THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
jan. r 
crops, and was apparently ranch worn, a strip 
containing nearly two acres of land was 
plowed across both meadow and tilled land 
with a plow of the double-Michigan pattern, 
drawn by four horses working abreast; while 
strip on either side, of half this size, was 
plowed eight inches deep with an ordinary 
plow drawn by three horseB. The corn was 
cut into four shock-rows, and the grain of 
each husked and weighed separately, with 
the following result: 
for aero. 
Row No. 1, plowed 8 inches deep, yielded S3,24 bus. 
“ 2, " 12 *' “ M 77.64 “ 
.. S( .. 12 .. .. 76 50 .. 
" 4, “ 8 “ " 71.44 “ 
Average yield for 8 inch plowing, 6,.s4 “ 
•• 12 •* 77.07 " 
Increased yield for deeper plowing, • 9.73 “ 
The yields of the portion which had been in 
meadow and of that which had been in culti¬ 
vation were weighed separately, but the in¬ 
crease was the Batne for both. 
(3 ) Tn 1879 this field was plowed to a uni¬ 
form depth of eight inches, but the products 
of the Btrips which had been under experiment 
the previous year were weighed separately, 
and showed a further increase of two bushels 
per acre for the deeper plowing of that year. 
(4) During this season, experiment No. 2 
was duplicated in another field, with the re¬ 
sult of the same increase of two bushels per 
acre. This was a very unfavorable season for 
corn, owing to the failure of nearly all the 
seed first, planted to germinate, thus neces¬ 
sitating two or three plautings to secure a 
stand, aud making the crop late, while subse¬ 
quent uufavorableness of weather prevented 
the crop from regaining the lost ground, so 
that the average yield of thebest fields was not 
more than forty-five bushels of shelled corn 
per acre. Meanwhile our clover-seed had 
failed to catch, which necessitated the plant¬ 
ing agam to corn of the field in which experi¬ 
ment# No. 2 and No. 8 had been made. For 
reasons connected with the general manage¬ 
ment of the farm we did not wiBh to use any 
manure upon this field, and therefore the area 
of deep plowing was considerably increased. 
The result of the experiment wasasfollows: 
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(Each shock-row contained nearly one acre 
of land. The rows numbered 1 and 2 covered 
the same ground as those numbered 2 and 3 in 
experiment No. 2 ) 
The net value of the above increased yield, 
at the current rates here for corn and stover 
in the field at the time of husking, viz: 33 
cents per bU6hel for the corn and $3 per ton 
for the stover, would be $2 63, while the ex¬ 
periment of 1879 indicates that the benefit of 
the deeper plowing does not end with a single 
season. The additional cost of this increase 
can he reduced to that of the labor of one 
horse in the plowing by the use of the sulky 
plow. 
The stover in the above experiment was cut 
about 12 inches above the ground, and the 
value assigned to it is not more than half its 
actual feeding value when compared with hay 
at current rates, viz: $16 to $18 per ton. 
It 16 interesting to note the ratio of grain to 
stover, being as one bushel of corn to 51.45 
pounds of stover for the eighl-inch plowing, 
and one bushel to 52.85 pounds stover for ihe 
twelve-inch plowing. 
It will be noticed that the inversion of four 
inches of subsoil which had never before 6een 
the light has had only a favorable effect upon 
the crop immediately following, although the 
plowing was done late in the Spring and the 
corn immediately planted. It is reasonable to 
suppose that some soils would be injuriously 
affected by such a sudden transition to deep 
working, such as shallow sedentary soilB and 
possibly a few of the stiffer clays of the drift, 
but these experiments and others whieh have 
been made upon a heavy clay soil and drift 
formation Justify the inference that the plow 
might profitably be set deeper in many locali¬ 
ties. The only way by which a farmer may 
know positively the adaptability of his soil to 
this mode of working is by actual experiment, 
or by noting the results of such experiments 
upon soilB of a geological origin similar to 
that of his farm. 
In the case of soils whose drainage is defec¬ 
tive the results of deep plowing are likely to 
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Blount's corn—Male Flowers dividing the 
Ear—Fkom Line—Fio. 5. 
be obscured by this cause; for instance, it 
can scai cely he profitable to deepen the tilth 
of a flat lying, soggy piece of land, unless the 
deep plowing can also be made a sort of under 
| drainage, by carrying the water to still lower 
levels, for which there must of course bo some 
outlet. Io such a case the advantages of the 
deeper working should be still move apparent 
than upon such soils as that upon which our 
experiments have been made. 
Farm Dep’t Ohio State University. 
-M-4- 
| By the oarefulcsl selections and cultivation we 
are e.ndeavoriny to obtain a new breed of the Ches¬ 
ter County Mammoth Corn which, shall prove more 
productive everywhere, and better suited to the 
fields of the North than was the seed which was 
originally planted at the Rural Farm. In this 
direction we ha ve already made marked progress 
with Blount's White Prolific J 
RURAL BRIEFLETS. 
The advantages of drilling in corn are well 
set forth by Mr. Charles A. Green in his excel¬ 
lent “ Corn NoteB.” . .. 
At Professor Beal’s request, we sent to the 
Michigan Agricultural College at Lansing a few 
ears of the several kinds of corn raised at the 
Rural Farm during the past season. Here is 
his reply : ** The Chester Co., 
Mammoth which you sent I 
think is the largest I ever saw. 
The Blount and Yellow Flint 
are also desirable.” .... 
When manure is used in the 
hill, an excellent—though an 
old-fashioned fertilizer to give 
corn a start—is a full handful 
of hen manure that lias pre¬ 
viously been mixed with the 
same bulk of muck and wood 
ashes.. - - 
In our corn experiments, 
however, we have been led (o 
think less of manuring in the 
hill than of sowing or spread¬ 
ing some soluble manure broad¬ 
cast. We know of an instance 
in whieh bone meal (coarse) 
was used aud the > it d was 
over 80 bushels. Much credit 
was given to the bone, though 
it may be doubted whether it 
could have had any effect 
until another seaeoD. . . . 
Many of our readers have 
urged us to sell them small 
quantities of the above kinds 
ol corn. We would gladly have 
obliged them, but our rule is 
one without an exception, never Fig. 6. 
to sell anything to our sub- 
serbers. This corn will no doubt be offered by 
all prominent seedsmen whose catalogues will 
be noticed in these columns as soon as they 
arc received. . 
We were struck by the force of the follow¬ 
ing remarks by our venerable friend Conrad 
Wilson. “One man gives great attention to 
plant food and little heed to anythiug else. 
Another is all engrossed with the problems of 
tillage, and discovers but little value in the 
other factors. A third attaches exceptional 
importance to the variety of the grain, or the 
question of pedigree, and so on to the end of 
the catalogue. But rarely do we meet with 
the farmer who is wise enough to divide his 
attention fairly between all the essential con¬ 
ditions that belong to a maximum crop. Yet 
it is entirely true, and not to be denied, that 
very fair results are often reached, even in 
spite of important factors having been over¬ 
looked, and it is also true and still more re¬ 
markable, that among all the corn products 
yet recorded, there is not a single case in which 
all the elements of success are included or 
even recognized.”. 
We should like to have our readers consider 
this question : What good does it do to hill up 
corn .. 
Unless seed corn has been selected with 
care, it is useless to look for large yields. It 
is not a very costly matter for each farmer to 
procure half-a-dozen varieties of corn which 
in other places he knows to have yielded 
heavily- These may he planted on small plots 
33x33 feet square (cue-fortieth of an aero) on 
different parts of the farm aud the most pro¬ 
lific kinds thus determined for future guid¬ 
ance. 
We are convinced that excessive manuring 
for corn is money thrown away. 
It will be remembered that Joseph Harris 
announced a profit of about $700 on a corn 
crop of 15 acres. He. attributed the result in 
the main to an exceptional amount of tillage 
both before the corn was planted aud after¬ 
wards. The Rural New-Yorker has been 
offered $L.50 per bushel for the entire yield of 
the Chester Corn (minus the tips and butts); 
$8 00 per bushel for all the Blount Corn that was 
taken from stalks bearing three ears and more 
and $1 .50 per bushel for the rest At this rate 
our yield from Jive acres would amount to not 
less than : 750. Of course such prices could 
be paid ouly for remarkable kinds of corn for 
seed purposes.•. 
In every ease, says Prof. Beal, the root-prun¬ 
ing of corn as tried at the Michigan Agricul¬ 
tural College was a failure. .. 
Professor Beal writes us that he thinks 
Waushakum the most thorough-bred corn 
with which he is acquainted. ..... 
Tns ash of corn cobs is a good manure, 
6inee, aB the cobs contain but a small percent¬ 
age of nutriment, it is better to use the ash as 
a fertilizer than to grind the cob with corn 
for stock food. 
The horse that succ;eds in accomplishing 
Lis mile a few seconds sooner than any other, 
wius renown for himself and makes his mas¬ 
ter a hero, says Mr. Conrad Wilson. The 
event exciteB universal interest, and the press 
teems with eulogies that are shared in due 
proportion between the steed and his owner. 
The pugilist who by dint of muscle and 
power of endurunce, succeeds lu vanquishing 
his antagonist in the ring, punishing him 
within an inch of his life, and pounding his 
features into a condition equally fright!ut and 
disgusting, is triumphantly escorted from the 
arena by an applauding multitude, and his 
fame goes abroad on every wind of heaven. 
The truth of the above paragraph will be con¬ 
ceded. Here is the application: But the 
farmer who at the least cost of production, 
raises the greatest amount of corn to the acre 
is not eulogized by the press; is not applauded 
by an admiring multitude and his fame goeth 
not abroad on every wind of heaven. . . . 
Prof. Cook, as we have stated, from ex¬ 
periments made Id 1872, eoudemus the use of 
sulphate of ammonia for corn. Both corn aud 
stalks were diminished in weight by its use. 
But muriate of potash was beneficial to both 
corn and stalks, lie concludes that eoru is a 
potash plant. What plant is not ? .... 
The average yield of corn is about 40 bush¬ 
els to the acre. The average yield of wheat is 
about 13 bushels. We cau from present 
knowledge, more easily increase the average 
yield of corn to 75 bushels than we can that of 
wheat to 20 bushels. ......... 
-- 
THOROUGHBRED SEED-CORN. 
E. LEWIS STUKTEVANT, M.D., SO FRAMINGHAM, 
MASS. 
The only two thoroughbred seed-corns I 
know of, are the Blount's Prolific anti the VVau- 
shakum, both corns which have justified them¬ 
selves by trial U6 being of extrauniformity and 
of great fecundity, lu the larm practice of 
Mr. Carman on Rural Farm Blount's Prolific 
has yielded 134 bushels shelled corn per acre ; 
with Sturtovaut Bros, a single acre planted 
with Waushakum has given 123 bushels shelled 
corn. 
The difference between a well-bred corn and 
ordinary seed is scarcely apprehended by those 
who have not tesied experimentally. Uni¬ 
formity is one point gained—a point visible 
to the eye in the seed aud in the growth of the 
piant. This is not, however, all. Whatever 
is called thoroughbred possesses a uniformity 
aud transmits its own peculiarities strongly. 
A thoroughbred seed with fecund habit gives 
uniformity aud fecundity. A thoroughbred 
seed with nou fecund habit, gives umiormity 
and not fecundity. So it is seen that some¬ 
thing more than mere thorough breeding is 
requiftd: we mu6l breed towards fecundity. 
When seed-growers do this last, tlieu scurcely 
auy size of crop within reason eau be consid¬ 
ered improbable or impossible. Now these 
two Eced-corus, mentioned by name not for 
advertisement, but simply because they are 
the ouly two illustrations wo have, derive llieir 
value from the tact that through selection aud 
proper manipulation they have become thor¬ 
oughbred and fecund. 
Anothei point of view, which we will give in 
the form of a positive statement: U uder ordi¬ 
nary poor care, poor fertilization, and inferior 
management of crop, a field plauted with thor¬ 
oughbred aud focuud seed may not yield more 
than another field, under eq ui valeut conditions, 
planted with ordinary seed of medium good 
quality. Let. however, good conditions of cul¬ 
ture be applied, aud lira thoroughbred seed im¬ 
mediately respouds to the good treatment far 
iu excess over the other seed, and gives a far 
larger crop. It is easy to obtain a 4U-bushel 
crop with auy good seed; we cannot be sure 
ot the 80-bushel crop without using the best of 
seed ; we cannot hope tor the 100-bushel crop 
without a thoroughbred seed. 
I speak in this article of corn grown in large 
areas under ordinary conditions of farm cul¬ 
ture, aud not the one-eighth acre lots so popu¬ 
lar with some, because ttie outside roots, which 
form such a large perceulage of the total roots 
in the lot, feed outside the measured bounds, 
and give better results than would be showu on 
a largo field and thus serve the purpose of a 
brag crop. 
Could Mr. Bowditch, of Framingham, my 
neighbor, have obtained 100 bushels per acre 
of shelled corn on a field of 17i acres, manured 
with fertilizer and managed economically by 
machinery, without hand labor except in the 
harvesting, except he had the benefit of tlioi- 
oughbred seed ? His own experience proves 
the contrary. These are his figures, based on 
$1.50 a day for man aud 75 ceuts a day for 
horse labor:— 
Statement of E. F. Bowditch, Millwood Farm, 
