THE CULTIVATOR. 
39 
these are so wasteful and slovenly as not to merit consideration. 
The stalks, blades and tops of corn, if well secured, are an excellent 
fodder for neat cattle. If cut, or cut and steamed, so that they can 
be readily masticated, they are superior to hay. Besides, their fer¬ 
tilizing properties, as a manure, are greatly augmented by being fed 
out in the cattle yard, and imbibing the urine and liquids which 
always there abound, and which are lost to the farm, in ordinary 
yards, without an abundance of dry litter to take them up. By the 
first of these methods, the crop may be secured before the autumnal 
rains; the value of the fodder is increased, and the ground is clear¬ 
ed in time for a winter crop of wheat or rye. The second mode 
impairs the value of the forage, requires more labor, and does not 
increase the quantity, or improve the quality, of the grain. The 
third mode requires the same labor as the lirst, may improve the 
quality of the grain, but must inevitably deteriorate the quality of 
the fodder. The corn cannot be husked too promptly after it is 
gathered from the field. If permitted to heat, the value of the grain 
is seriously impaired, (i) 
Solving seed. The fairest and soundest ears are either selected 
in the field, or, at the time of husking, a few of the husks being left 
on, braided and preserved in an airy situation till wanted for use. 
In making choice of sorts, the object should be to obtain the varie¬ 
ties which ripen early, and afford the greatest crop. I think these 
two properties are best combined in a twelve rowed kind which I 
obtained from Vermont some years ago, and which I call Dutton 
corn, from the name of the gentleman from whom I received it. It 
is earlier than the common eight rowed yellow, or any other field 
variety I have seen, and at the same time gives the greatest pro¬ 
duct. I have invariably cut the crop in the first fourteen days of 
September, and once in the last week in August. The cob is large, 
but the grain is so compact upon it, that two bushels of sound ears 
have yielded five pecks of shelled grain, weighing 62 lbs. the bushel. 
In securing the fodder, precaution must be used. The buts be¬ 
come wet by standing on the ground, and if placed in large stacks, 
or in the barn, the moisture which they contain often induces fer¬ 
mentation and mouldiness. To avoid this I put them first in stacks 
so small, that the whole of the buts are exposed upon the outer sur¬ 
face ; and when thoroughly dry they may be taken to the barn, or 
left to be moved as they are wanted to be fed out—merely regard¬ 
ing the propriety of removing a whole stack at the same time. 
NOTES. 
(a) Estimated expense of cultivating an acre of Indian Corn: 
One ploughing, (suppose a clover lay,).$2 00 
Harrowing and planting,. 2 00 
Two hoeings, 4 days and horse team,. 3 75 
Harvesting, 2 days, ... 1 50 
Cutting and harvesting stalks,. 1 50 
Rent,..... 5 00 
- $15 75 
(7>) Stable and yard manures lose 50 per cent by the fermenta¬ 
tion they undergo in the yard during the summer. This loss con¬ 
sists of the gases which are evolved in the process of rotting, and 
of the fluids which sink into the earth, or are carried off by the 
rains. Plants receive their food either in the gaseous or liquid form. 
If manure rots in the soil, neither these gases or fluids are lost: the 
earth retains, and the roots of the plants imbibe them. Yet recent 
manures are not proper to be applied to small grains. They cause 
too rank a growth of straw, and are apt to induce rust and mildew. 
Thus a crop of corn, potatoes or ruta baga may be fed and fattened, 
if I may use the expression, upon the dung which is destined to 
nourish the wheat crop, without deteriorating its value for the latter 
purpose, if it is applied to the corn, &c. before it has fermented. 
(c) We are on the northern border of the maize zone, and should 
make up for defect in climate by selecting soils into which the heat 
readily penetrates. Air, besides conveying warmth in summer, im¬ 
parts fertility by the vegetable food which is always suspended in it 
in the form of gases. Dews are also charged with these properties 
of vegetable nutriment, and when the soil is porous, they settle 
down as in a sponge, and impart fertility to the roots, (the true 
mouths,) of plants. 
(d) I adopt the opinion of Davy, as the modus operandi of plaster 
of Paris, that it forms a necessary constituent of plants which it 
benefits, and is of no direct benefit to plants which do not afford it 
on analysis. Among the first are the clovers, corn, potatoes, and 
generally such plants as have broad or succulent leaves; while the 
latter embrace culmiferous grains and grasses, as wheat, rye, timo¬ 
thy, &c. Critical observation for years has confirmed me in this 
conclusion. Gypsum must be rendered soluble before it can be ta¬ 
ken up by the mouths of plants, and it requires 600 parts of water 
to dissolve one of this mineral. I infer from these facts, that by 
burying it in the soil, it more readily dissolves, and is more accessi¬ 
ble to the mouths of plants, than if spread upon the surface of the 
ground. I am induced, from these views of the subject, to sow 
plaster, on grass grounds, in March, and upon corn and potato 
grounds before the last ploughing for these crops. The latter was 
recommended and practised "by the distinguished agriculturists, the 
late Mr. Taylor of Virginia, and Judge Peters of Pennsylvania. 
(e) The following table exhibits the difference in product of vari¬ 
ous methods of planting, and serves also to explain the manner in 
which large crops of this grain have been obtained. I have assum¬ 
ed in the estimate, that each stock produces one ear of corn, and 
that the ears average one gill of shelled grain. This is estimating 
the product low; for while I am penning this (October,) I find that 
my largest ears give two gills, and 100 fair ears half a bushel of 
shelled corn. The calculation is also predicated upon the supposi¬ 
tion, that there is no deficiency in the number of stocks, a contin¬ 
gency pretty sure on my method of planting. 
1. An acre in hills, 4 feet apart, each way, will 
produce.... • • 
2. The same, 3 by 3 feet,...... 
3. The same, 3 by 2| feet,.. 
4. The same, in drills at 3 feet, plants 6 stalks, 
inch apart, in the drills,. 
5. The same in do. 2 rows in a drill, 6 in. apart, 
and the plants 9 inches, and 3 feet 9 inches 
from centre of drills, thus,. 
6. The same in do. 3 rows in a drill, as above, 3 
feet from centre of drills,. 
Hills. 
bush. 
qts. 
2,722 
42 
16 
4,840 
75 
20 
5,808 
93 
28 
29,040 
113 
14 
30,970 
120 
31 
43,560 170 5 
The fifth mode I have tried. The ground was highly manured, 
the crop twice cleaned, and the entire acre gathered and weighed 
accurately the same day. The product in ears was 103 baskets, 
each 84 lbs. nett, and 65 lbs. over. The last basket was shelled 
and measured, which showed a product on the acre of 118 bushels 
10 quarts. I gathered at the rate of more than 100 bushels the 
acre, from four rods planted in the third method, last summer; the 
result ascertained in the most accurate manner. Corn shrinks about 
20 per cent after it is cribbed. The sixth mode is the one by which 
the Messrs. Pratts, of Madison county, obtained the prodigious crop 
of 170 bushels per acre. These gentlemen, I am told, are of opi¬ 
nion, that the product of an acre may be increased to 200 bushels. 
(/) I am told the Messrs. Pratts, above alluded to, used seven 
bushels of seed to the acre, the plants being subsequently reduced 
to the requisite number. 
(g) The cultivator is made in the form of a triangular harrow, 
with two bulls; or if intended to be graduated to different width, a 
centre bull is added, to which the exterior ones are attached by 
hinges. Iron slats, fixed to the exterior bulls, pass through a mor¬ 
tice in the centre one, perforated with holes, through which an iron 
pin passes to held them at the graduated width. The teeth may be 
in any approved form, or reasonable number. The cultivator I use 
has five teeth, two in each of the outward, and one upon the centre 
timber. The teeth have a stout shank, with a duck’s foots termina¬ 
tion, four inches broad, somewhat cylindrical, rounded at the point, 
and inclined forward in an angle of 30 or 40°. This implement is 
useful for other purposes; and may be used, like Beatson’s, as a sub¬ 
stitute for the plough, in preparing light soils for a crop. The han¬ 
dles are attached to the centre piece. The teeth have a shoulder, 
on the under side of the timber, and are fastened with screws and 
nuts above. 
(7t) Some entertain a mistaken notion, that it is prejudicial to stir 
the soil among com in dry weather, and others that weeds serve to 
prevent the evaporation of moisture by a hot sun. The reverse of 
these opinions is true. The exhaustion of moisture by a plant is in 
the ratio of the surface of its leaves and stocks presented to the 
sun and air. 
