310 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



feet high upon an average, it would take 

 rather a greater length of leg and arm than 

 is usually seen in these parts. Ic has been my 

 practice for ten years to cut off corn, and I 

 have found but little difficulty in securing both 

 fodder and corn. As the shuck begins to dry 

 or the grain is well in the dough state, I com- 

 mence cutting off'. The operation may be 

 done with safety much earlier than is usually 

 supposed. ^ In commencing let one hand enter 

 the 1 corn in the row selected for the shocks, 

 leaving about eight hills behind him— take 

 four stalks from hills forming a square, draw 

 the tops together and tie them; then let each 

 hand cut off as many stalks as he can conve- 

 niently hold in one arm, rest the buts upon the 

 leftthrgh, (which assists in moving it from hill 

 to hill,) and without dropping the turn carry 

 it at once to the shock. The important point 

 to be observed in shocking is to place the 

 gtalks "square" to the shock, as they are 

 leaned to a common center at top. If they be 

 placed obliquely to the shock it « twists" in 

 curing, and the whole will tumble down. If 

 the corn be cut green, it is best to make the 

 shocks but half the proper size with the first 

 cutting— cutting eight rows and leaving eight 

 alternately through the field. This allows the 

 interior of the shock to cure before the rest is 

 added to it, and enables us to make the shocks 

 ot larger size. In this case I tie the shocks 

 twice, otherwise but once ; and this may be 

 done either with splits prepared for the pur- 

 pose, grape vines, corn stalks or broom corn 

 ±Ms last ties better than Indian corn, and is 

 more easily procured than either splits or 

 vines, By planting broom corn through the 

 Held at convenient points the tyers are always 

 at hand. The shocks stand sixteen rows apart 

 one way— the distance the other depending of 

 course upon the thickness of the corn and 

 size of shock. The strips occupied by the 

 corn may be seeded in oats, and the whole land 

 thus brought into grass at once. 



If the corn be very tall I cut the stubble 

 two or three feet high, which lessens the weight 

 stalk without loss of fodder, and makes the 

 shocks stand up better. 



I agree with your correspondent that the 

 fodder thus saved is equal to blades and tops, 

 and I am very sure I can rid the land of crop 

 by this system with two-thirds the labor ex- 

 pended in the blade pulling and top cutting- 

 process. 



Yours truly, 



Rgx, Albemarle Co., Va. 



R. W. N. N. 



Below will be found the republication of a valu- 

 able article from Dr. Thomas W. Meriwether, on 

 the remedy against joint worm. So certain is the 

 remedy in the hands of Dr. Meriwether, that he 

 has concluded, after full trial of its efficacy, to 

 compete for the premium of $500, offered by a 

 portion of the Executive Committee for the disco- 

 very of some available and sufficient remedy 

 against the joint worm. By the terms of the sche- 

 dule, the remedy must be presented in time to be 

 tried this fail, and hence Dr. Meriwether publishes 

 it now, in advance of the meeting of the Society. 



How. far the presence of Chinch Bug should deter 

 from early seeding, mu st depend on tbe judg- 

 ment of each farmer. Our own experience with 

 Chinch Bug is so limited that we do not know 

 what to advise. 



Fur the Southern Planter. 



THE WHEAT CROP AND ITS ENEMIES. 



Mr. Editor : — Whilst the wheat is " root- 

 ing," as our great farmer Rogers used to ex- 

 press its winter growth, let us endeavor to 

 dive into some of the mysteries of this won- 

 derful plant. The chief of these at psesent 

 is, the destroying joint-worm, which has dimin- 

 ished the crop of this and several adjoining 

 counties from 30 to 50 per cent. Yet, in the 

 midst of it, for the last two years, my crops 

 have been the best I ever made. . Of this fact 

 I will give the reasons, so far as I know, in 

 the hope of throwing some light on this en- 

 grossing topic. 



A short review of the wheat culture of 

 Virginia may be of interest to our younger 

 brethren, and illustrate more clearly our 

 present difficulty. In old times, before the 

 Hessian fly, when the wheat was often sowed 

 and ploughed in at the last working of the'eorn, 

 almost the only limit to the crop was in the 

 extent and fertility of the land. This suc- 

 cess encouraged its cultivation, till the wheat 

 patch, as it was then called, expanded into the 

 wheat field. Then came the fly, so destruct- 

 ive under this system, that it was called Hes- 

 sian, after a ruthless and unprovoked enemy, 

 and erroneously supposed to be brought over 

 by them. The habits of this insect being 

 carefully investigated by Gov. Barbour, G-en. 

 Cocke, and others, showed the danger of too 

 early seeding, and the advantage of grazing 

 and other means of diminishing its ravages. — 

 To avoid their fall deposit of eggs on the 

 blades of the wheat, it became the settled 

 practice not to begin sowing earlier than the 

 first to the fifth of October. This delay of a 

 full month or more from the former usage, be- 

 sides subjecting the latter part of the crop to 

 the spring attack of the fly, aggravated enor- 



