406 Transactions of the American Institute. 



inches will. enable them to do this. If the feeding roots of corn run 

 near the surface of the ground in a dry time, tliere can be no doubt 

 but thej seek food and moisture there in a wet time. 



We visited next the farm of Allen Wallace, four miles northward, 

 in Pilesgrove, near Woodstown. His corn was good and green down 

 to the roots, with but little rolling. He informed us he began thirty- 

 fire years ago, with raising only seven bushels of sound corn per 

 acre, or less than 200 bushels on thirty acres. The next year ten 

 per acre, and by 1840 he had increased his crop from less than 200 

 to 600 or 700 bushels. The farm was then divided, he retaining one- 

 third, and he has since raised ijiuch more on that third than he did 

 before the division on all. His corn crop has been, for the last fifteen or 

 twenty years past, from two and a half to four loads of ears per acre, 

 according to the season, of twenty-five bushels shelled corn each. He 

 gare it as his experience that he succeeds better by plowing rather 

 under than over five inches deep, having tried both. His improve- 

 ments have been made with marl applied to the surface once in five 

 years principally, and with liming moderately and applying the 

 manure made on the farm, in connection with good farming. 



We then passed through the farm of Aaron Lippencott, another 

 successful farmer, who has raised his land from a low state of cultivation 

 to the highest productiveness, and of whom it has been said, after he 

 gathered his grass crop, there was more left than the former occupant 

 ever raised on the same ground. On his farm last year your com- 

 mittee saw a field of corn of most magnificent growth, and on the 

 same field this year the best field of stalk-ground corn we have seen. 

 He says he never succeeded well with corn until his hired man plowed 

 a field for corn only four inches deep, from which he gathered his 

 first good crop of corn ; he says he does not want land plowed more 

 than four inches deep for him. Your committee learned that Josiah 

 Engle, near Sharpstown, had part of a field of stift' sod plowed veiy 

 shallow for corn while he was from home. On liis return he feared when 

 dry weather came on, it would burn or dry up. But when dry weather 

 did set in after the middle of summer, it remained green and flourishing, 

 while in much that was plowed deeper the corn rolled badly. His was 

 not plowed three inches deep, and they had to scrape up the grass roots 

 to get dirt to cover the corn. We traveled over another district of 

 liighly cultivated country, five miles, to Elisha Bassett's. Here we 

 found the best field of porn in our travels. This farm is in a very 

 high state of cultivation. Is a successful farmer ; has had TOO 



