96 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
I March, 
this country is much the largest producer of any of 
the favored list, the effect will be greatly to the 
advantage of American cattle raisers and exporters, 
and with our immense resources we can defy com¬ 
petition from any other country. Last year the 
number of live cattle shipped from our principal 
Atlantic sea-ports averaged over 2,500 head per 
week, and under present conditions the prospect is 
good for a very great increase of the whole business. 
Stone-Boats. 
There are many uses for what are known as stone- 
boats besides hauling stone. One of these, and 
not the least by any means, is to carry plows, har¬ 
rows, and tools to and from the fields, and as this 
work will soon be at hand, stone-boats might now 
be prepared, while there is leisure. There'may 
be one stone-boat for each team, and one to spare, 
and it will frequently happen that all will be in 
use. The simplest one can be made in a short time 
with no other tools than an axe and an auger. This 
is shown at fig. 1, and consists of two runners made 
Fig. 3. — STONE-BOAT MADE OF PLANK. 
of round oak sticks, about 8 feet long, and split and 
peeled, to which cross-pieces, 3 feet long, are fas¬ 
tened by means of pins driven through and wedged 
at each end. At fig. 3 is shown one made of plank; 
the runners are sawed out in the required shape, 
about 8 inches wide or less, and planks are spiked 
Fig. 4.— STONE-BOAT OF SAWED PLANK. 
across; side-pieces are to be spiked above the 
plank, both to hold them down and prevent a load 
from slipping off on a rough road. At fig. 3 is re¬ 
presented a frame of a boat hewed out of split tim¬ 
ber or plank, with beams and rives made similarly 
to those of a sled. This is made to run either way. 
At fig. 4 is the common form of stone-boat, planks 
sawed out of a log, with the front ends turned 
up. These planks may also be easily hewn from 
logs with axe and broadaxe without sawing. 
Corn and Fodder Culture in Virginia. 
Our correspondent, Mr. Edw. Miller, of Chester¬ 
field Co., Va., sends us the following account of 
the methods employed in the culture of corn for 
grain and fodder in that section :—Corn and corn- 
fodder form a considerable portion of the food 
of all kinds of live-stock here. The land in many 
localities is well adapted to this crop ; some fields, 
meadow lands, that have lain idle since the war, 
now produce 100 bushels per acre without manure, 
the stalks growing 18 feet high, while the “ hill 
land” yields from 8 to 15 bushels. In preparing 
for the seed, we break ground early in March, the 
planting being done toward the end of April. We 
“ drop the corn according to the fertility of the 
soil; ” on high land, in rows 4 feet apart, the hills 
3 feet apart in the row ; on fertile low lands, the 
rows are 3 to 31 feet apart, with 3 feet between the 
hills. Two kernels only are put in each hill, and 
when the plants are about 8 inches high the poorest 
one is removed, leaving each stalk growing by itself. 
The ordinary custom here is to plant much further 
apart. Just before thinning we run a single plow 
FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD CULTIVATION OF CORN. 
each side of and close to the row, throwing the soil 
away from the plants. A few days later this easth 
is thrown back upon the rows by plowing in the 
opposite direction. Later still, when the weeds 
get troublesome, the plow is run through a third 
time ; the engravings, figs. 1, 3, and 3, indicate the 
appearance of the land after each plowing, respec¬ 
tively. It is sometimes necessary, also, to after¬ 
wards run a three-toothed harrow or cultivator be¬ 
tween the rows to keep the weeds down and loosen 
the soil. I have found that extra labor in killing 
all the weeds does not pay in the crop returned ; 
neither has it paid me, as a rule, to use other fer¬ 
tilizers than those made on the farm. Ashes and 
hen-dung prove to be an excellent manure. [These 
two substances contain all the elements of plant- 
food, such as are also contained in good commer¬ 
cial fertilizers, but the supply is limited, and 
many Virginia farmers use the latter, and find the 
practice profitable, especially after the home re¬ 
sources of manure have been exhausted.— Eds.] 
As the corn approaches maturity, and when the 
leaves are getting browned by the sun, the tops are 
cut, and the leaves “ pulled.” The tops arc cut off 
one leaf above the ear, and placed in small heaps 
by the armful. (I find my pruning-knife to be 
an efficient implement for this purpose.) Toward 
night these scattered bundles are set up in “hacks,” 
butts downward, each one 3 to 4 feet in diameter, 
and tied about 18 inches from the top with a corn¬ 
stalk withe. The fodder stands in these “hacks” 
until sufficiently cured to be stacked, and nothing 
but a long rain storm will injure it; 8 to 10 days of 
fair weather cures it nicely. My stacks are built 
near the stables in the following manner: A pine 
pole, about 13 to 14 feet long, is erected, its lower 
end stuck in the ground ; 4 braces, set 2 feet from 
the butt, and nailed to the pole about 4 feet up, 
help support it, and provide ventilation for the 
stack ; see fig. 5. The tops are set against these 
braces, packed firmly, butts down, until a circle 9 
feet across is filled, and are held in place until the 
stack is completed, by tying a rope around the 
whole as tight as it can be pulled. Then we place 
more tops upon this foundation, a man standing on 
Fig. 4.— COMPLETED STACK OF CORN-FODDER. 
the stack to pack them closely, laying the butts to 
the pole, and taking care that the tassel ends pro¬ 
ject over the lower part of the stack; and so on 
until within 18 inches of the top, when a well tied 
cap is put over the pole, and pulled down snugly 
upon the stack. A stack built in this way is proof 
against rain and snow as long as it stands. I built 
three of these last year (1877), and fed from them, 
taking the fodder from the base, until only about 
3 armfuls were left of the last one. The fodder 
was fresh and nice to the last, and in better con¬ 
dition than when stored in a barn. Fig. 4 shows 
the finished stack, and fig. 5 a section of the same. 
The leaves remaining on the stalks after the tops 
are cut, we pull off by hand, bundling them as we 
work, and hanging the bundles by the tie (3 or 4 
leaves of the bundle) to the nearest corn-stalk. 
Here the bundles hang 4 to 6 days to cure ; though 
if rain threatens before the fodder is cured, it is 
hurried off to the barns, as a wetting after it is 
wilted renders it almost worthless. In the barns it 
is stored loosely on top of the mows to prevent its 
getting musty. This leaf-fodder can be stored in 
the barns safely, while the heavy top-fodder soon 
becomes must)', unless it has become thoroughly 
dry by long exposure to the out-door air_After 
the stalks turn yellow, and the corn is ripe, the ears 
are picked, drawn to the house, shucked (husked), 
Fig. 5.—SECTION OF FIGURE 4. 
and stored in the rat-proof corn-crib, described last 
month. The corn is shelled as wanted for meal, 
but is fed whole, on the cob, to cattle, horses, and 
pigs. . .In my first years of farming here I would 
have given much for such a description as the 
above of corn culture in the South. And, judging 
from the rapidly increasing population of these 
States, that there are many others seeking the same 
knowledge, I have written this for their benefit. 
Where our Grain and Fertility Go.— 
Of the 42,182,102 hundred weight of grain imported 
into Great Britain during the nine months ending 
Oct. 1, 1878, nearly sixty per cent came from the 
United States. This is a grand market, it is true, 
and has apparently added much to our wealth. 
But in reckoning up the millions of dollars brought 
into the country from this source, let us not forget 
what it has cost. Have we a full equivalent for the 
departed fertility of the millions of acres of grain 
land of Ohio, Illinois, and others of our once great 
grain producing States ? What has become of that 
fertility ? It has gone out in these same cargoes of 
wheat that figure up so beautifully in the columns 
of the commercial papers. But what is to become 
of the golden eggs when we sell the goose that laid 
them ? We do not wish to be classed as croakers; 
but when we see the wheat-yield of a section drop 
from an average of 35 bushels to the acre down to 
10 bushels per acre, and the farmers crying to the 
government to help them by new laws on finance, 
the time has come when the cause of agricultural 
depression should be pointed out and a remedy 
suggested as we have several times tried to do, by 
showing that wc should pay more attention to cat¬ 
tle feeding and meat production, th'us consuming 
the crops on the land. And this can be done with¬ 
out lessening the grain product; indeed, as was 
found from the “ wheat reports ” published last 
