282 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 22 
nate or pollen-producing blossoms, while the pistils 
or those organs that receive the fertilizing pollen, 
and carry it to the seed germs or corn, grow upon the 
ear, and are commanly called ‘ silk.’ Most so-called 
new varieties are the results of accidental fertiliza¬ 
tion or the dusting by the winds or other natural 
causes of the pollen of one variety upon the pistils or 
‘ silk ’ of another. The result is a hybridization—the 
impregnating of the seed of one variety with the pol¬ 
len of another, and such seed when planted will pro¬ 
duce corn having different characteristics from those 
of either of its parents. It is at first variable, and 
must be grown, and a certain type selected, year after 
year, until a distinct variety is established. That is 
called ‘fixing’ the type. A ‘ sport’ is an ear selected 
from some old variety, because it shows characteristics 
different from those of its parent, without having 
been fertilized with a different pollen. It may be 
earlier, or larger, or sweeter ; and by the same care¬ 
ful selection as with the other new variety, it can be 
fixed in type, but needs watching, There is a deal of 
natural depravity in vegetable life as well as in human 
beings, and the tendency is always down hill.” 
Mr. Clark has originated several well-known and 
popular varieties. I think Old Colony and Shoe Peg, 
or Ne Plus Ultra, were among them—and he 
has improved others, notably the Stow ell’s 
Evergreen, until Clark’s Improved Evergreen 
is very nearly perfection as a late variety. 
The Rotation; How Grown and Cured. 
“ What is your usual rotation ?” 
“We use new or turf land generally, and 
sometimes grow two crops of corn in succes¬ 
sion on the same ground. I follow with other 
seeds—carrot, turnip, onion and the like—two 
years and then seed back to grass with rye. 
I break up again as soon as the hay crop be¬ 
gins to fall off.” 
“Can corn be grown continuously cn the 
same ground ? ” 
“ Yes, with commercial fertilizers if it gets 
a rest after two years.” 
“ Do you favor the use of commercial fer¬ 
tilizers ? ” 
“ Certainly ! We use a great deal of them in 
various forms and consider them a necessity. 
We use from two to four hundredweight per 
acre, when applied in connection with a liberal 
dressing of stable manure, and from two to 
four times as much when used alone. Bone 
dust supplies a needed element of plant food, 
and is largely used, especially on the smaller 
seeds, and in sowing to grain and grass. 
Canada unleached ashes are valuable, and we use 
a large quantity. The Stockbridge complete 
manures are standard brands with us, and we 
handle a good many other kinds.” 
“Do you use the fertilizer in the hill for corn?” 
“ For a starter with stable manure, yes, 
scattered lightly about the hill. For a com¬ 
plete manure in large quantities, we prefer to 
sow the larger portion broadcast, harrowing 
it lightly.” 
“ How much do you handle annually?” 
“ We keep it for the accommodation of 40 
or 50 farmers who grow for us, and sell and 
use annually about 250 tons.” 
“What process of curing the crop is em¬ 
ployed?” 
“ Different varieties require different treat¬ 
ment. Some of the earlier sorts can be cut up 
at the bottom and put in small stacks in the 
fields, but the grain must be husked out soon, 
as it has a tendency to mold and discolor. 
There is also some loss from rats and field mice. 
The later sorts are topped as soon as the grain 
wrinkles and are husked out in October and spread 
thinly on open stages in well ventilated barns or 
corn houses. The sooner the crop can be got under 
cover, the brighter and better the seed. The late 
sorts are sometimes stripped down—the husks turned 
back and the ears exposed—in the field, if the weather 
is favorable.” 
A Big Business For A Little State. 
“ What was the annual output in the earlier years 
of this industry?” 
“ About 200 bushels.” 
“What is now the amount of yearly shipments from 
this vicinity?” 
“ About 34,000 bushels, shelled.” 
“ How much of this was sent out by your firm?” 
“ Nineteen thousand bushels of shelled corn, or its 
equivalent. A portion is shipped on the ears, but the 
bulk is handled shelled.” 
“ What is the largest yield of shelled corn per acre 
that you know to have been grown in your vicinity ? ” 
“ Two hundred bushels of ears. I suppose it would 
equal more than 100 bushels of shelled corn. We like 
large yields, but place quality first.” 
“ What is your average acreage?” 
“ About 25 acres in sweet corn, and 25 in seeds and 
other crops. We cultivate about 50 acres.” 
“ What is the average acreage of those who grow 
corn in Milford ? ” 
“ The total acreage, our own included, was this 
year 1360. Quite a large number are small growers, 
who are engaged in general farming, and grow corn 
as a money crop.” 
“ What tools do you find the most useful in your 
work ? ” 
“ We use the Syracuse sulky plows, Acme, Cut¬ 
away and Osborne harrows, Fisk’s automatic planter, 
and the Planet Jr. cultivator. Sometimes on rough 
or lumpy soil we use a ‘ smoother ’ made of planks 
bolted together. In the use of tools, as in everything 
else, we think the best is the cheapest.” 
The corn sold by this firm goes to all the leading 
seedsmen in the United States and Canada. A great 
deal is sent south to the vicinity of Baltimore, where 
the product is used by the canners. For this purpose, 
the Early Adams is a favorite variety. It is not a 
sweet corn, but is a dent variety, white in color and 
extremely early. It is a tender kind, and is used to 
some extent as a garden variety. For field culture at 
the North it is well adapted, and will ripen large 
crops where other varieties are injured by frost. 
Thinking the Visit Over. 
I came away from Mr. Clark’s with a new idea of 
the value of our corn crcp as an article of food. When 
we speak of corn as a food product, we usually have 
in mind the field varieties that are ripened and ground 
into meal. But here is a food product that has 
scarcely received a thought—34,000 bushels from one 
section! Seed enough to plant 136,000 acres ! 136,000 
acres will produce 136,000,000 dozen ears of green 
corn for market, or 148,000,000 cans. Truly corn is a 
great food product! 
The small growers—those who grow two or three 
acres each—find the crop profitable. Most of them are 
in the milk business, and the stover makes an excel¬ 
lent stock feed. It is conceded that the stover from the 
second-early varieties is worth all the cost of cultiva¬ 
tion, leaving the crop of seed corn as a profit. Even if 
we deduct the interest and taxes, and the cost of shell¬ 
ing and marketing, we still have a handsome profit 
from an average crop. Mr. Leroy C. Beecher, of Wood- 
bridge, grew an acre of Early Adams last year that 
yielded 140 bushels of ears that shelled 90 bushels of 
seed corn. This was sold at $1.15 per bushel, or $103.50 
for the salable crop, representing at least $75 net. 
This is a larger percentage of profit than most farm 
crops can show. Other varieties bring larger returns, 
the prices ranging from $1.15 to $2 per bushel, but 
more care is necessary in curing and selecting the 
sweet varieties, and they are more liable to injury 
from the weather. Care has to be taken to avoid mix¬ 
ing in growing different varieties too near each other. 
The Black Mexican yields a pollen of strong vitality, 
and will mix with white varieties, when carried by the 
winds or by insects, for a long distance. Early and late 
sorts, if planted at the same time, can be grown side 
by side, as they blossom at different periods. On the 
lighter and earlier soils of Milford, Orange and Strat¬ 
ford, the late kinds can be grown and ripened success¬ 
fully, while the early and medium varieties are grown 
further north and upon heavier soils. It is in the 
center of this corn-growing region that the firm of 
S. I). Wocdruff & Sons is located, and they are large 
growers of every kind of garden seeds that can be suc¬ 
cessfully grown in this locality. The accompanying 
photograph (Fig. 105) was taken to illustrate 
this article and represents Mr. Clark and his 
force at work. Charles pierson atjgur. 
AN OHIO CORN GROWER TALKS. 
A CHEAP BUSHEL OF CORN. 
'I'Ulaye and rotation are improving the noil; wheat , 
clover and corn ; manure made from the bot¬ 
tom land feeds the upland; the bottom land 
still on lop for fertility. 
Comparison of Old and New Fields. 
Wm. B. Lucas, a farmer of southern Ohio, 
grows corn on the best quality of bottom land, 
and on white oak land—clay, with red and 
white clay subsoil. 
“ For a good crop of corn on bottom land 30 
years ago,” I asked him, “how many bushels 
did you get ?” 
“ From two to two and a peck per shock, 
or 48 to 50 bushels per acre.” 
“At the same time, what was a good yield 
for the clay uplands ? ’ 
“A bushel and three pecks per shock, or 
42 to 45 bushels per acre.” 
“ Do you consider the land any better now 
than then ?” 
“Oh, yes; I think it is all nonsense to say 
the land is deteriorating ; the crops show that 
it is better. I can remember when I was a 
boy and we cradled our wheat, that we got 
from 10 to 12 bushels per acre ; now we get 
from 15 to 25. The former of the two figures 
is the lowest I have obtained on the clay land 
for years. Just across the fence on another 
farm, the last crop was only four bushels per 
acre.” 
,, What is the increase in the yield of wheat 
on the bottoms ? ” 
“ Originally the output was from 15 to 17 
bushels, and now it is from 23 to 35 bushels 
per acre.” 
“ Has the improved cultivation, or the addi¬ 
tion of fertilizer, made the change ? ” 
“ On the bottom no fertilizer except clover 
is used, and on the upland manure only.” 
“ You never gave your upland a complete 
top-dressing of manure ?” 
“ No ; I’ve never thought of doing so.” 
The Soil and Its Preparation. 
“ What do you consider the best preparation for 
corn—a Timothy or clover sod, or a stubble turned 
down ?” 
“ A clover sod is always the best—excepting an old 
Blue grass sod, but we do not often have that, while 
we generally do have a clover sod for corn.” 
“ When do you prefer to do the plowing for corn— 
in the fall, or early spring ?” 
“For several years, at any time after January 1, 
when the ground gets thawed out. I do not mind 
its .being wet, but prefer that it should be in prime 
order.” 
“You don’t care to plow it wet, after freezing 
weather is past, do you ?” 
“ No ! No ! We have to be careful about that.” 
“ Do you not believe it would be best to plow always 
when the land is in good condition ?” 
“ Yes ; but I gain an advantage by plowing early in 
destroying many insects that would live to the injury 
of the crop if the land were not plowed till late.” 
The New Maize (Zea canina). Fig. 106. 
Detail of a portion of an ear, full size. 
