AOi,. XVil N' 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL, 



115 



yere planted liandsomely with it last spring. It 

 jlanted an acre of ruta baga, (4,000 hills,) in fifty- 

 ive minutes. The turnips look finely. 



A machine for sowing grass-seed and grain. is 

 much wanted. I have seen at Washington and at 

 New York a machine for sowing plaster and grain 

 —the gearing seems to be more complicated than 

 is necessary, but it is said to perform well. 



A very simple machine has been planned this 

 summer to sow grain, or grass-seed. It is a box 

 four or live feet long placed forward of a common 

 harrow. A sieve forms the back side of the box. 

 By shifting the sieve, grain of any kind may be 

 Bown as well as grass-seed, and the team performs 

 the whole w ithout extra labor. It is quite impos- 

 sible to sow grass-seed well by hand. We sow 

 some too thick and some too sparse. For this ser- 

 vice I feel sure " .% hands ivere never made." By 

 regular, methodical sowing we save much expense 

 in°seed. We used only half the quantity of ruta 

 bao-a seed that is usually sown. 



We are often accused of being backward in 

 adopting improvements. The spinner is said to 

 tend, now, one hundred spindles instead of one. 



The teaveller progresses four miles while he for-^ 

 merly advanced one. And shall farmers alone re- 

 main stationary ? Shall we not also make inquiry 

 whether our pace may not be quickened ? Shall 

 we be skittish and fear lo examine new machinery 

 to facilitate the operations of husbandry, because 

 we have discovered that the very newest patent 

 churns, and washing machines will not go alone ? 

 Let us not fear to examine new modes of operation. 

 Let us ever attempt improvement. 



^VARIETIES OF EARLY INDIAN CORN. 



The Maine Farmer, of Aug. 21, says, "the But- 

 ton corn grows luxuriantly, but is much later than 

 many of the old varieties." 



The Farmer and Gardener, of the same date, 

 printed at Baltimore, states two cases of the Button 

 corn being gathered, in a ripe state, in less than 

 90 days from the time of its being planted, viz. Mr 

 Giles planted on the l7th May, and gathered per- 

 fectlv ripe samples on the ].5th August; and Mr 

 Harrison planted, on the iGth May, and gathered 

 on the 14th August. , ^ , tt- 



The Franklin Farmer, printed at Frankfort, Ky. 

 of Auff. IS, says, "Our Button corn, planted April 

 30 haT been gathered more than a week. It is 

 perfectly ripe, hard and well cured. Though a 

 dwarf species, it is a generous bearer, and we are 

 satisfied from the experiment of this season, that an 

 acre of it will produce as good an average crop as 

 our larger eared corn." 



Some of our Button corn, planted on the 19th 

 May, had perfectly ripe ears on the 15th Aug. and 

 this part of our crop was harvested, that is, cut up, 

 on the 28th Auo-. though it might safely have been 

 done on the 21st ; and most of the Button corn in 

 our neighborhood, was harvested either in August 

 or the tS-st week in September. , . , ■ 



We have recorded these facts, to explain their 

 seeming contradictions, and to make some sugges- 

 tions, which we tbink of importance to the farmer, 

 in reo-ard to seed. 



We have before observed, that there is a spuri- 

 ous as well as a genuine, Button corn, the former 

 of stouter orowth, and later in ripening, tlian the 

 latter We would remark, that this ditFerence may 

 result from the seed planted— seed of the same 

 variety, grown at the south, giving a larger growUi 



of stalk, and maturing later than seed grown at 

 tiie north. This is evidenced by the fact, that 

 southern seed always gives a comparatively large 

 and late growth at the nortli ; while northern seed 

 gives a dwarfish growth and early maturity at the 

 south— and that they both become acclimated in a 

 few years, and take the habits of their new location. 

 These considerations suggest, that so far as early 

 maturity is sought for, it is advisable, when a 

 change of seed is desired, to obtain it from a more 

 nortirern latitude, or elevated district. 



But we adopt the opinion of Joseph Cooper, so 

 far at least as relates to maize— which was, that a 

 chan"-e of seed is not necessan/, when due regard 

 is paFd to selecting tlie seed. We have cultivated 

 the Button variety of corn eighteen years— we have 

 always selected the earliest and fairest ears, assist- 

 ing in person, for seed, which we immediately 

 braided, and hung in an airy loft. It has ripened 

 as early tiiis, as it did the first year we received the 

 seed from the far nortli ; while we are satisfied it 

 has increased in productiveness— that it has larger 

 ears, and more of them, and taller stalks, than it 

 had 'when we first began its culture. The seed is 

 left to mature on tiielitalk, till the crop is gathered 

 from the field— the earliest ripened, being then 

 easily determined by the appearance of the shuck, 

 or husk, and the rich color of the corn. Hence the 

 importance of every farmer taking care to secure, 

 in person, his best seed. 



There is one other fact that should not be lost 

 sight of— the influence of soil and location upon 

 vegetable growth. A moist, rich soil, will give the 

 largest growtli, both of foliage and fruit, and a light 

 and dry'one the earliest maturity, and the richest 

 or most concentrated product. Prof. Ives states, 

 that plants from the seed of the morus multicauhs, 

 have the foliage of the parent in a rich humid soil, 

 while they resemble those of the M. alba, on a tliin 

 light soil ; and it is believed that a pound of the 

 leaves of the latter are intrinsically more valuable 

 to the silk-worm than a pound of the former. It is 

 not the size that indicates superiority in the animal 

 or ve<retable. A very large apple is seldom a very 

 good one. The cider from a hilly, dry, calcareous 

 sod, is always superior to that from a low and rich 

 one. A very large beet contains much less sugar 

 than the same weight of small beets. Indian corn, 

 grown upon a light dry soil, comes to earlier matu- 

 rity, but is inferior in its growth, and in the size of 

 its ears, than when it is grown upon a highly ma- 

 nured loam. Indeed the difference is so great, on 

 our own grounds, this season, that the growth and 

 product in two locations, would hardly be taken for 

 the same variety. 



We have another suggestion to make, in regard 

 to the influence of steeps. It will be remembered, 

 that in our last volume, we referred to a communi- 

 cation of Senator Johnson, inserted in tiie first vol- 

 ume of the transactions of the old agricultural so- 

 ciety, showing that the crop from seed wheat^ 

 steeped in a solution of salt-petre, ripened two 

 weeks earlier, and gave 25 per cent, more product, 

 than t!ie crop from seed which was not thus steeped. 

 We be<TaB to plant our main crop of corn on the 

 l^tli May, and finished on tiie ICth. All the seed 

 was steeped 12 hours in a solution of mtre in 

 quantities sufficient for one day's planting. A tew 

 quarts of seed, which remained, was set m Uie 

 cellar where it remained, partially covered with 

 pickle, till the 19th, when it was planted in a va- 

 cant patch of thin soil, in which we also planted, 

 the same day, six other varieties, all reputed to be 



remarkably early, and the seed of all which had 

 been soaked in salt-petre water. The last planted 

 Button corn, was decidedly the earliest of the seven 

 sorts in coming to maturity, and was at least two 

 weeks earlier than the main crop, planted from three 

 to six days earlier. Its maturity may have been in 

 some measure accelerated by the porosity of the 

 soil, compared with that of the main field, which 

 was highly manured with unfermented dung, and 

 to the consequent influence of the dry weatiier ; 

 yet ye think it not improbable that it was princi- 

 pally owing to the seed having remained saturated, 

 9G hours, in the nitrous solution. 



Having referred to our specimen plat, we will 

 add, that^it' consists of the following varieties of 

 corn : 



1. Button; 2. and .3. Lake Superior and Squaw 

 from Lake Michigan ; 4. Early white, not recollect- 

 ed where from ; 5. Early Canada,- from Pough- 

 keepsie ; 6. Red Blaze, from Elmira; 7, Early yel- 

 low, from Vermont. These varieties were all 

 planted the same dav, two rows of each, with in- 

 tervals between the different kinds of 20 or 30 feet. 

 On examining them to day, Aug. 28, we find No. 1 

 mostiy ripe, the husks dry and separating from the 

 grain ; No. 2, Lake Superior, an 8 rowed yellow, 

 growing 4 1-2 feet high, but very prolific in succori 

 and eare, next to the Button in maturity. The 

 early white is an 8 rowed corn, 5 1-2 feet high, 

 and is third in ripeness. The Vermont is a yellow 

 8 rowed corn, grows 6 feet high, and is next m 

 ripeness to the early white. The Squaw, No. 3, is 

 an 8 rowed colored grain, grows 6 feet high, and is 

 fifth in its earliness. Tlie Red Blaze comes next, 

 and the early Canada- is the latest. Both are eight 

 rowed, and, like thff Button, they grow seven and 

 eio-ht feet high. As- to number of ears on a stock, 

 they are about alike, except the Lake Superior, 

 which is far the most prolific in its succors and 

 ears, though they are very small. As to the size 

 of ears, the Button has a manifest superiority ; as 

 to length of ears, the early Canada and the Red 

 Blaze, 8 rowed, are equal, if not a little superior to 

 the Button. Several gentlemen, who have visited 

 the plat, concur in the correctness of this state- 

 ment. We intend to exliibit samples of each of 

 these varieties, at the fair of the American Insti- 

 tute. We omit the notice of later ripening vari- 

 eties — Cidthator. 



Experiments in Manuring Turnips. — S. W. 

 Smith has given to the public, in die Farmers' 

 Cabinet, the result of an experiment with various 

 manures upon his turnip crop, which are worth re- 

 cording and remembering. He divided an acre of 

 land into four equal parts, and gave to No. 1 a 

 dressing of common stable dung ; to No. 2, an 

 extra quantity of compost manure ; to No. 3, ten 

 bushels of lime and two and a half of wood ashes ; 

 and to No. 4, two bushels of bone dust. They all 

 escaped the fly, and were treated alike. They 

 were sown the 15th and 16th June, and harvested 

 the 10th November. The product was as fol- 

 lows : 



No. 1 yielded 98 bushels = to 390 per acre. 

 No. 2 " 124 " = to 496 



No. 3 " 185 " = to 740 " 



No. 4 " 213 " = to 852 



Men of limited capacities generally condemn 

 everything tiiat is above the level of tiieir under- 

 standings. — Rochefoucault. 



