S'26 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



APRIL 19, 1 37. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 1837. 



Indian Corn. — It is scarculy possible lo su;£;gest 

 * Flints to Husbandmen,' on tiiis important cmp, which 

 iiave not been often placed before our rtraderg. Still, 

 some advantages may acrrue from mere repetitions of 

 orinsr direclions, especially to young farmers, and re- 

 cent subscribers to onr journal. 



SoiL — The soil for this crop should be light and sonie- 

 x-vhat sandy. Stiff rlays, or cold and wet loams are im- 

 proper. 



Preparation. — JuH^e Biie! says, "A young clover lev, 

 one or two years old, is tho be>t preparation for corn, — 

 No grass ley should be cross-ploughed for this crop, li' 

 the soil is tender, and t!ie texture of the soil lij;ht, tlie 

 ploughing and harrowing should immediately precede 

 the planting. If the soil is old and lou^ii, the ground 

 should !>o ploughed the preceding autumn, and harrow 

 «d, and hirrowed again on the eve of ptaniing. The 

 u'rrow sJice should not be laid flat, as in this case the 

 water, if in excess, repogf^s on the suiface, but lapped, 

 so that eacl) furrow forms a sort of undor-drain for the 

 surplus water to pass off. The plough shouM be set, 

 where the soil will admit of it, to turn a furrow six in- 

 ches deep and eight or nine wide ; the work should be 

 well done, no bulks made, and the manure and grass 

 cnmplet«ly buried, ihough an extra hand should be ro- 

 quired. Tlie whole ground should be turned over, that 

 il may be broken and rendered pervious to the young 

 plants. To cut and cocer will not aDsvver, as il breaks 

 up and pulverizes but half tlie soil." 



Seed Corn and its Preparation. — Judge Buel states 

 that " the twelve rowed corn called the Dutton cotu is 

 the earlifisl fur field culture that we know of, and we 

 think it the best. We have raised it sixteen years, and 

 the crop has never been injured by the early frosts. It 

 has been widiily dissetninated, and seed, we presume, 

 may, be obtained in almost every county in tho North 

 evn States." This kind of corti^s, probably, the same 

 with the Lathrop or Phippey corn. Tiicre is also, an 

 early sort of corn, of whicli a sample was loft at tho 

 Seed Store of the N. E. F;irun!r, by Mr Adams of New- 

 bury, Mass., called the Clarke corn, see N. E. Farmer, 

 vol. XV. p *^41. A sort of corn introduced by Hon. O. 

 Fiske, is recommeudod by Capt Coffin of Newburyport. 

 N. E. Farmer, vol xiii. p. 282. How many of those 

 sorts arethesamu, or whether any of tiiem are identical 

 with others bearing different names, we cannot say, but 

 most or all may be had at the Se^d Store of tlie N. E. 

 Farmer. With regard to tho preparation of the seed, 

 the practice of Judge BukI, as stated in the last Culti- 

 vator, " is to turn upon liie seed, the evening before 

 planting, water nearly in a boiling state. This thor- 

 oughly saturates tho seed, induces an incipient germi 

 nation, and causes the corn to sprout quick. The next 

 morning wu take half a pint of tar for half a bushel of 

 seed, put it into an iron vessel with water, and heat it 

 till the tar is dissolved, and tlie liquid becomes lar wa- 

 ter. It il* then turned upon the B'im] and well stirreU 

 It adheres to the grain, and gives it a thin transparent 

 coating. The tar serves a double purpose ; it prevents 

 an excess of moisture entering and rotting the seed, if 

 the wcath 'r or soil are cold and wet; and it preserves 

 it from the depredations of bird?;, &c. which prey upon 

 it. After the seed is taken f.-om ilic steep, where we 

 never leave it more than 15 hrtur.s, a« much ground gyp- 

 sum i.s mixed with it.as will adhere to the kernels. The 

 gypsum prevents tho kernels from adherinj; to caeh oth- 

 er, and fivors the after ;jro\vth of the crop. Ashes or 

 lime may be substi'Luted f u* ^'ypsuni. The seed should 



be planted wliile it in moist, and immediately covered. 



11 should not be exposed to the sun. 



Distanccin Planting — This must depend on the va- 

 riety cultivated and the richness of the sQil. The Dut- 

 ton is of dwarf growth, and upon well manured land 

 may be planted three feet each way, or three by two 

 and a half Southern «orn and the same old varieties 

 in t!ie north grow taller, and require more room. As a 

 certain quantity of food is required to bring each stock 

 to maturity, poorly manured land cannot feed so many 

 stocks as that wliicii is iiighly manured. 



'■ Qinntiiij of Seed and Covering. — From usingtoo little 

 -eed, and a re(;kle.ssne.ss in covering it, many corn fields 

 are deficient one half of vvhat ought to grow upon them. 

 We drop from 6 to 8 kernt-ls in a hill, a-id take espec- 

 ial care to hnve it covered only with fine mould. If 

 dung, sods, sticks or stones are planled upon the hills, 

 it partially or wholly prevents the plants coming up II 

 buried too deep, the seed may rot before the soil is warm 

 enough to induce gerntination ; if loo shallow, it may 

 lack moisture. These are little matters, thougii they 

 have a great infiuence on the profits of the crop. The 

 extra expense that would be incurred to do these tilings 

 perfect, might be four quarts of seed and one day's la- 

 bor to the acre — and the advantage would oAen be the 

 doubling of the crop. Two inches is a sulficient cover- 

 ing, if the hill is trodden upon as it should be, by the 

 planter, to compress tiie earth, and preserve its mois- 

 ture." 



To these valuable directions of Mr Buel, v.'e will add 

 siimc miscellaneous particulars which may be of use. 



Enrly Planting — Atan agricultural njeetingin Keene 

 N. H.J the Rev. Mr Barstow stated a fact which ought 

 to be more extensively known. He planted half an 

 acre of sandy soil, which the man to whom he let the 

 l^nd refused to cultivate on account of its not being 

 v.'-6rlh tilling Mr Barstow planted it with yellow corn, 

 liaving only a thin coat of manure the last of April, 

 jcovered it double the u.sual depth, so that the root was 

 !-afc, while the frost nipped the top off once or twice. — 

 When it was fit to hoc, he spread round each cluster of 

 stalks <me tliird of a pint of iiouse ayhes. In the fall he 

 husked from the huU acre, seventy busliels of sound 

 ears.— See current volume of N E Farmer, page 239. 



The Hon. S. Lathrnp, in an article published in the 

 N. E. Farmer, volume xiv. page 212, observes as fol- 

 lows: "In the beginning of May, twelve loads of coarse 

 manure frum the barn yard were spread upon the hind, 

 and it was thi^n well covered under a furrow of five or 

 six inches deep. Eight loads of tine manure, composed 

 chiefly of earth that had been deposited in a low spot 

 in a yard the preceding summer, were then spread upon 

 the land, when it was harrowed with a ligh' seed har- 

 row, till the surface <tf the ground was well pulverized, 

 and the fine manure was mixed and partly covered with 

 the earth. The ground was planted on the 13th of May, 

 in rows of thr'^-e and a hnlf feet asunder, with a space of 

 two foot between the hills. Tlie seed was soaked about 



12 hours in warm water, mixed with plaster, planted 5 

 kern«*ls in a hill, and at the first hoeing, ttiinned out, 

 so as to leave but three stalks .«;taridincr in a hill." Ac 



Wilmot's Early Rhub.\,rb. — To those who cultivate 

 the Rhubarb, wo would ea-m-stly recommend tiie Wil- 

 moi's E;irly, before any other variety. We have seen 

 it this season at Mr Pond's garden in Canibndgeporl, 

 two inches high. The growth is very rapid. This is 

 a plant which every body may cultivate. The fruit is 

 C(msidercd a delicacy, and medical men ascribe to ii a 

 salutary effect, particularly upon cliildren. Four roots 

 are enough to supply a family. 



O'Let those who like to read, and cannnot afford, in 

 these hard times, to pay the rt-uular book-price, go ^lo 

 Mill's Book Stand, opposite Fan«'uil Hall Market, and 

 he will furni.-ih them with Histories, Biograpliies, Trav- 

 els, &.C. &c., for a small consideration. Works of ol- 

 den time and those of modern dale, are pilerf promiscu- 

 ously on his shelves, from which all may inak-j a selec- 

 tion to suit their taste. It is worth while to visit him ; 

 you will not come empty-handed away. 



Rumors. — Do not give too much consequence to the 

 many loose rumors against some ten or twelve banks, 

 which were started in this city last week by base per- 

 sons, for false motives. There is but one Bank, the 

 Chelaea, whose bills are refused, and that, we undcr- 

 dersland has given ont, that all their notes will be re- 

 deemed. 



MECHANICS' FAIR. 

 JYoticc to Mechanics^ Artisans, Manufacturers, &,'C. 



The undersigned give notice tiiat the First Annual 

 FAIR of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic 

 Absociatitn, will be held in the City of Boston in Sep- 

 tember next, commencing on Monday the I.Slh, and 

 continuing at least three days. 



The Association have placed at the disposal of tlio 

 Board of Managers, the sum of five thousand dollars, to 

 enable them lo conduct the fair upon a liberal scale ; — 

 and they hope to be able to render satisfaction to all 

 who may feel disposed to offer articles for exhibition. 



Medals or Diplomas will be awarded lo the owners 

 of all articles that may be deemed worthy of such dis- 

 tinction ; and the Managers intend that the strictest im- 

 partiality and lairness shall be observed in Ih.: distribu- 

 tion of Premiums. 



The Managers, in furtherance of tiie object they have 

 in view, invite contribulions of articles from every do- 

 partmeit ofindusiry — of choice specimens of American 

 ingenuity and skill — rare and valuable domestic prcpduc- 

 iions, natural or artificial — tUe delicate and beautiful 

 handiwork of females — useful labor-snving machines, 

 implements of husbandry, and new models of machi- 

 nery in all their varieties. 



Judges will be appointed lo examine all articles of- 

 fered, and the Managers will award a gold or silver 

 medal, or a diploma, to all articles that may be pronoun- 

 ced by the Judges worthy of reward. 



Articles intended for Exhibition, must be delivered 

 on or before Wednesday, Sept. 13th. 



Arrangements will be mnde to exhibit, in operation, 

 any working models that may be offered, which will 

 render the ExJubilion useful and interesting, and the 

 Managers respectfully invite contributions in this 

 branch. A careful and competent Superiutendt-nl will 

 be appointed to lake charge of all models sent for this 

 purpose. 



Joseph T. Buckingham, 

 Jamea Clark, 

 Henry W Dutton, 

 George Darnirotl, 



Stephen Fairbanks, 

 John Rayner, 

 William Adams, 

 Uriel Crockt^r, 

 Gardner (ireenleaf, 

 James L. Homer, 

 James B^nry, 

 Joseph Tilden, 



Wm. S. Peudli'ion, 

 Charles A Wellta, 

 Henry Bailey, 

 Jonas Chu keiin'T, 



rs 



Epiiriam IJarriiigton, lieniy II. BnrLoii, 



J*)ri('])h Lewis, Tliomns Itujd, 



Wiiltcr Frosi, Wm. Undei wnod, 



TlKiiniis J. Shelton, Geoigr G Smitlr, 



John G, Royrrs, .-' 



P. S. For any furllicr information, aclilriss Janie« L. 

 [lomcr, Corresponding Sccreiary, Boston. 

 UosTos, Mauch 24, 1837. 



