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THE ILLINOIS FA.IIMER. 



desire In %o from us." ''Thirty or forty 

 acre'; wo (I'kJ'JI'I and planted.'' — I., 224, 227. 

 Wliat tljat inetliodwas lie explains elsewberc, 

 ^'When spcakin;^- "of tlie fruits planted by the 

 natives." "The greatest labor they take is 

 in planting their corn, lor the country 

 ntitiu'ally is overgrown with Avood. To pre- 

 pare tTie ground they hniisc the hark of the 

 Ircca near ihr ronlii, thfu do thcij i^corrh the 

 loots with pre /hat the^ e/roic no more.'^ 

 This eustoui of theirs it probably was, that 

 sug,L''Cstod to our ancestors the ' proecs.s of 

 heft in;/ or gir<Uing, which killed the larger 

 trees ])y cutting throu<i;li the sap-wood, caused 

 the fall of spi'ay and lesser branches, and 

 lower branches, and thereby ;)dniitt(ul the 

 sun and air to the crop cultivated in their in- 

 tervals — a practice which, a,s compared with 

 the method of clearing off the entire growth, 

 enables the settler of new lands to increase 

 the area of virgin'soil under culture in more 

 than geometrical ratio; Avhich has kept pace 

 with our ever advancing frontier, and which 

 more than any other has enabled the white 

 race "to enter in and possess the good land 

 which lay bclbre tlicjn." — (See, also, IJever- 

 ly,p. ISO.) 



"The next year," continues .*^niith, "with 

 a crooked piece of wood they beat (dig) up 

 the weeds by the roots, and in that mould 

 they plant tlieir eoru. Their nianner is this : 

 Tlicy make a hole in the earth with a stick, 

 and into it they put four grains of wlieat 

 (maize) and two o^heatm. 'J'hese holes they 

 make four jVet one from another. Their 

 womau and children do continually keep it 

 with weeding, and when it grows middle-high, 

 thcij hUl it about like a hop-yard. In April 

 they begin to plant, but their chief planta- 

 tion is iu May, and so continue till the midst 

 of Jixne. ^^'hat they jtlant in Ajiril they 

 reap in August; lor May in 8ci)tcniber, for 

 June in October. Every stalk of tlieir corn 

 conimonit/ bcareth two cari>, some three, sel- 

 dom any four, many but one, and some none. 

 Every ear ordinarily hath betwixt two hun- 

 dred and live iiundrcd grains. The stalk 

 being green hath a sweet juice in it, some- 

 what like a sugar-cane; which is the cause 

 that when they gather their corn green, they 

 suck the stalks : for as we gather green peas, 

 SO do they their corn, being green, which 

 excelleth their old. They plant also peas 

 they call (isscntamemi, which are the same 

 they call in Italy, Fa</ioIi. Their beans are 

 the same the Turks call (/((/-/(rnKvv.s, but these 

 they much esteem for dainties." "In May 

 also amonijAt their coni they 'p\a\itj)ii))>j)eo)is, 

 and a fruit like unto a muskmelon; but less 

 and worse, which Jiey call macocks. These 

 increase exceedingly, ripen in the beginning 

 of July, and continue until September." — 1. 

 12G-7. 



It is known to the curious that this method 

 was substantially ado})ted by the first planters 

 and continueu without material alternation by 

 their successors, until near the close of the 

 last century. It is fair to infer that the prac- 

 tice of sohxliiuj Seed corn from stalks ichirh 

 produced more than one car was known to 

 the Indians. iMr. J. M. Garnett, who obser- 

 ved it himself, and often urged it on others as 

 a dictate of the principle, that "like will pro 

 duce like,'' ascribes its first use in this age U 

 Mr. Joseph Cooper, of New Jersey. 



The several points of iDlanting in squares, 



to 



at four feet distance, and hilling them after- 

 wards; of planting heans or jicas in the same 

 place that their vines might be supported by 

 the stalks, or pumpkins, that might shade 

 the ground and keep it moist, were also reli- 

 giously imitated by the colonists. But that 

 which was wise in the Indians, with their 

 primitive tools and mode of breaking and 



tending the ground, should only have been a 

 temporary expedient with the whites, who 

 from the first had better implements. It was 

 proper enough in the new land, infested with 

 roots as yet uridecayed, to draw a hillock of 

 soil to the growing stalk to supply its increas- 

 ing demand for nourishment. The distance 

 of four fcei admitted the free passage both of 

 ths air and the laborers. But the first cus- 

 tom, which in this climate should never have 

 been employed in any land properly drained 

 and capable of being plowed, was obstinately 

 continued until its absurdity had been demon- 

 strated by reasoning, and its inutility had 

 been showd by the success of many who aban- 

 doned it and even adopted an ojiposite 

 method. 



Take another account, as of 1618 : "Their 

 maize or Virginia corn yields them five hun- 

 hred for one instance: (it's set as we do gar- 

 den peas.) It makes good bread and fer- 

 menty, will keep seven years, and malts tcell 

 for beer, and ripe in five months, set in April 

 or May." — Perfect Description of Virginia, 

 IJist. Reg., II., 63. -, 



The mode of culture, as described by Bev- 

 erly, (p. 115,) and by Harris in his "Voy- 

 ages," (II., 229, Folio Edition of 1864,) ii 

 nearly the same with that given by Smith, 

 except that the former makes the distance 

 four or five, and the latter five or six feet 

 apart. Both also speak of stalks bearing 

 several cars. 



.Smith, the traveler, who was in Virginia 

 iu 177o, says, that on the lands near Kich- 

 mond, "corn was planted at the distance of 

 six feet between each stalk, or squares of six 

 feet, with two, three, and sometimes in strong 

 land, four stalks to each hill." — Hist. Reg., 

 VI., 81, 1^2. 



Washington, in 1788, says this was the 

 usual distance. — (Writings, IX, 323.) The 

 object of this increase was to facilitate the 

 seeding of wlieat — a process which, before 

 the advent of the Hessian fly, was commenced 

 in August, the stalks of the corn being still 

 standing. 



It may be presumed that m*re than one of 

 the varieties of this gmin were known to the 

 natives and the earliest settlers, but of this 

 we find special mention but once. Smith 

 says, that in 1619, "They planted Indian 

 corn upon wheat stubble and had an excel- 

 lent cro}> of that. But it must be remember- 

 ed that rare-ripe com was the corn of these 

 times, and that they usually had tico crops of 

 it a year."— (Page 162.) 



Beverl}', however, who wrote in 1709, re- 

 cognizes four diiFerent kinds; two which ri- 

 pened early, and two later. The second of 

 the first class may be a small kind which is 

 now known provincially as "pop-corn." The 

 two latter were called severally "flint" and 

 "she" corn; each with incidental varieties of 

 color, but better designated by the size and 

 plumpness of the grain. All of these are 

 still grown here. — (Page 114— '15.) 



As it was the chief food of the natives it 



was natural that the white man should give it 

 a trial, "and whatsoever is said against the 

 Virginia corn, they find it doth better nourish 

 than any provision that is sent thither." 

 Yet was so little of it raised for some years 

 as that the colonists were oftened straighten- 

 ed in their supplies, and immigration thereby 

 discouraged. Hence the law of Thomas 

 Dale, compelling its culture, to certain 

 extent. The previous failure arose from 

 an error in their political economy, which 

 is thus noticed by Smith : "The corn 

 by public ordinance being rated at 2s. 6d. the 

 bushel, required such labor it caused most 

 men to neglect it and depend upon trade; 

 whereas, if rated at 10s. the bushel, every 

 man would endeaver to have plenty to sell to 

 the new-comers or any that wanted, and sel- 

 dom any is transported from England, but it 

 standeth in as much." And he afterwards 

 assigns this as the time cause of the neglect of 

 this, and the excessive cultivation of tobacco, 

 which had the advantage of being rated at 3s. 

 per pound. — (Smith II., 59, 103.) 



From this slight sketch it will appear em- 

 phatically true, as alleged by Aratur, that up 

 to his day "the cultivation of maize remained 

 as it was borrowed from the aboriginal far- 

 mers of America, except, that if product is 

 the test of science, they must be allowed to 

 have been more accomplished husbandmen 

 than their imitators." And "a nation which 

 had lived with it and almost upon it for two 

 hundred years, so far from correctly estimat- 

 ing its value, have only learned to eat it, but 

 not to .ivail themselves of half its properties." 



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Draining. 



• The attention of fai-mers has recently been 

 directed to the subject of drainage. Many 

 farms the present season woixld have yielded 

 large and profitable crops if they had been 

 underdrained that now will remain unimprov- 

 ed. We do not suppose that many farmers 

 have at present the ability to drain their 

 farms. But as farms are reduced, and thor- 

 ough cultivation is practiced — as we aim 

 more and more to make our farms our per- 

 manent homes — the subject of draining will 

 be more thought of and the plan practiced. 

 We find a good essay on this subject in the 

 Homestead : 



Misconception in REt^iiiD to Drain- 

 age. — Every new idea in agriculture is 

 greeted with about as much persecution, as 

 pertains to new doctrines in theology. It 

 lias to make its way in the world against the 

 combined assaults of ignorance, stupidity, 

 and ridicule. No class, perhaps, are more 

 afraid of new ideas than our farming popula- 

 tion, and among none is a desired reform so 

 long in reaching its culmination. Thorough 

 drainage has been known and practiced in 

 Great Britain for more than half a century. 

 It has had its advocates for the last thirty 

 years at least, in this country. It has been 

 steadily pushed as a leading idea, in many 

 of our agricultural journals for the last eight 

 or ten yeajs. With few exceptions, it is the 

 doctrine taught by these journals now, and 

 advocated in the transactions of our county 

 and State societies. Manufactories for tile 

 drain are started in many parts of the coun- 



