INDIAN CORN. 373 



Iii 1876 ther were 181,842 bales of cotton raised iii Ten- 

 nessee, and four counties, Shelby, Fayette, Hay wood and 

 Tipton, raised 73,127 of these, or four-tenths of the whole 

 amount. 



It may naturally be expected that corn will, if long con- 

 tinued cultivation takes place, exhaust the land on which it 

 is raised. But it reduces the fertility of the soil far less 

 than may be supposed. Many fields are in cultivation in 

 Tennessee that have been put to corn continuously for three 

 quarters of a century, and yet make handsome yields. 

 Corn is the largest production, not only of Tennessee, but 

 of the United States, of any one crop. But, unlike wheat, 

 much of it is returned to the soil. In fact, according to the 

 prevailing method of culture, the land is not put to its full 

 capacity, and much of its growing power is, therefore, in re- 

 serve. Besides, the corn is, as a general thing, fed to stock 

 on the place, and therefore is, in some measure, returned to 

 the soil. Wheat, on the contrary, is almost wholly taken 

 from the land, and as a result the cultivation of this cereal 

 is continually tending westward in search of new fields. 

 Should the plan laid down in this work be followed, that is, 

 should the stalks be cut and fed on the farm, and the 

 corn used to fatten the stock of the place there would be no 

 loss whatever, except the actual weight of the stock sold, 

 which would be a small drain on a fertile field. The sta- 

 tistics of the cereal growths of the United States benr out 

 the assertion of the improved value of land put to corn over 

 that put to any other product that is taken entirely off the 

 land. And this increased value is seen in the improvements 

 made on the farms of the corn growing counties. It is said, if 

 a man has a crib full of corn he has all that makes the farmer 

 independent. He has bread, meat and many other luxuries 

 his taste may require, and so well established is this fact it 

 has given rise to the axiom "he. is as independent as if he 

 had corn to sell." 



