28 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
cellent kind of potatoe, resembling' very much the 
f< White blue nose,” which I call ts Howards;” they yi.eld 
largely, and are of fine flavor, and preferred here to the 
“ White blue nose.” 
If any of the above varieties of potatoes are wanted in 
your neighborhood, I can ship them to Boston, and if 
you will accept a barrel as sample, I will forward them 
as you may direct. Yours truly, Joseph Walton. 
Saint Andrews, New Brunswick , Nov. 20, 1844. 
Remarks. —We thank our respected correspondent for 
the above statement. The mode by which he has suc¬ 
ceeded in preventing the rot in his potatoes, is certainly 
worthy of a trial by our farmers. The experiment will 
cost but a trifle, and can do no harm if it should fail of 
success on our soils. A barrel of samples of such varie¬ 
ties as Mr. W. may deem best, w r ill be very acceptable. 
They may be shipped to Boston in the spring, to the care 
of A. D. Phelps, 124 Washington-st. 
INDIAN CORN-NEW VARIETY—PLANTING. 
I send you a few ears of a new variety of sweet corn, 
obtained by the process detailed below: 
ls£ year. I had a very early yellow corn, but quite di¬ 
minutive in its growth—the stalks not over 3 feet in 
height, and the ears not over 4 inches in length. Late 
in the season I planted this in a patch of sweet or shri¬ 
veled corn, then considerably grown. As soon as the 
tops or blossoms of the yellow corn protruded, they were 
cut off, in order that the early corn might be impregnated 
only by the sweet corn. The result this year was yellow 
corn of the usual size and appearance. 
2d year. The last year’s product was planted by itself, 
at a distance from all other corn. The result was, a corn 
growing about five feet in height, having ears 7 to 8 in¬ 
ches in length, with a mixture of yellow and white 
smooth corn and sweet or shriveled corn on the same 
cob—fit to eat about the middle of July. 
3d year. I separated the corn into two parts, the 
smooth by itself, and the shriveled by itself, and planted 
them apart, at a distance from other corn. The product 
this year corresponded mostly with the corn planted, on¬ 
ly there was a slight mixture of the shriveled upon the 
smooth corn, and of the smooth upon the shriveled. 
The smooth was fit to eat about the middle of July, and 
the shriveled about a week later. 
Ath year. I again planted the smootfa and the shriveled 
corn in separate patches. The smooth was fit to eat 18 th 
of July, and the shriveled the 24th. The height of the 
stalks averaged about five feet. The character of the two 
kinds seemed now to be permanently established. The 
smooth corn produced its like, as did the shriveled. The 
latter has the disadvantage of being yellowy but is ear¬ 
lier than common sweet corn and equally palatable. The 
smooth corn has a mixture of white and yellow on the 
same cob. 
5th year. I separated the white and yellow smooth 
corn, and planted them apart from each other. The re- 
suit is two distinct varieties of smooth corn—the earliest 
fit for eating 19th of July. The white partakes very 
much of the tenderness of sweet corn. Some portion of 
it was about a week later than the rest and grew about 
a foot higher. 
6th year. Having separated the earliest of the white 
corn from the latest, I planted them apart, and thus pro¬ 
cured two distinct varieties of white smooth corn—one 
fit for boiling 18th July, the other about a week later. 
Upon the ears of the earliest variety of last year’s growth, 
I noticed a few scattering kernels of white sweet corn. 
These were carefully picked out and planted this year by 
themselves. The result is a white sweet comfit for boil¬ 
ing 18 th of July, corresponding with the earliest smooth 
corn in size of stalk and ear. 
My object in instituting this experiment having been 
to obtain a corn, suitable in color and early maturity for 
marketing, I discarded the yellow varieties, closing the 
experiment in possession— 
1st. Of a white, smooth, eight rowed corn, with ears 
7 to 8 inches long, approaching the common sweet corn 
in flavor, and fit for boiling 18th of July. 
2d. Of a similar corn, but somewhat larger in stalk and 
ear, and a week later. 
3d. Of an eight-rowed sweet corn, with ears 6 to 7 in¬ 
ches long, and fit for boiling 18th July, (in 1844, 14th.) 
The last variety, proving to be the precise article that 
I was in pursuit of, I have for three years past kept for 
cultivation that alone. It is that which I send yon. 
A word upon the proper depth of planting Indian corn. 
A small patch of the early sweet corn above mentioned, 
was planted last spring three inches deep. It came up 
well and grew thriftily till it was 3 or 4 inches high, but 
then came to a stand. It remained without increasing its 
height perceptibly, a full fortnight, while another patch 
of the same kind of corn grew rapidly. On examining the 
roots of the non-growing corn, it was found that a joint 
had been formed about an inch and a half above the ker¬ 
nel, and that roots had sprouted out from the joint, leav¬ 
ing all below to perish. In other words, the plant had 
abandoned the lower roots at 3 inches depth, and formed 
a new set an inch and a half from the surface. While 
the process of changing the roots was going on, the plant 
seems to have ceased to grow above the ground. The 
effect was to retard the maturity of the corn about a fort¬ 
night; but I do not know that its size and productiveness 
were ultimately impaired. 
The inference which I make is, that corn, to be early, 
should not be planted more than inch deep. 
Noyes Darling. 
New-IIaven, Ct., November 18, 1844. 
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY OF THE SOUTH. 
Ingleside, near Washington, Miss., Nov. 16,1844. 
To the Editor of the Cultivator: 
Dear Sir —Press of business, alone, has prevented 
my carrying out my intention of addressing you, as I 
promised in my last, on various subjects of interest to us 
here; and in particular of replying to Mr. Camak’s call 
for aid in introducing the olive to the south. He does 
me but justice in supposing that no effort on my part, 
within my power to make, would be wanting towards 
the introduction of any plant that would add to the wealth 
of my adopted country. Among others I have often 
thought and spoken of the olive; but felt so much dis¬ 
couraged by the fact that my father-in-law, Mr. Isaac 
Dunbar of this place, has repeatedly introduced varieties 
of that plant without success, the frost destroying them, 
that I entirely overlooked the extract in Kenrick’s work. 
Since reading Mr. Camak’s article, I am resolved to 
make an effort to procure the Nikita olive and give it a 
fair trial here. The difficulties, however, which a pri¬ 
vate individual has to contend with in such an effort, are 
very great. In my own case, the only course I can pur¬ 
sue, is to request my correspondents in Paris to make ev¬ 
ery exertion to procure some plants for me. If some 
few others would do the same, we might, some one of 
us, ultimately succeed. I have long ceased to expect 
that the General Government will give any such aid to 
the farming interest. 
That every effort should be made by the south, to in¬ 
troduce other staple crops than cotton, is very certain. 
The over-production is so great that prices cannot im¬ 
prove; at present prices this troublesome crop cannot be 
grown with profit—in fact not without loss—and the on¬ 
ly possible means of lessening this over-production, is to 
induce the cotton planter to turn his attention to and employ 
a portion of his force in other crops, or in auxiliary 
branches of economical husbandry, if even these pay no 
better than cotton does now. Here it is that a State Ag¬ 
ricultural Society and farm, liberally supported by the 
state, would give proof of their value. Those experi¬ 
ments in the introduction of new staple crops could be 
tried there, which cannot well be done by individuals to 
any extent, with justice to themselves. Any planter can 
however, after a few years, carry on upon his plantation 
many practices of economical good management—to 
some of which I will presently advert. 
I prepared a series of resolutions some weeks ago, 
which I intended submitting to our Ag. Society at its bu¬ 
siness meeting after our last Fair. But so great was the 
political excitement at this time, that I regret to say a 
