847 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
1852. 
much subject to rust, and not very liable to lodge. The 
almost constant currents of wind that pass over the prai¬ 
ries, prevent these two drawbacks, which are the most 
formidable that have to be borne by the eastern wheat 
growers. Smut, which is so common in New-York and 
Pennsylvania, is almost unknown in the west. These, 
and other reasons that might be adduced, should be suf¬ 
ficient to convince any inquiring mind, that the prairies 
of the Great West must, so soon as public attention has 
been.fully drawn to them, become the great and unrival¬ 
led granaries of this continent—yielding, when proper 
labor and capital has been expended, a much greater re¬ 
turn in profits than can be had in any other portion of 
Christendom. 
Corn —its cost of 'production and profits. The great 
staple of the northwest is corn, and it may be a matter 
of some curiosity to eastern farmers, to know precisely 
how much it actually costs a western farmer to produce 
a crop yielding, say 60 bushels per acre, and also the 
most successful methods of cultivation for the corn crop. 
Fall plowing is not usually practiced, and hence the land 
only gets a spring plowing before planting. After plow¬ 
ing, the ground is sometimes harrowed, and the next pro¬ 
cess consists in marking or listing the rows in opposite 
directions across the field, forming at the angles of the 
furrows, points or hills for the depositing of the seed 
corn, which is ordinarily done by hand, requiring the 
seed to be covered with a hoe. When the plants of corn 
become sufficiently strong to be seen distinctly in the 
rows, the plowing or horse hoeing, commences, which most 
usually consists of a shovel plow, sometimes a one horse 
plow, and in rare cases, a steel-tooth cultivator. From 
three to five dressings are given, and the crop is general¬ 
ly laid by, as the time of finishing the business of clearing 
the crop is styled, during the latter part of July. One 
able bodied man will easily attend twenty five acres of 
corn during the entire season; and when the labor is per¬ 
formed with care, an average yield of from 60 to 80 bush¬ 
els per acre, may be anticipated. When all the cost of 
producing corn is fairly calculated, including the rent of 
land, it will be found to average about ten cents per 
bushel, which, of course, includes the harvesting of the 
crop. In favorable seasons, and under peculiar circum¬ 
stances, corn can be produced at a less price than ten 
cents per bushel—but at that price it is safe to make the 
estimate for any given number of years; though to se¬ 
cure that result, and do justice to the land, the corn crop 
should be grown in regular order with other crops, yield- 
ing only one crop upon the same land, in periods of four 
or five years at most. The requisite elements for the 
production of corn are sufficiently abundant in a deep 
vegetable prairie soil, to produce, if necessity required 
it, twenty consecutive crops; but the average yield will 
not be so great as when it alternates with clover, wheat, 
and other crops. 
A marked peculiarity in the climate of the entire 
Upper Mississippi Yalley, and which strongly influences 
the pursuits of agriculture, is the extreme protracted 
and backward springs, and the equally lengthy and beau¬ 
tiful autumns. The cold rains, and chilly north-west 
winds, that prevail in spring, prevent the farmer from 
making as much progress with his seeding, as is usually 
done in mountainous regions of the country; and the 
planting of corn, from this cause, is frequently extended 
into June, even in latitudes as far south as 40 degrees. 
There the subsoil is calculated to retain an excessive 
amount of moisture, so as to endanger the rotting of the 
seed corn; a very reliable remedy may be adopted by 
every farmer, whether he farms in the western, eastern, 
or northern portion of the Union. This may be done by 
plowing the land in the autumn into ridges or ribs, the 
width required for the rows of corn. Four feet is the 
ordinary average, and therefore, to plow so wide a ridge 
with one furrow, a very heavy plow will be required, and 
a strong team, say three yoke of oxen, or three horses 
abreast. The process consists in plowing only one half 
of the land, and covering the unplowed portion with the 
active soil turned by the plow, guaging the width and 
depth of the furrow by the capacity of the plow, the 
strength of the team, and the distance the rows of corn 
are required to be apart. A plow that will turn a furrow 
fifteen inches wide, and ten inches deep, will form ridges 
the proper width for corn. The plow should be set so as 
to constantly throw the soil towards the unplowed land, 
in which case the furrow horse will be required to walk 
on the land, close to the edge of the furrow, securing by 
this means the open furrows from being filled up by loose 
soil; and the entire surface exposed to the action of the 
air, frosts, and the sun, will be new soil, or that wiiich 
had been recently acted upon by the plow. By this sys¬ 
tem of autumn plowing, a man and a team may easily 
plow from three to four acres per day; and as each fur¬ 
row will form a complete drain, the fall, winter, and spring 
rains will pass off the land, leaving the entire surface at 
all times dry, and in a finely pulverised condition. The 
soil from the top and sides of the ridges, will crumble 
down by the action of frost, and partially fill the fur¬ 
rows, so that when the season for planting corn arrives in 
the spring, the soil in the bottom and sides of the fur¬ 
rows, will be permeable, and be in the best possible con¬ 
dition to secure the early germination of the seed corn. 
About the first of May, the land should be again plowed 
for planting, which should be done by the use of a plow 
that will turn a furrow from 12 to 15 inches wide, and 
some nine inches in depth. Two furrows of the above 
proportions should be thrown together between each of 
the ridges, leaving unplowed a large furrow in the shape 
of turnep drill. The two furrows being turned toge¬ 
ther in the shape of the crown of a ridge, and the soil be¬ 
ing made extremely light by the action of frost, the ridge 
or crown furrows, thus made, will make the best possible 
seed bed for the germination and growth of the young 
and tender corn plants. The seed, of course, must be 
planted upon the top of those furrows-, and as a deep 
water furrow of some nine inches in depth, will be on 
each side of the seed bed, an excessive amount of spring 
and early summer rains, will not have the slightest inju¬ 
rious effect upon the vitality of the seed, or upon the 
growth of the young plants. When the corn requires to 
be plowed, the middle furrow may be levelled down, and 
the after cultivation need not, in any particular, differ 
from what is ordinarily practiced. If such a system as 
the foregoing had been generally adopted by western far¬ 
mers the past season, it would have added to the corn 
crop many millions of bushels, and the farmers would 
have saved the expense and trouble of replanting their 
crops. By this process, a much larger surface is exposed 
to the action of frost and air, and the ground is at all 
times in a suitable condition for the reception of seed. It 
will be found a great saving in the expense of plowing, 
and when the work is properly done, it will add largely 
to the average yield of grain, and lessen the amount of 
labor necessary to keep the crop clear from weeds. W. 
G. Edmundson. Keokuk , Iowa. 
