THE CULTIVATOR: 
A MONTHLY PUBLICATION, DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE. 
Vol. IV. 
ALBANY, APRIL, 1837.—(67 State-street.) 
No. 2. 
PUBLISHED BY THE N. Y. STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
J. BUEL, Conductor. 
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state, and within one hundred miles from Albany, out of the state—and one 
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THE CULTIVATOR. 
TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND THE MIND. 
[□= We should do injustice to our feelings, did we not make a grateful ten¬ 
der of our thanks for the very liberal patronage which has flown in upon us 
during the last month, as evidenced by the table of receipts inserted on our 
last page. Although complimentary to ourselves and contributors, we parti¬ 
cularly rejoice in it, as affording evidence of the awakened zeal of our farmers 
for the improvement of the soil and of the mind. 
HINTS IN REGARD TO THE CORN CROP. 
The experience of the last two years has been sufficient to ad- 
monish us, that without due precaution, our crops of Indian corn 
will not pay for the labor bestowed on the culture ; and yet, that 
where due attention has been paid to soil, manure, seed and har¬ 
vesting the return has been bountiful, notwithstanding bad sea¬ 
sons. °Having been uniformly successful, in the culture of this 
crop, we feel Justified in repeating some leading directions for its 
management. ..... 
Soil. —It is in vain to attempt to raise Indian corn, in this lati¬ 
tude, in seasons like the two last, upon stiff clays, or upon thin 
soils of a looser quality reposing upon a clay or hardpan subsoil-, 
or without manuring for the crop ; for although the plants will 
grow, the product will not repay the expense of culture, .unless 
they produce a. good crop; and it costs but little more to take care 
of a good than of a poor crop. The first are not adapted to the crop 
at any season. On thin soils, having a level surface, the rains set¬ 
tle and remain upon the subsoil, where the roots penetrate for food 
and cause a cool temperature in the early part of the season, when 
the plants stand most in need of warmth. If soils of either of the 
above kinds are employed, the land should be thrown into ridges, 
ten or twelve feet broad, in the direction of the slope of the field. 
But sandy and gravelly lands, and light loams, are decidedly best 
for corn. The soil must be dry. 
Preparation. —A young clover ley, one or two years old, is the 
best preparation for corn. No grass ley should be cross-ploughed 
for this crop. If the sod is tender, and the texture of the soil light, 
the ploughing and harrowing should immediately precede the plant¬ 
ing. If the sod is old and tough, the ground should be ploughed 
the preceding autumn, and harrowed, and harrowed again, on the 
eve of planting. The furrow slice should not be laid flat, as in this 
case the water, if in excess, reposes upon the surface, but lapped, 
so that each furrow forms a sort of under-drain, for the surplus water 
to pass off. The plough should be set, where the soil will admit of 
it, to turn a furrow six inches deep and eight or nine wide; the work 
should be well done, no balks made, and the manure and grass com¬ 
pletely buried, though an extra hand should be required. The 
whole ground should be turned over, that it may be broken and ren¬ 
dered pervious to the tender roots of the young plants. To cut 
and cover will not answer, as it breaks up and pulverizes but half of 
the soil. 
Manure. —Unfermented stable and yard manure is decidedly pre 
ferable, if spread broadcast, as it always should be, and thoroughly 
buried with the plough. It keeps the soil open, and permeable to 
heat, air and moisture, the agents of nutrition ; it imparts warmth 
to the soil while undergoing the process of fermentation, and it af¬ 
fords the best food for the crop. This we know is downright heresy 
NO. 2—VOL. IV. 
to some; but all we ask of these sceptics is, that they will make 
the experiment, even on half an acre, and credit their own senses 
in the result. We mean this hint particularly for our friends in 
Otsego, Oneida and Madison, whose practice of yarding their dung 
in summer has heretofore excited our notice and our wonder. Ma¬ 
nure cannot be applied to any crop so profitably as to this, and 
should always be used upon it. 
Variety. —The twelve rowed corn, called the Dutton com, is the 
earliest for field culture, that we know of, and we think it the best. 
We have raised it sixteen years, and the crop has never been in¬ 
jured by the early frosts. It has been widely disseminated, and 
seed, we presume, may be obtained in almost every county in the 
northern states. 
Preparation of seed. —Our practice is to turn upon the seed the 
evening before planting, water nearly in a boiling state. This 
thoroughly saturates the seed, induces an incipient germination, 
and causes the corn to sprout quick. The next morning we take 
half a pint of tar for half a bushel of seed, put it into an iron ves¬ 
sel with water, untf heat it till the tar is dissolved, and the liquid 
becomes tar water. It is then turned upon the seed and well stir¬ 
red. It adheres to the grain, and gives it a"thin transparent coat¬ 
ing. The tar serves a double purpose; it prevents an excess of 
moisture entering and rotting the seed, if the weather or soil are 
cold and wet, and it preserves it from the depredations of birds, 
&c. which prey upon it. After the seed is taken from the 
steep, where we never leave it more than 15 hours, as much ground 
gypsum is mixed with it as will adhere to the kernels. The gyp¬ 
sum prevents the kernels adhering to each other, and favors the 
after growth of the crop. Ashes or lime may be substituted for 
gypsum. The seed should be planted while it is moist, and imme- 
cliately covered. It should not be long exposed to the sun. 
Distance in planting. —This must depend upon the variety culti¬ 
vated, and the richness of the soil. The Dutton is. of dwarf growth, 
and upon well manured land may be planted at three feet each way, 
or three by two and a half. Southern corn, and some old varieties 
in the north, grow taller, and require more room. As a certain 
quantum of food is required to bring each stock to maturity, poor¬ 
ly manured ground cannot feed so many stocks as that which is 
highly manured. 
Quantity of seed and covering. —From using too little seed, and a 
recklessness in covering it, many corn fields are deficient one half 
of what ought to grow upon them. We drop six to eight kernels 
in a hill, and take special care to have it covered only with fine 
mould. If dung, sods, sticks or stones are placed upon the hill, it 
partially or wholly prevents the plants coming. If hurried too 
deep, the seed may rot before the soil is warm enough to induce 
germination ; if too shallow, it may lack moisture. These are lit¬ 
tle-matters, though they have'a great influence upon the profits.of 
the crop. The extra expense that would be incurred to do these 
things perfect, might be four quarts of seed and one day’s labor to 
the acre—and the advantages would often be the doubling of the 
crop. Two inches is a sufficient covering, if the hill is trodden 
upon, as it should be, by the planter, to compress the earth and pre¬ 
serve its moisture. 
After culture. —In this the plough should not be used if the corn 
harrow and cultivator can be had, and if used, should not be suf¬ 
fered to penetrate the soil more than two or three inches. The 
plough tears the roots, turns up and wastes the manure, and in¬ 
creases the injuries of drought. The main object is to extirpate 
weeds, and to keep the surface mellow and open, that the heat, air 
end moisture may exert the better their kind influences upon the ve¬ 
getable matter in the soil, in converting it into nutriment for the crop. 
The oftener the cultivator is made to pass between the rows, there¬ 
fore, the better; though ordinarily but two dressings are given to 
the crop. At the first dressing with the hand hoe, the plants are 
reduced to four, or three, in a hill, the surface is broken among the 
plants, the weeds carefully extirpated, and a little fresh mould ga¬ 
thered to the hill. At the second dressing, a like process is ob- 
j served, taking care that the earthing shall not exceed one inch and a 
'half, that the hill be broad and flat, and that the earth for this pur- 
