228 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



A (lozon ov niort' men went on to plant it, 

 each liaving a pocket tied around liis waijst to 

 hold the seed corn and i)nin]ikin seeds mixed 

 together. Some of tiie men were ai-enstomed 

 to the use of the hoe, others not. All were 

 expeeted to kcpp vp in some way, and they 

 did so. After the eorn came u]), I went over 

 the field and found <]freat iri'e;^nlarity in the 

 niiinher of j)lants in a hill. The men were ili- 

 reeted to put four kernels of eorn in each hill. 

 I found that but few hills e.xeeeded that num- 

 ber of plants ; wliile the hills with three, two. 

 and none were largely in the ascendant. The 

 field was not planted over, and when the har- 

 vest came it was rare that a hill having four 

 good ears of corn was to be found, notwith- 

 standing much the largest part of the field 

 was good strong land, adapted to corn, and 

 heavily manured. The after culture was much 

 after the style of the ])lanting. Let us sup- 

 pose tliat each hill had been stocked with four 

 good plants and well cultivated, might we not 

 be justified in concluding tiiat the increased 

 amount of the crop oi'er that obtained would 

 Lave been sufficient to pay for all the labor of 

 planting and after culture P Are we not justi- 

 fied in saying that the profit of raising the 

 crop was sacrificed by this unwise course ? 

 This was my conviction at the time the corn 

 was cut up for shocking. Let us see if the 

 conclusion is not a just one. The corn was 

 planted in hills 4 by SfJ feet. This gives us 

 ,3111 hills to the acre. With four good plants 

 to each hill, and a good ear to each ])lant, we 

 have 12,44-1 ears to the acre. As 200 ears 

 will give a bushel of shelled corn, we obtain a 

 yield of Ci2h bushels from an acre. But as 

 the field would not average more than two 

 and a half ears to the hill, there was only 

 7,777 ears, giving us 39 bushels to the acre, 

 or 2;3i bushels less than where four ears to 

 hill are obtained ; making a large aggregate 

 on a field of twenty-five acres, where corn is 

 worth, as with us one dollar a bushel. The 

 above mode of computing the yield of corn per 

 acre, furnishes a close a])pro.ximation with our 

 northern varieties of corn. 



'J'lie season was a dry one, and the frequent 

 stirring of the soil was not resorted to, to alle- 

 viate the sharpn(!ss of drought. I tried an ex- 

 periment on some l)room corn, to see if I could 

 benefit it by stirring the soil to a greater 

 depth than usiud in cultivating it. It had 

 been wilting for some time, during the middle 

 of the day, and the bottom leaves had died. I 

 experimented with six rows, stirring the soil 

 of two rows three inches deeper than that of 

 the other four rows. All were alike when the 

 experiment commenced, and all were hoi'd 

 weekly. The hoeings were kept up through 

 the season. In a few days after the soil of 

 the two rows were stirred dee])er, they began 

 to show signs of increasing verdure and vigor. 

 At harvest time they were about a foot taller 

 than the other rows, and the straws much 

 better in size and quality. This experiment 



serves to confirm what has been demonstrated 

 so often as to the advantage of deej)ly stirring 

 the soil during the continuance of a severe 

 drought. Our western corn growers under- 

 stand the ]irofits of this practice if we are to 

 judge by the aid saw in use there, viz : "jVi a 

 drij time ntsh Die jilough.'''' The plough is in 

 general use there for working among the corn. 

 Feb. 25, 1H71. K. o. 



CROPS IN THE CONNECTICUT VAL- 

 LEY. 



From an essay on "the crops for the farm- 

 ers of the Connecticut Valley, their profit and 

 effect upon the land to be taken into consider- 

 ation," by A. K. Warner, read before the 

 Franklin, Mass., Harvest Club, Feb. 25, 1871, 

 and printed in the Homeatead, we make a few 

 extracts : — 



First, let us inquire why it is that corn has 

 almost left the Connecticut Valley. Ask your 

 neighbor — he will tell you that he caimot af- 

 ford to raise corn at the present high price of 

 labor. Let us consider for a moment if this 

 answer is correct. In my observation, the 

 average yield of corn per acre now, is about 

 thirty bushels — ten years ago it was about fifty 

 bushels. 



I am fully persuaded that the raising of 



com in the Connecticut Valley can be made as 



profitable as any other hoed crop, when the effect 



upon the land is taken into consideration. I 



am aware that I differ with a gi-eat many wise 



farmers. I woulil not advocate making corn 



a specialty, or any one other crop : but is it not 



a fact that the tobacco crop of this Valley has 



been made a special crop for the past ten 



years, to the detriment of the corn crop ? 



I First, by taking all the farm manure to grow 



I the tobacco, and the best soil, while corn has 



j been second in importance, and planted on 



[the poorest land, without manure; conse- 



(|uently, the yield of corn is very small — hence 



the common remark, "we cannot afford to 



raise corn." 



Now, then, what crops can be raised profit- 

 ably, when we consider their effect upon the 

 land ? It seems to me that the grass crop 

 stands first in profit to the farmer. Here let 

 me say, in connection with this subject, that a 

 wise fanner will {)ut each of his acres to the 

 production of what it is best adapted to pro- 

 duce. And, with the variety of soil that this 

 valley contains, the question is at once settled 

 that we cannot make a specialty of any one 

 crop, and add to the value of our entire farms. 

 ConseqiuMitly, a large portion of what we now 

 receive for tobacco, is taken from the value of 

 our farms. 



The farmers of the Connecticut Valley, 

 when receiving the money f(y their tobacco, 

 actually receive a ])ortion of the principal in- 

 vested in their occupation, and are too apt to 



