TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND THE MIND. 
New Series. ALBANY, SEPTEMBER, 1851. Vol. VIII.— No. 9. 
AGRICULTURE OF OHIO—No. 2. 
EY W. Q. EDMUNDSON. 
On the Cultivation and Management op Maize.— 
Next in importance to wheat, is the corn crop of Ohio. 
The annual production of this crop ranges from 70,000,- 
000 to 80,000,000 bushels, a very large portion of which 
is fed to cattle, hogs and horses, and other domestic 
animals. The actual money value of the corn grown in 
Ohio, for a series of years, doubtless far exceeds that 
obtained for the wheat crop for the same period. A 
superficial observer, might not be willing to admit the 
correctness of this opinion, but its truth may be conclu¬ 
sively shown. Corn is never known to fail, and on land 
at all suited to its culture, by proper management, the 
average product will not vary more than twenty-five 
per cent, in any single year, although it may be consider¬ 
ed unfavorable for the crop. Wet seasons, that are 
greatly to the prejudice of the wheat crop, are very 
favorable on most soils for the production of corn. 
Wheat, in periods of about five years, proves so great a 
failure that it does not pay the farmer the cost of produc¬ 
tion : and anything like a full paying crop cannot with con¬ 
fidence be expected more than every alternate season. 
Two good crops may come in succession, but the two 
succeeding ones will most likely be failures to a greater 
or less extent. This statement, strange as it may ap¬ 
pear to many, can be fully borne out by facts, yet it 
by no means proves that Ohio is not a good country for 
the production of wheat. It only goes to show, that 
corn is less subject to casualties than wheat, and that in 
a financial point of view, it is more reliable, both to the 
grower and exporter. If it had not been for the eighty 
odd millions of bushels of corn that was grown in Ohio 
in the summer of 1849, no possible effort on the part of 
her citizens could have prevented a serious financial 
crisis. That year the wheat crop proved a total failure 
in at least one half of the counties, and scarcely sufficient 
was raised to supply the rural population with bread¬ 
stuff, much less the citizens of the cities and towns. The 
commerce and credit of the state relied mainly upon 
corn, pork, beef, wool and dairy products, and the lat¬ 
ter being greatly dependant upon the former of these 
great leading products of the country, it may fairly be 
inferred that in this instance at least the corn crop saved 
the state, or at least its commercial interests, from bank¬ 
ruptcy. So important an interest then, as the one under 
consideration, must necessarily be carefully discussed, 
and in order that the reader may not be deceived by a 
mere show of favorable figures, the dark as well as the 
bright sight will be exhibited. 
Unlike any of the eastern states, the rivers with their 
branches in Ohio, are proverbial for the great extent of 
the rich valleys they afford. These valleys are eminent¬ 
ly adapted for the growth of corn, grass, and even 
wheat and clover. No conception can be formed of the 
extent and fertility of the valley lands of this state, by 
persons who have never personally seen them. The 
Miami and Scioto valley are each upwards of one hun¬ 
dred miles in length, and from one to eight miles in 
breadth. The country adjoining those rivers right and 
left, is washed by streams or smaller rivers that have each 
almost innumerable branches, all of which have rich 
bottom lands ranging from one-fourth to one mile in 
breadth. The same applies to all the other rivers of 
the stato, and the sum total of the area of this descrip¬ 
tion of soils must equal at least one-fifteenth of the en¬ 
tire cultivated lands of Ohio. As a general thing the 
vegetable mould on the surface averages about fifteen 
inches, below which is a deposit of clay and sand-loam, 
of from three to five feet, resting upon a strata of lime, 
and sand-stone gravel, the latter being entirely depend¬ 
ant upon the character of the primitive rocks, that pre¬ 
vailed in the region of country, where those rivers and 
streams are located. Some of the rich bottom lands 
are not underlaid with gravel, but rest upon a stiff clay, 
unfitting them for wheat and clover, and on such soils 
only corn, grass, and oats are grown. By far the greater 
portion of the intervale or bottom lands of Ohio, are 
of the description first mentioned, and in consequence 
of the porosity of the subsoil and the draining influence 
of the gravel, it may be worked much earlier in the 
spring than ordinary upland, and the wheat and clover 
plants are less liable to be injured by winter and spring 
frosts, than on soils whose elevation and constituent pro¬ 
perties, would entitle them to the appellation of first 
quality of soils for wheat, clover, and other small grains. 
On this account, in connection with the ease with which 
they are plowed and cultivated, valley farms bring a 
much higher price in the market than any other de¬ 
scription of lands. Good farms of the kind described 
cannot be had, within a convenient distance for market, 
in any of the old settled counties of the state, for a less 
price than from $25 to $50 per acre, according to the 
buildings and other improvements. 
Corn, as has already been stated, forms the great staple 
among the farmers who cultivate the rich alluvial soils 
of Ohio. In many cases as high as thirty crops of corn 
