1859,. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
133 
just scientific principles, is trying experiments to 
render a field fertile for a plant which it will not 
otherwise bear, his prospect of success is very 
small. Thousands of farmers try such experiments 
in various directions, the result of which is a mass 
of practical experience, forming a method of culti- 
vation which accomplishes the desired end, for cer¬ 
tain places $ but the same method frequently does 
not succeed—it indeed ceases to be applicable to a 
second or third place in the immediate neighborhood. 
How large a capital, and how much power are 
wasted in these experiments! Very different, and 
far more secure, is the path indicated by Science ; 
it exposes us to no danger of failing, but on the con¬ 
trary, it furnishes us with every guaranty of success. 
If the cause of failure-—the barrenness in the soil 
for one or two plants—has been discovered, means 
to remedy it may readily he found. 
“ The most exact observations prove that the me¬ 
thod of cultivation must vary with the geognostical 
condition of the subsoil. In basalt, gray'wacke, 
porphyry, sandstone, limestone, &c., are certain 
elements indispensible to the growth of plants, and 
the presence of which renders them fertile. This 
fully explains the difference in the necessary meth¬ 
ods of culture for different places; since it is evi¬ 
dent that the essential elements of the soil must va¬ 
ry with the varieties of the composition of the rocks, 
from the disintegration of which they originated. 
{! Wheat, clover, turneps, for example, each re¬ 
quire certain elements from the soil; they will not 
flourish where the appropriate elements are absent. 
Science teaches us what elements are essential to 
every species of plants by an analysis of their ashes. 
If therefore, a soil is found wanting in any of these 
elements, we discover at once the cause of its bar¬ 
renness, and its removal may now be readily accom¬ 
plished.” p. 40. 
To all interested in scientific studies, this work 
will be exceedingly interesting, as it contains a 
great amount of valuable knowledge on the subject 
of which it treats. It is one of the books that far¬ 
mers need. W. L. Eaton. East Weare , N. H. 
Indian Corn. 
Eds. Cultivator —Taking all things into consi¬ 
deration, I think the Indian corn crop is one of the 
most important that is raised in this country. The 
grain is used largely as an article of human food, 
and for the sustenance of all our domestic animals. 
A few remarks in regard to its cultivation in New- 
England, may not be inappropriate at this season of 
the year. 
Preparation of the Ground. —The selection 
of the soil and preparing it for the crop is of im¬ 
portance. If you have an old tough meadow or 
pasture that you design for corn, plow it in Novem¬ 
ber, just before the ground freezes up. Lay the 
ground over smooth, to the depth of eight inches, 
following with a subsoil plow, and going down six 
or eight inches lower. Then make it smooth with 
the roller, and let it lie till spring. When it is suf¬ 
ficiently dry, harrow it with a fine-tooth harrow. 
If you have a good lot of compost manure, give a 
good top-dressing, and plow it in with a shallow 
furrow, leaving the old sw^ard undisturbed. 
If the soil is light and mellow, it is preferable to 
plow and subsoil in the spring, first spreading on 
the coarse unfermented manure, which is to be 
plowed in. For marking out the rows for planting, 
a C£ corn-marker” may be used to advantage. It 
is made by taking a piece of scantling, three inches 
square and ten to twelve Teet long, with teeth of 
hickory or white-oak, inserted at distances of two 
to four feet, according to the width designed for the 
rows. Then an old pair of wagon-thills and a pair 
of old plow-handles are put to it, and your marker 
is done. With a good horse to draw this implement, 
the ground may be made ready for planting very 
rapidly. 
It has formerly been the practice in Connecticut, 
-and still is to some extent, to plow corn-ground in¬ 
to ridges,—-particularly when the ground is in 
sward. This is done by turning two furrows to¬ 
gether, leaving a narrow strip between the furrows 
to be plowed afterwards. This mode requires a 
great deal of hard labor in the course of cultivating 
the crop. An experience of ten years leads me to 
the conclusion that a crop can be cultivated w T ilh 
one-third the expense, where the ground is left flat, 
than where it is ridged; and I see no advantage in 
the latter mode, except where the ground is wet. 
The difference in the two modes is chiefly this:-— 
where the ground is ridged, the corn being planted 
between the edges of the furrows it comes immediate¬ 
ly in contact with the manure, springs up and grows 
rapidly the fore part of the season. Where the 
ground is left flat, and the manure turned under the 
furrows, the corn will often look feeble at first, and 
in growth will frequently be much behind that on 
ridges; and the inference, early in the season, is, 
that the ridged ground w 7 ill give the best crop; but 
as soon as the roots of the corn on the flat ground, 
get hold of the manure, (say about the 20th of Ju¬ 
ly,) the corn will shoot rapidly ahead, and the full 
force of the manure will be given to the stalk just 
at the time of forming the grain. Corn cultivated 
in this way, if the soil is deeply tilled, will often 
keep green, while that on ridges is dried up. 
Preparing Seed and Planting. —Many farm 
ers, at planting, shell the corn off the cob and plant 
it dry. Others soak it a few days in warm water. 
But when the seed is only treated in this way, it is 
very likely to be pulled up by birds and injured by 
worms. To prevent this, I first soak the corn in a 
strong solution of salt-petre; then take a quantity 
of tar, and having warmed it over a fire, pour it on 
the corn, and stir with a stick or paddle till the corn 
is all smeared with the tar; then add plaster till the 
corn will separate freely; and have no trouble in 
planting. 
It is sometimes complained that tarred corn does 
not come up well; but w r hen it is arranged as here 
described, there is no trouble on this score. No 
birds, not even crows, will pull it up. Some of my 
neighbors, who planted their corn without tarring, 
and whose fields were strung entirely round with 
cord the past season, suffered much by these birds. 
There is something in the smell of tar which is dis¬ 
liked by birds. I have frequently seen half a dozen 
crows at a time, walking over my corn fields; but 
not a hill would they touch. 
The time of planting, will of course vary with 
the season. In this section, however, it may gene¬ 
rally be planted from the fifteenth to the tw T enty- 
fifth of May. That which is planted late, often es¬ 
capes the spring frosts, which injure that which is 
planted early. Thus it often happens that corn 
planted the 10th of May, is cut down by frost, and 
gains nothing over that planted the 25th of the same 
month. 
After Culture. —Where the ground is flat, Ido 
not recommend the use of the plow at all; a light 
harrow, or a cultivator, is much better to go be¬ 
tween the rows. If the cultivator is drawn both 
ways, very little labor is afterwards required with 
the hoe, except to weed out the hills, thin out the 
