ODD ROWS OF CORN.—SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS—NO. It. 
305 
bellished with a green-house, and everything in 
and about their houses is neat and clean ; and in¬ 
stead of decanters of cider, brandy, gin, and New 
England rum, as formerly, you find their side- 
tables covered with books, and among them fre¬ 
quently two or more agricultural papers. Their 
sensible conversation gives abundant evidence of 
having read these faithfully ; nor are they indiffer¬ 
ent to the state or county agricultural shows. 
This propensity extends to journeymen as well as 
to masters. Two young men had engaged to 
make and deliver two cases of men’s stout shoes, 
commonly called brogans, of 30 pairs in each case, 
and they had only six days to do them in. (a) 
The Worcester county agricultural show was to 
be held on the fifth day, yet such was their anxiety 
to attend it that they finished the shoes, averaging 
15 per day, and delivered them in Worcester on 
the fifth day morning, took their pay and deposited 
it in the savings bank, and were as busy and as 
much interested among the cattle and crops as any 
of the farmers, making calculations no doubt for a 
few acres of land, a snug cottage, and what is 
still better, a wife to adorn it and make them a 
happy home. A Traveller. 
(a) The leather for these shoes is prepared by 
cutting it out of the sides of both upper and sole 
leather, and rolling the sole instead of the old cus¬ 
tom of hammering it upon a lapstone; then cramp¬ 
ing both uppers and unders in proper shape to put 
together, which is understood to be making or 
finishing the shoes as above stated. 
ODD ROWS OF CORN. 
You request some of your Ohio correspond¬ 
ents to inform you whether you were correct 
in supposing you had seen ears of corn with 
8 to 24 rows. Undoubtedly. This is no uncom¬ 
mon thing even in this latitude, 41°, 30', con¬ 
siderably south of the “Miama and Scioto Val¬ 
leys.” My father has raised a great deal of the 
corn noticed by J. S. S.— the “ yellow gourd 
seed ;” and I have counted hundreds of ears that 
had 24 rows. Corn generally (not always) has 8, 
12, 18, or 24 rows, but always an even number. 
What J. S. S. states is true in every particular. 
Sometimes rows will stop one third, and some¬ 
times two thirds of the distance (more or less) 
from the butt end of the ear; but always two rows 
will stop together—not two adjoining rows, but 
rows usually on opposite sides of the ear. They 
terminate with a three-cornered kernel, neatly 
fitted to the kernels of the adjoining rows which 
converge and extend on. And the same is true of 
ears that enlarge toward the top end, sometimes 
to 40 rows. I have seen ears that lost some of 
their rows, say at a distance of one third, and then 
resumed them, and even added more near the top 
and, thus showing the effect of the season (or 
something else) upon different parts of the ear, 
but always, I repeat, with even rows. We used 
to save our seed from ears that had this increase 
at the top end ; but I can not speak positively as to 
any beneficial results, because it was not compared 
with any other plan. I only know we had many 
such ears, but whether from the influence of the 
seed or the season I can not say. The idea of 
“21” rows on an ear is remarkable for nothing 
except its being an odd number. And for this I 
must think Mr. Allen mistaken, even though he 
“counted them twice” Such an ear would cer¬ 
tainly be a curiosity to one who is in the habit of 
observing nature’s operations. T. 
Ohio, August , 1844. 
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 
NO. II. 
Tending Cotton. —The first implement required 
after the ground has been well broken up by the 
plow, and made free from clods when necessary, 
by the harrow, is something to open a wide shal¬ 
low furrow, or more properly a drill, to receive the 
cotton seed. Various openers are used for this 
purpose, but I have seen nothing which answers so 
well as a small bull-tongue which is shaped thus: 
Bull Tongue Plow—Fig. 59. 
a is the plow; b the bull tongue, 7 inches by 4, 
and formed slightly scooping, and fastened to the 
share by a bolt passing through the hole at c. 
And here I may explain to you, that this simple 
implement is one of the very best, and most gene¬ 
rally useful that I have ever seen, and in very 
common use, in its different varieties, both in the 
south and west. The shovel, only, differs in size 
and form. For breaking up ground, for which it 
is preferred by a great many, the shovel is made 
large, and shaped more like the letter V, the wings, 
as in all shovels, falling off, the shovel being 
ridged in the middle. A coulter set in the usual 
way is frequently added, and is a valuable addition. 
To form the jumping shovel, a sharp, rounding¬ 
faced coulter is set in, as represented at d.* For 
opening a furrow to plant corn, and for running 
round corn at its first tending, a long, narrow bull- 
tongue is used, with a coulter to steady it. Our 
friend Major Winston, of Newport, Ky., uses the 
common large shovel exclusively in tending his 
corn, and makes excellent crops—an argument 
it seems, against surface culture. 
The seed, when scattered in this furrow (almost 
* This form (the jumping shovel) is invaluable for 
breaking up new cane land, and indeed, in new land of any 
kind that is full of roots. It cuts a great majority of 
them, and when it comes to one that is too large, it slips 
over, and instantly enters again. 
