the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. 
47 
little distance appears to cover the entire surface. An average 
of 60 bushels of clean corn, frequently increased, under favour- 
able circumstances, to from 80 to 100 bushels per acre, testifies 
as to productiveness, and this usually without the aid of home- 
made or extraneous manures. In Pennsylvania the ordinary 
rotation is as follows : Indian corn after seeds which have lain 
for two years and upwards, according to the nature of the soil 
and the requirements of the stock ; oats without any manure ; 
wheat usually dressed with ten or twelve loads of fold-yard 
dung. Timothy-grass is sown with the wheat and broad clover 
in the following spring. The seeds are mown for two years ; 
if left down beyond this period, the clover disappears, and is 
replaced by natural grasses, which, with the Timothy-grass, 
afford good grazing for cattle, and more rarely for sheep, for as 
long as is desirable, resting and enriching the surface. A small 
area of potatoes and a few mangolds are occasionally grown, 
but not in sufficient quantities to occupy a fixed position in the 
rotation. It will thus be seen that the Indian corn is taken at 
a time when the soil is enriched with vegetable matter. The 
land is deeply ploughed early in spring, left until the sod is 
decomposed, when it is thoroughly broken up by the cultivator, 
and well worked down by frequent harrowing, rolling, &c. In 
this way a fine clean and deeply-cultivated seed-bed is prepared. 
As the period for sowing approaches, generally from the first to 
the second week of May, the surface is marked out by running 
the corn-planter empty in one direction, lines being thus drawn 
at intervals of 4 feet. The seed is then dropped exactly at the 
points where the machine intersects these lines at right angles, 
three to four grains being dropped in each spot. Sometimes 
the planting is done by hand ; in this case the surface is marked 
out in both directions, and the workmen, with a bag of seed 
and a small hoe, scrapes away the soil, deposits three seeds not 
too close together, and draws up a little soil, so as to mark the 
seed-bed by a mound. On a large scale, and when accuracy of 
work is cared for, the machine makes the best job ; and, as we 
shall see, by modern inventions the dropping of - the seed is 
made automatic, whereas in ordinary planters a boy actuates a 
lever, which causes the discharge of the seed at the proper 
intervals. No sooner is the crop above ground, than cultivation 
commences, and is vigorously pursued until rendered impossible 
by the growth of the plant. Nothing tends to luxuriance so 
much as the frequent stirring of the soil, the crop requiring 
plenty of air at the roots. Occasionally, with the last hoeing, 
turnip-seed is scattered between the rows. In favourable seasons, 
useful sheep-keep results ; but more commonly a pumpkin-seed 
is introduced into every third hill. The produce spreads like 
a network over the surface ; and when the corn is cut, there is 
