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FARMING FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. 
NO. 35. 
HENRY STEWART. 
The Cultivation of Corn. 
There is no other plant, that can be culti¬ 
vated with so much interest: or with such 
useful results as corn. The mere fact that one 
can nurse his crop, so to speak, day by day, 
hoeing it and weeding it and watching its 
rapid growth which is sometimes so fast that 
it can be seen in progress hour by hour, gives 
to this plant more t han common interest. The 
past few years much attention has been given 
to this plunt as a farm crop, and hundreds of 
farmers’ hoys have engaged in growing it for 
a premium. I hope next year the editor of 
the Rural will send a few seeds of tho Rural 
Corn to the boys and girls of the Rural family 
and permit them to compete fora prize as well 
as their fathers and big brothers. To help 
them in their efforts to succeed in growing 
some good corn, the following directions for 
cultivating this crop are given:— 
First, the soil should be well plowed. It is 
very necessary that the soil should be very 
mellow and fine and deep. 
Second, the soil should be enriched with mu- 
nure or good fertilizers, or both, and these 
should be well mingled with the soil by thor¬ 
ough harrowing. 
Third, the seed should be planted early and 
not less than four inches deep, and when the 
seed is valuable, or the produce from a certain 
quantity of seed is to be measured, it should 
be protected from crows, blackbirds and cut¬ 
worms by broad rims of stiff paper set up in 
the soil around the hill, 
Fourth, the soil should be kept entirely free 
from weeds, and loose and mellow by frequent 
stirring and loosening, up to the time when 
the ears are fully formed and the grain is set. 
Fifth, the tassel of every stalk of corn that 
has no ear or silk should be cut off as soon as 
it appears. Such stalks may be called male 
stalks, and are as useless in the corn field us a 
lot of roosters would be in the poultry-yard 
when eggs are wanted, or as wethers would be 
in a flock of sheep when we expect lambs. For 
such stalks produce no ears, and encourage 
those that do to yield seed that will produce 
only barren stalks like themselves. And this 
should be done, because in grow ing u crop of 
corn it should bo made one stop at least to¬ 
wards procuring seed that would produce a 
better crop next year: for there is no grain 
that we grow that has been more improved, or 
can be more improved by careful cultivation, 
than com. 
As the object of every intelligent farmer, bo 
he young or old, should he to learn something 
more than he now knows, from his observation 
and experience, it is advisable that in each 
field of corn there should be a few rows kept 
for experimenting in regard to tho manner of 
cultivation and fertilizing, so that tho best 
method for each soil or locality can Ire found. 
It must not he forgotten that what is good 
practice upon a light, dry soil may be 
very bad upon a wet clay soil, and we must 
learn to distinguish the needs of a soil before 
we can decide what particular method of cul¬ 
tivation should be used upon it. 
Corn is usually grown upon sod ground, but 
equally good crops may be produced upon 
stubble. The soil should be freshly plowed, 
moist and mellow, and when the weather Is 
warm the seed germinates and the plants grow 
with great rapidity. The manure given to 
this crop need not be so old and well rotted as 
is necessary for wheat, for corn is what is 
known as a rank feeder, that is, it will do well 
with fresh manure, or newly-plowed sod, 
which answers the same purpose, as manure. 
Of artificial manures or fertilizers corn 
needs mostly phosphoric acid and potash. An 
excellent home-made fertilizer is composed of 
hen manure, wood ashes and plaster in equal 
parts, mixed only when it is to be used, or 
kept dry until it is used, to prevent loss from 
the mixture of the ashes with the hen manure. 
It is not well to use too much manure for corn, 
or there will be too much stalk and too little 
grain. Twenty loads per acre of manure and 
a good handful of mixed fertilizer in the hill 
will be sufficient, w'ith good cultivation, for a 
large yield. 
YOUNG QUERIST. 
Minnie F., Durand , ///., wishes to know if 
Japan Red Bud, raised from tlie Rural seed, 
must be kept in the house this "Winter. 
Ans.—I f well mulched with a little fine 
straw or leaves it will stand the Winter out of 
doors. 
Harry F., Elmira , N. Y., sends a flower 
for name, and also asks if the Pyrethruin ro- 
seum blossoms and bears seed the first year. 
Ans. —The flower was so wilted as to be un¬ 
recognizable. The Pyrethrum did not produce 
seed the first year with us. 
“ Will,-' Shelburne, Vi., asks 1, if we have 
cultivated the Perfection tomato; and, if so, 
how we like it; 2, is the Crystal City straw¬ 
berry as early as it is represented to bo in the 
various catalogues. 
Ans.— 1. Yes; its quality is very good. 2. 
It is an early berry, and said, by some of our 
best small-fruit growers, to be the earliest of 
all. 
Susan M,, Aryyle, N. Y., asks if we think a 
woman can make money keeping bees. 
Ans. —Yes, we think so. But to any new 
beginner a word of caution is necessary. Do 
not be misled by fanciful reports from apiaries 
long established. Begin with a few hives first 
and gradually work up to a larger number, 
and thoroughly prepare yourself by study and 
conversation with experienced bee-keepers, 
for your work. We think it can be made a 
profitable employment for women. 
-- 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Dear Uncle Mark —As 1 had a few 
leisure moments, I thought I would write to 
let you know how I am getting along with my 
garden. The young “ Elephants ” are growing 
finely, and we expect a large yield. 1 am 
testing several kinds of melons this year, 
among them are. the Bay View, Surprise, and 
Jenny Lind muskmolons, and the Golden 
Flushed,‘Excelsior and Japanese watermelons. 
When they ripen I will let you know as to 
their quality, etc. I have six varieties of 
strawberries: Wilson, Chas. Downing, Black 
Defiance, Glendale, Duchess, and Crescent 
Seedling. The Black Defiance is the bust of 
them all with us. 1 am testing the Perfection 
tomato this year, but as the plants were not 
set till late, they have not ripened yet. Why 
don’t the cousins write and tell about their 
gardens, etc. Yours, Will. 
Uncle Mark: — I received the seeds of the 
pinks and Judas tree. The pinks are nearly 
all in bloom and are growing finely. They 
are very pretty, one of them w'as over two 
inches in diameter. Only one plant of the Ja¬ 
pan Red Bud came up. I do not see any let- 
ters from this part of the country. I guess 
the people around hear don’t know anything 
about the Rural. If they took it one year they 
would bo sure to take it again. I wonder if any 
of the cousins are going to raise silk worms, I 
think I shall! Minnie Fritz. 
Durand, Ills. 
Dear Uncle Mark: — I would like to join 
your club. My father began taking the Ru¬ 
ral New-Yorker last year. Iam 13 years 
old. My sister has over fifty different kinds 
of pinks, which were raised from the seed you 
sent. The Sorghum is doing as well as can be 
expected for the drought. The Washington 
oats did well and so did the Elephant. Your 
niece, N. L. ArtTBRS. 
Freehold, Pa. 
New Members of the Club for Week 
Ending Sept. 17. 
Lizzie Reese, Mt. Eaton, O.; N. L. Arters, 
Freehold, Pa.; “Rosebud,” Crawford, Mich.; 
L. B. Ruddock, BuOkland, Mass. 
That indigestion or stomach gas at night 
preventing rest and sleep, will disappear by 
using Hop Bitters.— Adv. 
Scientific, 
TREE TRUNKS AS WATER-CON¬ 
DUCTORS. 
Professor F. H. Storer. 
It is manifest that with trees, in respect to 
rain—much tho some way as with the differ¬ 
ent agricultural crops as regards dew—there 
must, necessarily bo considerable difference in 
the amounts of water which can reach the 
ground by wav of their trunks. I was my¬ 
self a good deal impressed a few days since on 
noticing how large a quantity of water must 
evidently have come down the stem of u 
Virgili,-i tree (Cladrust,is tinetoria) near my 
study window, during a heavy thunder 
shower, inasmuch as a deep rill or water¬ 
course had been worn in the soft soil from the 
trunk to tho adjacent road-way. In this par¬ 
ticular tree the conditions were all specially 
favorable for the descent of water l>y the 
trunk; for the tree, having recently been 
transplanted, was not in full leaf, while the 
position of t he branches as.regards the trunk, 
and the smoothness of both the stem and tho 
branches are well-fitted to insure a rapid and 
constant (low of the liquid. It was notice¬ 
able, moreover, that in this individual tree 
nearly all the boughs point rather sharply 
upward—and the more so since tho weight of 
leaves they bear is small—much more indeed 
than Is the case with other Virgilias not far 
from this one, which are in full leaf. (Prof¬ 
essor Storer may have noticed that this tree 
is somewhat drooping early in the season, 
becoming more upright later as the wood 
hardens. Of course, this may be said some¬ 
what of all trees—but notably of the Yellow- 
wood— Eds.) It is plain, in short, that the re¬ 
lations of this tree to rain-water must be 
very different from that of trees whose boughs 
are horizontal or drooping. While such trees 
must necessarily shed most of the rain which 
falls upon them directly from their leaves and 
twigs to the ground, a good part of the water 
that falls upon trees whose branches turn up¬ 
ward will be carried down their trunks to the 
earth. 
It seems that the matter was studied a year 
or two ago, in Europe, by Dr. Riegler. He 
fitted to a number of trees appropriate vessels 
for catching the water that came down their 
trunks, as well as that which fell from their 
leaves, and he set up a. rajn-guage in an open 
field in the vicinity. He then noted continual¬ 
ly, from the middle <>f April to the middle of 
July, the quantities of water that were collect¬ 
ed in the several receptacles. His trials were 
upon a beech tree, an oak, a maple, and a 
spruce ; and the tops of these trees screened 
spaces of (14%, liO’./. 91k>, and 30 square 
metres* respectively. Of all the water that 
fell during the stated period Upon the beech 13 
percent, reached the ground by way of the 
stem; (55 per cent, dropped from or through 
the top, and 22 per cent, evaporated. In the 
case of tlie oak leas than six per cent, of tho 
i a'nfail came down the trunk, 74 per cent, fell 
through tlie top, and rather more than 20 per 
cent, evaporated. With the maple (i.!.j per 
cent, of the rain-fall ran down the stem, 71 per 
cent, fell through the top, and 22! 7 percent, 
evaporated. In the case of the spruce only 1 1 
percent, of the rain-fall came down the stem 
and 40 per cent, fell through the top. As re¬ 
gards the spruce, however, it was found to be 
impracticable to distinguish between ‘'evap¬ 
oration” and the water which was lost by 
* One metre equals 89.37 English inches. 
dropping from the ends of the drooping 
branches. 
Out of 32 separate rains observed, it was 
noticed that water flowed down the stem of 
the beech 25 times, down the stem of the oak 
10 times, down tho stem of the maple 15 times, 
i and down the stem of the spruce (with its 
hanging branches) only' nine times. The in¬ 
fluence of few or abundant leaves was indica¬ 
ted by contrasting the results obtained on spe¬ 
cial dnyes hi Spring and Summer. On the 12tli 
of May, for example, at a time of copious and 
continuous vain, when the buds of the oak and 
beech were wholly or nearly closed while 
those of the maple were half opened, 21 per 
cent., 12 per cent,, 3 per cent., and 3.% per 
cent, of the total rain fall flowed down the 
trunks of the beech, oak, maple, and spruce 
respectively. On the 10th of June there was a 
short rain and the percentage amounts of it 
which flowed down the trunks of the several 
trees wore 7V£, (%, 4%', and one. Oh the 15th 
of July there was a heavy thunder shower of 
several hours’ duration and the quantities of 
water that flowed down the trunks were, re¬ 
spectively, 13 percent., eight per cent., six-and- 
a-half ami th reo per cent. On the Oth of ,1 une, on 
the occasion of a short thunder shower, des¬ 
cribed as a “cloud-burst,” nearly five per cent, 
of the total rain-fall ran down tho beech stem 
while about three per cent, of it ran down the 
stems of each of the other trees. 
Not to occupy space with the other figures, 
which are given by Dr. Riegler in detail, it 
wifi be enough to say that the amounts of 
water lost by evaporation from the tree tops 
were small in May , when the trees were not 
yet in leaf, and large in Summer. At the 
time of the short but emphatic rain of June 
l(5th, the evaporation amounted to more than 
a third of the total rain-fall. On the other 
hand, at the time of the particularly heavy 
rain of June. 9th, more than 80 percent. (80 per 
cent, in the case of the oak) of tho water that 
fell upon the tops came through to the earth 
and only' some 10 or 12 per cent, was lost by 
evaporation. 
ANOTHER ADVANCE IN MECHANICAL 
INVENTION. 
From earliest history there has been some 
method of scratching, turning, mixing or 
loosening the soil by animal power in olden 
times and by steam or animal power in re¬ 
cent days. True, the crooked stick of the 
Egyptians and the Greeks did very satisfac¬ 
tory work for tho agriculturists of ancient 
days, though it resembled a plow about as 
much as a flail docs a steam thrashing ma¬ 
chine; but advanced civilization and a general 
desire to do the best kind of work in the easi¬ 
est and quickest manner demanded improved 
machinery, and this demand has always been 
well met by our inventors. 
Hitherto plowing and harrowing have been 
two distinct operations, requiring two pass¬ 
ages, ut least, over tho field; but at a recent 
trial held on the Experiment Farm of ltntgers 
College, ut New Brunswick, N. J., an imple¬ 
ment invented by Mr. Charles Sackett, of this 
city', was exhibited, which performs the opera¬ 
tion of j flowing and pulverizing the soil at a 
single passage over the field, thus saving time 
and labor. 
Tlie implement. Fig. 471, consists of an or¬ 
dinary iron-beam plow, which is attached to 
tho axle at right angles, in front of which is a 
smaller plow for inverting sods, weeds, etc. 
The plows may r lie set at any desired depth, 
and are adjusted with ease. The pulverizing 
wheel runs in the furrow, and is formed by 
a series of cross-bars eoimeeting two parallel 
rims or tires, supported by iron spokes. These 
cross-bai-s limy be Set at any desired distance 
apart, according to the condition of the soil, 
The rear plow, being set directly opposite the 
pulverizing wheel, throws the earth into the 
wheel, which, in revolving, breaks up the lumps, 
and the soil, thus aerated, falls through tho 
wheel in tlie real 1 upon the sod or weeds 
which the forward plow has inverted, and is 
then ready for tlie seeding. 
Mr. Sackett has also invented and patented 
a seed-drill, which is to lie attached, so that 
the operations of plowing, pulverizing and 
sowing may be performed at one and the 
same time. The plows are handled either 
from the ground or from theseut, with equal 
case. The wheels constitute the running-gear 
of the implement on t he rood or in the field, 
hence its transportation is convenient. No 
skill, beyond common-sense, is required, to 
manage the implement; time and labor are 
saved, and the soil is left in a loose, friable 
condition. YVe were agreeably surprised at 
the very creditable performance of this im- 
flement in a field where the soil was hard, 
umpy and quite stony, yet its pulverization 
was complete, 
This combined plow and pulverizer is now 
on tho market, and the company' will take 
pleasure in answering any inquiries about it 
which may be sent to 198 Broadway, N. Y. 
COMBINED BLOW AND I'llLVER1ZER.—Fill. 111. 
