134 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
stalks, See. Formerly, a great deal of useless labor 
was spent in hilling up corn—indeed, in dry seasons 
it was worse than useless, for the corn was injured 
by it. The earth hauled round the stalk does nut 
assist its growth, nor aid in holding it up—the brace 
roots, which come out as the stalk increases in 
height, support it; and it has been observed, that in 
a heavy storm and thunder-gust, corn that is hilled 
will be broken down more than that which is not 
hilled. The ground which is kept level has also the 
advantage of more readily absorbing rain-render¬ 
ing the crop less liable to suffer from drouth, 
I generally give corn two regular hoeings, and af¬ 
ter haying, (say first of August,) go through the 
field with the hoe and clean out the weeds. My 
fields are generally clean, under this system ; but it 
should be made a rule to keep down the weeds at 
any rate. 
Harvesting, —My way is this j two hands take 
five rows, cutting the corn close to the ground. 
They leave a hill standing to form the centre of the 
shock, placing the stalks round it—never laying 
them on the ground. After the shock is made of 
sufficient size, take a band of straw, and having 
turned down the tops of the stalks, bind them firm¬ 
ly, and the work is done. 
Corn may be cut up as soon as the centre of the 
grain is glazed, even if the stalks are green. There 
will be sufficient nutriment in the stalk to perfect the 
ear; and the fodder is much better than when it gets 
dry before it is cut. If the shocks are well put up, 
they may stand four or five weeks. The corn may 
then be husked out, and the fodder secured for win¬ 
ter use. L. Durand. Derby, Ct., March , 1850. 
Suggestions, in answer to inquiries of E. W. Jones. 
{Cultivator for March , p . 118.) 
Editors of the Cultivator —In the March No. 
of The Cultivator , your correspondent, Ed. W. 
Jones, Esq., of Clover Hill, N. C., solicits advice 
as to the method he shall pursue to improve Lots 
Nos. 6 and 7, of his land. I feel some diffidence 
about putting forward the following remarks in re¬ 
ply to his inquiries, for there are so many local and 
particular circumstances which I ought to know, 
and yet which I cannot know, that any thing I can 
say will doubtless need to be received with many 
qualifications. Your correspondent will therefore 
please understand that in what follows, I am ad¬ 
dressing him, not in the language of advice, but in 
that of suggestion; and if my remarks are of any 
value, they are very much at his service. 
The first thing to be done, in attempting the im¬ 
provement of wet land, of every description, is to 
drain thoroughly. You are doubtless well informed 
as to the various approved modes of draining, some 
of which, with such variations as your judgment will 
dictate, it is to be presumed will fit your case. 
After thorough drainage, and when the land is in 
grass, irrigation will probably prove advantageous. 
The water should flow gently over the surface, 
while the new grass is springing, and until it has 
grown sufficiently to cover the ground well, and then 
it should be taken off, or it will injure the quality 
of your hay. Too much water may be used,— thus 
drowning the grass roots and overcharging and chil¬ 
ling the land 1 . While water imbibed by the soil 
from rains, dews, or gentle irrigation, is particular¬ 
ly grateful and invigorating to the cultivated grass¬ 
es, stagnant water, or a soil surcharged with water, 
is destructive to them. 
After draining, the leading fundamental idea in 
renovating your barren clay should be, as it seems to 
me, to change its texture and alter its chemical con¬ 
stitution, This may be done by a proper system of 
manuring and a proper rotation of crops. A few 
of your first dressings of manure will need to be hea¬ 
vy, in order to start the land and perceive any 
marked results j and it would therefore be well to 
avail yourself of the vegetable substances which 
you say are abundant on your premises, and compost 
them with the droppings of your farm-stock:—say 
as much as two parts of muck, or of vegetable 
mould from the woodlands, to one of manure. Hav¬ 
ing provided such a compost, I would take one of the 
fields in hand and plow a surface furrow, say five or 
six inches deep, and following with the subsoil plow, 
loosen the lower stratum eight or ten inches deep, 
which will let in warmth and moisture, and extend 
the range for the roots of your crops. I would plow 
at that season of the year which, with you, is best 
adapted to assist in pulverization. With me, it 
would be best to plow late in the fall, for the frosts 
of winter help very much to break down and divide 
the clay. 
In the spring, I would spread 40 loads (or 20 
cords) of compost per acre on the inverted furrows, 
and harrow and cross-harrow till all is fine and well 
mixed. Plant corn, if you please, work the land 
often with the cultivator or other pulverizer, and 
keep down all weeds, so as to have a clean surface 
for the following crop. I would next seed to grass 
with such grain and at such season of the year as is 
best calculated to insure a good catch of grass. In 
doing this, I would loosen and level the surface, 
without disturbing the sod underneath; for its gra¬ 
dual decomposition there will keep the land lighter 
and mellower than it would be if the sod were 
again brought to the surface. 
In stocking to grass, I would sow the seed with 
a liberal hand. It should undoubtedly be a princi¬ 
pal object with you to fill the clay intimately with 
grass-roots. Penetrating the soil in every direction, 
these roots open, loosen, and finely divide it, and 
admit heat and moisture. When the land is^ again 
broken up, the decay of this mass of vegetable 
fibre, intimately pervading the soil, mellows it, forms 
a sort of reservoir to receive and retain moisture, 
and it furnishes important nourishment to the crops 
of the next rotation. I would, therefore, sow at 
least 12 lbs. of clover seed per acre, together with 
12 quarts of herd ; s-grass, and a half bushel of red- 
top seeds, or such other meadow grasses as you 
prefer, in like liberal proportions. 
By the end of the second year, the clover will 
mostly disappear, and the other grasses will then 
take possession and form a rich sward. The clover 
roots, filling the clay everywhere, have finely divided 
it, and in their decay, will add vegetable matter for 
the nourishment of the other grasses. While the 
land is in grass, use the irrigation. It will, among 
other things, thicken up the sward. If you please, 
you can top-dress the grass with alluvial mould, or 
sand or gravel loam, at the rate of from 40 to 100 
loads per acre, with manifest advantage to the land 
and the grass. You are no doubt aware that there 
are no improvements in farming of a more perma¬ 
nent nature than those made by a judicious admix¬ 
ture of soils. But if this is inconvenient and costs 
too much, a top-dressing, either of fine farm-yard 
and muck compost, of muck and ashes, of muck and 
lime, of muck and alkali in any other form, or of 
any of the other highly concentrated manures, will 
be serviceable in increasing the crop and thickening 
up the sward. 
If, after the land has lain in grass for the space 
of four or five years, you have succeeded in getting 
