Proceedixgs of the Farmers' Club. 305 



planted, tliej should be put in tlie ground slantingly, three inches 

 deep and two feet apart, with end projecting above the ground ; if 

 layers are to be planted, they should be laid in a furi'uw about three 

 inches deep, horizontally, Avith the ends lapping, as in cane planting. 

 After the first year's growth lias been cut, new sprouts will issue from 

 all parts of the bed ; the growth will become very dense and choke 

 out all other vegetation. 



Harvesting. 

 "When the stems have attained a height of six or eight feet, they 

 are then ready to be harvested ; but should it be inconvenient for the 

 farmer to commence cutting at the time, the fibre will not be serionsly 

 injiifed if left in the field for a week or two longer. In cutting the 

 stems an ordinary cane knife may be used, care being taken to cut 

 the stem a little below the ground. It will also be advisable to 

 extract the fibre when the stems are not too dr}', as that labor is then 

 much more easily performed, and the fibre is of better quality if bro- 

 ken out while in that condition. A simple and easily worked 

 machine, similar to the ordinary fiax breakers, is being constructed 

 for that purpose. With this, the planter can make his crop market- 

 able at small expense. In preparing tiie fibre for packing, it should 

 be done up in hanks, and packed in bags or bales like cotton. All 

 refuse matter, such as leaves, the woody substance of the stem, etc., 

 should be strewn over the field. jSTo other manure is required. 



CoKN Planting. 



Mr. J. B. Lyman. — Corn gi-owing is the peculiar mission of the' 

 American farmer. We accept this royal plant, the country over, as 

 the type and unit of our agricultural estimates. Land, with us, is 

 well described by saying how much corn it will grow without manure. 

 The idea of sterility cannot be more perfectly conveyed to the mind 

 of an American farmer than by saying that a couutrj- will not give 

 ten bushels of shelled corn fi-om an acre. Corn is peculiar as an 

 American crop, because it so hits the variations of our climate. It is 

 a tropical plant, and will not show its regal nature unless well nigh 

 roasted by a blazing sun. Yet it is a great lover of moisture, and 

 requires generous supplies of it. Hence it will not do its best with- 

 out frequent rains alternating with torrid suns. Intense heat, witb 

 abundant moisture are generally tlie characteristics of a summer in 

 the L'nited States, east of the great plains awl south of the great 



[Inst.] 20 



