PRACTICAL PAPERS—CULTIVATION OF CORN. 253 
tical farmers know the value of the roller when land is lumpy. 
Right here I will introduce the brush (as I consider it indispen¬ 
sable upon the kjnd of land under consideration), and will tell 
how to make and use one. Get eleven saplings, straight, uni¬ 
form, and v/ith a bushy top—black oak is the best—bore as 
many holes in a straight stick, one foot apart, beginning with 
the center, and slanting the others a little outwardly, so that 
when put together it will work the ground well, twelve feet 
wide ; the brush should be ten or twelve feet long, and not too 
heavy. An ordinary team will go over twenty-five acres in a 
day. The ground having just been thoroughly harrowed, 
have the brush go over it the day before marking. This method 
will put a quietus on the young weeds, will smooth and pul¬ 
verize the ground, and leave the surface so that the marks will 
show more plainly. 
The marker should be so constructed as to make not less 
than four marks at a time. Three feet eight inches and four 
feet are the usual spaces for rows in this vicinity. For looks 
and convenience in cultivating, rows should be straight; yet 
there are but few farm laborers who can do the work properly. 
I think the best way is to put a,shoe, or short runner, on one 
end of a sixteen foot fence board; put a bolt through the 
other, and through the marker at the right place to have the 
shoe end make a traceable mark where the center of the mark¬ 
er will be on returning, or directly under the tongue. This 
plan is for smooth land, and rows both ways. For rough, stony, 
lumpy or stumpy land, or where rows can be made only one 
w r ay on account of narrow strips in orchards, etc., I would 
mark one row at a time with a shovel plow. 
Planting and Planters. —The time to plant in this vi¬ 
cinity is from April 20th to May 20th. The earliest date for 
early varieties; about the 1st of May for large dent; lOtli of 
May for early dent; and common Yankee will do well from 
that time till the 20th. The earlier the planting is done the 
better, weather and soil being favorable. 
On clay soil that is very lumpy I would plant with a hoe, 
