166 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
dience and love, and they share in the esteem of society ;Sthem the 30th September. The product •was one bushel, § “ By some mistake, two dozen ears of the same corn were 
and the injunction of the wise man, “ bring up a child ^weighing forty-one and a half lbs. they were planted inspulled some days since for table use, and I have no hesita- 
in the way he should go,” &c. is fully illustrated in them. Idrills, 40 inches apart; the pieces about eight inches! 1 ™ 11 in saying that it is equally as sweet as the sugar corn, 
To show the effects of this mode of government, I’lljapart in the drills; the potatoes I cut into 26 pieces, | wltb this 111 lts favor, that the ears are nearly twice the size, 
quote one instance in their early years. When theirimaae four short rows, rolled them in lime before' plant- § “ Whether this com originated from a few grains found in a 
second set of teeth began to appear, I observed that theyiing, hilled them slightly twice, by putting some rich®. e V of tea ’ , as Jasserted by Mr. Thorburn, I will not pre¬ 
stood too close, and would crowd some out of regularffyard manure on them. § te . to say; but of this I am certain—it is a, most excellent 
place I told them that it would be proper to extract! A gentleman in this vicinity, planted half an ear ofl^ 1 en ’ n j y of tensi y e i? u !, tivatl °, n ' <• • 
one from each side the upper jaw. They answered thatithe Chinese Tree Corn, and got about one hundred and JLtion, you can giv/ it a place® and* obligeyom obediem 
it would hurt. I replied that it would hurt, but that thelhfty good ears from it, and he says it was but partiallyf servant, EDWARD P, ROBERTS. 
pain would be short, and the benefit would be ornamen¬ 
tal and useful; that if omitted, they would reproach me 
in riper years for neglect of duty from tenderness, and 
asked if they would have the teeth taken out on my 
judgment; they answered in the affirmative. The den¬ 
tist was sent for, and a beautiful sound tooth extracted 
from one side; and after a few minutes pause, till the 1 
pain was abated, they were asked if they would have 
one taken from the other side, and it was assented to, 
and the tooth extracted without further trouble. I then 
embraced them, and applauded their fortitude and obe¬ 
dience, and they were happy at such result. 
I have seen many very fine children, of good and fine 
minds and manners when they left their parents, ruined, 
and their manners and morals completely destroyed by 
being sent from home for education. 
I have before heard it said — sending children among 
strangers makes them manly and womanly. I know it 
makes them bold; and in some cases they appear in 
manners to be men and women at twelve or fourteen 
years, but they are more frequently boys and girls for 
ever after. 
The manners are best formed under parental care : 
when the first impressions are correct, they will not 
afterwards be easily rubbed out by improper examples. 
If they should, through evil communications, be guilty 
of aberration from duty, their early impressions from 
kind parents will rise up in their minds, and influence 
their hearts to repentance and return to duty. 
Teachers often make specious promises of useful cul¬ 
ture, to influence parents to send their children from 
home for education and manners; and it often proves 
useful, particularly to those whose parents cannot, or 
will not, devote proper care to their children. To such 
it is often a boon. 
When you urge farmers to improve their breeds of 
sheep, cattle and other farm stock, do you advise them 
to send them abroad? or to give their best attention to 
every thing in relation to such stock, if they expect to 
be successful? And ought not our children to claim so 
much from us as our cattle ? 
|attended to; he thinks if he had worked 
iproduct would have been greater. 
I planted a few grains in my garden after the other 
|kind of corn was up, and the tree corn was fit for use! 
ithe earliest. I remain yours, &c. 
ROBERT S. D. JONES. 
it more, thejl “ Mulberry Grove, Baltimore Co. July 31, 1839.’ 
Uses of the Sunflower. 
Oneida county, Oct. 7th, 1839. 
Mr. Editor —Can you or some of your correspon- 
|dents, inform me, and your subscribers generally, of 
fall the uses of the “ Sunflower,” and what would be an 
^average yield per acre ? &c. &c. and much oblige, 
A READER OF THE CULT. 
Not having a thorough knowledge of all the uses to 
fwhich the sunflower is applicable, we copy the follow- 
fing from the London Farmers’ Mag.— Cond. 
“ Cultivation of the Sunflower .—On inquiring into the use 
|made of this plant, we were given to understand that it is 
(in Tartary) raised chiefly for the oil expressed from it. 
Ihere 
When children are sent from home for their education,! son planted ten acres of it, 
Chinese Com. 
Albany, Oct. 3d, 1839. 
Mr. J. Buel—D ear Sir—I feel called upon to give 
some explanation respecting the Chinese Corn, I sold 
the last spring. From a number of communications re¬ 
ceived from different persons in the northern and wes¬ 
tern part of this state, the corn has not succeeded at! 
all. It proves a very late variety; I am satisfied this 
variety of corn will not answer north of this. I have 
been charged by some correspondents with intentionally^T,-V- 1 T“7 1 “T u uuleuy ,T ““ 011 exjJres T sea } mm «■ 
commuting a deception on the public. This I disci aim. pi aceg 0 f the larger towns we often found the people eat- 
No one regrets the disappointment more than myself, iing the seeds, which, when boiled in water, taste not unlike 
and I am willing to render every satisfaction in my pthe boiled Indian corn eaten by the Turks. In some districts 
power. I am not a practical farmer; I was induced toaof Russia the seeds are employed with great success in fat- 
recommend it to our farmers, from the following highitening poultry; they are also said to increase the number of 
recommendations, and sold it in good faith. I will statefeggs more than any other kind of grain. Pheasants and 
the experience of three respectable farmers and unpre-||P artrld g es eat them with great avidity, and find the same ef- 
judiced men viz : gfects from them as other birds. The dried leaves are given 
Mr. Coombs, of Upper Freehold, N. J. planted last| t0 cattle in P lace of straw; and the withered stalks are said 
season, six ears of the Chinese corn, which produced 1 *" T,rod,lf,e a considerable ouantitv of alkali.”- 
him thirty-two bushels of ears. His general crop of 
other kinds of corn, last year, was nearly a failure, and 
is decidedly of opinion that this corn will produce one- 
third more than any corn grown in that district, and he 
this seasons rejects all other sorts to plant this on his 
|farm. 
Mr. Hendrickson, of the same place, had a great pro¬ 
portion of his corn the last season, destroyed by the cut 
worm, and replanted his field with the Chinese Corn 
which overtook what was left of the other, and was 
fully matured some time before corn that was up and 
well under growing way when the Chinese was planted, 
and produced the best corn in the field—nor had it any 
treatment different from the common corn, He this sea- 
it is not only fourfold more expensive in money and 
clothing, but often with the loss of good manners, or the 
acquaintance with evil habits and manners, particularly 
if they are furnished with plenty of pocket money to 
use at pleasure while they are not yet qualified to judge 
of its value and uses, but to be enticed by evil compa¬ 
nions to seek opportunities and objects for spending the 
money merely because they have it. 
I can now call to mind many fine children whom I 
have seen ruined through such means, when they had 
the promise of fine talents, to become the ornaments ofj 
society, had they been prudently educated in early life 
by examples and precepts of industry and morals. In 
deed, I conceive that the most valuable legacy parents, 
leave to children, is a strictly moral and useful educa-| 
tion. The want of such education is the direct cause ol 
most of the evils in society. When will the law-makers 
and conservators of public morals understand and apply 
these principles, and learn that their true duty is tc 
prevent evils and crimes, rather than the punishment of 
criminals ? 
My dear sir, you’ll forgive me, I hope, for these ob¬ 
servations, as I assure you that I give them to you 
merely to correct what I conceive to be wrong opinions, 
and to exhibit a better example. Let parents who have 
the means, be liberal in establishing good schools at or 
near home, and employ competent teachers at some 
additional cost, and save their dear children from expo 
sure to vice, greater expense and ruin, if they believe 
there is any value in these opinions and experience. 
Yours respectfully, —-— 
Remark. — If all parents could, and would, imitate the 
to produce a considerable quantity t of alkali. 
Excursions in the Interior of Russia. 
Mammoth Sunflower. 
Lake C. H. Ia. September 23, 1839. 
Mr. Prentiss, of the same place, planted last season, 
this same corn, from the 16th to the 21st May. It was 
perfectly matured and ready for husking on the 1st of 
September, and on the 16th of September, the whole 
crop was cut down and stacked. His crop, however, 
[was materially shortened by not then understanding the 
peculiar branching properties of this variety; notwith- 
jstanding this, and the severe drought, his crop was a 
full average. Grant Thorburn’s recommendation has 
[been fully before the public. 
[ Under these circumstances, I leave it to the public to Ml - . - , ,, . n 
say, whether I was notjustifiable in recommending it as| improved this sunflower. 
J. Buel Esq.—Dear Sir—Enclosed I send you a few 
seed of what appears to me as a remarkable prolific 
sunflower, and also as illustrative of the fact, that all 
of our domestic plants may be greatly improved by care 
in selecting seed. I have practised for several years 
past, saving seed from the principal head on the most 
prolific stalk, and last year I thought I had nearly ar¬ 
rived at the heighth of bearing power, when I had a 
stalk with forty heads. But the seed which I now send 
you, is from a stalk with sixty-five seed heads, which 
grew in my garden the present season. I venture to say 
there would have been at least ten more heads, but an¬ 
other stalk grew so close on one side that it prevented 
the branches from spreading in that direction. 
Perhaps however, that all this, to you may not be in 
anywise remarkable or worth notice, but to me, and 
others who have seen it growing, it is considered so.— 
It is a well known fact that parsnip and carrot seed, and 
probably many others of similar branching kind of plants, 
should only be saved from the principal head. And it 
seems reasonable to me, that every vegetable may be 
improved by care in selecting the seed, as easily as I 
a new and early variety. Respectfully yours. 
WM. THORBURN, 
P. S. If it is not asking too much, please add the fol- 
owing, from E. P. Roberts, Esq. 
[From the American Farmer .] 
THE CHINESE TREE CORN. 
“ John S. Skinner, Esq .—Dear Sir—I purchased lasl 
pring, of Gideon B. Smith, Esq. an ear of the above corn, 
which had been grown by Mr. Grant Thorburn, of Hallett’s; 
ove, New-York, a part of which I planted in a bed in my. 
garden, and as the success which has attended this experi¬ 
ment may, in part, be owing to the preparation of the ground 
md mode of culture, it may be as well to detail it. 
“The bed was at first highly manured with fresh stable 
Many may ask what is the use of raising the sun¬ 
flower? I reply that it is worth as much or more than 
corn, and is exceedingly healthy to feed all domestic 
^animals, and particularly hens and horses, and when¬ 
ever it is raised in sufficient quantities to warrant it, 
oil mills will be built that will create a good market for 
the seed. And if no other use than mere ornament was 
made of it, I should much rather see it growing in waste 
corners, than useless noxious weeds. I hope you will 
do me the Favor to plant a few of the seeds that I send 
you, if for no other purpose, that when you look upon 
their growth, it may be a happy memento to you that 
there is one other than yourself, that rejoices in every 
improvement he sees made in the agricultural pursuits 
of a country, that must soon degenerate below the re¬ 
example of our worthy correspondent, it would go far to in¬ 
validate our position—that boys learn best from home to depend 
upon good habits and good conduct, for reputation and wealth. 
There are no teachings so impressive and lasting as parental 
examples; yet we must take things as they are. Many pa¬ 
rents lack either the opportunity, the faculty, or the inclina¬ 
tion, to train their sons as they should train them, during 
their academic years; and where either of these contingen¬ 
cies happen, we are still of the opinion, that the boy is likely 
to do much better under a good master abroad, than he will 
do under a slack discipline or misapplied indulgence at home. 
The master will, or should, be more watchful of the habits 
of the stranger boy, than of him who is, in other than school 
hours, under the nominal control of his parents. If the 
question be tested by the examples of the age, we are in¬ 
clined to believe that the answer would be in our favor. 
Cond. of Cult. 
bad holes dug four feet apart, about four inches deep, in each 
jf which I dropped two grains of crop, the which I covered 
•a with a compost of equal parts of spent ashes and rich mould. 
| When the corn first came up it looked yellow, and suppos- 
' mg that it might be owing to too much acidity being in the 
ground, I sprinkled over each hill about half a gill of equal 
parts of air-slaked lime and plaster of Paris, which I mixed 
with the soil by gently stirring the earth around the plants 
|of corn. I subsequently gave it three thorough weedings 
and hoeings, taking care each time to make my hoe penetrate 
deeply into the earth, and each time increasing the size of 
the hill around the roots. As directed by the notice pub 
lished by Mr. Thorburn, I have suffered the suckers to re¬ 
main, and from the luxuriant appearance of my corn, and 
its prolific yield, I have no doubt he has hit upon the right 
plan of cultivating it. 
“ Attracted by its fine appearance, I was induced a day or 
7'™ spaded deep. The ground being thus prepared, I g ar( j 0 f gome of her warmest friends, unless the present 
awakening spirit of improvement, is made to assume an 
ever waking watchfulness throughout the whole com¬ 
munity. 
I am proud to subscribe myself one of your agricul¬ 
tural friends. SOLON ROBINSON. 
Mixture of Fruits, Grafting, &c. 
J. Buel —Dear Sir—You answered well, all the que¬ 
ries of your correspondent, dated “ Michigan, 14 June, 
’39,” except the last query, viz. “Will the trees from 
the stone of the peach, plum, cherry, apricot, &c. pro¬ 
duce fruit the same quality as did the trees on which 
they grew?” 
From my observation, nature is correct and regular, 
like producing likeness in the vegetable as in the animal 
two since to go into the patch and count the number of earsi|l iin g donl - 
upon some of the hills. Upon one I counted ten, upon an-ff The seeds and stones of the fruit of any tree or plant, 
other fourteen, and upon a third, nineteen ears. This, be-gstanding alone, and when the blossoms or the generative 
ing from two grains of corn planted, must be considered ajorgans in them are impregnated from its own genitals, 
Igood yield. This corn is a pearly white, of the flint variety, f will uniformly produce a progeny of trees and plants, 
|the ears medium size, and I have no doubt will make an ex-|Jwhich will produce fruit like the parent tree or plant, 
gcellent crop of corn. It grows to the ordinary height, yields asij usus naturm excepted 
Igreat abundance of fodder, and is withal an early corn, hav-| We get in the same gard en, fruit trees of all sorts, and 
|ing bee £ sufficiently advanced two weeks since, for roastmg| b] t produce seeds of all kinds, near to each 
fears. On strong ground, well manured, with suitable cul-I r™ w u • 
Jture, I have no doubt it may be made to yield an averaged ° ther - Those which are in blossom (then bridal habi- 
Rohan Potatoes_rhinpee Trpp (Torn Jacreable product of a hundred bushels. In the fall I will| foments,) at the same time, and of the same genus, will 
. tfmeasure my little patch, and give you a faithful account of £ c & s ^ the pollen from their stamina or male organs on the 
x I'lendship, Md. October 10 th 9 1839, pfits yield in long ears as well as 7 iubbins , by which you willjpistils or female organs of their neighbors, and thereby 
J. Buel, Esq. I planted two Rohan potatoes, \veigh“||be able to form a correct idea of its adaptation to field cul-r ; produce hibrids, mules, mulattoes. 
jng each half a pound, on the 15th March, and dug^ture* | I once planted pits of fine yellow gage plums, from a 
