DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ALL ITS VARIOUS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



CORN FODDER. 



In New England, corn fodder, used green or dry, 

 yields a larger crop than any other cultivated ; and 

 it is among the most valuable crops raised as to qual- 

 ity. There is probably no better crop for soiling, and 

 dried and properly prepared for cattle, it is equal to 

 good hay. We have many accounts of great crops, 

 from extra pains in the preparation of the soil ; but 

 we find that with a soil in only tolerably good con- 

 dition, a large amount of fodder is produced. 



An acre of good corn land, well dressed, will gen- 

 erally produce four or five tons of dry fodder, and 

 four times that amount of green. As feed grows 

 short the latter part of summer, particularly on dry 

 lands, the fanner should provide some fodder for his 

 cattle ; and none is cheaper than that of Indian corn, 

 as has been abundantly proved on the milk farms in 

 this region, where the practice is almost universal. 



The famous Chinese Tree corn is an excellent 

 variety for fodder, yielding a large crop, of excellent 

 quality. Some farmers plant the sweet corn, as it 

 yields fodder of a superior quality. The southern 

 corn grows rank, and yields more than the northern ; 

 yet some prefer the northern kind^, as they produce 

 finer fodder, and the cattle eat it more readily ; yet 

 the majority prefer the southern, on account of its 

 productiveness. The Chinese yields nearly as well 

 as the southern corn, and the fodder is better. 



Corn, for fodder, is often sown broadcast and har- 

 rowed in ; but the crop will be larger if planted in 

 drills, and dressed once by the use of the cultivator 

 and hoe. By rather thick planting, a very large 

 growth is prevented. Make the drills about three 

 feet apart for large com, and let the spears stand 

 only two or three inches apart in the drill. It is 

 often sown in broad drills, and allowed to stand so 

 tiuck that there ^^■ill be ten or twelve stalks to a foot 

 in length. 



BOMMER MANURE. 



We have occasionally published articles on this 

 subject, showing the imposition that has been prac- 

 tised upon the farming community by selling rights 

 for making manure 1)y an old system that was pat- 



ented in France, and the patent expired in 1840. 

 We have published these facts, and yet many farmers 

 allow themselves to be imposed upon by paying for 

 what has been published and scattered broadcast over 

 the whole country, and is fii-ee to all. 



The venders of Bommer's right have pursued a 

 singvilar course of management. In the first place, 

 application was made for a patent, and rejected for 

 want of novelty. Soon after, during the absence of 

 the commissioner of patents, an application was 

 made in another name, and a patent obtained. But 

 this does by no means establish the validity of the 

 patent. 



If the same system has been practised in this or 

 any other country, it becomes public property, unless 

 discovered in this country and patented by the 

 inventor. 



Another piece of imposition, which is in keeping 

 with the rest, was the appointment of agents for the 

 sale of Bommer's right, before he or any one else had 

 obtained a patent. After so bold a beginning in this 

 business, it is no wonder that there has been a com- 

 plete system of the same character. Examine the 

 statement of Mr. Ellsworth, commissioner of patents, 

 published four years ago in the Albany Cultivator, 

 and copied into other papers, and compare it with 

 the advertisement of Bommer's patent, in the Farm- 

 er's Gazette, published some years since in New 

 Haven, Ct., and see which is prior, the date of the 

 patent or of the advertisement. 



From the information which we have on the siib- 

 ject, we should think that the amount that has been 

 taken from farmers for this fictitious right, which any 

 one might have had by jiaying the subscription of a 

 paper for one year, is not less than twelve or fourteen 

 thousand dollars. Now, farmers, are you willing to 

 bo fleeced in this manner, rather than inform your- 

 selves, and thus shun the impositions which some 

 are disposed to play off in order to fill their pockets 

 from your hard earnings ? 



FRUIT CONVENTIONS. 



We lately announced the time and place of meet- 

 ing of the North American Fomological Convention. 



