami- 

 nation, the whole field, within a few inches of the surface, was 

 found to contain an innumerable quantity of roots spread, like a 

 fan, in every direction. The growth above ground was very su- 

 perior to the other ; the energies of the plant had been expended 

 in searching for nourishment; further comment is unnecessary. 

 I invariably shell and sell my corn in the fall, when it always 

 bears a higher price than at any other season of the year ; and 

 there are very many other advantages that it is unnecessary to 

 mention. I suppose the average cost of raising corn, per bushel, 

 with us, is about thirty cents. 



In Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, the most celebrated 

 corn raising districts in the United States, it would cost to culti- 

 vate it from ten to twelve cents per bushel. I regret that the 

 farmers in those States do not understand their interests better 

 than to pursue so suicidal a policy as to raise annually such an 

 exhausting crop as corn upon their rich alluvial bottoms ; it may 

 enrich the present generation, but the one that follows will be im- 

 poverished ; when, by a judicious mode of rotation, if it were only 

 clover and corn, tlieir land would annually improve, their crops 

 would double, and t]^e rising generation would glory in the wis- 

 dom ot their progenitors. I fearlessly assert that the generality 

 of soils, in the States above-named, that fifteen years since yielded 

 from sixty to seventy bushels of corn to the acre, now require ro- 

 tation, deep culture, manure and superior cultivation to produce 

 these results. 



At our last meeting we were informed that some gentleman in 

 Illinois had 3,000 acres in Indian corn, and that the land was 



