196 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



CULTUKB OF INDIAN COBMT. 



In the published Transactions of the liingham 

 Agricultural Society for 1862, we find a Report of 

 experiments made in the culture of Indian corn, 

 which contains many valuable facts and sugges- 

 tions. For the first class of premiums, that is, for 

 the largest quantities raised upon one acre, there 

 were three competitors, viz. : — Caleb Hobart, 

 Charles W. Gushing, and James Gushing. 

 On the 15th of October, the committee visited the 

 fields and selected two rods as required by the 

 rules, and January 5, they shelled, measured and 

 weighed the several lots with the followine results : 



m 5 



2 S 3 



*■ 5 CO <M g 



!- « ^ ! 



* c3 .a ts 



"R o o •-» 



We give, below, the statements of the competi- 

 tors, in order that an estimate may be made from 

 them of the average cost of producing an acre of 

 corn in that section. 



Caleb Hobart's Statement. 



Items of expense in raising one acre of corn : 



For ploughing ground ^o nn 



For two days pitching and spreading manure 2,00 



For three cords of barn yard manure 10,00 



For seven cords of barn cellar manure 42,00 



For eight barrels hen pen manure 



For two ani three qnai-ters days planting '2,75 



For boeing three times 9)00 



For ploughinp corn twice 2,00 



Interest on land 6,00 



$78,75 

 Charles "W. Cushing's Statement. 



Ploughing one acre, $4 ; harrowing, $1 $5,00 



Furrowing, $1 ; hoeing, $1 2,00 



Thirteen loads coarse manure, at $1 per load 13,00 



Two and one-half cords of sheep manure, at $5 per cord. ..17,50 



Poudrettein the drill 12,00 



Interest on land 4,50 



Seed corn 75 



Three days labor to plant corn 3,00 



Cultivating and hoeing first time 3,00 



Second time cultivating and hoeing 3,00 



Third time do do 40 



$64,15 



James Cushing's Statement. 

 The corn I planted in rows 3^ feet apart one 

 way, and about 15 inches the other, three kernels 

 in a hill : 



May 16, ploughed in 6 cords manure, $5,50 per cord $33,00 



Expense of ploughing 5,00 



May 18, furrowing ground 1,00 



" four cords compost manure in hill 16,00 



" twelve quarts seed corn 37 



Five days work planting 6 ,25 



Three times hoeing and cultivating 15,00 



Interest on land 7,00 



$83,62 



In addition to the above statements, we give 

 that of the Hon. Albert Fearing, of Hingham. 

 His corn was not entered for premium, but the 

 account of the cost of production Avas furnished at 

 the request of the committee. Mr. Fearing is 

 President of the Society, and, although not work- 

 ing much with his own hands, is an ardent and in- 

 telligent cultivator of the soil. In speaking of Mr. 

 Fearing's successful results, the committee say 

 "they believe that he has pi'oduced not only the 

 largest quantity of corn that was ever raised upon 

 any one field in the town, but the largest quantity 

 that was ever raised by any of our citizens in any 

 one year." 



Mr. Fearing's Statement. 

 PRODUCT OF SIX ACRES OF CORN. 

 Sound corn, 56 fcs. to the bushel, 471 bushels 



Unsound corn, 70 bush., equal 35— 50G, at $1 $506,00 



20,160 lbs. top stalks, at $10 per ton 100,80 



33,212 lbs. butt stalkc, at $8 per ton 132,85 



$739,65 

 EXPENSES. 



Ploughing three acres in the autumn of 1861 $13,60 



34 cords of coarse barn manure, at $4 136,00 



13 cords of line manure, at $5 65,00 



Carting manure, three men, two pair oxen, one horse and 



carts three days labor 4,00 



Ploughing and spreading manure, four men, two pair ox- 

 en, one horse, three days labor 27,75 



Harrowing, one pair oxen, one man, one day 2,50 



Furrowing, one man, one horse, one boy, one day 3.00 



Putting manure in hill, two men, one pr. oxen, 3>^ days. 13,12 



Planting, three men and one boy, three days labor 12,75 



Seed corn, two bushels 3,00 



Hoeing first and second time, 24 days 30,00 



Hoeing third time 12,60 



Cultivating first and second time, one man, one boy, one 



horse, two days labor 12,00 



Cutting stalks, 10 !< days 13,12 



Binding and stacking the same 10,00 



Carting stalks, three min, one horse, one day 5,00 



Cutting and carting coin, three men. eighteen days 22,50 



One pair oxen and cart three days 5^25 



Husking 30 days, $37,50 ; interest and taxes, $36 73,50 



$484,49 

 Profit $255,16 



This land was well manured in 1861, and three 

 acres planted with corn and three with rye, yield- 

 ing 77 bushels of corn to the acre. The soil is a 

 gravelly loam, was ploughed in the spring, about 

 eight inches deej), with 34 cords of coarse manure 

 spread before ])loughing. 



The corn was planted from the 10th to the 16th 

 of May, in hills 3^ by 2 feet, five kernels to the 

 hill, with 13 cords of fine manure put in 36,120 

 hills. 



The stalks permitted to grow, averaged about 

 4i to each hill. It was hoed the first time, from 

 the 7th to the 12th of June ; the second time, from 

 the 21st to the 27th; and the last time, from the 

 14th to the 19th of July. 



Five acres were planted with the Whitman, and 



