310 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



MARCH IH, ls40. 



to our treatment of the growingcorn. Both air and 

 light are thoiiglit to be serviceable to its roots ; if 

 80, it is a part of our business to keep the windows 

 above them open. You have all noticed that rains 

 and dews very soon form a slight crust upon the 

 S'.irface of our land in tillage. When tliis is formed, 

 even but partially, it obstructs, somewhat, the pas- 

 sage of both air and light. In the short .•^pacc of 

 four or five days, be the weather ever so fair, the 

 surface of the ground we stir, will become very 

 considerably less pervious ; passage ways .'should 

 again be opened. But we cannot spend ail our 

 time among the corq. What then is our best mode 

 of procedure .' These subtile agents, if once ad- 

 mitted below the surface-crust, will move obliquely 

 -to a considerable distance; so that ruercly passing 

 between the rows one way with the cultivator, may 

 be sufficient for furnisliirig a temporary supply of 

 light and air to all the roots. If so, the labor of 

 passing through the other way should be deferred 

 for a few days; then after an interval of a few 

 more days, use tlie hoe. At tlie proper time, re- 

 peat the process. For thus, with an ecjual amount 

 of labor, applied on nine different days at intervals 

 of four or six days, your crop, if my theory is sound, 

 will be considerably more benefited, than if the la- 

 bor be all performed on three days, at intervals of 

 a fortnight or more. 



It is presumed that stirring the surface of the 

 earth until later in the season than is usual with 

 our farmers, would hasten the maturity and increase 

 the (juantity of our crops. I should confidently e.x- 

 pect advantage from it up to the time wlien the 

 corn becomes full. I speak of stirring the surfiice ; 

 and I mark the word as emphatic. Two years ago 

 when thinning corn that was not more than six or 

 eight inches high, I accidentally drew out the root 

 of one stalk, that, upon measurement, was found to 

 be twenty inches long. Afterwards, by pulling 

 with care, roots much longer than ), supposed that 

 little corn possessed, were drawn out from many 

 hills. Subsequent observation has confirm' d the 

 belief that the minute but important roots of our 

 corn spread widely throtigh the ground and that 

 many of them lie near its surface. .It is hardly ne- 

 cessary to assert that it is important to spare the 

 roots of our growing plants. However minute they 

 may be, the plant will suffer from a 'loss of them. 

 The practice of plou^'hing deeo betw'een the rows, 

 and making a high hill ai-ound the corn, must sever 

 many of these roots, and lay the mass of lliem un- 

 naturally deep in the earth. Corn thus treated is 

 placed at disadvantage. There is n''!T)en6fit what- 

 ever derived from making any /ii7/. " 'I have taken 

 pains the present year to go through many fields, 

 and notice the eft'ect of every grade, from [he level 

 surface to the high hill, and I find no reason to 

 think that the corn either grows better or stands 

 better, for being hilled. In times of droug.'it, the 

 level surface will longer supply the corn with mois- 

 ture, and will convey the rain, when it comes, more 

 directly and abundantly to the thirsting roots, ftly 

 conviction, that the surface of the ground alone 

 should be stirred, leads me to refer to the instru- 

 ments of cultivation. The plough is fast giving 

 place to the cultivator. This e.vchange may be ad- 

 vantageous i but I am not satisfied that it is the 

 best exchange that might be made. The form of 

 the cultivator teeth does not suit me ; it carries 

 them too deep ; they rend the roots of the corn too 

 much. Many months ago, the query anise in my 

 mind whether the size of crops which I had witness- 

 ed, was not augmented by the use of a harrow in 



the cultivation. Since that time I have noticed 

 with care such accounts as have come to me of 

 large crops, and have been surprised to find that in 

 most of the instances in which a very extraordinary 

 yield had been obtained, the corn was harrowed. — 

 I throw out these opinions in the hope that some 

 one will be induced to bring my theory to the test 

 of experience, and ascertain by some careful expe- 

 riment the soundness or unsoundness of my conclu- 

 sion. 



One other topic in relatiim to this crop, demands 

 a passi.ig notice. If any faith can be placed in the 

 testimony of those who have endeavored to ascer- 

 tain the e.xact effects of taking the top of the stalk 

 from the growing, or rather ripening corn, the far- 

 mers of Essex are not accustomed to pursue the 

 best course. Experiment is said to teach, that 

 when the corn, as soon as it has become a little 

 hardened, is cut up at the root and shocked, the 

 yield is greater than when left to stand with the 

 stalk uricut until it is fully ripened; and thnt this 

 latter method gives a larger produce than that of 

 topping the stalk. The differences have been so 

 great as to make the matter one of no si^iall impor- 

 tance. Trials by measurement have never been 

 made under my own inspection, but on each of 

 the last two years I have seen tlie process of top- 

 ping and cutting at the root performed side by 

 side, and have no hesitation in giving a preference 

 to the latter. The labor of harvesting by this pro- 

 cess is believed to be somewhat less than by the 

 other the stalks as a whole are quite as good ; the 

 danger of harm from severe frosts less ; a. id I doubt 

 not that the corn is more and better. We all know 

 that the other grains lose both in size and sweet- 

 ness by drying upon standing stalks ; and until ex- 

 periments, have proved the contrary, the fair pre- 

 sumption is that corn will do the same. 



Grasses are usually forced to drag out a feeble 

 and protracted infancy among the overshartowin-^ 

 and greedy grains. While delicate and tender as 

 they can be and live, the screen is removed and 

 they are laid bare to the scorchings of an August 

 sun. That they so often survive the hardships of 

 their situatiou, is matter of surprise. They would 

 doubtless do better if sowed alone. I have no 

 faith in the correctness of a common opinion, that 

 they need something to protect them : they are the 

 hardiest plants we cultivate; and the protection 

 which the grains give, is too much like the wolf's 

 protection of the lamb. Farmers, howevei', might 

 not be wise in abandoning to any great extent, their 

 accustomed course. The loss in one ciop may be 

 compensated by the convenience and worth of the 

 other. Oats, as fur as my observation extends, 

 when luxuriant and suffered to ripen, are usually 

 nearly fatal to the grass. The other grains are less 

 harmful. 



To some extent our grasses may be allowed to 

 comaience their growth under more favorable cir- 

 cumstances. Moist lands that will admit a smooth 

 turning, may be easily and profitably renovated by 

 ploughing in the month of August or September, 

 applying a dressing of manure upon the furrow, 

 sowing the seed, harrowing and rolling. I have 

 seen enough of this method to recon mend it in en- 

 tire confidence that it is good, Where corn is cul- 

 tivated without any hill, grass may be sowed among 

 it at the last time of hoeing, to great advantage. 

 One piece of ground laid down in this way, which 

 has now been mowed five successive summers, has 

 uniformly yielded a good crop and holds out better 

 than any other piece of similar texture on which I 



ever labored. Another piece from which two crops 

 have been taken, does thus far equally well, and 

 gives fair promises for the future. This method 

 seems admirably well adapted to light and sandy 

 lands, where grasses often/fail to take root: The 

 Hon. William Clark, of Nortlmmpton, who was the 

 originator of this process, told me, according to my 

 recollection, that he no-^r often succeeds in obtain- 

 ing two tons of*clover to the acre on light soils, 

 where no one had ever before been able to form, 

 by the old process, any sward ; and where it had 

 long been deemed entirely useless to sow grass 

 seed among rye. 



The raising of roots for cattle and swine is year- 

 ly becoming more common. This is an improve- 

 ment in our hu.sbandry. Taking a succession of 

 years, and a variety of kinds, roots may be raised 

 at an expense of twelve and a half cents per bush- 

 el ; perhaps for less. As aids in working off the 

 coarser kinds of fodder, while the stock is kept in 

 good condition; as means of increasing the quanti- 

 ty of milk, beef, and pork on the farm ; and not 

 least, as agents in enriching and increasing the 

 manure heap, they fully repay the expense which 

 obtains them. Taking both cost and worth into 

 the account, perhaps neither the ruta baga, sugar 

 beet, nor carrot, is to be preferred to the exclusion 

 of the others. Let them all be cultivated. For 

 milch cows, the sugar beet will probably be found 

 the best; for horses and swine, carrots will be pre- 

 ferred. One winter's trial with two horses has 

 proved that a peck of carrots per day is quite as 

 good for a horse as four quarts of oats ; when boil- 

 ed, swine thrive well upon them. One eighth, and 

 perhaps a larger portion of all the land which a 

 farmer tills, may profitably bo appropriated to the 

 root culture. 



Let not the advance and spread of total absti- 

 nence principles, cause you to set less value upon 

 the orchard. Apples are worth as much for cattle 

 and hogs, as they ever were for cider. Trial was 

 made a few years since with two cows. One ate a 

 peck of raw apples through a week ; the other had 

 none. The next week the apples went to the other 

 crib. The third week the first cow again received 

 Ihem. Then came the second one's turn, and thus 

 they went round. The milk from these cows was 

 measured, and each peck of apples produced about 

 one quart of milk.* For store swine they are worth 

 at least half as much as potatoes. Apples will con- 

 tinue to be worth cultivating, even when all shall 

 have ceased to stupify the brain and sour the dis- 

 position by the use of cider; yes, even in the tem- 

 perate limes when the Trustees of this Society 

 shall cease to offer a premium upon the best sam- 

 ple of an article that wars against the domestic en- 

 joyments and thrift of many an Essex farmer. 

 (Concluded ne.\i week.) 



Improvement in .Agriculture. — It is encouraorjncr 

 to consider the great improvements which have 

 been made in husbandry w'thin the last quarter of 

 a century, and the patriotic ardor evinced in the 

 cause by our best men, who like the Roman Sena, 

 tors, are setting their hands to the plough, and ex- 

 citing their neighbors to engage in this the most 

 important of all arts, and the most conducive to the 

 public good and private morals. 



*'rhis experiment, I am led to suppose, was not made 

 witli so much exactne.ss as here described ; but the experi- 

 menter was satisfied that the apples produced as much 

 milk as stated above. 



