AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
105 
however, we think it will be good policy for 
those who can do so without incurring risk 
by large outlay for seed,* or machinery, or 
loss of time and labor, to put in a half acre 
or more, and try it for molasses, if thought 
best in Autumn. See Mr. Hewlett’s letter 
on page 38 of February No. We say if 
thought best, because arrangements are being 
made to carry on a few early experiments 
this season, the result of which will be known 
s#on enough to give some information to the 
public. If not wanted for this purpose, the 
crop can be turned to good account for feed¬ 
ing purposes. 
•Be« page 116 . 
HINTS ON CORN CULTURE. 
What one gift of Nature to the American 
farmer can compare with Indian corn? It 
is the universal grain of our country, grow¬ 
ing equally well in the narrow vallies of 
Northern New-England, and on the sunny 
plains of the South; on the eastern slopes of 
the Alleghanies, and on the shores of the Pa¬ 
cific. Cotton, rice and tobacco, are the sta¬ 
ples of only a part of the States, and the 
sugar cane only flourishes in the extreme 
South-west. The home of the grasses and 
of dairy products, is in the North, and here 
and here only thick-ribbed ice bridges the 
streams in Winter, and forms an article of 
commerce in Summer. But corn grows ev¬ 
erywhere, is the indispensable article of diet 
in cottage and palace, from Maine to Cali¬ 
fornia, It is the most useful of all farm 
crops, and one of the most beautiful in every 
stage of its growth. Poet and peasant alike 
appreciate it, the one its leaves and tassels ; 
the other its ears. It is the theme of eco¬ 
nomic essays for the political economist, 
• and of song for the ballad-master. And 
now the time has come of which Whittier 
has told us in his admirable song of the 
“ Huskers.” 
“ When Spring time came with flowered bud. 
And grasses green and young, 
And merry bob’links in the wood. 
Like mad musicians sung, 
We dropped the seed o’er hill and plain, 
Beneath the sun of May-, 
And frightened from our sprouting grain 
The robber-crows away.” 
Before the month closes, the seed of a har¬ 
vest of one thousand millions of bushels of 
corn, worth half as many dollars, will have 
been planted. While the seed is dropping 
into the soil, we wish to drop a few- hints 
into the minds of our readers concerning 
the planting and culture of maize. 
TIME OF PLANTING. 
it is a common error to plant too early. 
In all parts of the country, the seed 
often goes into the ground several days 
earlier than it ought. It is forgotten that 
this plant is of tropical origin, and requires 
a much higher temperature to germinate 
and grow than most other kinds of grain 
and vegetables, We have somewhere seen 
it stated that the kernel requiredla tempera¬ 
ture of at least' 55° to make it sprout and 
grow well. Whatever the particular degree 
of heat may be, we are confident that it is 
much higher than the soil generally is at the 
usual time of planting. As a consequence 
of too early planting, much of the seed rots, 
and the farmer has the trouble of planting 
over again. The corn that comes up is 
stunted, a part of the roots rot, and the plant 
yields less fodder and grain than it would if 
seasonably planted. 
In latitudes north of this except in warm 
locations, both east and west, the last week 
in May is better than any earlier date to 
plant Indian corn. This is now our uniform 
practice in field culture. One of the best 
farmers of our acquaintance plants the first 
week in June, and though he uses the yel¬ 
low dent variety, which is not early, he uni¬ 
formly gets large crops. He claims that 
this late planting saves once hoeing, and 
that the corn comes up better, has a more 
uniform growth, and yelds better. 
DEEPER PLOWING 
better defines the wants of the soil for this 
crop than any other single expression. Deep 
plowing would not answer in thin soils un¬ 
less accompanied with high manuring. But 
every cultivator may safely go down an inch 
or two deeper, and if his soil be prairie or 
bottom land, he may as well plow four or 
six inches deeper than usual as two. The 
great error of corn culture, in the West, is 
shallow plowing, to which we may add con¬ 
tinuing the crop upon the same land for a 
long term of years without rotation. There 
are tens of thousands of acres of com land 
in the West that has never been plowed 
more than four inches deep, and the product 
is not over thirty bushels to the acre. The 
twelve inches beneath the four that have 
been disturbed is quite as good soil as the 
upper stratum, and only needs loosening to 
yield up its plant food. On many of these 
acres, ten, fifteen and twenty bushels, may 
be added to the yield per acre, by deeper 
plowing alone. It will cost but a little more 
to do this, and the increased yield is nearly 
all profit to the farmer. 
The cost of cultivation, and the product of 
corn per acre, varies much in the several 
States. The average for the whole country, 
according to the last census statistics, was 
only about 25 bushels per acre—and for the 
Western corn-growing States not far from 
27 bushels to the acre. The highest aver¬ 
age, 40 bushels to the acre, was in Connec¬ 
ticut, a State in no wise remarkable for the 
fertility of its soil. According to statements 
in the last Patent Office Report, we find that 
some crops of this grain reached 130 bush¬ 
els to the acre. Of 35 acres of Indian corn, 
offered in Massachusetts for premium, the 
average yield was 93 bushels per acre, and 
the average profit $51 11 per acre. The 
largest crop was 138F bushels. Nineteen 
crops exceeded 100 bushels, and but two 
fell below 25 bushels per acre. 
These are certainly good crops to bring 
from the sterile bosom of New-England soil, 
but they are far inferior to what might be 
raised upon the prairies and bottom land of 
the West, with the same skill in cultivation. 
These results are mainly owing to deep 
plowing and thorough mechanical prepara¬ 
tion of the soil, manuring and after treat¬ 
ment. All these things can be more easily 
done on the smooth lands of the West than 
on the rough hard soils of the seaboard. 
Premium crops are reported in Kentucky of 
190 bushels to the acre. Such crops, of 
course, cost a good deal of manure and la¬ 
bor, and are not to be expected on every 
farm. But do they not demonstrate the 
economy of deeper plowing and better tillage? 
MANURING IN THE HILL. 
We have no doubt that the main body of 
the manure should be spread upon the soil 
and plowed in. But the immediate wants of 
the seed kernel should not be overlooked. 
A great deal depends upon the early treat¬ 
ment of plants as well as of animals. A lit¬ 
tle 'stable manure in the hill furnishes food as 
soon as the plant begins to send out its roots. 
If this cannot be had in sufficient quantities, 
manure from the stye, the hennery, or the 
privy, mixed largely with loam or muck, will 
do just as well. If only concentrated ferti¬ 
lizers are available, Peruvian guano or 
fine bone dust, a tablespoonful to the 
hill will have a very perceptible effect upon 
the yield of both fodder and grain. The 
former, even in so small quantities, 
should be mixed with loam or muck, at 
least one part to five of the loam, to prevent 
the burning of the seed kernel. 
We shall have further hints on the after 
treatment of this crop. 
V JOB IN T HE GRASS FIELDS. 
Go into any pasture field or meadow 
where cattle roamed last Autumn, and you 
will now find here and there miniature heaps 
of manure from six inches to a foot in di¬ 
ameter, and so thick that little or no grass 
will grow through them. While they lie 
undisturbed, they are worse than useless, as 
the washing have already enriched the soil 
directly under them quite enough for one 
season, and they occupy needless space. 
These should be scattered as a thin top¬ 
dressing, before the grass around them gets 
high enough to hide them or prevent their 
removal. Fit out the boys with an appro¬ 
priate implement, and they will make “ play- 
work” in knocking them about. The cheap¬ 
est and most convenient implement we have 
used is made 
by cutting off a 
piece of three- 
inch square 
scantling, say 
six to eight 
inches long. The upper corners may be 
rounded a little. Bore a hole through this 
at such an angle that when the block lies 
flat upon the ground three feet in front of 
you, the handle will point directly into the 
hands. A broken rake handle will make a 
good staff. For men or large boys, a four- 
inch scantling may be used. Give the boys 
such an implement., which you can make in 
twenty minutes or less, and they will knock 
about the dung-heaps in double quick time, 
and thank you for the sport. We don’t re¬ 
member any other kind of work which we 
did not tire of in our boyhood days. This 
was always play, and we were always sorry 
when that old forty-acre meadow was fin¬ 
ished. There is a species of skill required 
to hit a heap so as to give it a thorough 
breaking up and scattering at a single blow. 
It is the nearest to playing ball, and always 
being on the “ inn” side of any kind of work 
we know of. Give the boys a chance— 
grass-fields ditto. 
