THE SOUTHERN PLANTER; 



IBclsote'D to Agriculture, horticulture, an in the gouieltGifc ®xt$* 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. 



Xenoplwn. 



Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts of the 

 State.— Sully. 



C. T. BOTTS, Editor. 



Vol. IV. 



RICHMOND, SEPTEMBER, 1844. 



No. 9. 



For the Southern Planter, 

 CORN. 



Mr. Bolts,— I comply this morning with your 

 request to communicate 10 you the particulars 

 of;sj/n experiment which I made in the year 

 1842 in cultivating corn in the manner recom- 

 mended by the late Judge Buel. The scene 

 was an old tobacco lot of five acres of land- 4 - 

 stiff clay soil— -very rich and dry. The land 

 was ploughed m March, harrowed and planted 

 during the first week in April with the Mary- 

 land twin or Baden corn. Rows five feet apart, 

 and the hills twenty inches distant from each 

 other in the drill. The first dressing was given 

 when the corn had put forth the third blade, by 

 ploughing and hoeing. This operation was 

 performed (as was the subsequent tillage) with- 

 out putting earth to the corn, more than was ne- 

 cessary to smooth the surface round the stalk 

 and remove what grass and weeds chanced to 

 escape the plough. The second operation was 

 to plough the whole space between the rows as 

 deep as a strong horse could draw a coulter 

 through it. This was done in order to deepen 

 the tilth, the first ploughing being more superfi- 

 cial than I desired. The after cultivation was 

 performed with a harrow and hand-hoe; the 

 latter 1 being used only to extirpate such weeds 

 and grass as the former could not reach. The 

 season was favorable and the growth of the 

 corn rapid. About the first of July, when the 

 corn was in silk, there came a hasty rain ac- 

 companied with wind which laid the corn fiat 

 on the ground, breaking the roots entirely loose 

 fro n the earth on the windward side. The ram 

 and wind passed oft in a few hours, and I ex- 

 pected to see the corn regain its erect position, 

 the broken roots strike into the loose earth and 

 grow with undiminished vigor; but in this I 

 was disappointed. From this time until it. was 

 gathered it remained nearly as the wind had 

 left it, being elevated just enough to keep the 

 ears from resting on the ground. The broken 

 roots dried and new prop roots put. out from the 

 under sides of the stalks and dipped into 1 he 

 earth, aiding probably the maturing of the grain ; 

 but such a disturbance, occurring at so critical 

 a juncture, very obviously injured the health of 

 the crop and lessened its final product. The 

 yield was a fraction less than fifty bushels per 

 acre, and five bushels less than I had raised the 

 Vol. IV.-25 



preceding year on inferior land and with seasons 

 less propitious. The rain and wind which oc- 

 casioned this prosiration of the corn were such 

 as occur almost every year during the period 

 when our corn is silking and tasseling, and not 

 greater than I have' had within fifteen days past 

 without doing similar injury. From these facts 

 and observations 1 infer chat the mode of culture 

 recommended by Judge Buel, and generally pur- 

 sued, I believe, in the Northern States, where 

 they cultivate dwarf varieties of corn only, is 

 unsuitable here. 



Very respectfully, 



Your obedient servant, 



Wm. B. Easlev. 

 Bluestone'j Mecklenburg, July 12, 1844. 



We have long been of the opinion that the 

 level mode of cultivation recommended by that 

 excellent farmer, Judge Buel, was applicable 

 only to the dwarf variety of corn raised at the 



i North ; whilst the authority of his name has 

 frequently recommended the practice at the 

 South. The circumstance meniioned to us by 



I Mr. Easley exactly confirmed these views, and 

 to save others from the casualty to which he 

 was subjected, we asked tor the communication 

 to the Planter. 



For the Southern Planter, 

 TOBACCO. 



Mr. Editor, — I ventured a few words for the 

 Planter some time ago upon curing tobacco; I 

 will now give you the result of an experiment 

 upon the same subject. 



About two years back, I built a new barn 

 twenty feet square, three firing tiers below the 

 joists; I thought 1 would cut two doors opposite 

 each other for convenience, which 1 did; the 

 barn was made very light otherwise, and I cured 

 tobacco in it the same year. By the time the 

 next crop came in 1 found the top of my barn 

 or the roof was resting on a framed shed which 

 was attached to one side. To remedy that I 

 prized up the body of the barn twelve or eigh- 

 teen inches, and placed blocks under each corner, 

 which left a space of eighteen inches open' at 

 bottom. The tobacco began to come to the 

 knife so fast that we had to fill the barn before 



