337 



iiess, were noticed, there being scarcely one unsound ear in 

 thirty, and tlie ears generally appeared to be rather long. 

 Curiosity was excited to ascertain how long an ear could be 

 found, and also to find the average length of a basket full of 

 ears taken at random. The examination was continued to 

 some length and the results are herewith given. I may say, 

 that though it would appear upon looking at a heap of corn, 

 as if many of the ears were twelve or fourteen inches in 

 length, yet only six or seven cars of twelve inches in length 

 were found in husking over one hundred bushels, and the 

 largest ear, that I could learn anything reliably of in the 

 neighborhood, was twelve and a half inches. Several instan- 

 ces were found where one stalk produced three or four sound 

 ears. The land, on which this corn was raised, is rocky, the 

 plough seldom running more than fifty feet without breaking 

 the furrow, by reason of a stone sufficiently large to force 

 the plough completely from the furrow. 



The land is on the side of a hill declining to the south, 

 with a meadow adjoining its outer edge. The soil is fertile 

 and has produced good crops of hay for four or five years. 



The cornfield embraced two acres, it was planted in rows 

 three and one third feet apart, and with the hills at the same 

 distance, so that the rows ran in two directions north and 

 south, as well as east and west. The first load of corn 

 husked, was taken from the middle of the field and com- 

 prised 8 rows of 64 hills each, amounting to 512 hills, and 

 occupying .13047 acres, being at the rate of 3,924 hills per 

 acre, the produce of this load was 10 2-3 baskets of ears or 16 

 bushels, at this rate there would be 122.633 bushels of ears 

 per acre. I counted the ears in a basket and it contained 

 181 ears, the basket would hold 1 1-2 bushels, this would be 

 at the rate of 120 2-3 ears per bushels ; 100 of these ears 

 taken at random showed 82 of them to be 8 rowed, 17 of 

 them 10 rowed, and one of them 12 rowed ; 100 rows, one 

 from each ear measured in length 717 inches, and contained 

 3732 kernels: an average of 37.32 kernels to each row and 

 about 7 1-6 inches for the average length of an ear. The 

 number of kernels on an ear , average 312 74-100 — on a 

 bushel of ears 37,735, and 4,627,580 kernels would be the 

 produce of an acre of ground. 



Since an acre contains 43,560 square feet, or 6,272,640 

 square inches, a kernel of coim would require for its growth 



ESSEX INST. PEOCEED. VOL. ii. 43. 



