THE CULTIVATOR. 
165 
jection, it takes so long for the roots to penetrate to the manure, so as to 
draw any nourishment therefrom, that it will be at least two weeks later 
in getting ripe, than corn planted in the method above described. Like 
the animal creation, it needs the most nourishment and care when in its 
infant state. 
Peas make a very good substitute for fatting pork, and they leave the 
ground in good condition for sowing wheat. I would here mention a little 
circumstance, that others may profit by my loss: I had heard it suggested 
that peas would do equally as well, if not better, to sow them on the 
giound before breaking up, and plough them in. I tried on a part of my 
field, which was wheat stubble, and the result was, that not more than 
two-thirds came up at all; and what did, came very irrregular, and were at 
least one week later than the rest of the field, which I sowed on the fur¬ 
rows, and harrowed in. 
All kinds of summer crops have done tolerable well; potatoes and oats, 
especially late sowed buckwheat, has been somewhat injured by the frost. 
I think farmers would do well to sow their buckwheat previous to the 
middle of June, it is more liable to be injured by the frost than by the sun. 
P. M. Tyre. 
WINTER WHEAT SOWN IN SPRING. 
Snow-Hill, Mi. October 26, 1837. 
J. Bcel, Esq_Sir,—I have thought that the following might not be 
unacceptable to the Conductor of such a paper as yours: 
The tenant on one of the farms of Lemuel P. Spence, Esq. of this 
county, seeded about one bushel of common red chaff winter wheat, on 
or about the 1st of March last, which sprang up and and grew luxuriantly, 
and came to perfection about seven to ten days later than is usual, when 
such grain is seeded in the fall, say September or October. The product 
of this bushel of wheat was ten bushels, the grain very fine indeed. It 
was seeded in land rather poor than otherwise, the soil by no means close 
but rather sandy. It was an experiment of the tenant, not with a view to 
a great crop, but to ascertain whether such wheat, seeded in the spring, 
would form perfect grain. Had the soil been clay and rich, the crop must 
have been very large. This farm lies open to the Atlantic. 
Respectfully, GEORGE HUDSON. 
DUTTON CORN IN OHIO. 
Fairfield, Ohio, September 19, 1837. 
J. Buel, —The Dutton Corn and Italian Spring Wheat you sent me by 
order last spring to Philadelphia, came to hand about the 20th May. Some 
of the corn was planted as late as the 1st of June, and is now sufficiently ripe 
to cut, while the corn we have been in the habit of planting from the 10th 
to 15th of May, remains soft, owing to the wet and coldness of the season. 
From the appearance of the Dutton corn it will suit our climate better 
than any other variety we have had, or been in the habit of planting. The 
spring wheat, owing probably to the lateness it was sown, and the wet 
weather at the time of making the grain, was so much struck by rust, that 
the crop will be light, though we are determined not to give up the ship. 
I would be pleased to see in the Cultivator some directions for rotting 
and dressing flax, in the Irish manner. 
Yours, M. MENDENHALL. 
J. Buel, Esq_Dear Sir,—If you think the following worthy a place 
in your paper, you are at liberty to give it an insertion. I raised this sea¬ 
son, on three-fourths of an acre of ground, on my farm in the township of 
Oxford, Warren county, New-Jersey, the following crop of rutabaga: 
weight of roots 20,888 pounds, tops 7,296, making in the whole 28,184 
pounds, which is the greatest yield I have heard of. 
Yours, &c. _ WILLIA M TAYLOR. 
SEEDLESS APPLES. 
Ridge Prairie, Madison co. III. November 7, 1837. 
Mr. John C. Riggin, of this place, has two very large apple trees, the 
fruit of which contain no seeds, and. a very small core. The apples are 
sweet , and of a most delicious flavor. The trees are supposed to be seed¬ 
lings They were barren till a few years past, when they were made to 
bear by cutting and hewing through the bark and alburnum, on three or 
four sides of the trunk. Yours, 
J. Buel, Esq. GEORGE CHURCHILL. 
LIVE FENCES. 
Dear Sir, —We are beginning to make some improvements in this 
county, and many farmers see the necessity of taking measures to restore 
their exhausted soils. But much is to be done. The reckless exhaustion 
of timber and soil is already felt as a serious inconvenience in many parts 
of our county, and the question of supplying these deficiencies, is begin¬ 
ning to be seriously considered. The renovation and preservation of soils 
is very ably and fully treated of in the Cultivator; but the defect of timber 
for fences I do not think is so will considered by many of your correspon¬ 
dents. I have fully tested (thus far) the practicability of making live 
fence, and have no doubt but that it will succeed, and that it will be found 
to be the cheapest fence, of a permanent kind, that we can make. I have a 
hedge of about thirty-six rods long, the greater part is of the honey locust, 
which I grew from seeds. And as I observe that many complain that 
their seeds do not grow well, I will mention my practice to cause them to 
germinate. I diluted half an ounce of nitric acid in two quar.'s of water, 
having it a little warm, and in this I steeped the seeds twenty-four hours; 
then (about the last of April) planted them in drills; many of the plants 
appeared in three or four days; the earliest were cut off by late (May 
1834,) frosts, but enough came up afterwards to make me a fine nursery! 
The next spring I planted them in a double hedge row, about six or eight 
inches apart, where they have now had three summer’s growth, and many 
of them are now more than an inch in diameter, and would have been 
six or seven feet high had I not cropped them down. Of their success I 
have no doubt. Yet I fear .there is one objection to the honey locust 
that the roots, which pass out into the wrought ground and are cut off! 
will send up troublesome shoots, to the annoyance of the cultivator and 
the injury of other crops.* Obviate this difficulty, and the honey locust 
for a hedge against the world. I have also our native white thorn, which 
I think will do well, but grows slower than the locust. I have also the 
English thorn, which in many respects is greatly inferior to either of the 
preceding. I do not observe that the winter affects it here, but still it is 
a tender little affair. 
I hope my hedge will be a sufficient protection to my inclosure in two 
or three years more. I design to plant the prepared seeds around a pas¬ 
ture lot of three acres next spring, but will dig a ditch in the inside some 
three feet from it, to obviate the objection of the roots sprouting. I have 
never tried the effect of diluted nitric acid upon thorn seeds, but feel con¬ 
fident it will cause them to germinate in a short time. The reason such 
seeds do not grow as soon as any other seeds, is that they are incased in 
a hard shell, impervious to air and moisture, so necessary to swell the 
lobes or cotyledons, and even if they could swell, they might be unable to 
break their hard envelope. This beneficent provision of nature prevents 
the world from being overrun with thorns, as the seeds must lie in the 
earth a long time before they naturally germinate, the kernel generally 
rots before the shell is sufficiently softened to be burst by it. The ef¬ 
fect of the nitric acid is to cut or decompose the shell, and no doubt the 
oxygen of the acid accelerates the germination; Other objections are 
made to the honey locust, which I think are not well taken; one is, that 
it grows too large; suppose it gives you a fence of a solid tree all around, 
is that any grievance? Its height you must regulate as you would any 
other hedge, with your shears. Another is, and this applies to hedges of 
all trees, as well as to this, that standing so thick upon the ground, they 
will be killed by one severe drought, for want of moisture. My hedge 
grows upon a gravel bed, and the summers of ’35 and ’36 were exceed¬ 
ingly dry, and the trees then thrived as well as any solitary trees in the 
inclosure. I intersperse roses and sweet briers in my hedge, which thick¬ 
en it where required, and add much to its beauty in the blooming season 
Yours truly, j. DILLE. 
Newark, O. November 14 th, 1837. 
GREAT CROP OF CORN. 
Georgetown X Roads, Kent Co. Md. Nov. 4th, 1837. 
Mr. Editor— Dear Sir—I have just finished measuring the corn that 
grew this year on a lot of mine of 5g acres, and have measured 105£ bar¬ 
rels and one bushel of ears, making 103 bushels of corn per acre. The 
corn is called Semman’s corn; it is a deep yellow, and not a gourd seed 
but a very deep grain and small red cob, has from 18 to 24 rows on the 
cob. I have taken great pains in selecting my seed for the last three 
years. I threshed off 320 bushels last May, and found from measurement 
it measured from the barrel 5 bushels and | of shelled corn. The follow¬ 
ing is the manner in which I prepared the ground, &c. The soil is a stiff 
clay: 1J acres of said lot was in clover last year, the balance in wheat. I 
put 265 two horse cart loads of barn yard manure on it: the manure was 
coarse, made out of straw’, corn tops and husks, hauled in the yard in Ja¬ 
nuary and February and hauled out in March and April, consequently was 
very little rotted. I spread it regularly and ploughed it down with a large 
concave plough, (made by G. Cox of Middletown, Delaware,) 7 inches 
deep. I then harrowed it twice the same way it was ploughed. I then 
had the rows marked out with a small plough, 3 feet 10 inches wide and 
1 h inches deep. I planted my corn from 18 to 22 inches apart and covered it 
with hoes: just drawing the furrows over the corn, which covered it 1£ 
inches below the surface. When the corn was 4 inches high I harrowed 
it, and thinned it to 2 stalks in the hill: in about 2 weeks after harrowing 
I cultivated it: about the 15th of June I cultivated it again, which was 
all the tillage I gave it. We farmers of the Eastern Shore count our corn 
by the thousand: I had38,640 hills on my lot,and I think my corn would 
have been better if I had planted earlier: I did not plant until the last of 
April. I think the planting of corn shallow and working it with the cul- 
vator is much the best way, especially on clover lay. If you think the 
above worthy of notice you will please give it a place in your valuable 
paper. WILLIAM MILLER. 
* This will not happen—the honey locust never sends up succors from the 
roots.— Cond. 
