244 
MAR 30 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Kentish Invicta; still they had names for their 
introductions besides Kentish Invicta. 
Sometimes the same thing is introduced 
simultaneously by two seedsmen, as the 
Mikado and Turner’s Hybrid tomato, and the 
Chartier and Mammoth Long Rose radish. 
If these are not identical, they are so nearly 
alike that it is to be regretted that they came 
out under different names. 
In introducing new vegetables from Europe 
it is very common for the dealer to tack on 
a name of bis own, the consequence of which 
is that there will be two or three names to 
the same thing. 
Then a slight variation even if an improve¬ 
ment, does not justify a new name. There 
are cases where a sort has been dropped for 
some years and then appeared under another 
name. I thiuk the Green and-Gold water¬ 
melon is a case of this kind. Thirty years 
ago the writer grew a melon that answers 
the description of this sort, even to its granu¬ 
lar flesh, and this melon was the leading 
market melon of the vicinity. It was super¬ 
seded by red-fleshed melons and it is 
doubtful whether a seed of it can be 
found there now. It went then under the 
name of Yellow Mountain Sprout. This is 
not meant to antagonize the Green-and-Gold 
which is a very good melon, large and early. 
It seems to me that a seedsman who would 
cut down his catalogue one-half, putting in 
his list only the best sorts of each vegetable, 
and never adding a new sort until it has been 
thoroughly proved that it is a real improve¬ 
ment, could establish a business. It would 
perhaps tax him at first for a year or two; 
but this course would bring unusual confi¬ 
dence, and he would retain his old customers 
and add new ones. See what a cutting down 
could be made with profit. Many catalogues 
have from 40 to 50 varieties of peas. Take 
for extra-early one white and one blue sort, 
the Advancer for an early wrinkled sort, the 
American Wonder and Little Gem for dwarfs, 
and for later,Stratagem and Champion of Eng¬ 
land; in all, seven varieties. How many more 
need be added to this list? Say three more of 
your choice and make an even ten—that 
would be better for the seller and the buyer 
too, for the latter would not fail to have the 
best of the lot. Take the tomato, of which 30 
or 40 sorts are7catalogued. A half dozen of 
the best should fill all wants. For a purple 
sort, Acme or Essex Hybrid, about the same 
thing; fora scarlet, Perfection; the Mikado 
for size and productiveness; the Optimus as a 
combination of good qualities, and that new 
bush variety, the Dwarf Champion. These 
would be my choice. The remainder are not 
so gooa or at least no oetter. Why cum her 
the books and drawers with them? 
There are cases without doubt where actual 
deception has been practiced by palming off 
an old variety for a new one. Not long 
since a case was told me of an Eastern dealer 
who advertised a new sort of potato. I can 
name it, but perhaps it would be better not to 
do so. It was described as much earlier and 
better than the Early Rose. His scheme was 
successful; many orders came in and his profits 
went up into the thousands. Many of his 
customers reported splendid crops, finer and 
earlier than Early ..Rose. All the same, he 
had filled his order from Early Rose potatoes 
bought from the commission merchant around 
the corner. How about the indorsement of 
bis customers? That is easily explained— 
they had given them better soil and culture 
than usual. This, as the fable writer says, 
teaches two lessons—that there are tricks in 
all trades, and that a common sort by good cul¬ 
ture may appear so good as to be thought new. 
This is really an important matter concern¬ 
ing both buyer and seller, as already in¬ 
timated. Of course, these lists must vary 
somewhat from one section to another, and 
some sorts that should be obsolete would still 
be called for; but in time the relative values 
of varieties could be established by honest 
representations,and then our catalogues would 
be reduced to at least half their present size. 
ANON. 
Corn Failure.— On land seemingly well 
prepared tor corn, and on which it comes up 
well, looking green and even rank, it not infre¬ 
quently fails to ear well; or if many ears are 
set, they are short, or the tips, even for sev¬ 
eral inches, are bare of grain. This has been 
my own experience once or twice; and subse¬ 
quent experience has shown me the proba¬ 
bility of what seemed to be taught by Prof. 
Atwater's Connecticut experiments, that corn 
requires (at least on our light soils) potash 
and phosphoric acid much more than nitro¬ 
gen. If there is any crop that is better grown 
with chemicals than with dung, corn is the 
one. It “ looks good ” to see the corn have a 
very dark green shade, such as rich dung or 
nitrogen salts will give it; but when harvest 
conies, a field that is almost yellow by con¬ 
trast will often show a much better earing, h. 
mi coiiKTHn com. 
VARIETIES, TOOLS, MANURES, 
CULTURE. 
QUESTIONS. 
1. What variety of field com do you pre¬ 
fer ? Why? 
2. How much shelled com will it give per 
acre ? 
3. How far apart do you plant ? 
4. What manures give you the best results 
for corn ? Give a list of the tools you use 
in its cultivation. 
ANSWERS FROM FARMERS. 
RURAL SPECIAL REPORTS. 
Canada. 
Wilsonville, Ont.—1. Having tried the 
three varieties commonly grown around here 
—namely the common yellow, King Philip 
and Rpd Gl ize—I have fallen back on the 
last variety because it matures a week or ten 
days earlier than the others. It is also a 
heavier cropper, the ears being longer on an 
average. 2. As far as the crop of 1888 is con¬ 
cerned, I am not able to tell the amount of 
shelled £ corn per acre; of corn in the ear, 
from 4% acres I harvested 550 bushels of 
sound, hard corn and about 75 bushels of in¬ 
ferior. The crop of ’87 averaged 50 bushels of 
shelled corn to the acre. o. 1 plant in bills 
three feet 10 inches apart each way. 4. No 
manure is better for corn than well rotted 
barn-yard manure plowed under. After the 
corn is up I top-dress in the hill with plaster, 
hen manure ana unleached wood ashes. 
After the corn is up I use no tool but the 
Champion one-horse cultivator and hoe. I 
usually fall-plow my corn ground, cultivate 
frequently in the spring about the middle of 
May. I draw on manure at the rate of 15 
loads to the acre and plow about six inches 
deep. I plant from May 20 to 24. After the 
corn is up I cultivate twice before hoeing. 
When hoeing I thin the corn to four plants in 
a bill. After this I cultivate once a week 
until the corn is too large. h. f. 
Box Grove, Ontario.—In this part of Can¬ 
ada we don’t depend much on corn. I live 
about 20 miles north of Toronto. Some farm¬ 
ers don’t grow any and others only one or two 
acres. I have for a few years past been grow¬ 
ing Compton’s Yellow and have found it as 
early as any we have had in this locality. I 
have not been particular to learn the quantity 
raised per acre. One of the neighbors had a 
field put in on shares, on which the measured 
yield was 120 bushels per acre. We plant 
about three feet apart. We use no fertilizer 
but barn-yard manure. The Planet Jr. culti¬ 
vator and other tools of similar construction 
are mostly used for cultivating the soil. 
G. F. 
Brampton, Ont.—1. Wnite flint,because it 
ripens evenly andjs a goodyielder. 2.1 can’t 
answer. We don’tgrow much of it. 3. Three 
feet each way m the rows. 4. Hog manure 
well worked into the soil. The plow scuffler 
and hoe,working the scuffler both ways in the 
row. Red-cob corn is used for ensilage. 
J. K. 
Renfrew, Ont.—We are too far north to 
make the growing of corn a success as a 
field crop. Only the early varieties, such as 
Compton’s Early, can be grown successfully. 
a. a. w. 
•Chip aw A, Ont.— 1. On my soil (a clay loam), 
I prefer eight-rowed yellow corn or Red 
Glazed, because they are hardy, early, and 
productive. 2. Yield per acre, 35, 40 or 50 
bushels. 3. We plant three feet six inches 
each way. 4. Cow manure of a good quality 
we find best. We use about 15 good square 
loads per acre, and a liberal sprinkling of 
wood ashes on top of the bill after planting. 
Before planting, we put the land in a com¬ 
plete state of fallow, and if the weeds come in 
abundance with the corn, we give it a dress¬ 
ing with a light harrow. If the laud becomes 
packed with heavy rains, we break the center 
of the rows with a two-horse cultivator, re¬ 
moving such blades as are unnecessary, to 
avoid injuring the young corn. We use the 
Cock Shull Cultivator. We cultivate at 
least six times—the oftener the better. The 
last dressing is with a shovel plow. Some 
parts of the township are excellent for corn 
and two or three of the farmers tried Western 
corn, but the location must be favorable, or 
it wall not ripen perfectly. The crop of 1888 
was excellent, and the average yield per acre 
was about 100 bushels of ears. G. G. 
Colorado. 
Steamboat Springs, Routt County.—Corn 
is not a product of this country. We are west 
of the Rocky Mountain range—altitude 6,500 
feet. The nights are too cool and the seasons 
too short. For such small grains as wheat 
and oats, our climate is good. I am about 14 
miles from the summit of the range. 
L. D. c. 
Parker, Douglass County.—1. I plant a 
yellow dent, as it suckers abundantly,making 
a large amount of nice fodder. Moreover, it 
matures early and shells with much ease. 2. 
In this dry country without irrigation 1 
raised, last season, a little over 30 bushels to 
the acre on a piece of 11 acres which had been 
planted to corn 22 years without any manure 
until last year,when I spread on a little over 
200 loads of barn-yard manure and plowed it 
in. The season being very dry, 1 think the 
result not as good as it would have been if it 
had been more moist. I used only barnyard 
manure. 3. I planted my corn three feet 10 
inches apart both ways. 4. I used a one- 
horse cultivator and gave perfectly flat cul¬ 
ture. I would not use auything else in corn 
or potatoes. J. w. 
Connecticut. 
Cornwall, Litchfield County.—1. Gold¬ 
en Dew Drop for earlmess and small-cob 
for meal; Tuscarora for feeding without 
grinding, as it is not flinty, and poultry, 
horses and cattle prefer it to any other. 2. 
Sixty to 75 bushels. The crop has been blown 
down badly for two years, which lessened the 
yield one-third or more. 3. Three and one- 
half feet. 4. Barn-yard supplemented 
with commercial fertilizers. Acme harrow 
and cultivator. 0. P. s. 
Northfield, Litchfield County.—I. I pre¬ 
fer a kind that my father before me used. It 
is almost exactly like the Pond corn in all re¬ 
spects. I prefer it because it ripens early and 
the stalks are small with small cobs and large 
kernels. I have tried many kinds; but none 
appears to equal this in combined results. 2. 
I cannot say how much shelled corn it will 
yield per acre, but 1 know it yields well. 3. 
I plant 3 % feet apart each way with four or 
five kernels to the hill. 4. Barn-yard manure 
gives me better results than anything else 1 
have tried. I use a Hillsdale swivel plow to 
plow the land, turning the latter all over one 
way, then I harrow it down with a square 
harrow of my own make, and bush it as 
smooth as possible. Next I mark it with a 
pole and chains four rows at a time. I plant 
it with a northwestern corn planter, aud cul¬ 
tivate it with a cultivator made at Ithaca, 
N. Y. I cultivate it both ways, leaving but 
little to hoe by hand. e. m. c. 
Clark’s Falls, New London County—1. 
Iam growing a variety of my own produc¬ 
tion having the old Rhode Island White Cap 
corn as a basis, crossed with the yellow Long¬ 
fellow and a short variety of Waite Cap 
corn. This gives an ear about 10 inches long, 
eight to 10-rowed with a medium cob, well 
capped over. I prefer it for this soil, as it 
gives better results. 2. Under good culture it 
averages 50 bushels of shelled corn per acre. 3. 
3^x3% feet; four stalks to the hill. 4. In a 
series of experiments begun lost season, but 
not completed on account of bad weather, 
superphospate gave a little the best results. 
I formerly used Bowker’s Hill aud Drill 
phosphate and obtained better results than 
with any other complete manure. The 
land is plowed and harrowed thoroughly and 
allowed to remain for a few days, then 
marked both ways aud planted. The crop is 
cultivated until waist-high, being in the mean¬ 
time hoed twice. For tools I have used 
plow, harrow, cultivator and hoes. J. B. P. 
Idaho. 
Albion, Cassia County.—This is not a corn 
country. Sweet corn alone is raised here. It 
grows very nicely and is entirely clear of any 
insects that are in the habit of eating inside 
of the husk. The only tool we use is the com¬ 
mon garden hoe. W. H. 
Illinois. 
Chatsworth, Livingston County.—Corn 
is one of the principal crops raised here. 
Soil a vegetable mold dark colored on stiff 
yellow clay subsoil. There has been 
a good aoal of tile draining on the low 
grounds during the last five years. Afl raise 
dent corn, mostly early varieties, growing 
from eight to 10 feet high. Large varieties 
such as Shoe-peg and Chester County Mam 
moth, make large stalks, but fail to mature 
when we have a cool, wet summer. Season, 
manner of culture, variety and brains have so 
much to do with the yield that it is hard to 
estimate the average; but it will not vary 
much from 35 bushels of shelled corn per 
acre. I have seen large fields that would 
make 75 bushels and others that would 
not make 15. It is all planted with two- 
horse planters and check-rowers, and we plant 
two rows at once three feet six inches to three 
feet 10 inches apart. No commercial fertili¬ 
zer has ever been used in this neighborhood 
on corn. Stable manure is mostly spread 
when hauled, and when a good coat has been 
plowed under, its effects can be seen in a 
stronger growth of corn for a number of 
years. Most farmors have not learned the 
value of manure. The best crops are raised 
by fall plowing, stirring the surface in the 
spring with cultivator, and harrow, or witu 
an Acme or disk harrow. All use two-horse 
cultivators cultivating both sides of the row 
at once. Most of them use shovels which 
work too deep for a large corn. Some 
use the gopher which ridges up too much. 
Some have knives which work much like the 
Acme harrow. J. R. B. 
Jerseyville, Jersey County.—We have no 
special name for our corn except Gold Drop 
yellow, or large 16-rowed, white. These are 
the only kinds largely planted. The yellow 
made 65 bushels on plowed land; the white 
three years from sod, 60 bushels per acre. 
Our corn is planted with a common planter 
three feet six inches apart, and checked the 
same distance apart. All manures we make 
are put on grass or wheat land. When we 
think the land is tired out for wheat, we use 
it for clover. We have been using a two- 
horse cultivator to a very large extent, as we 
are satisfied that it gives better results than a 
double-corn plow. m. c. s. 
Beverly, Adams County.—1. I use the com¬ 
mon yellow corn, Because it turns out as well as 
any, and is better for stock. 2. I do not shell my 
coin; but I get 60 bushels to the acre of corn 
in the ear. 3. I plant three feet 10 inches apart. 
4. I always use stable manure. Tools: the 
three-horse plow, and I harrow as much as 
possible, and cultivate. w. b. 
Belleville, St. Clair County.—1. I plant 
yellow dent, because it matures early and 
yields more than any other large variety I 
can get. 2. From 40 to 60 bushels per acre. 
3. The rows are 3>£ feet apart. I plant with 
a drill, aud leave the plants standing 12 to 15 
inches in the row. 4. We apply all the barn¬ 
yard and stable manure we can get and turn 
under a clover sod to get the best crop, and 
give a rotation of crops. We use the two- 
horse harrow with straight teeth, either be¬ 
fore or after the corn has come up. Next we 
use the two-horse cultivator, giving three 
plowings, following the second plowing with 
the hoe, cutting every weed missed by the 
cultivator, and all supernumerary stalks of 
corn. e. J - M. 
Indiana. 
Burlington, Carroll County.—We prefer 
the largest-eared corn that we can get, which 
will ripen by the middle of September. 
Such corn will produce more per acre with us 
than small varieties. Our corn will average 
60 bushels per acre. We plant 3J^ feet apart 
each way, with three stalks to the hill. We 
use only stable manure. We stable 
most of our stock in winter, using plenty 
of straw for bedding, making all the manure 
we can. The best fex-tilizer that we have for 
our soil is clover. We plow up a clover sod 
for corn; seed the corn to wheat in the fall; 
sow the wheat ground with clover in the 
spring; let it lie one summer in clover 
and plow again for corn. I was taught 
in my younger days to cultivate corn 
by plowing deep with the double-shovel 
plow or the two-horse cultivator; but from 
reading the Rural’s experience I have 
learned better. Now I use the spring-tooth 
cultivator; if I think the ground needs stirring 
deeper I plow the second tending, then use 
the cultivator again. J. m. 
Waterloo, De Kalb County.—1. I have 
grown for several years a large yellow varie¬ 
ty of field corn streaked witu red,with a small 
red cob and deep, wide graius—evidently a 
mixed sort. 1 prefer this to any other I have 
tried, because it yields well, is a sure grower, 
and will mature here if grown on rich, warm 
soil, and on any ground in a favorable year 
