1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



215 



concerned of the wastefulness of grinding cobs, 

 when thej' are informed that at mills where one- 

 tenth is usually charged for grinding corn, or 

 about five cents per bushel, when corn is about a 

 cent per pound, it is customary to charge eight 

 cents for grinding two bushels of ears, equal to 

 one bushel of shelled corn and the cobs belonging 

 thereto ; and that, as there are generally about 

 twenty pounds of cobs in two bushels of ears, 

 the usual charge of millers makes the grinding 

 of these twenty pounds cost three cents, or at 

 the rate of three dollars per ton. The conclusion 

 to which one neighbor arrived, after taking these 

 details as to the cost of grinding cobs into consid- 

 eration, is quite likely to be that of a good many 

 others : "Why," said he, "it is quite plain that it 

 is wasteful to grind cobs, for it would cost much 

 less to cut up straw or stalks very fine in a cut- 

 ting box, and mix the corn meal with that, or to 

 feed the corn meal in any other way, and leave 

 the stock to pick up as many of the cobs as may 

 suit their taste or instinctive cravings." 



But the third question about this practice of 

 grinding and feeding cob meal still remains, and 

 is by far the most important of any of them, as it 

 relates to the safety of feeding cob meal. A great 

 many facts have occurred, some of which only 

 have been put upon record in our agricultural 

 journals, which prove very conclusively that the 

 feeding of cob and corn meal have in a great 

 many instances produced disease, and even death. 

 On the other side of the question, nothing has 

 been alleged, and indeed, nothing can be, except 

 merely that this one and that one who have been 

 in the habit of feeding corn and cob meal more or 

 less extensively, has never seen any bad results 

 from it in his sphere of observation. But as the 

 endeavor to do what we have undertaken, namely, 

 to enable those concerned to arrive at the truth 

 in regard to this question, would involve us in 

 details of some considerable length, we will leave 

 these to some future time. Meanwhile, we would 

 like to hear from some of our brother members 

 of the club. More Anon. 



For the New England Farmer. 



DO MANURES "WASTE BY EVAP- 

 OKATION ? 



Mr. Editor: — We frequently hear it enjoined 

 upon the farmer to plow in manures as soon as 

 spread, just as though the elements were com- 

 bined to rob him. Now if we look at the opera- 

 tions of nature in her endeavors to repair her 

 drooping energies, we shall find, that she is no 

 such spendthrift. 



Notice, if you please, the fertile prairies of the 

 West, and tell, if you can, if their fertility is due 

 to any other source than the rank growth of veg- 

 etation that year after year falls and rots upon 

 the surface ? The rich intervals of our own New 

 England are all instances of surface manuring. 

 How is forest land enriched, except by surface 

 manuring ? I would not be supposed to argue 

 the placing of all manures on the surface — far 

 from it. Manures on plowed land should be thor- 

 oughly mingled with the soil from the surface to 

 the depth of four to six inches. But it is the 

 general opinion in this vicinity that all manures 

 should be covered with earth, consequently we 



see but little top-dressing of mowing land, a 

 thing which should be practiced on every farm. 



All gardeners recommend the use of well-rotted 

 manure. If well rotted manure is good in the 

 garden, it is good in the field, and in order to 

 have rotten manure, we must have that which 

 has been exposed to the atmosphere, and conse- 

 quently to evaporation. The question is, does it 

 lose any of its value in rotting ? If we mix a 

 pound of salt with a gallon of water, and evapor- 

 ate the water, we have the pound of salt still. The 

 process of making maple sugar is an instance 

 of evaporation without loss. 



Wells, Me., 1861. M. Littlefield. 



Remarks. — When you go into a room where 

 there is a full blown rose, you smell its perfume, 

 and the rose has lost just so much as you smell, 

 and as much more as there is in the room. If the 

 stem and leaves of the rose rest upon water, it 

 will remain quite fresh several days, but its fra- 

 grance will all be gone. We understand that a 

 similar operation takes place in exposed manures. 

 The process of the decay of vegetable matter on 

 prairies is hardly a parallel case, as the decay is 

 in small quantities, at any one time, and the 

 process very slow. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE EASTEBN PROLIFIC CORN-. 



The seed of the "Eastern Prolific Corn," a name 

 which I gave it, originated, I believe, in Maine, 

 and was first known to me about two years since, 

 although some farmers in this vicinity claim to 

 have raised the same kind a number of years, and 

 obtained much larger crops than I have been able 

 to do, thus far. Last season I raised on Elm 

 Farm, Berkley, Mass., a little more than eighty 

 bushels of good sound corn per acre. My corn 

 land is what would be termed plain, level, and of 

 a light, sandy loam. I plowed thoroughly ten or 

 twelve inches deep with "Birch's Patent Iron 

 Beam Plow," used five loads of rich compost, and 

 twelve bushels of ashes per acre — the ashes being 

 used at weeding time. Planted in hills about 

 three and a half feet apart each way, in May, 16th 

 and 18th, putting two cords of manure in the hill. 

 I allowed five stalks to each hill, perhaps four 

 would have done better, cultivated both ways, and 

 hoed about the middle and last of June, and sub- 

 sequently a third time, without plowing. Cut and 

 stacked the corn the first part of Septrmber, and 

 allowed it to remain in the field some five weeks. 

 The value of the crop per acre was : 



Corn $82,58 



Corn fodder and improvement of land 30,C0 — $112,58 



The expense of cultivation was for 



5 cords of manure on land $40,00 



12 bushels ashes 2,00 



Plowing, planting and hoeing 14,00 



Harvesting 7,00 



Interest on land , taxes and seed, about 7 ,00 — $70,C0 



Net profit per acre $42,58 



Taunton, 1861. D. S. Dickerman. 



