364 
CULTURE OF CORN. 
winter and summer,” is suggested, and clean pens 
for hogs strongly insisted on. “ White bread chew¬ 
ed in my own mouth, I have found the best poul- 
tesse in the world for swelling, or ache of any kind.” 
Farmers’ clubs, and agricultural schools, are hint¬ 
ed at in the following: “ Gentlemen and Farmers 
do not meet and communicate secrets in this kind, 
but keep what they have experimented themselves, 
or known from others; as Sybils leaves: I mean as 
rare secrets, not to be communicated. I hope that 
we shall see a more communicative spirit amongst 
us ere long. And Sir, I cannot but desire you, if 
you have any things more in your hands of Gabriel 
Platts, or any mens else, that you would with 
speed publish them. 
“ We want a place to the which men may resort 
for to find such ingenious men, as may be service¬ 
able for their ends and purposes; and also know 
where to find such seeds and plants as they desire, 
as the great Clove-grass, Saint Foin, La Lucern, 
&c. 
“ Men do usually cover great quantities of land, 
yet cannot manage a little well. There were 
amongst the ancient Ptomans some appointed to 
see that men did till their lands as they should do; 
and if they did not, to punish them as enemies to 
the Publique; perhaps such a law might not be 
amiss with us: for without question the Publique 
suffereth much, by private mens negligences. A 
little Farm well tilled is to be preferred: for then 
we should not see so much waste land, but more 
industry, greater crops, and more people imploy- 
ed, then are at this present, to the great profit of 
the Commonwealth. I know a Gentleman, who 
yearly letting more and more of that land he used 
to keep in his hands, yet confesseth his Barns are 
fuller, because he more diligently manageth what 
remaineth.” 
“ Master Gab. Platts has given a book of Hus¬ 
bandry entitled, A discovery of infinite treasure 
hidden since the world’s beginning. The genius 
of this ag£ is very much bent to advance husband¬ 
ry, and gentlemen study professedly these improve¬ 
ments.” We trust our own age will not be be¬ 
hindhand in the same zeal that characterized the 
seventeenth century. Our author gives us a sly 
puff of his own work in a complimentary letter 
from Dr. Arnold Beatis, as follows: “ for which 
having perused instantly, a capite ad calcem, I 
give you most hearty thanks, as I find it a most 
excellent piece, both for the improvement of hus¬ 
bandry, and of the other commodities of the coun¬ 
try ;” with which most hearty commendation, we 
must conclude our brief notice of Samuel Hartlib. 
R. L. A. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
CULTURE OF CORN. 
Rahway, N. J., Nov. 1, 1843. 
This crop is one of the most important, that the 
farmer raises; it enters largely into the subsistence 
of his family, and any improvement in its culture 
whereby he can add to the quantity raised with¬ 
out additional expense, is adding so much to his 
wealth, and that of the country. There is a right 
way to do everything, and the right way is always 
the best and most profitable; at the same time, the 
same routine will not answer in all cases, but must 
be modified by circumstances, and it is for the in¬ 
telligent, practical man to judge of these. It is 
impossible for farmers to travel much, and by per¬ 
sonal observation gain that information they need. 
This, undoubtedly, would be best; however, it is 
out of the question with the great majority of the 
farmers—they can neither spare the time nor mo¬ 
ney for such a purpose. But they can well afford 
to pay a dollar or two for an agricultural journal, 
and on a long winter’s evening, enjoy themselves 
by a good fire, in procuring that information which 
may answer instead of travelling, and be of much 
value, in the course of their labors. 
This part of New Jersey is naturally a good soil, 
inclined to clay, and is the right kind for hay and 
grass. It has the advantage of being near the 
New York market, both by railroad and water 
carriage, and several spirited farmers are now im¬ 
proving its agriculture, which has heretofore been 
much neglected. The article most depended up¬ 
on for sale is hay. Wheat is now raised in suf¬ 
ficient quantities to supply the farmers with their 
own flour. Thirty years since nothing but rye 
would grow, and an acre of wheat was as much 
as any farmer would venture to sow. But to re¬ 
turn from my digression. My method of raising 
corn is as follows:— 
In the spring, to plough up the sod ground with 
one of Ruggles, Nourse, & Mason’s plows, to the 
depth of eight inches. My team consists of a pair 
of mules, and a yoke of oxen, and I take great 
pains to have the work done well. After the 
ground is ploughed, I take a heavy, sharp harrow, 
and go over it lengthwise with the furrow twice; 
then diagonally ; then cross the furrow at right-an¬ 
gles, lapping the harrow one third of the width at 
least. By this time the ground is well pulverized, 
and is fit to receive the seed. This year I furrow¬ 
ed it four feet apart, putting a good shovel-full of 
compost manure into a hill. The after-culture 
consists in going through it four times with the cul¬ 
tivator; twice between each row at a time, I consider 
of most importance. I differ from many of my neigh¬ 
bors in my cultivation, that is, I am careful not to 
turn up my sod to the surface the first year. The 
sod-by rotting under the soil, enriches the land at 
the cheapest possible rate, and the succeeding 
crops feel the benefit of this mode of culture. I 
plant none but yellow corn, with long ears of 8 to 
10 rows, and small cobs. The fodder is good, and 
it never has failed to ripen, although my seed was 
not put into the ground until the 28th of May this 
year. 
Compost manure for my corn, I make of swamp- 
earth, barn-yard manure, ashes, coal-dirt, and such 
other materials, as I can scrape together, through 
the summer and fall, laying it up in heaps and 
pitching the whole over once or twice after being 
pretty well decomposed. 
The Cultivator I use, is in shape like the 
common kind. The teeth are somewhat different; 
they are made out of inch-square iron, faced with 
steel, nine inches long below the wood. The two 
hindmost ones are flat, to prevent the dirt cover- 
