NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Vol. I 



PUBLISHED BY THOMAS \V. SHEPARD, UOCiEKS' BUILDINGS, CONGRESS S TKFKT, (FOURTH DOOR IROM S'l A'PE STlU.l'.'l-.) 



~~"^ ~ ~ ' ~ No. .34. 



BOSTON, SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 1823. 



FACTS AND OESF.RVATIONS r.F.I ATiN'i; TO 



GRICULTURE &: DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



r.Y THE EniTOR. 



A NEW KIND OF INDIAN CORN. 



Mr. Daniel Burnham, of Newburyport, lias 

 veil a statement of a new kind ot Indian Corn 

 hic!» he has successfully cultivated. The fol- 

 wing is an abridged account of its (|ualities. 

 lodc of culture, &;c. The seed was raised at 

 ouncil BlutT, on the river Rlissouri, and was 

 jceived at that place from the Maha Nation 

 f Indians. The kernel is large, free from flint, 

 id tilled with a sweet white flour. It is gen- 

 rally eight rowed, but sometimes has ten or 

 velve rows. Mr. Burnham planted some of it 

 ist spring on rather a light soil, inclining to 

 ravel, with a northern aspect. It had lain to 

 rass for the two years previous, without nia- 

 ure, and the crops scanty. The sward was so 

 !nder and broken, and the plough clogged so 

 luch that it could not be turned so well as 

 'ished. It was harrowed, and holes made at 

 le distance of four feet one way, and three 

 ;et the other. Five cords of common barn 

 lanure (about half new and half old) were put 

 1 the holes in a very coarse state. The great- 

 r part of the manure strong, but some feeble, 

 'hree kernels were placed in an hill, and nine 

 uarts of seed were put on an acre and a quar- 

 •r. The process of planting was not well ex- 

 cuted. The ploughing and planting were done 

 •om the Uh to the 7th of M.ay. To supply the 

 eficiency of standards, occasioned by drought, 

 bout the 25th of May, Mr. B. planted seed in 

 rills, from which he transplanted into the field 

 •om 450 to 600 plants, and from earing time to 

 ■jrvat the transplanted corn could tiot be distin- 

 uishcdfrom the other. The corn was hoed four 

 mes, without ploughi«g between the rows. — 

 ["he fourth time was merely loosening the stir- 

 ice of the ground and destroying the weeds. 

 The appearance of the corn was unpromising 



;! ill the rains had wet the manure. It then ex- 

 libited a very remarkable growth, and its luxu- 

 iance became so great that it was apprehended 

 ly many, that the crop was much at hazard. 



i( lome of the seed was planted in the drill meth- 

 id, each standard from fifteen to twenty inches 



hl|i8under, and Mr. B. believes if the field had 

 leen planted in this form, the crop would have 

 leen more abundant. This method would give 

 un and space to the shoots, but they were so 

 .rowded, by being in hills, that they could not 

 lave proper expansion. The height of the 

 talks was not much greater than that of the 

 :ommoD corn, but above and below the ears 

 hey are much larger. It was not uncommon 

 see from three to five large shoots on a ker- 

 lel, and on a shoot two good e.^rs. 

 Mr. B. is of opinion that the best and most 

 may be obtained from mixed 



of cutting and curing the fodder three times as I value of this crop was estimated at $\ W ] and 

 nuch as on common fields of the same size, the costs of cnllivation, &.c. ^71, leaving a profit 

 '."he harvestin"' of the bottoms was .ibout in the on an acre of ^60, without leckoning the worth 

 s:me proportion. The topping of the corn was of the tops. 



dine about the 20th of September. The hsr-j The same No. of the Agricultural Repository 

 vtsting from the 18th to the 2Uh of October, p. '_'(!,') contains an account by the same gcntie- 

 liihu'kino- of the corn two qualities v.erc mud", inan, of the ciiltiue and produce of seven 

 ().' the prime corn there was IKU bushels; of ' eighths of an acre of Indian Corn. " In 1321, 

 tin interior 7 bushels, making in the whole | the ground Was mowed, and produced about one 

 i 17.V bushels. Mr. B. says, " I am decidedly of ton of English hay. No manure was put on the 

 oiinion that had the field been pliinttxl with | ground that year. It had been laid down to 



.ity of our common seed under similar circum- 

 stmces, from fifty to sixty bushels would have 

 b(^ni tlie extent of the crop. The expense, he 

 thhks, was not less than sixty-five dollars, in- 

 cluling manure, land-rent, and every other ex- 

 peise. The field was in the middle of the 

 toin, was much exposed, and robbed of some 

 of ts best ears. It was thought that in this way 

 it Miffered a loss of at least three bushels, but 

 thii loss could not be ascertained, and was not 

 briught into the account. 



ilr. Burnham next adverts to some of the 

 disidvantages attending this sort of corn ; and 

 sn_\n that the pure seed in some seasons would 

 be in danger of injury, as corn is commonly 

 pla:ed after husking, because the cob contains 

 moe moisture than that ol our common corn. 

 Bui he does not consider the mixed seed as lia- 

 ble to this objection ; and observes that if it 

 codd be made certain that the pure seed would 

 in dl seasons, come to maturity as fully as our 

 conmou seed, yet the mixed seed is to be pre- 

 ferred, and much more may be expected from 

 ■( ilvan fVom any corn we have among iis. It 

 weighed, when taken from the cob, 48 lbs. to 

 the bushel, and when thoroughly kiln dried its 

 weight was Exactly QO lbs. After drying, it was 

 ground into meal, and tried in various ways for 

 br«ad, and the result was much in its favor. It 

 requires of boiling water, to wet a pound, six 

 and an half gills. At the same time trial was 

 made of some of our yellow meal, from the last 

 years corn, and it required lour and a half gills 

 to the pound. — See Mass. ^9g. Rep. for Jan. 1833. 



(iibundant crops 



ieed ; and says, " What I mean by mixed seed 

 £ when the kernel has become in a degree 

 liiity, from receiving the Pollen or Farina from 

 3ur flinty corn." • 



The fodder on the field was abundant, and 

 thought by good judges to be fully equal to two 

 Ions of good English hay. The time and labor 



CARROTS AND RCTA BAGA. '■^ 



The same No. contains, (page 281,) a state- 

 ment of Gen. Hull, of Newton, giving an account 

 of his having raised a-crop of Carrots and Ruta 

 Baga, from which we gather the following par- 

 ticulars. 



Al'ter a very deep ploughing in April, fifteen 

 cart bucks of manure were spread on the ground, 

 and immediately covered with the plough. — 

 About the middle of May the land was harrow- 

 ed and then ploughed very deep in ridges, two 

 feet apart. The seed was sowed in single rows 

 on the top of these ridges, between the 21 si 

 and 25th of May ; about a pound to the acre. 

 The seed not being of the best quality, and the 

 season unfavorable, it came up thin. The latter 

 part of June, ruta baga were set in all the va 

 cant places in the rows, where the carrots ha;i 

 not come up. The crop was gathered early ir 

 November, and the acre produced four hmidrp ! 

 and thirty bushels of carrots, and two hundrsd 

 and nineteen bushels of ruta bagn, making six 

 hundred and fortj-nine bushels of both, The 



grass eight years. In October 1821, it was 

 broken up, and remained in that situation until 

 the s[)riiig of I!!?';;. The last ot .\pril, it was 

 well harrowed with a sharp iron tooth harrow. 

 After this a conipo.-iilion of throe loads of night 

 ninnure, mixed willi nine cart bucks of rich 

 earth dug from (be side of an old stone wall, 

 and ten bucks of summer dung from the cow- 

 yard, iverc equally spread over Ibis land, and 

 immediately covered by the plough, ploughing 

 across the furrows. Between the Glh and 12th 

 of IM.iy, it was iiarrowed three times with the 

 same harrow. Furrows were drawn north and 

 south three and a half feet apart. No ridges 

 were formed. Mills were then made with the 

 hoe, in these furrows, two feet apart, not flat, 

 but desccndhig to the south, with a small bank 

 of earth on the north side of each hill. This 

 banking on the north side of the hill ^vas only 

 done on a part of the field. From this mode of 

 planting I calculated two advantages; o»f, the 

 sun would have a more direct ojieration on the 

 hill; the other, the tender plants, when they 

 first came o' t of the ground, wo\ild in some 

 measure be guarded from the cold north winds." 

 The corn was planted between the 15th and 

 20th of M.iy, with four kernels in each hill, 

 equidistant, about five inches. It was plough- 

 ed and hoed three times, and at each time of 

 hoeing the furrows were filled up and the 

 ground lel't nearly level. The first ploughing 

 and hoeing was the 5lli of June ; the second 

 the 20th ; and the third and last, the 5th of J-ily. 

 " As the ground, by deep ploughing and hot 

 ing, had been rendered loose, I was of the opin- 



ion, the hills would receive more nourishment 

 and stand stronger, by the roots running under 

 ground in the whole space between the rows, 

 than by drawing the rich earth around the hills 

 with the hoe, as is the usual custom. Besides 

 the dews, the light rains and the sun have a 

 much greater effect on the roots, when the 

 ground is left in the manner I have here de- 

 scribed, than when the earth is banked up 

 around the hill. And further when high hills 

 are made, the roots running horizontally will 

 run out of the ground and perish. 



" Every thing which had been anticipated 

 .vitli respect to the manner in which this field 

 if corn had been planted and cultivated was re- 

 .ilized. While other corn in the same enclosure 

 and near it, was perishing during the dry season, 

 not a leaf in this field even curled, and no part 

 nf it, in the least degree suffered by the 

 drought. The second week in October it was 

 harvested, and from this seven eighths of an 

 acre, was measured one hundred and ninety- 

 two bushels of ears, after the husks were taktn 



