AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
JJmprir ter intjprfce i\z Jarnur, \\t flatter, aiti % dkrktur. 
AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHY, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN.-Washinqton. 
CONDUCTING EDITOR, 
ORANGE JUDD, A. M. 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 
ALLEN & CO., 189 Water-st., New-York. 
VOL. XIV.—NO. 1.] 
NEW-YORK, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 1855. 
[NEW SERIES.—NO. 79. 
Jo r rospedits, ferns, 
IS?" SEE LAST PAGE.^3 
All letters relating to Editorial mat¬ 
ters should be addressed to Mr. Orange 
Judd, (the Conducting Editor). Letters re¬ 
ferring to the business department should be 
directed to Allen & Co., Publishers. Com¬ 
munications referring to both departments, 
should be on separate sheets, so that they 
can be separated. 
Every one writing to the Editors or 
Publishers of this journal will please read 
“ Special Notices ,” on last page. 
CULTIVATION OF INDIAN CORN- 
Its Value to the American Farmer —With 
the exception of the grasses, including mead¬ 
ows and pasturage, Indian corn is by far the 
most important of any single product of the 
United States, agricultural or manufactured. 
The production of this grain for 1850, was 
returned by the United States Official Re¬ 
ports, as exceeding 592,000,000 bushels. 
The growth of that year must have been 
largely exceeded since. If we assume the 
quantity raised in a favorable season as 600,- 
000,000 bushels, and estimate it at 40 cents 
per bushel—which we think below its aver¬ 
age price—the value of one year's crop of 
grain will reach the enormous sum of $240,- 
000,000. 
The Extent of its Cultivation. —There is no 
one object of agricultural attention so wide¬ 
ly diffused throughout the Union as Indian 
corn; none so generally adapted to every 
climate and soil; and none which, on the 
whole, is so useful, and subserves so great a 
variety of purposes. It grows successfully 
from the shores of Lake Superior to the 
Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific shores. Its maximum of production 
is immediately north of the Ohio river, in 
the States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois ; al¬ 
though some hundreds of miles either north 
or south of this latitude, it is, perhaps, one 
of the most profitable crops that can occupy 
the attention of the farmer. 
Its Adaptability to Soil and Climate is un¬ 
equaled by any other plant. Although a 
considerable and prolonged degree of heat is 
required to mature Indian corn, the clear, 
dry summer atmosphere of America is, al¬ 
most any where south of 47° north latitude, 
suited to ripening it. Its flexibility of char¬ 
acter enables it speedily to conform to the 
new circumstances under which it may be 
placed. On removing the seed from the 
middle to the northern States, an immediate 
change takes place, which is increased by 
every subsequent move to a higher latitude. 
There we have the stalk diminished to a 
mere dwarf, not exceeding three to four and 
a half feet in height; bearing one or two di¬ 
minutive ears of rounded grains, deeply im¬ 
bedded in the cob, and ripening in a little 
more than sixty days after planting. The 
same seed, when removed to our southern 
latitudes, shoots up with stalwart growth, 
frequently reaching from 15 to 18 feet, and 
bearing a heavy ear, of large diameter, and 
loaded with long indented kernels, but slight¬ 
ly attached to the cob.* 
Its Uses. —Corn has formed no inconsid¬ 
erable portion of the food of men and ani¬ 
mals, from the first settlement of America 
to the present time. No one article of hu¬ 
man food has been made to assume so great 
a variety of combinations, nor has been pre¬ 
sented in so many and so attractive dishes, 
in every one of which it is highly relishable 
and perfectly wholesome. The Aborigines 
justly celebrate their green corn feasts, typi¬ 
fying as they do the most important and 
cherished of their earthly gifts. At a later 
period of the year, with a small pouch of the 
ripened, roasted grains, they pursue their 
enterprizes of hunting and of war, for hun¬ 
dreds of miles through the trackless wilder¬ 
ness, with no other sustenance. 
Every domestic animal and fowl is fond of 
this grain, and eat it with equal voracity, 
whether green or ripened, raw or cooked ; 
and we much doubt if there is any other 
food that will produce, when fed to man or 
animals, a greater amount of flesh and fat, 
at the same cost of raising, than corn. 
Indian corn is made to subserve other pur¬ 
poses than those of food. It is extensively 
manufactured into starch ; it has sometimes 
been converted into oil, and molasses ; and 
from no other article is drawn a tithe of the 
alcohol consumed in the United States, 
which is furnished by Indian corn. The de¬ 
testable use that is made of the greater por¬ 
tion of this last product, evinces the ingenu¬ 
ity of man, in perverting to the vilest pur¬ 
poses, the best gift of a benignant Providence. 
* Since writing the above, we have conversed with the 
Rev. Mr. Tanner, a highly intelligent and truthful Native, 
who was bom and is now settled near the Red River of the 
North, flowing into Hudson’s Bay, who says, fine crops of 
Indian corn, and wheat, are raised by the whites and 
natives at Pambina, (accent on the last syllable, pro¬ 
nounced as aw,) at Fort Garry, near Lake Winepeg, and 
at Lake Manitoba, still farther|north, about 52°. Long, full 
ears, with heavy, large kernels, of the white flint variety, 
are raised to the extent of 40 bushels or more per acre. 
But they can only maintain this standard of quality and 
productiveness so far north, by the careful selection of the 
largest and fullest ears for seed. 
As Forage. —Indian corn has of late years 
become an important element. We ques¬ 
tion if any of the grasses or clovers or vetch¬ 
es, can be made to yield a more abundant or 
profitable crop of green or dried food. The 
growth is certain, when judiciously sown, its 
yield large, and the stalks are nutritious and 
greedily devoured by all the herbiverous an¬ 
imals. 
The Soil for Indian Corn should always be 
friable, rich, and well drained. It is not es¬ 
sential, however, whether it be a light sand 
or a tolerably heavy clay, if the former be 
sufficiently adhesive, and the latter porous 
or thoroughly underdrained. A dry soil is 
required to make an early and sure growth, 
and a strong soil is necessary for a heavy 
growth. 
Preparation of the Soil. —Deep plowing is 
the best safeguard against drouth, and is es¬ 
sential to a large corn crop. If the soil is 
not deep enough to justify deep plowing one 
must be contented with a smaller yield, un¬ 
less you add largely of appropriate manures. 
A rich sod or growth of clover, when turned 
under, furnishes an excellent food for the 
growth of Indian corn. Whatever manures 
are used, shquld be plowed in, and thorough¬ 
ly incorporated with the soil. By distribut¬ 
ing them through it, the roots have a steady 
support during the entire growth of the corn; 
when, if placed in the hill, they would give 
an early and undue growth of stalk, which 
would not be sustained later in the season, 
and thus leave the grain only partially filled 
and shrunken. If the soil be stiff or cloddy, 
the harrow should be used till the ground is 
thoroughly mellow; and if this proves ineffi¬ 
cient, bring in the heavy field-roller to pul¬ 
verize the intractable clods. 
Manures Best Suited to Corn. —Scarcely 
any fertilizer comes amiss to the corn-field. 
Whatever its origin, whether vegetable, ani¬ 
mal or mineral, it is generally acceptable to 
corn; no matter if fresh or decomposed, 
mixed or simple, all is greedily devoured by 
this voracious feeder. You can hardly put 
on too much manure for corn, nor is there 
any crop that better repays its application. 
Kinds of Seed. —There are numerous va¬ 
rieties of corn in use in every section of the 
country; and these varieties are gradually 
changing by the different modes of cultiva¬ 
tion and selection, from the change of sea¬ 
sons, and other circumstances by which they 
may be surrounded. The best seed is al¬ 
ways that which is found to yield with the 
greatest abundance and certainty, on any 
given field. There is more of oil in some 
