90 THE CULTIVATOR. _ March, 
out of ten, I have no doubt that the former will pro¬ 
duce the heaviest crop of oats. The damp soil may 
produce the largest bulk, but put them on the scales, 
and the latter will be found wanting. Such is my ex¬ 
perience. And with grass, also, wet or damp land ge¬ 
nerally produces the largest bulk ; but every man that 
has pitched as many loads as I have done, knows that 
the hay from dry land is double the weight of that 
grown on wet land, when the produce of both is in the 
same state of dryness,* and the feed, as well as the 
hay from dry land, is far more nutritious for any kind 
of stock. 
I would say, therefore, drain, for the good of all 
crops, and for pasturage. It often grieves me, (or I 
might say vexes me,) to hear gentlemen whom I high¬ 
ly respect, and who profess to take science as their on¬ 
ly guide in farming, say — u Is there no danger of ma¬ 
king your land too dry ?” Or— a are you not afraid that 
the most valuable salts will be drained from your farm?” 
Others say ,-— u We always look upon your farm as ra¬ 
ther too dry.” Thus, if I had not entertained strong 
faith in my own practice, I should have been deterred 
from draining by the opinions of others. 
Stall-feeding Cattle.— Since Mr. H. was here, 
I have built large barns, sheds, and cattle-stalls, and 
have enough to fill them all; and when I get 2.000 
rods more of drains made, I have no doubt I shall re¬ 
quire more barn room. I have fifty excellent steers, 3 
years old last spring, feeding for some of the eastern 
markets. They were all, with one exception, fit for 
the butcher, when I commenced feeding hay and meal. 
I intend to feed them till March, or April. John John¬ 
ston. Near Geneva, N. ¥., Dec. 21, 1848. 
Indian Com in Ohio. 
Eds. Cultivator —There is no branch of agricul¬ 
ture in this country, and especially in the West, which 
engrosses more toil, and is worthy more attention than 
corn planting. 
Maize, or Indian corn, is, perhaps, the most economi¬ 
cal, healthful, and abundant food, which God, in his 
goodness, has provided, in these last days, for the sus¬ 
tenance of man. And yet there is no crop in which a 
greater diversity, and perhaps it may be added, a great¬ 
er want of the necessary culture exists. 
In the great valley of the Mississippi—the fertile 
soil and genial climate almost everywhere to be found, 
produce this crop in profusion, even with indifferent 
cultivation. It is, however, true here as elsewhore, 
and of this crop as well as others, that increased at¬ 
tention and well directed labor are amply requited. 
Of course, no general remarks could be applicable to 
the whole valley—for it is a world within itself. Upon 
the broad prairies, where the sward, which for ages, 
has been the pasture of the wild horse and buffalo, is 
broken up by the heavy teams and massive plows ne¬ 
cessary for the work—the planting and harvesting is 
all of toil, which remains in order to ensure a fair crop 
for a number of years. 
Upon our most fertile and extensive valleys,—the 
Wabash, Miami and Scioto,—owing to the nature of 
the soil, far less labor is necessary to produce a tolera¬ 
ble return, than in the less favored corn regions. 
Ohio is made up of hills and valleys—small valleys 
generally, with some little champaign country;—-and 
the general interests of our state call for the cultiva¬ 
tion of a variety of crops, and the practice of a well 
chosen rotation. 
The course adopted upon my farm, is to turn under a 
green sward for corn—follow with wheat, seeded with 
clover and grass—mow one year and pasture the next 
—then turn under again for the next series—this is, of 
course, varied according to circumstances.—I have one 
field, which for twenty or thirty years, has been in corn 
almost all of the time • and I shall plant it again next 
year, it having yielded a great crop the present season; 
but this, like much of the land along our larger water 
courses is frequently overflowed—and last year there was 
a rich deposit from the waters of the Muskingum, of some 
four inches of earth. 
Others here adopt a system, which seems very ad¬ 
vantageous to the sheep-growers, of sowing rye among 
the corn at the last working, and keeping it for March 
and April pasture, turning under what of the sward 
remains for a second crop of corn. This is found to 
work well upon rich bottom lands, where wheat is a 
precarious crop, and the green feed thus furnished is 
invaluable either for sheep, cows or horses. 
The most common mode of culture is to plow the 
ground but once before planting—yet when foul with 
weeds, we turn under in the fall—and I have found 
some benefit from this course upon some soils—espe¬ 
cially where tenacious—if the ground is very uneven 
and lumpy, it is harrowed and sometimes rolled. 
Planting is performed in a variety of ways—some 
furrow out, with a small plow, four feet apart each 
way, others three and a-half, leaving from three to five 
stalks in a hill'—and yet others furrow but one way, 
and drill plant from ten to twelve inches apart in the 
row. A plan wdiich I have adopted with some success 
is, to furrow four feet one way and two feet the other, 
leaving but three stalks in a hill—in this case it is work¬ 
ed, first, in the wide rows j second, in the narrow ones-— 
and after that, entirely in the wide ones. 
We cultivate, generally, the first time with a culti¬ 
vator or fine harrow—sometimes with a plow—the two 
following workings are performed with a plow—not a 
few using the old fashioned shovel plow. If the 
ground,is fresh, or if rye or wheat is to be sown very 
early, the cultivator or plow is used for a fourth work¬ 
ing j the crop is then laid by— made, as our southern 
neighbors call it. 
In September, it is ordinarily cut up and set in 
shocks ready for husking; the ground is then ready for 
plowing and sowing in wheat. 
In November and December, the corn is husked, and 
the corn fodder ready for use ,* and is either drawn 
to some convenient yard, or set in large shocks in the 
field, ready for drawing out as the stock may require. 
We raise about sixty-five bushels upon an acre of 
bottom lands, with fair tillage. Our premium crops this 
year, upon hill lands, were one hundred and eighteen 
bushels of shelled corn per acre, with superior culture. 
The average price of corn here is twenty-five cents. 
We most respectfully solicit suggestions. D. E. 
Gardner. Marietta, Ohio, Jan. 1, 1849. 
Subsoil Plowing# 
I have made several experiments with the subsoil 
plow, one or two of which I will state. In the spring 
of 1848, I subsoiled a strip of twenty feet in width 
through the middle of a field of Barley. At the time 
of cutting the grain I measured eight different pieces, 
each piece exactly the size of the other. I then cut, 
shelled and weighed each parcel separately. Four of 
the parcels were from the subsoiled part, and four from 
the part that was not subsoiled. The ground was all 
alike; the yield on the whole was rather slim, but the 
parcels that I kept separate, weighed one pound in ten 
more on the subsoiled part, than those did on the un- 
subsoiled part. I endeavored to be as accurate and im¬ 
partial as possible. The soil was dry and sandy. 
In the spring of 1846, I subsoiled a strip some four 
feet wide, through the middle of a field, and planted to 
potatoes. They all rotted badly—-were hardly worth 
the digging. The weather was very hot and dry 
