66 Experiments with Indian Corn, 



of Indian corn : deep heavy loam, inclining to clay, may be 

 sown or planted in February and March, and reaped in 

 August and September ; again leaving, in ordinary seasons, 

 time to prepare if necessary for wheat, or to get the land in 

 condition by a winter fallow for spring use, which it is hardly 

 possible to do with maize, which can rarely be cleared before 

 the end of November, or sometimes later ; consequently the 

 ground must in ordinary cases remain untouched throughout 

 the winter, which has the effect of rendering it unfit for early 

 spring use, being usually in such cases churlish and heavy, 

 instead of being friable and easily broken down when exposed 

 to the action of the weather. As to any other advantages it 

 may possess, as yielding a greater quantity of forage, I think 

 it may be proved to be equally unavailable. Barley straw, of 

 which two to three loads per acre are generally obtained, is 

 particularly valuable, more especially when the ground is sown 

 with clover as a secondary crop. Oat straw, in equal quan- 

 tities or more, is alike valuable to the farmer, as fodder, or for 

 sale; peas halm, when well harvested, is considered fit for 

 all cattle ; bean halm is, when got in good condition, made 

 available for farm horses in all cases ; so that the superabun- 

 dant herbage which the maize yields would afford no better 

 profit to the cultivator than either of those I have compared 

 it with. 



Having thus given my opinion as to its relative merits as 

 an article of agriculture, it remains but to show how far it may 

 be made extensively useful as a garden crop, and certainly 

 it could only be with the smaller varieties that any attempt 

 should be made ; for few gardeners could spare more than 

 twenty rods of space for its production, which, under the 

 most favourable calculation of its produce, would not yield 

 more than eight or ten bushels, which, even at 5s. per bushel, 

 would afford but a poor return for the application of so large 

 a surface during a period of six or eight months. As an article 

 of summer produce for the table it is as yet but matter of 

 curiosity or speculation with a few, and it would require two 

 more seasons at least to determine its relative value to the 

 gardener, as compared with the product of other vegetable 

 crops. By these observations I do not mean to detract from 

 its real value, or by any means to prevent its having a fair 

 trial ; but merely to correct any erroneous opinions that may 

 have been established in its favour, and which might, like all 

 other extravagant calculations, be the means of great disap- 

 pointment, and lead to very strong and irremediable prejudices 

 against it. I must not omit to mention, that an extensive col- 

 lection of Indian corn has been cultivated by Mr. Wm. Ander- 



