1850. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
179 
$l)e Jcirmer 0 Jfote^Uook. 
Culture of Indian Corn. 
Eds. Cultivator —Although not engaged, at 
present, in agriculture, I am not an indifferent 
spectator of its progress, and have witnessed with 
pleasure the success of several quite different modes 
of cultivating Indian corn. As the season for 
planting is now close at hand, I will call the atten¬ 
tion of your readers to a point in the cultivation of 
that crop, which if known, is not duly appreciated, 
and therefore much neglected. I mean the early 
culture of the plant. 
All intelligent farmers know that a deep, rich, dry 
and warm soil is the most suitable for corn, (and by 
deep plowing and manuring, most soils may be made 
so,) but they are not so unanimous in the belief of 
the benefit of deep plowing for corn, because good 
crops are occasionally grown on rich soils, and in 
favorable seasons, with shallow plowing. The va¬ 
lue of barn-yard manure to corn, may be inferred 
from the fact that even on some of the fertile lands 
of the west, already too rich for other cereal crops, 
the corn crop is benefitted by it, and it is the only 
grain crop to which it can be applied there with pro¬ 
fit. Deep plowing of a rich soil, is then the first 
step in corn culture, as it best secures the crop 
against injury from parching drouth, as well as ex¬ 
cessive rains, and furnishes a wider range for the 
roots to seek their nourishment. The soil should be 
well pulverised by the harrow, and marked out care¬ 
fully for planting into drills about 3 inches deep, un¬ 
less the surface is very level, and liable to be flooded 
by rains. Plenty of seed should be used, so as to 
ensure at least two, but never more than three 
thrifty plants in each hill. 
The spaces between the rows must vary with the 
kind of corn planted. The speedy germination of 
the seed, and the rapid and vigorous development 
of the young plant, exert an important influence on 
it, during the whole period of its subsequent growth 
to maturity; therefore, to hasten germination, the 
seed may be steeped over night in some fertilizing li¬ 
quid, and rolled in gypsum or guano; or a little well 
rotted manure or compost may be put into the hill 
with the seed; and as seeds germinate most readily 
in fresh plowed ground, it is desirable that the plow¬ 
ing and other preparation of the ground, and the 
planting, should be done with as much despatch as 
is consistent with having it done well. 
The seed should not be steeped unless it is to be 
planted in fresh plowed or moist soil. The best 
time for planting in this neighborhood is from the 
10th to the 20th of May. If the plowing and other 
preparation of the ground has been well done, and 
the corn is planted, it may be said truly of the cul¬ 
tivation, that—“Well begun, is half done.” 
As soon as the young plant is well up, start the 
cultivator, and run it as near the rows as possible; 
or if the plowing has not been thoroughly done, a 
small plow may be used for this first dressing, turn¬ 
ing the earth away from the plants. Then with po¬ 
tato hooks or similar implements, stir the soil around 
and between the plants, which will destroy a whole 
generation of weeds in embryo; now drop a spoon- 
full of gypsum on every hill. This first early dres¬ 
sing promotes the growth of the young plants, and 
gives them the start of the succeeding crop of weeds; 
and while your neighbor is “waiting,-” as he says, 
“ for his corn to get big enough to hoe,” yours will 
call loudly for a second dressing. His will be sickly, 
pale and spindling, in consequence of its struggle 
with the grass and weeds, which have nearly sup¬ 
planted it; while the large stem, the broad leaf, and 
the deep green color of yours, will indicate its 
healthy and vigorous growth. With double the la¬ 
bor, he cannot now half destroy the weeds; and by 
the time “ his corn,” as he says, “ is big enough 
for hilling,” you may with less labor have given 
yours three and even four dressings with the cultiva¬ 
tor and hoe—during which time its growth has been 
rapid, and it will be “setting for ears.” Keep the 
surface nearly level, and “earth up” slightly round 
the plants. The more the earth is stirred the bet¬ 
ter, especially during dry weather, and the cultiva¬ 
tion should be continued till it “sets for ears,” when 
it will so cover the ground as to arrest the further 
growth of weeds. And now some gypsum should 
be sown over it broadcast, and the labor of cultiva¬ 
tion is ended. 
The following advantages result from this mode 
of cultivation. It increases the quantity and qua¬ 
lity of the corn; it leaves the land clean, and pre¬ 
pares it for wheat or any other succeeding crop, or 
grass, as well, if not better, than a naked fallow; 
it hastens the maturity of the corn so that it may 
be cut up the last of August or first of September, 
in season for sowing wheat; it may be husked and 
the stalks housed before the autumnal rains set in, 
and finally, (best of all) it is the most profitable. 
Seed-corn should be gathered in the field before 
the main crop is harvested. The largest of twin 
ears, and those of earliest maturity should be select¬ 
ed. Instead of deteriorating, corn may be much 
improved by this method. 
I omitted to state in its proper place, that at the 
second dressing the plants should be thinned out to 
three in a hill. A. D. G. Troy , N. Y., April. 
“A Little Land Well Tilled.” 
Eds. Cultivator —Farmers are very liable to 
err in cultivating too much land. They make their 
calculations to sow and plant so many acres, with¬ 
out taking into account the quantity of manure they 
have to apply, or the amount of labor they can be¬ 
stow. This not only subjects them to much haste 
and inconvenience, but their crops are not cultiva¬ 
ted as they otherwise would be, and the land is not 
left in so good condition when it is laid down to grass. 
There is still greater folly on the part of some, in 
the desire to increase their estates by the purchase 
of more land, when their system of half cultivation 
should admonish them that they had better sell than 
buy. 
“What is worth doing is worth doing well.” This 
should be the motto of farmers in the performance 
of all their work. A small farm well cultivated, is 
better than a large one half cultivated. Any one 
that has a good kitchen garden can see how profita¬ 
ble land may be that is manured and cultivated tho¬ 
roughly. Pursue the same course in all land cultiva¬ 
ted, and the profit would be in proportion. The 
majority of farmers do not know experimentally 
what an acre can be made to produce. Mechanics 
in our villages, and those that own but little land, 
generally manage to make that very productive. 
An illustration of what may be done on a small 
piece of land, came under my observation last fall, 
during a sojourn of a few days with a friend, in one 
of our manufacturing villages. About three years 
since, he purchased a piece of land for a house lot, 
its area not exceeding half an acre. After build¬ 
ing, he laid oift his ground, and planted some peach 
trees, two or three kinds of cherry and plum trees, 
some dwarf pear trees, a few choice apple trees, 
grape and strawberry vines, and currant and white 
