1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
179 
than through a heavy one, and it happens 'with 
some soils that the surface becomes so baked 
after a rain, that it is quite impossible for the 
seeds to overcome the mechanical difficulty. 
Our market gardeners, in order to be sure of a 
stand with seeds, the young plants of which are 
feeble, sow many times more than is necessary 
in order that the united efforts, so to speak, of a 
multitute of young plants may be able to throw 
off the covering. With delicate seeds sown in a 
seed-bed, the covering should be of a light na¬ 
ture. The soil should be largely of leaf mould. 
This being light, may allow the seeds to remain 
too dry, and to prevent this, it is to be packed 
down by pressure with a board, or patting with 
a spade after sowing. This packing may seem 
to be contrary to the statement that the cover¬ 
ing should he light, but a soil consisting largely 
of decayed leaves, or decayed spent hops, is of 
an elastic character and will not, like a heavy 
soil, pack so closely as to present an obstacle 
to the young plants. Flower seeds are often 
very fine and need more care in regard to the 
character of the soil and its depth than coarser 
seeds. Very fine seeds need hut a mere sifting 
of earth over them or no covering at all. With 
Lobelias and such minute seeds, we have had 
the best success by strewing them over the level 
surface of the earth in a pot and then covering 
the pot with a pane of glass. The object of 
the glass is to keep the surface from becom¬ 
ing dry. In gardens where the soil dries quickly, 
it is well to shade the spot where fine seeds are 
sown. According to our experience, the seed 
sold by our dealers, is generally good, and we 
believe that a large majority of the complaints 
of poor seed arises from burying the seeds too 
deeply and covering them with too heavy a soil. 
Sweet Corn—Varieties and Culture. 
Every now and then an article appears in an 
English journal giving an account of experi¬ 
ments with maize—which is with difficulty 
grown at all in England, though some cultiva¬ 
tors have managed to raise ears for the table. 
They seem not to be aware that our sweet vari¬ 
eties are quite different from field corn, and a 
friend of ours sent last spring to Shirley Hib¬ 
bard, a collection of our best varieties of sweet 
corn, thinking that so enthusiastic and compe¬ 
tent a horticulturist, being put upon the right 
track, would astonish his friends with a novelty. 
Mr. H., in a recent letter to the Horticulturist, 
states his failure, but speaks of the corn as pop 
corn! We can understand the failure to grow 
the corn, but to call our delicious, sugary varie¬ 
ties “popcorn !” The American Minister should 
demand his passports at once. We wonder 
what proportion of our readers enjoy the luxu¬ 
ry of sweet corn. Of course everybody has 
roasting ears, when the field corn will yield 
them, but as far as our observation goes, the use 
of sweet corn, cultivated solely for the table, is 
by no means general. The varieties of sweet 
corn differ from the common kinds in the great¬ 
er abundance of sugar; the grain, when ripe, 
is much shriveled and wrinkled, and of a pecu¬ 
liar horny texture. We have the impression 
that Roger Williams, in a work published about 
1644, mentions that sweet corn was in use 
among the Indians, but have not the work at 
hand to confirm it. Many can recollect when 
there was but one kind of sweet corn, while now 
the catalogues enumerate some twenty, differ¬ 
ing in stature, size of cob, sweetness, color, and 
earliness. As with common corn, it is easy bv 
the exercise of a little care, to fix any desirable 
peculiarity, and at the same time the best sorts 
will deteriorate if due attention be not given to 
selecting the seed. Sweet corn is found to be a 
profitable crop by those farmers who are near 
enough to large cities to enable them to take 
the corn to market. It is useful in a rotation, 
as the necessary cultivation cleans the land and 
puts it in excellent order for rye or wheat, while 
a large amount of fodder, more valuable than 
that from common corn, forms an important 
part of the returns. The earliest varieties are 
generally very small, both in the plant and in 
the ear. The Early Dwarf Sugar and the Early 
Harraganset, are both excellent for family use. 
A local Hew Jersey variety called Tom Thumb, 
is brought in large quantities to the Hew York 
market, and is the largest early variety that we 
have seen. Crosby’s Extra Early Sugar is the 
variety grown for the Boston market, and, 
among a half dozen sorts that we grew last 
season, gave the best satisfaction of any. 
Adams’ Early, Bates’ Extra Early, Early Bur¬ 
lington, and Forty Days, are all said to be good 
and early, but we have had no experience with 
them. Of intermediate sorts there are several: 
Early Eight-Rowed Sugar and Twelve-Rowed 
Sugar, arc commended. Asylum, a variety sent 
out by the Dexter Asylum, at Providence, R. I., 
is one of the best. Olcott’s Farmer’s Club did 
not please us last year, but it is commended by 
so many good judges, that we think there must 
have been some mistake in the seed and shall 
try again. Red Cob Sweet has a red cob, and 
large sweet kernels. Mexican Sweet is black 
and does not look so well upon the table as the 
white kinds, but one upon tasting it, forgets all 
prejudices against color, and takes another 
ear. Mr. Gregory says of it: “The sweetest 
and tenderest for table uses of all the varieties 
I am acquainted with,” and we quite agree with 
Mr. Gregory. For latest we have Trimble’s 
Improved and Stowells’ Evergreen, both excel¬ 
lent, the last named keeping in eating condition 
for a long time. All the varieties are not enu¬ 
merated, but here are enough to enable one to 
make a selection. Were we restricted to one 
variety we should, with our present experience, 
take Crosby’s Extra Early. Sweet corn should 
not be planted until the soil is well warmed, and 
then be sowed in drills 2’| 2 feet apart for the 
small sorts, and 4 feet for the larger kinds, 
thinning to about a foot in the drill. The early 
dwarf kinds mature sooner if sown on light soil. 
For the later sorts the ground should be well 
manured. Compost from the hen-house will be 
found excellent to give a start. It should be 
well mixed in the drill before putting in the seed. 
How Much Manure to a Cow ? 
Carefully conducted experiments show that a 
cow of the average size will void about 60 lbs. 
of manure in a day, measuring about l l | r , cubic 
feet, which is more than three cords, weighing 
over ten tons, for a year. It is the opinion of 
many good cultivators that three loads of peat 
or muck mixed with one load of cow-dunsr, 
make a compost quite as effective for top-dress¬ 
ing meadows as the cow-dung itself. If this 
were done, we should have twelve cords of 
good compost from the solid excrements of one 
cow. It is further estimated that the liquid ma¬ 
nure is quite as valuable as the solid. If this 
were carefully saved by peat absorbents, kept 
under the stable, or in it, it would double the 
pile, or be equal to twenty-four cords of good 
compost. If this were spread upon two acres 
of run-down meadow, producing a ton of hay 
or less per acre, it would increase the crop prob¬ 
ably to three tons to the acre the first year, and 
the effects of it would be seen in increased crops 
for five years longer. In those two acres it 
would make all the difference between profit¬ 
able and unprofitable farming for five years. 
This compost, if sold in many good farming 
districts, would bring $4 per cord or $96. Used 
on the meadow it would produce much more in 
successive crops of hay. This estimate shows 
what may be done under favorable circum¬ 
stances to increase the home supply of fertilizers. 
We have found that nothing pays better than 
labor applied to the compost heap. 
The Field Culture of Sage. 
BY JAMES J. H. GREGORY, MARBLEHEAD, MASS. 
The variety of sage sought after by those who 
grow it on a large scale, is that known as the 
“Broad-leaf.” An old grower will rarely pur¬ 
chase seed if the purity and freshness of it can¬ 
not he guaranteed from a personal knowledge 
of the raiser. Last season, when home-grown 
seed was quite scarce, an enterprising farmer in 
the town of Danvers, Mass., sold his eiftire 
crop of 100 lbs. to his neighbors at $10 per lb.; 
they could readily have bought imported seed 
at less than half that price. Imported seed 
usually has more light seed, which is an ob¬ 
jection, in addition to those which spring from 
a probable lack of purity and freshness. 
In raising sage, it should he borne in mind 
that the most valuable portion of the crop is 
the leaves ; the poorer the land and the less the 
manure, the greater the proportion of leaves to 
stems. That the interests of both buyer and 
seller may be equally consulted, rather light soil 
is selected, which is in good condition, and three 
or four cords of some compost equal in strength 
to stable manure, and mechanically fine, is ap¬ 
plied to the acre. A heavier dressing would 
produce a larger crop, but then a larger propor¬ 
tion of this would be stems, for the ranker the 
crop the coarser the stems. The seed may be 
planted as late as June, but the quality of the 
crop is also affected by the length of time it 
grows; that planted early, and therefore grow¬ 
ing the entire season makes more and heavier 
wood, while that planted later makes propor¬ 
tionally more leaves, and therefore a better arti¬ 
cle. The ground must be very thoroughly 
worked, two plowings and harrowings are none 
too many, and then raked level and fine, as 
for a root crop ; the seed is planted in rows, 
from 14 to 18 inches apart, and from three- 
quarters to an inch deep. About five pounds 
of seed are used for an acre. The seed come 
slowly: if the season is favorable, the plants will 
begin to show themselves in two weeks; but if 
the surface bakes, the best seed may fail to push 
through, for the seed itself comes up with the 
leaves, and when the ground bakes hard, it is 
apt to be broken off, and that is the end of the 
plant. Keep the crop clear of weeds, which 
will require considerable care in the earlier 
stages of growth, but later in the season it will 
so nearly cover the ground as to shade it, and 
thus keep it comparatively clean. In the early 
fall, cut the crop with a large knife ora smooth- 
edged sickle. Cure it by spreading in the shade 
in some airy building, on racks or laths, 8 or 10 
inches apart, the laths being a couple of inches 
apart in the racks. These racks, which are 
excellent for drying all kinds of herbs, are made 
by using l 1 |.»-inch boards as uprights which are 
from four to'six inches wide; in these, cut 
notches l 1 1 2 inches wide and two or three deep, 
witli a downward slant, securing them firmly to 
