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THE LIBRARY

THE UNIVERSITY OF
BRITISH COLUMBIA

?§?5 ?'S^^i»^t^'^'^oSA^<s^^vggi>^^fy^^A^^^

iO VICTOR

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JUL 16 IflOl

Indian Corn Culture

Bv CHARLES S. PLU.MH. 15. Sc.

DIRECTOR INDIANA AGRICULTLRAI.
EXPERIMENT STATION.

ILLUSXRATE13

CHICAGO:

breeder's gazette print.

1895.

.K*^'^^

?J

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Copyright, 1895,

KY THE J. H. SANDERS PUB. CO.

(All rights reserved.)

^.HT OF AC^

-^'^ VICTORIA. %

'11 L 1 rt Iflfti -

PREFACE

In 1828 AVilliani Cobbett, a rather eccentric
yet famous Englishman who for a time resided
in America, published in London ''A Treatise
on ('obbett's Corn.'' Thirty-eight years later,
in 1866, Edward Enfield published in New
York a book on "Indian Corn; Its Value, Cul-
ture and Uses." These are the only volumes
in the English language, within the knowledge
of the writer, that have been written as hand-
books on Indian corn for farmers. Since these
books were issued much valuable information
has accumulated concerning the corn plant,
and it is due to this fact that this volume was
written. In America this cereal is grown
more extensively than is any other, and its
great food value for man and beast is fully
recognized.

For a large amount of the present knowledge
we have of Indian corn Ave are indebted to the
researches conducted at the agricultural ex-

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

University of British Columbia Library

http://www.archive.org/details/indiancorncultuOOplum

CHAPTER I,

HISTORICAL.

Indian corn, the Zea niai/s of botanists, is un-
questionably native to America. Before the
discovery of this country by Columbus this
cereal was unknown in Europe, Asia or Africa.
Maize was undoul)tedly grown by the inhabit-
.ants of North, Central and South America in
prehistoric times. Mounds that were erected
prior to the time of the American Indian, of
which he has no tradition, that have been ex-
plored in recent years, have contained corncobs
and charred kernels. In mounds excavated at
Madisonville, 0., in 1879, remains of maize were
found in quantities. In the caves occupied by
the early Cliff Dwellers in the southwestern
United States, ears of corn have been frequently
discovered. In South America Darwin found
on the coast of Peru, "heads of maize, together
with eighteen species of recent sea shells, em-
bedded in a beach which had been upraised at
least eighty-five feet above the level of the sea."*

* Animals and Plants under Domestication, New York,
1890, I, p. 338.

(7)

b INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Eai-s of Indian corn are occasionally found
in vessels placed in ancient Indian tombs or
mounds in Chili, Peru and Central America.
The Smithsonian Institute at Washington has
numerous interesting specimens of corn, ex-
humed from mounds and tombs, that must be
very ancient. One specimen was discovered
deposited in an earthen vessel eleven feet under
ground in a grave with a mummy, near Ari-
cpiipe, Peru.* Marcay refers to corn found in
Aymara Indian tombs in South America, that,
from the material accompanying it, must belong
to a period long before the Spanish conquest.f
Among the ruins of Peru are stone carvings of
ears of corn, executed centuries ago, before the
discovery by Europeans.

Original Home. — The original home of In-
dian corn is thought by some to be Central
America or Mexico, south of the twenty-second
degree of north latitude.}: In 1888 Prof. Duges
collected at Moro Leon, north of Lake Cuitzco,
Mexico, several corn i^lants wdiich have been
termed wild maize, and considered by some to
be the original parent of Indian corn. Plants
from this source were grown at the Cambridge,

* Report United States Department of Agriculture. 1870
p. 420.

t Travels in South America, I, p. 69.

J Maize: A botanical and economical study, by John W.
Harshberger, 1893, p. 202.

HISTORICAL. ')

Mass., botanical gardens, at Philadelphia and
at Ithaca, N. Y.

The Indians of Mexico and the southwestern
United States have for centuries grown corn
very similar in general conformation to that
found in the mounds of ancient times, which is
quite unlike that grown in the northern corn
belt. This corn is soft or starchy, of color rang-
ing from white to pink, blue and other shades,
has a large cob, and round, smooth topped
kernels of fair size. Says Sturtevant:*

•'Centcotl, in Mexico, was goddess of maize, and hence of
agriculture, and was known, according to Clavigero, by tlie
title, among others, of Tonacajohua, 'she who sustains us.'
Sahagrun writes of the seventy-eight chapels of the great
Temple of Mexico, that the forty-fifth edifice was called
Cinteupan, and therein was a statue of the god of maize."

Indians as corn-growers. — The early Amer-
ican explorers discovered the Indians cultivat-
ing fields of maize, Delafield tells usf that
"when Cartier visited Hochelaga, now called
Montreal, in 1535, that town was situated in
the midst of extensive cornfields," Champlain
in 1608 found cornfields eastward from the
Kennebec river. In 1621, Squanto, an Indian,
showed the Puritans how to plant and care for
maize, and some twenty acres were planted and
successfully grown.:}: At the time of the Pequot

* American Naturalist, March, 1885, p, 226.
t Transactions New York State agricultural society, 1850,
p, 386.

t Harshberger; Maize: A botanical study, etc., p. 131.

10 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

war in 1637 the English destroyed over two
hundred acres of corn planted by the Indians.
The Puritans in King Philip's war, in 1675, took
''what he had worth, spoiled the rest, and also
took possession of one thousand acres of corn,
which was harvested by the English."* Wher-
ever the early explorers or voyagers went they
found either fields of Indian corn or the Indians
using the grain for food. Capt. John Smith, in
his ''Indians of Virginia," tells of the methods
of planting at that time (1608). Cabeca de Vaca
found an abundance of maize near Tampa Bay,
Florida, in 15'28.f In 1679 La Salle, when on a
trip through the Great Lakes and across Illinois,
found large quantities of stored corn in a vil-
lage of Illinois Indians and took about forty
bushels of it.:]: Columbus in 1498 writes to
Ferdinand and Isabella of the maize j)lant and
of fields eighteen miles long. The early ex-
plorers also noted maize as an important article
of food for man in Yucatan, Nicaragua, and
Mexico.

Harshberger's conclusions. — In his impor-
tant historical study of maize, Harshberger
says:§

"The evidence of archaeology, history, ethnology, and
philology, which points to central and southern Mexico as

* Harshberger; Maize: A botanical study, etc., p. 131.
t Torrey Botanical Cluh Bulletin, VI, p. 86.
it Harshberger; Maize: A botanical study, etc., p. 135.
I Ibid., p. 151.

HISTORICAL. 1 I

the original home of maize, is supported by botany and
meteorology. All of the plants closely related to maize are
Mexican. It is an accepted evolutionary pi'inciple that sev-
eral species of the same genus, or genera of the same tribe,
though dispersed to the most distant quarters of the globe,
must originally have proceeded from the same source, as they
are descended from the same progenitors. It is also obvious
that the individuals of the same species, though now in dis-
tant regions, must have proceeded from one spot, where their
parents were first produced; for it is incredible that individ-
uals, identically the same, should have been produced from
parents specifically distinct. Applying these principles to
maize, we reach the conclusion that maize was originally
Mexican. * * * The evidence to the present date (1893)
places the original home of our American cereal, maize, in
central Mexico."

12 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

CHAPTER II.

BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

Indian corn is known by botanists as Zea
mays. It belongs to the grass family and is an
annual plant. It is classed as an endogenous
plant for the reason that it increases in height
and diameter of stem by internal growth.

The root is of two classes, primary and sec-
ondary. The former is fine and fibrous, and
in the field the plant produces a large mass of
these roots. No long tap root is developed;
consequently, as with the grasses generally, the
roots branch out in all directions rather near
the surface. For this reason shallow cultiva-
tion of the growing crop is advocated, as break-
ing the roots is deemed an injury to the grow-
ing plant.

In interesting experiments conducted by
Prof. F. H. King at the AVisconsin experiment
station* upon the development of corn roots
in natural soils under the conditions of field cul-
tivation, he washed out plants at different stages

* Ninth annual report Wisconsin experiment station, 1892,
p. 112.

BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 1-)

of growth. Forty-two days after planting,
when the plants were 18 inches high, the roots
of two hills met and passed each other in the
center between rows 42 inches apart, and had
penetrated to a depth of IS inches. The sur-
face roots sloped gently dow^nward toward the
center, where those nearest to the surface were
some eight inches deep. At the last cultiva-
tion, when the plants were nearly three feet
high, the roots occupied the entire soil to a
depth of two feet, with the surface roots six
inches helow the center between the rows. At
tassel time the roots fully occupied the upper
three feet of soil in the entire field, and in the
center between the rows the surface roots were
still higher, a few being scarcely five inches
deep. At maturity the roots were found pene-
trating to a depth exceeding four feet and
within four inches of the surface in the center
between rows. In connection with this study
Prof. King estimates that the plants on a well-
tilled acre are recpiired to pump from below
during growth from 300 to 400 tons of water.
The wonderful feeding power of the corn roots
is shown in this striking development and ac-
tivity.

After the corn plant becomes well established
and has nearly reached its full height the sec-
ondary roots come from the stem near the
ground. They hrst appear as nodules from

14 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

which develop the root tips, which proceed to
make a downward growth into the soil. After
penetrating slightly below the surface a mass
of fibrous roots is j^roduced from this buried
portion. These roots assist in maintaining the
erect position of the j)lant, as well as in secur-
ing nourishment and moisture. Generally the
depth of the planting does not influence the
depth of the rooth growth.

The stem (or culm) of Indian corn, varies in
height from 18 inches to 18 feet, according to
the variety and conditions of growth. Sturte-
vant even notes one variety in South America
attaining a height of 24 feet. The stem consists
of a number of smooth sections (internodes),
joined together l^y short joints (nodes). The
mature stem has a pithy interior with a thin
covering of harder material.

In a study made by the writer on the rate
of growth of the corn plant, at the New York
experiment station it was noted that the in-
crease ranged from three to 18^ inches per week
in gain. The most rapid development occurred
when the plants were about five weeks old.
Under specially favorable conditions a growth
of five inches has been recorded in one day.

The leaves grow from the joints, there being
a leaf at each one. For a greater part pf the
stem, the lower part of the leaf (sheath) is
wrapped about the stem from one joint almost

BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 15

to the next. In a study of the corn plant at
the Iowa experiment station,* the number of
leaves on a stalk varied with field corn from 12
to IS, with a width of blade from 3| to 5^ in-
ches. Microscopical examination of a numl)er
of varieties showed considerable difference in
the thickness of the leaf structure and in the
amount of green coloring matter present. At
the Missouri station. Prof. Schweitzer measured
the leaf surface of a vigorous plant of average
development.! 'The total surface of the twelve
living leaves on one side was 1,633.73 square
inches, which doubled for both sides, and add-
ing the area of the outside of the sheaths,
makes the total external leaf surface of this
plant 3,480 square inches, or 24 square feet."
Schweitzer considers the leaves the chief source
of production of organic matter, and while 16
or IS may he produced in our climate, the lower
ones die off before maturity, and activity is
confined to perhaps twelve.

The flower is of two kinds, male and female.
The former is known as the tassel, and is situ-
ated at the tip of the stem in the form of a
l)ranching head (panicle), while the latter is lo-
cated in between the sheaths of leaf and stem.

* Iowa agricultural college experiment station. Bulletin
No. 2, September, 1888.

t Missouri agricultural experiment station. Bulletin No.
o, Februarj-, 1889.

1() INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

and consists of a mass of fine hairs called silk,
enclosed in the husks of the ears to be. The
tassel contains many small flowers (see Fig. 1),

and each of these
produces a large
amount of pollen or
dust for fertilizing
the female flowers.
This pollen is from
I \ W 1 i \'W\WJ/i the anthers of the

flowers, and accord-

'^^111 ii ing to Harshberger*

as many as 2,500

are formed in a

Fig. 1.— The stem at left Is a branch of the • i 4-1 n • onrl

male panicle, showing spikelets. Thecenter Single ailLlier, ailCl
figure is of a pair of these spikelets re- ^ win f\r\r\
mo-ed. The flKure at the right Is one of IS.OOO.UOO ai'C glVCll
the male spikelets opened, showing two ' ' ~

flowers inside. (After Harshberger., ^g ^|-^g nUmbCr pi'O-

duced by each plant, there being 7,200 stamens
to a panicle.

The female (pistillate) flowers being located
below the male (staminate), the pollen of the
male is Iflown about in the air and falls onto
the silks which protrude from the enclosing
husks, and fertilizes them. Each silk extends
back into the husk and to the seat of what will
become a kernel of corn if fully fertilized. The
content of this husk is an embryo ear of corn.
The portion of the silk exposed is somewhat
hairy without, and is a hollow tube within.

* Maize: A botanical study, etc., p. 85.

BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

17

(The
base.

awl shaped figure in Fig. 2, with ovule at
) The pollen develops down into this tube
and fertilizes this enibiTo
seed (ovule) at its base on
the little cob. The small,
rough point seen on the
round or flat head of a
kernel of corn is the point
where this silk was at-
tached to it.

The kernel or seed. —
AVhile but one botanical
of corn is culti-
vated, this one may be

andpaleu. (Afterllar.hberger.) ^U^-Jg^ -^^^^ ^^.g gTOUpS

or races. Each race is characterized l)y nu-
merous varieties, and these freely cross-fertilize,

FIG.2.-A longltudlnni section of SpeClCS
a portion of an earwitli female

splkelets In a tiardeneil depres- vifpn 'f"lll«5

8lon of cob, wltti ovary, Kluraes > '^^^^c'.i, uiiio

SO that two or three types of seed may be found
on the same ear. This race difference, so far
113 the writer knows, was first pointed out by
Dr. E. L. Sturtevant.'^* These races may be de-
scribed as follows, and the relative differences

* Maize: An attempt at classification. By E. Lewis Stur-
tevant. :^1. D.. Rochestev, N. Y.. 1884, p. 10; illustrated.

18 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

between them clearly seen by splitting the
kernels. In Fig. 3 the shaded parts of kernel
above the base represent hard or corneous mat-
ter ; the white parts starchy matter.

Pop corn. — The substance of the center ker-
nel is hard and flinty (corneous) all through,
excepting at the germ end, no white, soft
starchy substance being present. See a in
Fig. 3.

Flint corn. — The corneous matter surrounds
the sides and top of the kernel, so that it is en-
closed in a hard, flinty coat, with soft starchy
substance in the central part. The kernel is
usually about as broad as long, and rounding
and smooth over the top. Flint corn is some-
what smaller than dent, and is best suited to
New England and the northern line of corn
growing. See h in Fig. 3.

Dent corn. — The sides of the kernels consist
of corneous matter with the central part filled
with soft material, even to the dented or con-
tracted rough top. This contraction is due to
shrinking of the softer part of the kernel in
ripening. The kernel in many varieties is
slender or wedge form. Nearly all the corn
grown in the great corn belt of the Central
West belongs to this race. See c in Fig. 3.

Sweet corn. — The kernels consist of translu-
cent, horny material, which contain consider-
able sugar (glucose) instead of starch. The

BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 19

kernels in most varieties are quite wrinkled or
twisted and are distinctly wedge shape. See d
in Fig. 3.

Soft corn. — Excepting the germ the entire
kernel is starchy and soft in character and has
somewhat the form of the flints. This race is
more commonly grown in the sub-tropical corn
regions, as the far Southwest and in' Mexico.
This is the early form of corn as grown by the
Indians. See e in Fig. 8.

Pod corn. — Additional to the above another
form is found, which is rather uncommon. Pod
or husk corn is a variety in wdiich each kernel
is enclosed in a small husk, wdiile the aggrega-
tion of kernels, which may form a long or short
ear, is enclosed in large external husks on a
simple cob, as with common ears. Flint and
dent corn may exist in this variety. Pod-corn
seed when planted will usually give a crop of
both podded and unpodded ears.

Classified by seed. — Each known variety of
Indian corn may be easily classified with one
of the so-called races, according to its seed.
However, if two or more races are grown near
l)y there will no doubt be ears composed of a.
mixture of each class, especially if the flowers
develop at the same time.

20 INDIAX COKX CULTURE.

CHAPTER III

VARIETIES AND THEIR ADAPTATION.

liiJiau corn i:? ea^ily ci'OS:<-fertilized. accident-
ally or artiticially, and as a result many so-
called new varieties have been introduced iu
the past. As a rule luit few have remained in
general public favor for a long term of years,
as it is ditticnlt to iinJ a variety that will adapt
itself to a wide geographical range and climatic
and soil variations.

Selecting a variety. — In selecting a variety
two things necessarily should receive considera-
tion: first, the capacity to mature a crop in a
given locality, and secondly, productiveness in
grain, or u-rain and forage. In this work it
seems best to discuss this subject iu two ways:
first, to describe a number of standard varieties,
and secondly, to give a list of varieties adapted
to different States, covering a wi^le territory.
The descriptions of varieties are gleaned from
various sources, but unless otherwise indicated,
are mainly on the basis of the published inves-
tigations of Dr. E. L. Stui*tevant (our best au-
thoritvon varieties) in the Xew York State ex-

VARIETIES AND THEIR ADAPTATION.

21

periment station repoiis, and the Inilletins of
the Illinois agricultural experiment station.
The references of varieties to the several States
is as a result of the test? made by the various
agricultural experiment stations, unless other-
\vise sperifiod.

Tested varieties. — The following varieties
have been well-tested in this countiy, some of
them for many years, and it is believed that
from this list one can nnike a most satisfactory
selection for almost any part of the I'nited
States or Canada. The reader is here re-
minded that some of the varieties, if grown in
the West or South, may be larger than is here
indicated in the descriptions.

Dent varieties. — AchoHs^ K(n-Ii/: Ears six to

USiZB

Fig 4 —Adams" Early.

seven inches long, about If inches in diameter,
slightly or strongly tapering, rounding at the
butt; 12 to 16 rowed, the rows often slightly

22 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

spirally or irregularly arranged. Kernels
slightly deeper than broad; white above, horny
white below, long dimple dented or creased.
Cob large, white. Plant 5^ to 6^ feet tall. A
favorite in the South for table use in place of
sweet corn.

Blouufs Prolifc: Ears 6 to 8 inches long, and
If to lA inches in diameter. Ear stalk rather
small. Mostly eight rowed. Kernels very
angular in outline, rather deep, white at top,
glossy white below, crease dented. Cob small
and white. Plant 7 to 8 feet high, bearing its
upper ears about 54 inches from the ground,
often 4 to 8 on a stalk, the lower ears shorter
and more pointed than the upper. A very
popular and productive variety in some local-
ities in the South and has been widely grown.
Originated by Prof. A. E. Blount in Tennessee,

Boone Co WJtiie: Ears long and uniform from
butt to tip. Kernels white, deep, thick; cob
white. Stalks of medium height, thick, strong.
Very productive. Medium late. Originated l)y
James Rilej^, Boone Co., Ind., about 1880. Pro-
ductive and popular as a bread corn. Well
adapted to the central West.

BurriU <{■ Whit wan or B. d- W.: Ears 8 to 9
inches long, 2 to 2.4 inches in diameter. Cobs
white, small. Ears roughish, tapering; butt
and tip evenly rounded and well filled; 14 to 16
rowed. Kernels white, broad, wedge shape.

VARIETIES AND THEIR ADAPTATION.

28

Stalks grow about 10 to 11 feet high on rich
soils. A favorite variety for silage, l)ut is too
late to mature seed properly in the North
where early frosts occur.

CJiesfer Co. Main mot h: Ears 7 to 11 inches
long. 2^ to 2| inches in diameter; smooth;
slightly tapering, rounded evenly at butt and

Hg. 5.— Chester Co. Mammoth.

tip; IS to 30 rowed; cob red, large. Kernels
yellow, deep, narrow, thick, crease dented.
Plants tall. Matures late. Mr. E. S. Carman
says:* "We have never raised larger ears of
Chester County Mammoth corn than during the
past season. We have lots of ears 11 inches

*Rural Xew Yorker, Dec. 13, 1884, p. 832.

24 INDIAN CORN CrLTUKE.

long, with IS rows bearing 900 large kernels."
Originated in Chester Co.. Pa.

Dnngan's White Pro/ if r: Originated by 8. W.
Dungan of Johnson Co.. Ind. An ear sent the
writer bj^ Mr. Dnngai:. as his "ideal," was 10^
inches long, 2^ inches ui diameter, cylindrical,
smooth, compact, 16 rowed. Kernels Avhite,
crease dented, deep, broad, thick. Cob white,
medium size. The plant as grown at Lafay-
ette, Ind.. is large and vigorous, being a very
desirable variety for silage. This is an excel-
lent bread corn, is very productive, lint too late
for the northern line of the great corn belt.
Well adapted to Southern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Kentucky, etc.

Farmer i< Favorite: Ears S to 11 inches long.
2 to 2^ inches in diameter, slightly tapering, 14
to IS rowed, smooth. Cob red. of medium size.
Kernels wedge shaped, deeper than i)road, yel-
low. Plants of medium height. Also known
as Golden Dent.

Golden Beauty: Ears 9 to 10 iiiches long,
about 2| inches in diameter; smooth, nearly
cylindrical; cob white, large, does not cover
well at tip. Kernels yellow, wedge shaped.
Rows 16 to 20. Plant of medium height. Me-
dium late.

LfaiuiH'j: Ears 7 to 10 inches long, 2 to 2^
inches in diameter: smooth, slightly tapering,
often pointed at tip; cob red, large, IS to 22

VARIETIES AND THEIR ADAPTATION.

25

vowed. Kernels yellow to orange a])ove, orange
below, dented, ('orners often rounded, deep,
thick. Plant grows S to 10 feet high. Matures

X^SIEE

KiG. t;.— leaming

medium early. One of the most popular dents,
adapted to a wide range of territory, and classed
as very productive. Originated by J. S. Leam-
ing, Clinton Co., 0.

Man/Iff Hcl White Gourd Seed: Ear 7 to 8
inches long, about 2^ inches in diameter, taper-
ing, 10 rowed; cob white. Kernels white, long^
dimple dented. Plants grow to height of about
10 feet. Matures late.

Pride of the XorfJi: Ears 6 to S inches long,
two inches in diameter, rough, 12 to 18 rowed;
cobs red, small. Kernels broadly wedge shaped,
crease dented. Plants of medium height, ma-

2() INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

turing early. Resembles Wisconsin Yellow
dent. It is claimed* that this variety was
originated in Fayette Co., 0., about 1813, where

?Asi« i^iQ 7._phide of the North.

it has been known for many years as Clarridge
Corn.

Queen of the Prairie: Ears 6 to 8 inches long
and about If inch in diameter, slightly taper-
ing; cob small, red, 16 to 18 rowed. Kernels
yellow, flat, deeply dented. Plant about 9 feet
tall. Matures medium early.

Bilei/s Favorite: Ears 8 to 9 inches long,
about 2^ inches in diameter, nearly cylindrical,
butt and tip well filled, 16 to 22 rowed; cob
red, small. Kernels yellow, narrow, wedge
shape, deep. Plants of medium size, strong,
productive. Mr. James Riley of Boone Co., Ind.,
originated this corn about 1880, by cross fertil-

* J. C. in Farmers'' Review. April 23, 1890.

VARIETIE.S AND THEIR ADAPTATION.

1>7

izing Golden Yellow and Pride of the North.
One of the best Yellow dents and has been suc-
cessfully grown over a wide range of territory.
S medley : Ears 7 to 9^ inches long, about two
inches in diameter, slightly tai)ering, butt and
tip well tilled, 10 to 12 rowed; cob red, small.
Kernels light orange, deep, broad at top, dent-
ed. Plants of medium size, maturing early.

Wiseons'ui Yellow: Ears 7 to 8 inches long,
about two inches in diameter, tapering, butt
and tip rounding evenly and well tilled, mostly
18 vowed; cob red, medium size. Kernels
orange yellow, small, deep, dimple dented.
Plants of medium size, early. A well known
yellow dent, especially for the northern lati-
tude of the corn l)elt where dents will
succeed.
Flint varieties.— rV/^i^af/r/, also known
as Early (Janada:
Ears 8 to 10 inches
long, about li inch
in diameter, blunt-
ly rounded at tip,
mostly 8 rowed :
cob white, small.
Kernels rather
large, deep golden
Plant about six feet tall.

Fk;.S.— Camada

^*sm

orange color.
Matures early.

('tniada T/rel re-Rowed; also Landreth's

28 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Edrlit'st Yelloir : Ears 7 to 10 inches long, about
li inch in diameter, tip well filled; cob medium
to large. Kernels small to medium, golden
oi'ange in color. Plants attain 6i to 7 feet. A
very old variety adapted to the northern line
of the corn belt, as is also Canada.

CoDiptoit^s Early; also Compfons Siirpiise:
Ears 9 to 9A inches long and about If inch in
diameter, pointed at tip; cob large, white.
Kernels medium size, light golden orange color.
Plants about seven feet tall. A productive,
good variety, widely grown.

Diitton: Ears 9 to 10 inches long aixl about
If inch in diameter, with rounded tip; cob
small, 12 rowed. Kernels large, golden orange.
Plants 6 to 7 feet high. Was first brought into
notice by Mr. Salmon Button, Cavendish, Vt.,
about 1818. "The ears of corn from which it
was originally selected on an average were from
8 to 12 inches long and contained from 12 to 18
rows.'"*" A very productive and popular variety
in the Northeast. A form of this known as
Early Datfon has been extensively grown. S.
W. Jewett saysf it is "descended from seed 1
obtained from Jesse Buel, selecting it myself
from his corn crib, at Albany, about 1S39."

Elfjhf Rowed Yfd/oir; also Lony Yelloir: Eai's

* Transactions New Yoi-k State Agricultural Society.
1853. p. a.34.
t Country Gentleman, May 8, 18o4.

VARIETIES AND THEIR ADAPTATION.

29

10 to 11 inches long, jiboufc H- inch in diameter,
slender, slightly tapering, mostly eight rowed.
Kernels not large, deep golden orange.

Kii((j Philip; also Iniprorcd Kimj J*/ii/ip,
Kigltt Roired Broicn, Eifj/if Bowed Copper Col-
ored, Kijihf Roired Yelloir : Ears 8 to 10 inches
long, about li inch in diameter, resembling
Can a da in all other respects except color.

Fi3. n.— King Philip.

which is copper red. Plant 8 to 9 feet high.
Named after the celebrated Indian chief of the
Wanipanoags, from which tribe it is said'^ the
seeds were obtained. Sturtevant, however,
says that this variety was originated by Mr.
John Brown. Long Island, Lake Winnipiseogee,

* Transactions New York Stato agricultnral society. I.S53,
p. 333.

32

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

type, which were allowed to hybridize in 1875,
and the ears resulting selected to the desired
type. In 1877 and 1878, at the period of

Fk;. 11 — Walshakum.

bloom, all the tassels from stalks not showing-
one large ear, and from all imperfect or off
type plants, were removed, thus insuring the
fertilization of the ears from pi'olitic and typal
plants.""" An unexcelled yellow variety.

White FUvf: Ears S) to 11 inches long, U-
inch in diameter, tapering slightly, tip usually
not very well tilled; col) medium size; mostly
8 rowed. Kernels dingy white, medium size.
A very popular, common variety in the North-
eastern States.

*E.L. Sturtevant: llupoi-t New York StaU> aj,n'icultural
experiment station, 1884.

VARIETIES AND THEIK ADAPTATIOX. 66

Sweet varieties. — Black Mexican; also known
•dH lihiek Sur/ar and Slate Street: Ears 6 to 8
inches long and about U inch in diameter,
cylindrical, tip rarely well tilled; cnh white,

Fifj. 12.— Black Mexk an.

small, 8 rowed. Kernels slate-black, broad,
crinkled, compactly set, tender and sweet when
i-ij)e. Plants about (> feet tall. A medium
early, of the best (.|uality, that has been known
for many years.

Corf/; also known as Earhj Con/, Cory Earhj
Sugar. Extra Early Cory, La Crosse, Earliest
Rockford Market: Ear 4 to 6 inches long, al)out
liinch in diameter, cylindrical, well tilled at
tip. Kernels whitish, large, broader than deep,
crinkled or smooth. Plants small — about five
feet tall. One of the very earliest varieties,
ripening in about 55 days. Quality fair. In-
troduced in ISS.5 and has been very popular as
an early sort.

8

32

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

type, which were allowed to hybridize in 1875,
and the ears resulting selected to the desired
type. In 1877 and 1878, at the period of

Fig. 11.— WAISHAKUM.

bloom, all the tassels from stalks not showing-
one large ear, and from all imperfect or off
type plants, were removed, thus insuring the
fertilization of the ears from prolihc and typal
plants."* An unexcelled yellow variety.

White Flint: Ears 9 to 11 inches long, U
inch in diameter, tapering slightly, tip usually
not very well hlled; col) medium size; mostly
8 rowed. Kernels dingy white, medium size.
A very popular, common variety in the North-
eastern States.

*E.L. Sturtevant: Report New York State agricultural
experiment station, 1884.

VARIETIES AND THEIR ADAPTATION.

33

Sweet varieties. — Black Mexican; also known
as Black tSugar and Slate Sweet: Ears 6 to S
inchos long and about H inch in diameter,
cylindrical, tip rarely well HUed; col) white,

Fic. 12.— Black Mexican.

small, 8 rowed. Kernels slate-black, broad,
crinkled, compactly set, tender and sweet when
rij)e. Plants about (> feet tall. A medium
early, of the l)est ij[uality, that has been known
for many years.

Corji; also known as Earhj Cori/, Cory Earhj
Sugar. Extra Early Cory, La Crosse, Earliest
Rockford Market: Ear 4 to 6 inches long, aljout
1^ inch in diameter, cylindrical, well tilled at
tip. Kernels whitish, large, broader than deep,
crinkled or smooth. Plants small — about five
feet tall. One of the very earliest varieties,
ripening in al)Out 55 days. Quality fair. In-
troduced in 1SS5 and has been very popular as
an early sort.

3

u

t» bnp» k^TTH^

• n#.#T

1^

1* t m^\ r .^^ .

&>« th^

»4miuLl!l

Ar-

M

mm orij^-

,1

'•(

1

)

-' Kl

V.i

ARlFTtX^ ^^**

voweil. K
below. «iei.;
thick. Plant .

tk«k

t ; -.K :

"^^^

y\

>ftot

medium eariy. One of thr m*^ rT«**

adapted to a wide rmiiff*

as 4U«i li%

ing. • ii:. .'ii ......

inches long, al*
ing. 16 rowed; coh
dimple (h'tit.^l p:.»;/, ^
10 feet. M- '-lit.-.

Pnihof P^r^ r. ♦.. ^ ...

two inches in <i
cobs mi. small. K»
crease dent«l. Ilauti^

36 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

rowed; cob reddish. Kernels vary in color
from light flesh to dark red. Plants grow about
five feet tall, bearing ears 8 to 14 inches above
ground. A standard, early, sweet, desirable
variety that has been grown many years, being
described by Burr in 1S65.*

Ne Plus Ultra: Ears 6 to 7 inches long, about
If inch in diameter towards butt where it is
strongly rounded, and from near which it nota-
bly tapers to the tip: irregularly 12 to 14 rowed;
cob wiiite. Kernels white, very narrow at base,
crimped and wrinkled, thin and translucent,
separating readily from the cob. Plants 5 to 6
feet high, bearing ears 18 to 20 inches above
ground. Late, but of excellent quality. Intro-
duced about 1882.

Pee and Kay; also Western Queen, Maule's
XX Sugar: Ears 6 to 8 inches long. If to 2
inches in diameter, cob white. Kernels white,
flatly rounded over the top, crinkled or crimped,
thick, nearly as deep as broad, very sweet.
Plants 5 to 6 feet high, ears 16 to 18 inches
al)ove ground. Second early. Popular wath
farmers and market gardeners.

Stou-elVs Evergreen: Ears 7 to 8 inches long,
about 2\ inches in greatest diameter, often
sharply tapering, and then again nearly cylin-
drical, rarely filled at tip, 16 rowed; cob white.

*The Field unci Garden Vegetables of America. 186.3. p.
58«.

VARIETIES AND THEIR ADAPTATION.

37

Kernels white, wrinkled, luirrow and deep,
loose, shedding readily from the dry ear. Plants
7;^ to 8 feet tall, bearing ears about 30 inches
above ground. Foliage abundant. Late. Very
tender and sugary, a standard of first quality.
At Polk's cannery, at Greenwood. Ind., the
largest establishment of its kind in the United

V* siz»

Fig. 14.— Stowell's Evergreen.

States, no other variety of sweet corn is used.
Has been grown many years, and is referred to
l)y Burr in 1865."

S(jN(i)if/n)i : p]ars 6 to 7 inches long, about 2
inches in diameter at the butt, strongly taper-
ing to a tip that is seldom well filled, 12 to 14
rowed; cob white. Kernels white, large,
crimped, nearly as hroad as deep, not crowded.

* Field and Garden Vegetables.

38

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Plant 6 to 6i feet tall, bearing ears about 24
inches aliove ground. Standard medium ma-
turing. Introduced about 1S83.

Triumph : Ears 8 to 9 inches long, about 1|
inch in diameter, slender, tapering evenly and
strongly in the lower half, 8 and 10 rowed; cob
white. Kernels white, large, broadly rounded,

FIG. 15.— Egyptian.

almost flat, very frequently quite open between
the pairs of rows, crinkled and crimped. Plant
6 to 7 feet tall, bearing ears about 30 inches
above the ground. Introduced in 1874.

Sweet corn for succession.— Mr. E. S. Carman
recommends'^ the following as the best kinds of
sweet corn for succession. For first early,
either Cory or Northern Pedigree. Next,
Shakers' Early, Perry's Hybrid or Sta1:)ler's
Early. Then Moore's Concord, Triumph or
Hickox. Last, Stowell's Evergreen, Mammoth
or Egyptian.

""Rjtrnl Xeic Yorker, Feb. 25, 1888.

VARIETIES AND THEIR ADAPTATION.

80

Pop varieties. — Kfiiiptian ; also Wliifc Uicr:
Ears 4 to 7 inches long ami 1^ to 1^ inch in
diameter, strongly tapering, many rowed: cob
white. Kernel white, large, of rice form. Plant
about 5 feet high, bearing ears about 30 inches
above ground. Productive.

Oirayf Uoh/r/i is the smallest variety of corn
grown, the plant usually ))eing al^out 18 inches
high. Sometimes inclividual
plants produce five tiny per-
fect ears to a stalk.

New England ; also Non-
pareil: Ear C) to 8 inches
long, about one inch in di- "^fig'ib.-dwakfgoluex.
ameter, eight rowed ; cob white. Kernels glossy,
rounded, white or yellow according to variety.
Plants 5 to 6 feet high, bearing ears about 16
inches above ground. A standard variety, ri-
pening in good season and productive.

Pear/: Ears 4 to 5
inches long and | to 1
inch in diameter, near-
ly cylindrical, 14 to 18
rowed: cob white. Va-
rieties occur which are
white, lemon, red or
xsu* n^....-......^^.-^.-". purple. Kernels flat.

FIG. IT.— White Pearl.

much compressed, deeper than broad, triangu-
lar, very flinty. A standard, productive variety
which has been known for many years.

40 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Bice: Ears 5 to 7 inches long, 1^ to If inch
in diameter, strongly tapering, 14 to 20 rowed;
cob white. Kernels white or red, pointed into
a sort of short spine which is somewhat erect.
Plant 6 to 7 feet high, with ear 3 to 5 feet above
ground. Very productive.

Adaptability of varieties. — Some varieties
seem particularly adapted to a wide range of
conditions, while others are less so. A few va-
rieties are given here^ as having been grown in
the States in which they are listed, and with a
degree of success such as will justify their cul-
ture. Most of the tests w^ere made at or under
the supervision of an agricultural experiment
station, from the publications of which much
of the data is secured. Where the information
is apparently reliable the varieties are named
from most to least productive.

Alahama. At Uniontown: Mosby's Prolific,
Lee County Field, Blount's Prolific, Head's
Field, Madison County Red, Welborn's Con-
science, Lloyd's Stock and Strawberry yielded
in order given in 1890. At Auburn, in 1891 :
Experiment Station Yellow, Clayton Bread,
Lindsaj^'s Horsetooth and Hunnicutt. Bulletin
52 of the Alabama station (January, 1894,) rec-
ommends Clark's Early, Mastodon (yellow).
Early Eclipse (yellow), Gentry's Early Market
(white), and Improved Golden Dent as the best
early varieties.

VARIETIES AND THEIR ADAPTATION.

41

Arkansdn. At Fayetteville: Welboni's Con-
science, Common Yellow, Alleifs Mammoth,
Mastodon Yellow, Golden Dent, Golden Beauty
and Hickory King. (Bulletin 22, December,
1S92, Arkansas experiment station.)

Colorado. At Fort Collins: Prof. A. E. Blount
says in bulletin 2, Colorado experiment station,
December, 1887, that Pride of the North and
Yellow Flint have proved most valuable. The
former is the best.

(rf'orgia. At Experiment: Shannon's Yellow,
Ledbetter, Shaw's Improved, Shannon's White,
Southern White, Huffman's, Higgins', Patter-
son's, Tennessee Yellow, Peek's Premium. (Bul-
letins 15 and 23 Georgia experiment station.)

Indiana. At La Fayette: The following table
gives the average yield of varieties tested for
five years at the experiment station at Purdue
University, from 1888 to 1892 inclusive. The
1893 yield was so badly influenced by dry
weather as to be unfit for comparison:

VARIETY.

Yield
in bu.

Ave. Ko.
days ma-
ture.

Per cent,
ears to
stalk.

Color
grain.

Purdue Yellow

White Prolific

Boone Co. White

Riley's Favorite

Learning

6<».3
76.7
72.:]

61.7
59.7

112
125
126
12.{
115
125

51.4

43.

43.2

47.7

44.. 3

43.1

Yellow.
White.
White.
Yellow.
Yellow.

Chester Co. Mammoth

Yellow.

The following are tests of 1892, with average

42

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

yields of varieties tested more than one year:

VARIETY.

Yield per

Days to

ave. hu.

mature.

46.2

105

62.

130

74.5

122

53.

117

62.4

119

85.7

118

64.7

117

44.6

131

62.6

129

79.

118

73.2

138

64.1

110

68.9

110

43.8

106

86.2

124

Color
grain.

Legal Tender

Golden Beauty

Piasa Queen

Mastodon .'.

Big Buckeye

Iroquois

Haben's Golden

Hickory King

Red Cob Ensilage

Southern Red Cob

Burrill & Whitman. .. ,

Munn's Early

Champaign Co. Prolific

Wisconsin White

Ivory Dent

Yellow.

Yellow.

Yellow.

Yellow.

Yellow.

Yellow.

Yellow .

White.

White.

White.

White.

Yellow.

Yellow.

White.

White.

Illinois. At Champaign: The following table
gives the results of five years up to and includ-
ing 1892. The season of 1893 was so dry that
the results have little value in this comparison.
The yield is of air-dried corn in bushels. This
table is from bulletin 25, for April, 1893, of the
Illinois experiment station:

VARIETY.

1888.

1889.

1890.

1891.

1892.

Aver-
age.

Champion White Pearl. . .
Leaming

70.

86.6

85.9

84.8

68.5

91.2

83.7

76.6

84.2

80.3

81.1

94.8

80.6
75.7
102.6
81.9
68.7
66.3
79.5
68.7
65.
66.1

74.9

69.4

67.7

51.1

59.

54.7

55.9

61.7

60.

61.6

53.3

76.5
67.3

67.7

39.

65.4

58.4

58.6

57.4

56.8

59.8

56.1

65.

70.1

64.2

79.2

72.9

74.4

74.1

60.1

60.3

57.6

58.4

76.2

74.8

Burr's White

Helm's Improved

72.2
71.3

Clark's Iroquois

69.5

Stewart's Impr'd Yellow. .
Riley's Favorite

69.5

67.7

Pisk's Yellow

67.1

Legal Tender

66.

Murdock

64.9

Edmonds

63.

VARIETIES AND THEIR ADAPTATION. 43

In comparing the average jdelcis of white and
yellow varieties for 1802, the white yielded 66.8
bu. and the yellow 66.2 bn. — practically the
same.

lotca.^ Stouffer, Iowa Yellow Dent, Iowa
White Dent, Pride of the North, Chester Co.
Mammoth, Clark's Early Mastodon, Learning,
Champion White Pearl, Iowa Gold Mine.

Kansas. At Manhattan: ''In a comparison
of 140 varieties, the following 10 gave the best
yields, in the order named: Mammoth White
Dent, Hartman's Early White, Silver's Mam-
moth Yellowy Mammoth Ivory Dent, North
Star, Piasa Queen, Learning, Pride of Kansas,
Legal Tender, Lai-ge Golden Dent, the yields
iTaiging from 80 to 91.5 ))u. per acre. Those
found to be excellent ensilage varieties were
Hiawasse Mammoth, Little Red Cob, Mosby's
Prolific and Parish White." (Bulletin 30, De-
cember, 1891, Kansas agricultural experiment
station).

Kenfucki/. At Lexington: Mammoth White
Surprise, Boone Co. White, Runnell's White,
Golden Beauty, Munn's Early, Riley's Favorite.
All these are recommended by ''Rusticus'' in
Ohio Farmer, Oct. 2S, 1886.

Louisiana. At Baton Rouge : Mosby's Prolific,
McQuade's, Golden Dent Gourd Seed, Young's
Hybrid, Blount's Prolific, White St. Charles,

* Orange Judd Fcmna\ March 5, 1S92.

44 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Learning, Hickory King, Champion White Pearl.
(Bulletin 7, 2nd ser., Louisiana experiment
station.) At Calhoun (Northern Louisiana):
Calhoun Red Cob, Mosby's Prolific, Welborn's
Conscience, Virginia White Grourd Seed, Mary-
land White, Brazilian Flour, Leaming, St.
Charles' Favorite Dent, Blount's Prolific. (Bul-
letin 21, Louisiana experiment station, 1S98.)

Mississijyjji. At Agricultural College: Mosby,
Price, Golden Dent^ St. Charles, Eclipse. (Bul-
letin 33, Mississippi experiment station, 1895.)

}fissoH)'i. At Columbia: Logan, Chester Co.
Mammoth, Riley's Favorite, Red Cob Gourd,
Pride of the North, Golden Beauty, Golden
Dent, Piasa King, Blount's Prolific, Leaming,
Hickory King, Farmers' Favorite, Queen of the
Prairie. (Bulletin 14, Missouri experiment
station, 1891.)

Nphraska. At Lincoln : Riley's Favorite. Gold-
en Beauty, Mammoth Cuban, Brazilian Flour,
Early California and White Giant Normandy
were the best yielders of the field corns. Of
the sweet varieties, Cory ripened in 104 days,
Honey and Breck's Premier in 111, Moore's
Early Concord in 114 and Egyptian and Stowell's
Evergreen in 120 days. (Bulletin 6, March, 1889,
Nebraska experiment station.)

New York. At Geneva: Of flints, Waushakum,
Longfellow, Thoroughbred White, Common
White, Compton's. Of dents^ Queen of the

VARIETIES AND THEIR ADAPTATION. 45

Prairie, Pride of the North, Learning, Chester
Co. Mammoth, Adams' Early and Illinois Wiiite.

Ohio. At Columbus: Leaming, Blount's White
Prolific, Big Buckeye, Riley's Favorite, Ed-
munds' Premium Dent, Pride of the North,
Queen of the Prairie, Wisconsin Yellow Dent.
(Bulletin 1, Vol. IV, January, 1S91.)

Orcfjou. At Corvallis: King Philip, Early
Yellow Canada, Queen of the North, matured.
Leaming, Queen of Prairie, Golden Dent, Ches-
ter Co. Mammoth, Blount's Prolific, Thorough-
bred White Flint and Hickory King, did not
mature, at the Oregon experiment station.
(Bulletin 4, January, 1S90.).

F(')uisijli:ani(f. At State College: Of flints
Longfellow^ King Philip, Waushakum, Im-
proved Eight Bowed and Canada. Of dents,
Hickory King, Golden Beauty, Piasa Queen,
Golden Dent, Leaming, Queen of the Prairie, .
Pride of the North. (Annual Report Pennsyl-
vania experiment station, 1S90.)

Rhode Island. "Potter's Excelsior (ur Squan-
tum) in its purity is the best table corn grown.""^'

t-iouth Dakota. At Brookings: Of dents, Gold
Coin, Queen of the North, Pride of the North,
Dakota Dent, Davis' White Dent, Hughson's
Dent, Dakota King, Prince Albert, Minnesota
King, Loveland's. Of flints, Smut Nose, Man-

*.T. S. Sprajjue, Pi-ovidenco Co., R. T.. in Tm' England
Homestead, March 21, 1886,

46 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

dan Indian, Canada, vSquaw, Pride of Dakota,
Conipton's Earh', King Philip.

Tennessee. At Knoxville: Of dents, Adams'
Early (for table), Golden Beanty, Maryland
White Gourd Seed, Shannon's Big Tennessee
White, Shannon's Yellow, Southern Horse-
tooth. Shannon's corn succeeds in the State
quite generall}'.

Wisco)isin. At Madison: Of 13 varieties of
dent tested, "only three were found sufhciently
early to depend upon for a general crop, viz.:
Pride of the Kortli, North Star Golden Dent
and Queen of the North." Of flints, King
Philip and Sibley's White Flint are best. (Bul-
letin 17, November, 1888, Wisconsin experi-
ment station.)

W//o)niH(j. For Northern Wyoming, Minne-
sota King, Pride of the North, Mandan, Ninety
Day and Flint, are recommended by Joe Harper
of Banner. For Northeastern Wyoming. Yellow
Dent, Pride of the North, Squaw and Mandan.
For Eastern Wyoming, Angel of Midnight,
Early Mastodon, Pride of the North and
Whitely Dent. (Bulletin 5, February, 1892,
Wyoming experiment station.)

Canada. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is too far
North to grow corn for the grain, excepting in
a limited way. Of many tests made at the
Central Experimental Farm, but few passed the
milk state, and in many cases the ears were

VARIETIES AND THEIR ADAPTATION. 47

scarcely formed. The following varieties
ripened: Flints, Adams' Extra Early, Golden
Dew Drop, Mitchell's Extra Early, Self Husk-
ing, King Philip, Angel of Midnight, Canada
Yellow, Longfellow, Landreth's Early Summer
Yellow, Pearce's Prolific and Smut Nose nearly
ripened. Sweet. Crosby, Extra Early Cory
Foi-d's Early, Marblehead Early, Pee and Kay,
and Talbot's First and Best; Hickox, Living-
ston's Evergreen, Landreth's Early Market,
Northern Pedigree Sweet, Potter's Excelsior,
Perry's Hybrid Early and Shaker's Early nearly
ripened. Tests were made of silage corn, and
the yields per acre ranged from 14 to 80 tons.
The following are recommended by Director
Saunders, as the most productive in the order
named: Thoroughbred White Flint, Long
White Flint, Long Yellow Flint, Yellow Dut-
ton, Large White Flint, Pearce's Prolific and
Longfellow. Excepting Long White Flint, all
matured enough to make excellent silage.
(Bull. 12, Central Experimental Farm, June,'91.)
Richard Gibson of Delaware, Out., highly rec-
ommends the Butler Co. Dent.* He says: "For
the silo, it grows just as mu(4i forage in propor-
tion to corn as is profitable; and for the crib,
more bushels of shelled corn to bushels of ears
than any corn I have yet grown." He thinks
it superior to Longfellow in earliness and yield.

* Farmers" Advocate, May 15, 1*^00.

48 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

CHAPTER IV.

THE SEED.

Upon the quality of the seed planted in a
considerable measure depends the character of
the crop. Seed to be good should be specially
selected and preserved under conditions favor-
able to prompt, strong germination. As numer-
ous factors of importance relate to the seed
and its planting, they will be briefly considered
in this chapter under the following titles:

Germination temperature.

Method of selecting seed.

Method of preserving seed.

Relative value of butt, center and tip
kernels.

Size of seed.

Type of ear.

Judging corn: a scale of points.

Germination temperature.— Seeds of differ-
ent classes of corn do not germinate with equal
rapidity under the same conditions. Corn from
a hot climate, such as the soft varieties, will
not germinate at as low a temperature as will
that grown in cooler latitudes, as for example,
the flints. Sturtevant made an extensive study

THE SEED. 41)

of ^germination temperatures for corn at tlie
New York experiment station.* These germi-
nation tests were conducted in boxes where
the temperature was uniformly under control.
Seeds of dent coi-n germinated at as low a tem-
perature as 48.4 deg. F., after 233 hours, prob-
ably the lowest temperature recorded for this
seed up to this time. In reporting upon the
general results of his trials in 1884, Sturtevant
says:t

'"Fii'st, all the kei'nels of an ear do not germinate with
equal ease or with the same increment of temperature;
second, that there is a diflference in the time and temperature
I'equired between some of the agricultural species of maize;
third, that the dent corns germinate at a temperature of
47. H deg. F., or slightly below; flints at a temperature of 47.8
deg. F.. or slightly below; pops and softs ditto; while sweets
required 48.5 deg. F., or slightly below; fourth, that the
increment of temperature required in our trials was far
greater for the sweets than for the other agricultural species. "

Under the same conditions of temperature
the dents germinate first, flints second, pops
and softs next and sweets last, the range being
from 1()8 to 228 hours.

As observed farther on in the chapter on
planting a soil temperature of from 50 to 60 deg.
F., will justify planting. Wliile the seed may
germinate at below this, the chances are that
it will decay, or the young plants make a most

*New York agricultural experiment station. Report 1884,
p. 118. and report 1885, p. M.
Ubkl. pp. li'M24.
4

50 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

unsatisfactory growth. It would not even be
especially advisable to plant when the surface
soil has a temperature of 50 deg. F., unless quite
warm w^eather could be expected.

Method of selecting seed.— There are two
common methods of selecting seed: one to pick
out desirable ears in the crib, the other to select
during husking. Either method is better than
none at all, but the best plan it seems to the
writer is as follows: Select a number of ears
of the most desirable type and plant this seed
in a field by itself, if possible wdiere the lolants
from it will not be impregnated by the pollen
from other corn. Carefully cut out all inferior
stalks and ears, and grow only selected plants
such as will produce the best ears. From these
plants select the seed ears to repeat the oper-
ation the next year, thus gradually developing
a uniform, high type ear and kernel. This
small patch of corn will soon become available
as the yearly source of seed. It is assumed, of
course, that the person who adopts this mode
of selection will practice the best of culture.
Where this system is intelligently followed
there is no need for corn to deteriorate in
quality from year to year.

Preserving seed.— The best method of pre-
serving seed corn known to the writer is that
practiced by Mr. James Riley of Boone Co.,
Ind. A small building is located on a hillside.

THE SEED. 51

SO that one can drive up to the end of it on a
level with the second floor. The corn is un-
loaded on this floor, which extends the length
of the house. This only serves as a sort of
platform, with an opening entirely along each
side about six feet wide, which is the top of the
crib. Below this floor is a stove near the cen-
ter of one end of the building, with pipe run-
ning the length of the house. A fire is kept in
this stove and the corn placed overhead is
thoroughly dried, after which it is shoveled
into the cribs on each side, which extend to the-
floor below, where it is ready for sacking and
shipping. The most favorable conditions for
preserving seed are thus insured. This method
can be practiced on a smaller scale with ease
by hanging the seed corn on the wall of a room
back of the stove, where a fire is kept from har-
vesting to planting time. The seed should be
kept perfectly dry, and selections from the crib
in the spring may be unsatisfactory.

The old method of braiding a number of ears
together at husking time and hanging them up
on the side of the barn is better than selecting
from the crib in the spring. A dry attic or
inside of barn is a better place than the out-
side exposure. At Purdue we find it satisfac-
tory to put seed corn on the ear in common
brown coffee sacks, which are hung from the
rafters to cure, away from rats and mice.

52 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Some years ago I collected samples of seed
corn from 16 counties in Tennessee, and tested
their germination quality. The vitality of the
seed was strong. Nearly all of this seed was
grown by men who took pains to keep it in
dry, well- ventilated places. There was no es-
sential difference in germination between ears
stored with and without the husk.

In an article on "Seed corn"* Josiah Russell
of Iowa says: ''If the corn is not ahsolutclij dry
when gathered we put the ears for seed in a
•plastered upper cliaml)er of the house through
which a stovepipe goes to the chimney, or we
make use of the smoke house. In either case
the corn is laid in tiers on lath nailed to 2x4
uprights, one row of corn to each lath, or rather
a lath at each end of the corn rows. -^^ * *
It takes two laths to hold one row of ears
side by side. '• * * Tlie smoke-house plan
we like best of all, and think the smoke we put
in at times during the winter renders the corn
objectionable to the ground squirrels in the
spring."

The relative value of butt, center and tip
kernels does not materially differ. As a rule
farmers select the central kernels on the ears,
rejecting the small or irregular tip and butt ker-
nels. At the New York experiment station the
writer assisted in conducting elaborate experi-

* Rural New YorTicr. Aug. 25, 18SS.

THE SEED.

53

merits comparing the results fi-oiii seed from
different parts of the ear.* In these experi-
ments, extending from 1SS2 to 1885, the results
slightly favored the tip kernels. The follow-
ing table gives the results:

YIELD PER ACRE IN BUSHELS.

1882.

1883.

1884.

1885.

Average.

Butt seed

62.9
62.5
6i.7

58.8
r)4.5
57.1

54.7
56.1
56.3

54.9
67.6
56.3

56.6

Central seed

57 6

Tip seed

58.6

At the Ohio experiment station the average
yields per acre for four years were, l)utt, 66.9;
central, 62.8, and tip 64.8 bu. per acre.f

At the Kansas station the relative productive-
ness was first from tip, second from butt and
third from central kernels. J

There is not sufficient evidence at hand to
justify the rejection of either Initt or tip ker-
nels, provided they are of good vitality, in
favor of the kernels from the center of the ear.

The size of the seed planted, on the basis of
the evidence given above, would not seem to
play any special part in productiveness of crop.
If the size did affect the yield we should expect

* New York agricultural experiment station; report 1884,
p. 90, 1885, p. 38.

t Ohio agricultural experiment station. Report for 1886,
p. 126.

X Kansas agricultural experiment station, Bulletin 45, De-
cember, 1893.

54

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

the large central kernels on the ear to produce
larger crops than would the tip kernels. In his
experiments Sturtevant planted selections of
largest and smallest seed from ears of Wau-
shakum corn.* There was not much difference
in the yield from seed of each lot. The results
were as follows:

Xumber ears.

Bushels ears.

Average
weight of
ears in oz.

Good.

Poor.

Good.

Poor.

Largre seed

Small seed

14,360
14,390

1,630
1,950

69.7 2.1
67.9 1 2.1

6.21
6.04

The selection of large seed would tend toward
the ultimate production of a larger ear and
seed. This is true, as based on the general law
that like produces like. In a discussion before
the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural
Science "On a New Factor in the Improvement
of Crops,"' Dr. J. C. Arthur gave it as a general
law that ''large seeds produce stronger plants
with a greater capacity for reproduction than
small seeds of the same kind."}- If, however,
the best method of selection is practiced, as
outlined in the first part of this chapter, it will
not be essential to cast aside the small kernels
found on selected ears.

A type of ear should always be noted in the

*New York State agricultural experiment station, report
for 1885, p. 42.
t Agricultural Science, VII, VITI and IX. p. 340.

THE SEED. 55

crop grown, which should he a pronounced
feature. Coarseness ought to he avoided. A
very large coh does not accompany great pro-
ductiveness. The ear stalks should not he too
large and long. Prof. Morrow recommends: *

"For Central Illinois a comparatively low, short- jointed,
thickish stalk, with the ears borne low on short shanks: the
ear about nine inches long, 2 to 2i inches in diameter; nearly
uniform in thickness throughout, with 16 to 20 rows well
filled out at each end, and with but little space between the
rows; the kernels rather thick, solid, and as deep as may be
and of any color preferred, as this has little to do with
value."

For the dent corns in general the recom-
mendation may well he applied. Mr. A. W.
Cheever, a Massachusetts farmer of wide repu-
tation, describes his ideal ear of flint corn as
follows: t

"Ear not much larger at butt end than at tip end; would
avoid corn with very tapering ears; also those with rows
having spaces toward the butts. The corn should fill the
ear full all over and be crowded hard in the rows= The more
kernels to the inch of row the better."

It may he asserted with perfect safety that
Cheever's description would apply ec^ually well
to sweet corn. The numher of rows to the ear
is largely a matter of choice.

As a rule, a desirable type for all varieties
means small to medium size of cob, cylindrical
ears well covered with kernels at tip and butt,

* Farmers' Eeview, March 23, 1888.
■\ Orange Judd Farmer, Sept. 22, 1888.

56 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

rows compact, with no wasted spaces between,
and kernels deeper than broad. Early matnrity
of a variety is also quite essential in the North-
ern States.

Judging corn: A scale of points.— If corn
exhibited at fairs or expositions could be judged
on the basis of a scale of points, it would no
doubt oftentimes result in greater justice in
decisions, of judges. This of course applies to
a consideration of the individual ear only and
not to the plant, its adaptability, productive-
ness, etc. It has no more value than a scale of
points in judging butter, where the breed of
cow and her profitable character are not con-
sidered.

Yet a score card may be of service. In 1886,
in the great corn exhibit at the Exposition at
Chicago, the five expert judges worked some
days in preparing a scale of points to guide
them in their decisions. Mr. Orange Judd, who
took great interest in the Indian corn plant, on
the basis of much study of this question pul)-
lished the following scale of points for tempo-
rary use at the Illinois State fair at Peoria in
1891.* It is here reproduced in the belief that
it maj^ be helpful to others in preparing a score
card to be used for a similar purpose:

*Ormujp Judd Farmer, Oct. 10. 1891, and Nov. 2.>, 1893.

THE SEED. 57

SCALE OF POINTS FOR IXIIIAN CORN.

Perfection.

A. Shape of ear 10 points.

B. Purity or trueness to type 10 points.

C. Filling' out at both ends 15 points.

D. Ripeness (indicating' earliness) 10 points.

E. Perfection and uniformity of kernels li) points.

F. Length of ear (for kind and locality) 5 points.

G. Circumference of ear (for kind and locality).. . . ."> points

H, Small spaces between rows 5 points.

J. Depth and shape of kernels 15 points.

K. Per cent of grain and cob 10 points.

Total 100 points.

This scale is not entirely satisfactoi-y. It
would be difficult to mark point B, as it is
assumed that the judge is passing on a variety,
and the question of purity he could not answer.
Point D is also a weak one. as the earliness
could not be determined by the degree of ripe-
ness. In judging K the corn should be per-
fectly dry, else the comparisons would not be
fair. In any event, such a score card could
only be used in scoring exhibits on a mercan-
tile basis, and not a variety one. Not enough
is known about variety characteristics to per-
mit this fairly.

At the present time the method of judging
in vogue is considered unsatisfactory, and an
effort is being made to establish the use of the
score card. It is to be hoped that a scale of
points will be adopted such as will give satis-
tion and be generally used.

58 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

CHAPTER V.

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS.

It is a generally recognized fact that to re-
move a crop from the soil is to take from it a
certain amount of fertility or plant food. If
this practice is continued without returning
this food in some form to the soil it becomes
much impoverished and less and less produc-
tive.

Fertilizers necessary. — A crop of 50 bushels
of Indian corn and 8.0U0 lbs. of cornstalks per
acre will remove from the soil 79.8 lbs. nitro-
gen, 55.2 lbs. phosphoric acid and 87.6 lbs.
potash.* To remove such a crop is a heavy
drain on the soil fertility, and to purchase in
the markets the amounts of nitrogen, phos-
phoric acid and potash removed by it would
cost about $20. In the great corn-growing
region of the country, however, a large amount
of land is annually planted which contains so
much available plant food that the farmer
does not feel justified in placing artificial ferti-

* Science in Farming, 1882, p. 153.

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 59

lizers upon it, although staV)le manure is some-
times used. Deep, black prairie soils of the
new West do not as j'et need additional plant
food," although the time is soon coming when
they will. Again there are alluvial river
bottoms subject to annual overflows which so
enrich them that artificial fertilization is un-
necessary, for such bottoms grow large, flue
crops of corn year after year. In the Eastern,
Middle, and Southern States, however, soils
have become impoverished by constant crop-
ping, and each year enough plant food should
1)6 returned to them to keep them highly pro-
ductive.

It is safe to say that the only way to deter-
mine certainly what manure or fertilizer is
best suited to one's land is to experiment on it
on a simple, practical basis.

Stable manure is always a standard material
for enriching the land, and it is suited to the
needs of all classes of crops and all kinds of
soils. Its effect is more lasting than the read-
ily soluble commercial fertilizer. Since 18S3
an experiment has been in progress at the ex-
periment station at Purdue University to de-
termine how long stal)le manure will continue
to affect the yield of succeeding crops. The
plat set apart for this experiment has been pro-
ducing corn continuously since 1879. To cer-
tain plats in the series fresh horse manure was

60 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

applied in 1883 and again in 1884, amounting
for the two years to about 50 tons per acre.
No manure has been used in this experiment
before or since the two years named. The av-
erage results of the 11 years of cropping have
shown a yearly gain of 10.42 l)u. of corn per
acre for the manured plats over those unma-
nured.

In other experiments at Purdue, in charge of
Prof. Latta who conducted the preceding one,
fresh horse manure has always given greater
returns from its application than artificial fer-
tilizers, singly or in combination. Both six
and nine tons of the manure per acre gave
larger yields than wliere fertilizers were used
under any circumstances.

At the Connecticut station for four years a
comparison has been made of the influence of
cow manure, hog manure, and fertilizer-chem-
icals upon a corn crop grown continuously on
the same land.* The yields from plats given
cow and hog manure in excess of the .exhaus-
tion by cropping have been essentially the same
during the four years, averaging, however,
slightly in favor of the hog manure. The fer-
tilizer plat, which received more nitrogen,
phosphoric acid and potash than the crop re-
moved, gave about four-fifths as much dry

* Connecticut State agricultural experiment station. Re-
port for 1893, p. 286.

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 61

matter as did tlie manured plat, while the uii-
manured plat gave about three-fifths that of
the manured. A liberal manuring increased
the albuminoids in the crop; in the kernels
there was a marked increase in the protein
and nitrogen-free extract.

At the Missouri station barn-yard manure
(solid and liquid together) increased the yield.*
At the Texas station, on poor, shallow, upland
"post oak" subsoil of stiff clay, cow manure
gave most profitalile returns, though bone meal
produced the largest increase in yield. f

Artificial fertilizers have been largely used
with profit in this country, notably South and
East. It would be useless, however, to recom-
mend to the farmer the use of anything but a
complete fertilizer for corn, not knowing the
soil conditions or the adaptability of a given
farm to this cereal. If the soil is deficient in
nitrogen, potash or phosphoric acid, the best
way to do will be to try some special fertilizers
containing these ingredients, and so determine
just what the land needs most. It will be safe,
however, unless in exceptional circumstances,
to use plenty of stable manure for the cornfield
and then supplement this with a dressing of
fertilizer.

* Missouri agricultural experiment station, Bulletin Xo.
14.

t Texas ag-ricultural experiment station, repoi-t for 1SS9,
p. 11.

62 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Experiments with fertilizers.— It is inter-
esting, however, to note some of the results
from using fertilizers experimentally on corn.
Much of this work has been done with great
care, and may be suggestive, if not having a
direct application.

In 1881 Prof. W. 0. Atwater, in an address
before the Connecticut State board of agricul-
ture, reported on the effects of fertilizing
materials upon corn grown in 73 experiments
on sandy or sandy loam soil, extending over the
years 1878, 1879 and 1880. In these experi-
ments, '"phosphoric acid took the leading place
often, potash occasionally, and nitrogen very
rarely." Prof. Atwater considers the experi-
ments numerous and decisive enough to war-
rant the inference that, as corn is commonly
grown, nitrogenous fertilizers in any quantity
would rarely be profitable.

For several years past fertilizer experiments
on corn have been conducted by the Storrs'
(Connecticut) experiment station, under the
direction of Prof. C. S. Phelps. "The crops
grown on light soils were in nearly all cases
greatly increased by the use of potash or nitro-
gen, or both, while in only one case was there
any considerable increase from the use of phos-
phoric acid." On the heavy soils phosphoric
acid gave l)y far the best results. "The experi-
ments thus far made indicate that for corn,

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 63

ou the lij^liter soils of the State, fertilizers con-
tjiiiiing a lar<^e proportion of potash are needed
to give the best results/' while fertilizers with
rehitively large proportions of phosphoric acid
produce the best results on heavy, clayey soils.*

At the Massachusetts State experiment sta-
tion for some years a series of 10 plats of one-
tenth acre each in size have been grown to
corn and treated with one or two special arti-
cles of plant food, or else left un manured. In
1888 those plats receiving a dressing in which
potash was the dominant ingredient gave ma-
terially increased yields of grain over the nitro-
gen plats, though a combination of 97 lbs. of
sulphate of potash and magnesia and 100 lbs.
of dissolved l)oneblack gave the best yield.

In experiments conducted over the State of
Massachusetts in 10 different counties^ by Prof.
W. P. Brooks of the agricultural college, while
it was shown that soils differ widely in their
requirements, it was also demonstrated that
potash more often proves beneficial or much
more largely beneficial than either nitrogen or
phosphoric acid.f Potash as a rule most largely
increases the yield of both grain and stover,
but its effect upon stover production is greater
than upon grain production.

*Storrs' agricultural experiment station. Report of 1892,
p. 67.

t Experiment Station Record, III, p. Ido.

64 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

At the Georgia station nitrogen experiments
were conducted upon 25 plats of 3-40th acre
each. In general the results indicated that
"nitrogenous manure increased the yield of
corn covered by the experiments; that nitrogen
alone, regardless of the source, was more effec-
tive in increasing the yield of corn than either
phosphoric acid or potash, or both combined;
but that when a large amount of fertilizer
was to be applied to corn it was best to add all
three of the elements."* In the general ferti-
lizer experiments of this station in 1893 nitro-
gen was the most effective fertilizer used, and
it was concluded that at present prices of com-
mercial fertilizers they could not be used with
profit.l

At the Ohio station in 1890 and 1891 some
increase has followed the use of nitrogen in
every case, but in 1888 there is no evidence
that nitrogen, whether used alone or in com-
bination with phosphoric acid, has produced
any increase in crop beyond the limits of prob-
able variation in the soil itself. "Experiments
were conducted on five private farms in five
counties, in which it was shown that (1) nitrate
of soda in combination with dissolved bone-
black or muriate of potash, one or both, has

* Georgia agricultural experiment station, Bulletin 15,
December. 1891.

t Georgia station. Bulletin 23. December, 189.3.

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 65

produced an increase of crop in 46 out of 48
trials; and (2) in no case has the iiK^-ease in
crop been sufficient to pay cost of fertilizer."*
This work is supplemented l)y further work
along the same line.f Twenty-one separate
experiments were made on soils varying widely
in character and located in different parts of
the State, and extending over at least six years.
As a result of this work Director Thorne con-
cludes:

"At present prices of cereal cvups and of fertilizing ma-
terials, respectively, the prolitable production of corn, wheat
and oats upon chemical or commercial fertilizers, or upon
barn-yard manure, if its cost be proportionate to that of the
chemical constituents of fertility found in commercial fer-
tilizers, is a hopeless undertaking:, unless these crops be
grown in a systematic rotation with clover or a similar
nitrogen-storing crop; and the poorer the soil in natural fer-
tility the smaller the probability of profitable crop produc-
tion by means of artificial fertilizers."

At the Kentucky station, on land rich in
phosphoric acid, a mixture of muriate of potash
and nitrate of soda in the proportion of one
part of the former to two of the la.tter gave the
best yields of grain, viz.: an increase of 39
bushels per acre over where no fertilizer was
applied. Combinations of nitrogen and phos-
phoric acid, or single applications of either,
gave practical] 3' a less yield than wdiere no

*Ohio agricultural experiment station, Bulletin 3, Vol. V,
March, 1892.

ilUd., Bulletin 5.% March 1804.
5

66 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

fertilizer was applied, while combinations of
potash and nitrogen, or potash alone, gave good
yields.*

At the Virginia station phosphoric acid gen-
erally increased the yield. A full application
of this cost but one-half as much as the potash
and one-sixth as much as the nitrogen.f Fur-
ther, where phosphoric acid was applied there
was a larger proportion of the corn to fodder
than in the other yields. In no instance did
the nitrogen application give a gain equal to
its cost.

The Rhode Island station, on the basis of
several experiments, advises the use of about
45 lbs. nitrogen, 75 lbs. potash and 54 lbs. phos-
phoric acid per acre.}:

Summary of experiments. — A careful ex-
amination of the experiments in supplying fer-
tility to the corn crop conducted by the differ-
ent agricultural experiment stations shows,
as might have been expected, much difference
in the results secured. Wherever used stable
or barn-yard manure was productive of good
results. Combinations of nitrogen, potash and
phosphoric acid gave satisfactory yields in

* Kentucky agricultui'al experiment station. Bulletin No.
33.

t Virginia agricultural experiment station. Bulletin 31,
August, 1893.

J Handbook of experiment station work. Washington,
1893, p. 86.

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 67

many cases, but generally the cost of these was
too much to make their use profitable. The
value of phosphoric acid was especially shown
in tests in Alabama, Louisiana, Pennsylvania
and Vermont; that of nitrogen in Georgia,
Massachusetts (local). New York and North
Louisiana; that of potash in Kentucky, New
Hampshire, New Jersey and Massachusetts
(general).

Cotton seed crushed, or cotton-seed meal is
generally considered to be a most desirable
nitrogen fertilizer. This used singly or in con-
nection with artificial fertilizer is recommended
for the corn crop. The meal may be sowed
broadcast before planting and harrowed in,
while the crushed seeds may be plowed under,
as with stable manure. However, it would be
better husbandry to feed the cotton seed or
meal to live stock and use the manure, which
will contain about all the fertilit}' of the orig-
inal grain.

Sea weeds, fish scrap or dead fish, night
soil and other su))stances are used for manur-
ing corn lands in a limited way. Refuse fish
makes a good nitrogenous manure, and along
the coast in places is extensively used.

Green manure offers a valuable means of
improving the soil for corn-growing in localities
where the land has been long cultivated. This
is for the reason that those cro[)s best adapted

68 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

for this purpose, such as the clovers in the
North and the cowpea in the South, increase
the soil fertility by returning to it additional
plant food secured from the atmosphere or soil.
The clover plant, it has been demonstrated,
adds materially to the fertilitj^ of the surface
soil by securing nitrogen from the atmosphere
and holding it, and also b}^ al)sorbing and hold-
ing nitric acid from below the cultivated sur-
face, so that clover plowed under decidedly
increases soil fertility. In the Southern States
the cowpea plowed under is a recognized reno-
vator of worn-out lands.

According to Sir J. B. Lawes.* "the leguminous
(clovers, peas, beans, etc.) are the only plants
which can be said distinctly to enrich the sur-
face soil when plowed in, and I may mention
that in a case where a crop of red clover was
grown by us, and twice mown for hay, the in-
crease of nitrogen in the surface soil was suffi-
cient to be measurable 1)}^ analysis when com-
pared with another part of the field where the
grain crop was grown."

Green manure is especiall}^ valuable on light
soils or heavy impoverished clay land. The
crop should be plowed in at about the time of
well-advanced bloom, before seed formation.

The plowing under of sod or stubble is in a
measure a form of green manuring, for much

* The Country Gentleman, March 12. 1883.

MANURES AND FERTILIZERS. 69

sod laud is plowed after the green growth has
got well started. Those persons who have
grown a crop of corn on land in clover or
timothy the previous season have noted the in-
creased yields from it, if the weather conditions
were satisfactory and the tillage good.

The manurial value of feeding stuffs, as

iudicated by the amount of nitrogen, phosphoric
acid and potash present, is shownin the follow-
ing table, abstracted from a more complete
table published by Dr. E. H. Jenkins, chemist
of the Connecticut agricultural experiment
station.* The nitrogen is estimated at 17 cents,
the phosphoric acid 6 cents and the potash at
4i cents per pound. The prices for these sub-
stances, however, varies from time to time
according to market supply and demand:

AVERAGE NUMBER POUNDS NITROGEN. PHOSPHORIC ACID

AND POTASH IN ONE TON AMERICAN FEEDING STUFFS,

AND VALUE PER TON FOR MANURE OF SUCH FOODS.

Phns.
^ .•■,-, Nilrn- photic

irVeen JOaaer. grn. nrUi. Potash. Value.

Maize fodder 4.8 2.2 7.8 $1.28

Maize silage 4.8 2.2 7.0 1.25

Rye fodder 8.4 4.8 12.6 2.23

Sorghum 4.0 1.1 3.7 .91

Clover 13.0 2.6 13.0 2.93

Cowpea vines 8.6 3.4 6.0 1.92

Dry fodder.

Clover 36.6 13.2 44.0 8.88

Meadow hay 3S.2 8.6 32.0 8.37

Timothy 19.2 7.2 29.6 4.95

Cornstalks 13.2 7.8 17.2 3.44

* New England Homestead, Dec. 2;"), iSSCi, p. 4o7.

70

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Dry fodder. ^gfn.'

Buckwheat straw 12.4

Oat straw 10 . 8

Rye straw 14.6

Wheat straw 16 . 0

Cowpea vines 50,2

Boots.

Carrots 4.0

Sugar beets 5.8

Globe mangolds 5.4

Grain and other seeds.

Barley .39.6

Buckwheat '. 32.0

Cotton seed kei-nels 99 . 6

Cowpea seed 66.4

Indian corn 33.8

Oats 36.2

Rye 34.0

Wheat .38.0

Mill 'products., by-products and refuse.

Malt sprouts 73.4

Cotton seed meal 134.6

Linseed meal 106.0

Indian corn meal 29.0

Indian corn bran 22.2

Indian corn and cob meal. 22.9

Indian corn cob 8.0

Hominy meal 30.8

Gluten meal 94.8

Rye bran 48.8

Wheat middlings 41.4

Wheat bran 47 . 4

I'hos-

phoric

acid.

Potash.

Valve.

12.3

42.2

$4.64

5.6

32.6

3.56

7.4

20.2

3.66

4.2

17.4

3.71

8.2

28.0

9.91

2 2

6.0

1.06

0.6

3.6

1.15

0.4

9.0

1.32

13.4

7.6

7.76

15.6

11.8

6.88

34.4

22.8

19.96

20.2

20.2

13.36

14.2

8.0

6.94

16.0

11.6

7.61

16.0

10.6

7.19

18.4

10.2

8.00

29.2

33.0

15.63

60.6

35.8

28.04

38.8

28.2

21.55

12.8

8.0

6.04

98

9.4

4.76

10.9

9.2

4.96

4.4

14.0

2.22

23.9

12.3

7.20

9.0

12

16.71

27.8

18.0

9.83

25.2

13.4

9.11

(iO.2

32.0

13.03

TILLAGE. 71

CHAPTER VI.

TILLAGE.

The subject of tillage inclndes plowing, har-
rowing, and cultivating, and each will be con-
sidered by itself in the order given. It may be
accepted as true that as a rule the more thor-
oughly the soil is prepared before planting the
more satisfactory will be the crop returns. Too
many farmers plow, harrow, and cultivate in-
differently. The ground should be thoroughly
pulverized before the seed is planted. This
cannot be unless the plow is held back until
the ground is in shape to handle reasonably
well with both plow and harrow.

Plowing. — For three successive years an ex-
periment has been continued at the Indiana
experiment station on deep and shallow plow-
ing for corn. The soil is a dark, compact loam,
with a deep layer of gravel about two feet be-
low the surface. The usual practice at the
station is for corn to follow on clover stubble,
which is plowed in the spring after the clover
has started growth. This corn was grown on
plats permanently located for that work, which

72

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

is to continue for a term of years. Where the
plowing was 10 and 12 inches deep a subsoil
plow followed after the common plow and
loosened to the necessary depth. The results
of this work, as given by Prof. W. C, Latta,*
are as follows:

BUSHELS PER ACRE FROM DEEP AND SHALLOW PLOWING.

Depth of plowing.

1891.

189S.

1893.

Average of
3 years.

4 to 4i inches

49.3
49.1

49.8
49.6
46.7

52.9

58.9
60.0
59.7
61.4

16.1
13.6
17.1
17.0
17.5

39 . 48

6 inches

40.54

8 inches

42.28

10 inches

41.76

12 inches

42.01

Excessive drouth in 1893 accounts for the low
yields of that year. The deeper plowings gave
the best returns, with that of eight inches
slightly in the lead.

According to the tenth census of the United
States,! on the basis of the question, "How
deep is the soil usually plowed for corn?" the
great majority of the answers from the leading
corn-producing States were from six to eight
inches, some being as low as five and a very
few as high as nine. In a further consider-
ation of this subject Prof. Brewer says::|: "In

* Bulletin 50, Vol. V, Purdue University agricultural ex-
periment station, April, 1894,

t Tenth Census of the United States. Report of the Pro-
ductions of Agriculture, Washington. 1883, p. 98.

Xlhid.

TILLAGE. 73

States of gravelly or luaiiiy soils, where the
yield is rarely high but is rather certain, and
where corn follows clover, it is the custom
with many excellent farmers in planting on
such sod to plow shallow, not more than three,
three and one-half or four inches deep, Imt in
the after-cultivation to plow the corn in sum-
mer very deep." On heavy, cold sod land,
plowing a depth of five to six inches will no
doubt be more satisfactory than at a greater
one. On light, easily broken soil, the plow
may run deeper to advantage. Under circum-
stances where drouth may occur somewhat
better results may be looked for from the deep
plowing.

Harrowing. — Having the land properly
plowed, it should be reduced to a fine tilth liy
the use of the harrow. On sod land a disk or
cutaway harrow can be most efficiently used to
tear and pulverize the overturned turf. This
may be followed by a smoothing harrow that
will prepare a smooth, fine seed bed. If lumps
or clods occur that do not easily break under
the harrow they should be broken either with
a roller or plank drag. Three oak planks, each
about six feet long, ten inches wide and two
inches thick, chained on lap edges like weather
boarding, and drawn broadside over the field,
will rapidly crush obnoxious clods.

Cultivating. — Even b/cfore the corn plant

74

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

has appeared above the surface it may be de-
sirable to cultivate (or lightly harrow), espe-
cially if v^^arm rains have occurred and the
weeds are vegetating fast. Too much stress

cannot be laid upon clean, thorough cultiva-
tion of the growing crop. The soil should be
kept well stirred in time of drouth, and at all
times frequently enough to keep the weeds in

TILLAGE.

subjection. The farmer cannot afford to grow
a crop of weeds on the kind with his corn, for

not oul}' will they feed on the food which the
corn should eat, but they will pump off needed
soil moisture in time of drouth and interfere

76

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

with the economical handling of the crop at
harvest.

The frequency of cultivation will mainly
depend upon the conditions of soil moisture

and weed growth. If drouth prevails stirring
the soil will conserve its moisture. If weeds

TILLAGE.

77

occur they shonld be eradicated. For five
years Prof. G. E. Morrow conducted a series of
experiments at the Illinois experiment station
upon the influence of frequency of cultivation
upon the corn crop. The average results for
the five years ending 1898 are as follows:*

Kind of cultivation. Yield in bushels.

Not cultivated; scraped with lioe (two plats) 68.3

Shallow, ordinarily frequent TO. 3

Deep, ordinarily frequent J>6.T

Shallow, frequent "- • 8

Dciep, frequent 64 . 5

The general results thus favor frequent shal-
low cultivation, though the increased yield will
Avarrant the employment of but little extra
time over that of ordinary frequency.

At Purdue University we ordinarily plan lor
at least five cultivations during the season.

At the Kansas experiment station quite a
number of plats of corn have been submitted
to frequent cultivation tests. The average re-
sults of three years' trials, as given by Prof. ( •.
C. Georgeson, are as follows.-}-

Times cultivated.

Times cultivated during season.

Yield in

1891.

1892.

189S.

bushels.

Twice a week

Once a week

Once in two weeks.

9
f)

11
3

14
1
4

40.3
41.3
40.9

*Bulletin No. 31, March. 1S94, Illinois agricultural experi-
ment station, p. 355.

t Bulletin 45, December. 1W3. Kansas aji^ricultural experi-
ment station, p. 1.31.

78

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

There is no gain found in frequent cultiva-
tion, but instead a slight loss. This loss may
be due to excessive root-pruning. Where corn
was cultivated, however, once in three and
once in four weeks a material loss in yield oc-
curred. It would appear that three to four

Fig. 21. —Standard Riding Ci'ltivator With Six Shovels.

cultivations a season, according to circum-
stances, might l^e recommended as a general
rule.

Depth of cultivation should be shallow
rather than deep. The roots of the corn plant,
while penetrating several feet below the top of
the ground, are essentially surface feeders. At

TILLAGE.

79

a depth of three inches for a radius of two feet
about the plant may be found a great number

of fine roots. It is not desirable to cut these
roots more than possible. ('()nspquently the cul-
tivation must necessarilv lie shallow.

80

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

At the Purdue University experiment station
Prof. Latta has found the average results of
cultivating corn for six years, at depths of one,
two, and three inches, to have been decidedly
in favor of shallow culture, the average yields
being 51.06 bu. for one inch. 50.09 for two, and
48.73 bu. for three inches." By referring back
to the report on frequency of cultivation at the
Illiuois station it will be noted that the shallow
gave an increase of four bushels per acre over
that of the deep in both ordinary and frequent

cultivation. Figs. 22, 23 and 24 show three in-
teresting forms of culivators specially made for
shallow culture.

The root-pruning of corn directly bears
upon the subject of depth of cultivation. Some
years ago attention was directed to this subject.
In 1882, at the New York experiment station,
root-pruning of corn was compared with that
not root-pruned, by Dr. E. L. Sturtevant, with

* Bulletin 50, Vol. V, April, 18^)4. Purdue University agri-
cultural experiment station, p. 4S.

TILLAGE.

81

contradictory results.* This work was carried
on more extensively in 1SS8. and the pruning

was found to be detrimental to the jjlant and

* New York a^rricultiiral experiment station. Report for
1S82, p. 53.

82 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

yield.-' Of seven comparisons all but one were
very much adverse to pruning.

At the Minnesota station Prof. W. M. Hays
found f that the root-pruned plats averaged
nearly three bushels of corn and 800 lbs. of
fodder less per acre than the plats not root-
pruned. Another year root-pruning was found
to diminish the yield of grain 13| bushels per
acre.

A number of years of comparison of root-
pruned with unpruned corn at the Illinois sta-
tion, by Prof. G. E. Morrow, has shown a gen-
eral injury from the root-pruning. J In 1893
the yield per acre was 100.3 bu. for the un-
pruned as against 78.8 bu. for the pruned — a
very material difference.

The above results show the necessity for
shallow cultivation and the injurious results of
breaking off the surface corn roots. Set the
cultivator so that the teeth will run shallow.
The weeds may be easily destroyed by cultivat-
ing at a depth of aljout an inch if the work is
done in reasonable season.

* New York agricultural exiieriment station. Report for
1883, p. 134.

t Bulletins Nos. 6 and 11, Minnesota agricultural experi-
ment station.

{Bulletin No. 31, March, 1894, Illinois agricultural exper-
iment station, p. 357.

PLANTING. 83

CHAPTER VII.

PLANTING.

In planting a seed numerous factors must be
considered as having an important bearing on
the quality and quantity of the crop. These
factors will be considered under the following
headings:

Time of planting.

Rate or distance apart of planting.

Drills vs. hills.

Depth of planting.

Listing,

Time of planting. — Necessarily two imjior-
tant conditions influence the date of planting
corn, viz.: geographical location and tempera-
ture of soil. Brewer says" that the most com-
mon rule observed as to time of planting is
that derived from the Indians on the settle-
ment of New England and the Middle States,
to "plant corn when the leaves of the white
oak are as big as a squirrel's foot," or as
another saying states it, "as big as a squirrel's

* Tenth Census. Report on the Productions of Agricul-
ture, Washington, 1883, p. 98.

84

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

foot or mouse's ear."' There is considerable
sigiiiticance in this in fact, as the oak is tardy
in showing its leaves until
the ground has had its spring
warming. Corn not only re-
quires a warm air tempera-
ture to grow well in, but
the soil must be reasonably
warm. A temperature of
the soil to a depth of one
inch of from 50 to 60 deg.
Fahr. will justify planting.
In the great corn belt plant-
ing begins about May 1 and
often extends over the en-
tire month. If the ground
is ready it is not wise to
hurry the seed into the
ground too soon, as the vi-
tality of the seed or young
plant may be seriously im-
paired by being exposed to
cold rains which often fol-
low stretches of warm April
weather. The fo llowing
table shows the results of
early and late planting con-
ducted by Prof. Latta at the Purdue University
experiment station"^ The experiment began

* Bulletin No. TjO, p. 45, Purdue University agricultural
experiment station.

PLANTING. 85

ill lbb8, and excepting- 1>)1)1 has been continued

ever since. The yields for May 1 and May

28-30 are averages for four years; those for

May lO-lfi for three yeai's; tlie others for five:

Date planted. Yidd in hiifihels.

Ma^ 1 4().()4

May 8-11 4r).ot)

May 15-16 .• .'WJ-S

May 21-22 41.41

May 28-30 r).T5L

At the Illinois experiment station Prof. Mor-
row found/'' as the average of six years' work,

Fig. 26.— Farmers' F.worite Oxe-Horse Cor.v Drill.

the largest yield (62.3 bu.) to come from corn
planted from May 4 to 9, although there is l)ut
a slight falling off below these dates for plant-
ings ranging from April 27 to Mav 2 and Mav
lltoK).
At the Ohio station the largest yields are

* Bulletin 31, Illinois agricultural experiment station,
March, 1894, p. 352.

86 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

given from plantings made from Mav 13 to
15.*

In the Sonthern States planting begins sev-
eral weeks earlier than in the Northern ones,
and with a mnch longer season for maturity,
so that time of planting is not of so great sig-
nificance, as for example in Wisconsin, where
some varieties will not mature at all, while
others will barely mature before killing frosts.
Every one will have to l)e his own judge for his
special conditions, but it will be well to watch
for the young oak leaves and note the tempera-
ture of the soil.

Rate or distance apart of planting. — It may
be accepted as true that where corn is grown
for the grain each plant should have an oppor-
tunity for its fullest development. With soil
of the same character and fertility it would not
be best to plant an acre of the same corn in
New York and Tennessee under equal condi-
tions as regards quantity of seed. A less amount
would do where the plants grew large and ro-
bust; consequently we find a person in one
latitude growing one or two stalks in a place,
while in another locality, with less favorable
conditions, three or four stalks are grown.

At the Greorgia station, in tests as to distance
of corn grown in hills, 5x4 feet apart gave the

* Annual report Ohio agricultural experiment station for
1888, p. 80.

PLANTING. 87

largest yield per acre. In reporting on this
test Director Redding says: "The season of
1890 may be considered as about an average
one, and therefore the results of this experi-
ment may be taken as indicating that a dis-
tance of 5x4 (or 2.184 stalks to the acre) is not
too great for such land."'-'

In South Carolina in experiments conducted
at Spartansburg, Columbia and Darlington on
distance apart of planting, the hills ranged from
5x8 to 6x3 feet, and the drills from five to six
feet apart. These experiments indicated that

Fig. 27.— Farmers' Favorite one-Hohse Froxt Rank Corx Drill.

"it made little difference whether the rows
were five feet or six feet apart or the checks
5x3 feet or 6x3 feet."t

At the New York experiment station numer-
ous experiments with. Waushakum corn, ex-

* Bulletin No. 10, December. 1890. Georgia agricultural
experiment station.

t Second annual report South Carolina experiment sta-
tions, 1889; p. 252.

OO INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

teiuliDg over four years, gave the most satis-
factoiy yields where four to five stalks grew in
hills 42 by 44 inches apart.*

At the Illinois station elaborate experiments
with dent corn have been carried on since 1888
on number of kernels planted per hill and the
distance apart of the hills. As a general thing
the largest yields occurred from planting four
kernels in a hill, and the average yield of 69.5
bu. of air-dry corn was the greatest amount se-
cured, and this by putting four seeds in hills
four feet apart.f

At the Purdue Universit}^ station the rela-
tion of thickness of planting to yield has been
studied for eight years.:]: The average results
of this work show no material difference in
yields where stalks are practically 11, 12 or 14
inches apart, but for distances exceeding this
there is a gradual falling off in yield.

In an interesting article on '"Distance apart
in planting corn,*" D. S. B. of Hartford. N. Y.,
says:§

"The distance, after years of experiments on average soils
is, in my opinion, 33 inches or six to the rod. This with
good tools renders cultivation easy and rapid, and with three

* Annual reports New York agricultural experiment sta-
tion for 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885.

t Illinois agricultural experiment station Bulletin 31,
March, 1894, p. 354.

X Purdue University agricultui^al experiment station, Bul-
letin 50, April, 1894, p". 46.

g Country Gentleman, March 18, 1886.

I'LANTING. 80

or four stalks in the hill covers the ground thoroughly,
smothering, to a certain degree, weeds in the latter part of
the season, and yielding maxiinura crops of grain and fodder.
On some soils, with plenty of manure, .30 inches have given
the best results, but not so invariably as IV.] inches. At the
latter distance the ears will be as sound and well developed
as at a greater, but not so long; at the same time there will
be a larger number, making the yield the same. The fodder
is much superior to that grown at gi^eater distance, stock
consuming it with little waste, as it is fully developed and if
cut at the proper time and properly cured makes superior
feed for cows."'

This probably applies to flint corn. For the
large western dent corn this distance is too
close.

If corn is to be planted in hills, in the North
as a rule 36x42 inches will prove satisfactory
for the large varieties; and if in drills, one
kernel every foot in drills 42 inches apart. In
the South these distances may be increased to
suit conditions.

Drills vs. hills.— Experimental work thus far
conducted indicates that it makes but little
difference, so far as yield is concerned, whether
corn is grown in drills or in hills. Cleaner cul-
tivation can be maintained with the hill sys-
tem, as the soil may be stirred on all sides of
the group of plants. A field of drilled corn.
however, by going up and down between the
rows, can be kept creditably free of weeds and
may require less labor in hoeing than will that
planted in hills. In New England and the

90

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Middle States most of the corn is grown in
hills, but in the Central West and South the
drill system is largely practiced.

Morrow and Gardner- in 1S93 grew seven
half-acre plats of corn in hills and drills, and

* Illinois agricultural experiment station. Bulletin 31,
March. 1894.

PLANTING.

91

found practically no difference in yields. This
is in accordance with previous experience.

At the Connecticut State experiment station
corn was planted in drills four feet apart, with
plants 10 inches apart in the row, and in hills
48 by 40 inches four plants to the hill, and 48
by 20 inches two plants per hill.'*" The drilled
corn gave about six per cent more dry matter
and a larger yield of each food ingredient. The
composition of the grain was about the same,
whether hill or drill grown.

At the South Carolina stations, as already
noted, it made no practical difference in yield
whether the corn was planted in hills or drills.

Fig. 29.— CHALLENGE COKX PLANTER.

Where land is fairly level, and the corn crop
is an item of special importance on the farm,

* Annual report for 1^00 Connecticut State agricultural
experiment station, p. 18-3

92 INDIAX CORN CULTTRE.

on well-prepared laud the drill system will be
most economical in rapidity of planting and
cultivating. This means, of course, that a
modern horse corn-planter shall be used.

Depth of planting.— On warm, light soil, the
seed should be planted deeper than where it
is cold and retentive. The process of vegeta-
tion is slower on cold than warm land, as the
temperature is lower at the same depth below
the surface. In summer if a drouth occurs the
greater depth of planting on the light soil is
beneficial to the growing crop. If a low" river
bottom is the corn field, shallow planting will
do, as crops rarely suffer from lack of moisture
in such a location. Generally speaking the
w^riter believes one and a half inch a satisfactory
depth to plant the seed.

As bearing on this subject, the following
table of results of experiments on depth of
planting, conducted at the Ohio and Illinois ex-
periment stations, is of interest.* The Ohio
experiments are average results of six years'
work (1SS3-1SSS) and those of Illinois of five
years' duration (18SS-1S93):

* Bulletin No. 31, Illinois station, March, 1894, and seventh
annual report of Ohio station, for year 1*^88, p. 81.

PLANTING.

93

YIJiLU l.V BUSHELS PER ACKE FROM CORN PLANTED AT
DIFFERENT DEPTHS.

Tear.

Depth planted in inches.

Station.

1.

2.

s.

4. \ 5.

6.

7.

1883

86.3,60.8
36.9.37.4
72.5 64.8
58.9 41.3

50.7
41.6
62.5
32.3

28.1

60.3
92.0
60.3

58.5
29.0

60.0

46! 5

40.5

1884

1885

88.0
87.0
58.4
70.3
40.0

73.1
81.0
62.3
56.5
33.4

1886

1887

33.7

3-^ <)

; Ohio.

1888

96.2

93.0

Average

64.0

55.0

43.0

100.8
51.0
70.3
62.7
40.7

■ Illinois.

1888

1889

1 8(t0

1S92

1893

109.7
S3.0
77.8
65.8
51.3

84.4
S3.0
72.8
64.7
48.7

Average

77. o

71.5

65.1

68.8

61.2

- •

At the Ohio station it is to be noted that the
shallow plantings gave decidedly the best re-
turns, and at the Illinois station the same prac-
tically holds true. It is important to note,
however, that the Ohio "corn planted three
and four inches deep seemed to retain its vital-
ity longer than that planted at less depth. The
roots of the deep-planted corn were found, as
we should naturally expect, much deeper in the
soil than wdiere the corn was planted more
shallow; hence their opportunity to secure food
and moisture was materially enhanced." The
experiments in both States were conducted on
deep, retentive soils.

94 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Listing. — The listing process is peculiarly a
Western one, practiced on the big corn fields
of Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and the other great
corn-growing States west of the Mississippi. In
1886 the Farmers'' Review pul)lished* a number
of articles on listing, one of which, by Nelson
Cowles of Dakota City, Neb., is so clear in ex-
plaining the process that it is inserted here in
the main:

"The libting plow consists of a double share and mold
board, or a i-ight and left-hand plow, so joined together as to

Fig. 30.— Listing Plow.

turn the soil both ways from a common center. Attached to
the plow is a small subsoiler which loosens the soil in the
bottom of the furrow. There are two classes of the different
makes of listers, the single and the combined. When the
single lister is used a common Hoosier drill follows the plow
in the furrow and plants the corn. In the combined imple-
ment a drill is attached directly to the plow, thereby saving
the labor of an extra man and horse, and if the implement is
properly constructed works equally as well.

"There are methods of listing corn known as 'single' and
'double" listing. In the single method work is not com-

* Farmers' Review, April 21, 1886.

PLANTING. 1)5

menced until planting time, when the HsIlm- is used in the
iiollows Of middles between the old corn rows, or else on fall-
plowed land, where the lister is run through the field from
three to four feet apart, according' to the soil, kind of corn
l)lanted, and judgment of the operator. The single method
seems better adapted to sections of uncertain rainfall, being
only one-half the labor of the double plow, which is as fol-
lows: As soon as the stalks ai-e cleared from the field in the
spring, the listing plow, with drill removed, is put at work
splitting the old corn rows, thus filling the middles and form-
ing a new i-idge therein. This preparation gives drainage
and opens the soil to the warming influence of the sun. Then
when planting time comes the drill is attached and the new
••idge is divided, and the corn planted in the furrow thus
made, the drill dropping the corn, one kernel in a place, from
S to 20 inches apart, as the operator may choose. By this
l)lan more thorough tillage is secured. * * *

'"In cultivating after the corn is up the field is gone over
with a planker, or what is far better, a smoothing harrow,
which smoothes the ridge and jirepares the ground for the
cultivator, which is used with but one shovel on each side of
the i"ow the first time and both shovels afterwards."

Concerning the merits of listing there is
much diversity of opinion. At the Kansas ex-
periment station this practice has been com-
mended on the basis of experimental returns.*
Four plats listed, compared with four given
surface planting, showed a small gain for the
former — about- four per cent. At the Minne-
sota station results somewhat nnfavoraide to
listing were secured in ISSS.f Francis Mc-

* Kansas agricultural experiment station. Report for
1889, p. 11».

t Minnesota agricultural exi)eriment station. Bulletin
No. 5. isss.

96

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

TLANTING. 97

Keiizie, in the Farmers' Jierieir (April 21, 1886),
states that he believes listing is of doubtful
utility excepting in veiy sandy land where the
rainfall is deticient. On ordinary prairie land
he prefers the standard method. Another
writer in this same journal expresses no faith
in listing- where there is abundant moisture
and heavy soil. Prof. Georgesou of Kansas
says:*

'•Deep plauthiy- by the use of the lister is undoubtedly the
best means to tide over a drouth. Here in Kansas, where
the rainfall is somewhat uncertain, the majority of the farm-
ers list their corn, and in a dry season listed corn frequently
yields a fair crop when surface-planted corn is a failure. The
roots of listed corn are not so near the surface and they there-
fore do not feel the di-outh so severely. For this same rea-
son listed corn can be cultivated deeper with impunity. But
the lister cannot be used to advantage everywhere, espe-
cially where, the rainfall is usually sufficient to supply the
needs of the crop. In such i-egions listed corn would be
liable to be drowned out unless the soil was well drained:
Again, on stiff clays listing cannot be practiced with the
same advantage as it can on the black prairie mold."

Mr. J. ^[. Boomer of Kansas says in the
Breeders Gazette (Fel). 13, 1895.) that he has
Ijeen listing corn for fifteen years, and nine-
tenths of the corn in his neighborhood is listed.
He plants with a single-horse drill, dropping
the kernels 15 inches apart. He prefers a sin-
gle drill to a double one, because if the rows
are not just the right distance apart the two-

* Indiana Fanntr. June .■'.0. I^'.t4.

98 ' INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

horse drill does not drop in the middle of the
furrow as a single one will. A man and a boy
with four horses will list and lAsmt seven acres
per day. He prefers listing to plowing the
ground and planting on top, as it is more easily
done, the land is more easily cultivated, and
consequently it is cheaper to raise it in this
wa}^ The corn stands the drouth better, does
not blow down like top-planted corn, and yields
more per acre.

The advantages claimed for this process are:
(1) economy of labor, (2) more thorough tillage,

(3) ability of the crop to withstand drouth, and

(4) increase of crop.

99

iTiiiii Alt W'
CHAPTER VIII,

HARVESTING.

The general results of investigation indicate
that when the kernel on the ear has become
glazed or hard on the surface, even though
somewhat soft within, it contains as much nu-
triment as it will possess at any time. Further
ripening does not seem to material!}' affect the
grain composition.

Time for cutting. — In experiments at the
Iowa station* five plats were cut at periods
varying from Sept. 17 to Oct. 13. Plat I was
cut when the kernels were ^'in the dough," not
quite all dented, and leaves green; plat II, ker-
nels well dented and leaves just beginning to
dry: plat III. kernels ripened and blades about
half dry; plat IV, kernels thoroughly ripened
and blades and husk rapidly drying up; plat
V, blades and husk nearly all dry. There was
no noteworthy difference in crude protein in
the dry matter between the first and last cut-

* Bulletin 23, Iowa agricultural experiment station, 1893,
pp. 874-880.

100 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

ting. The widest variation in per cent of car-
bohydrates was less than one per cent, while
there was a slight increase in fat from first to
last cutting. In any case the feeding value of
the corn does not seem to be affected. As might
have been expected, the corn-fodder was in-
jured in quality by delaying cutting after the
grain was mature. There was a depreciation
in crude protein in the fodder from 8.47 in plat
I, to 4.05 per cent in plat V, and this loss in-
creased from week to week. Fodder that was
left uncut in the field till December was ma-
terially damaged. There was also a great loss
in fat, this per cent falling from 1.11 to 0.29
per cent. There was something of an increase
in crude fiber and carbohydrates, but this would
not affect the loss of the more important food
components. The largest amounts of dry mat-
ter from an acre, 6,7S2 lbs. in fodder and ker-
nels combined, was secured from the second
cutting.

Among the conclusions reached, as based on
this study, are the following:

• ''(1 ) The stover of a crop of corn seems to reach the high-
est yield and the best condition for feeding at tlie stage of
growth indicated by a well-dented kernel and the first dry-
ing of the blades. (2) The grain of a crop of corn seems to
reach the highest yield and the best condition for utility at
the stage of growth indicated by a well-ripened ear and half-
dried blade, and the best time for securing the crop with
reference to the highest utility of both corn and stover would
be found at a stage of ripening between the above."

HARVESTING. KM

These general results luid conclusions are
such as have been accepted on the basis of pre-
vious investigations. At the Kansas station
corn cut in the milk stage (Aug, 20) yielded
'>').5 bu. grain and 2.4 tons of fodder per acre;
in the dough (Aug. 28), 51 bu. grain and 2,4
tons fodder; when ripe (Sept. IS), 74 bu. grain
and 2.7 tons fodder.* These results agree with
work at that station for the three years in suc-
cession.

Cutting for silage. — Where corn is cut for
silage the crop should l)e harvested when well
glazed or dented. At the Minnesota station,
where corn grown for silage was cut from Sept.
4 to 24, the dry matter in a dent variety in-
creased from 11.4 to 19.7 per cent, and in a
sweet variety from 9.1 to 13.3 per cent.f At
the New York State station the dry matter per
acre in B. «t W. corn cut for silage Sept. 11 was
0,004 lbs., and on Sept. 29, 5.660 lbs. In 1889,
with King Philip corn, there was an increase
in the total amount of dry matter and in the
nutritive value of its constituents as the crop
approached maturity.:|: At the Cornell Uni-
versity station similar returns were secured

* Kansas agricultural experiment station, Bulletin No. 30.

t Minnesota agricultural experiment station, Bulletin
No. 7.

X New York Sttite agricultural experiment station. Seventh
annual report, 1889, p. 88.

102

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

from Pride of the North corn/- The
sin station recommends the cutting
varieties for silage when just past
glazing and dent varieties when "well
dented."! In an interesting experi-
ment at the Pennsylvania station by
Hunt and Caldwell, to ascertain the
food value of corn -fodder cut at dif-
ferent stages of ripeness, of three cut-
tings (Sept. 1 and 2, Sept. 25 and Oct.
7 and 8), the best results came from
that cut Sept. 25, Cows fed on me-
dium mature corn-fodder produced
the largest quantity of butter-fat at
the least cost, the late-cut fodder gave
the next best returns, while the early-
cut made the poorest showing.:}:

Methods of cutting. — At the pres-
ent day most of the corn cut for the
silo or for shocking is cut by hand
with a corn knife. In the West a
popular knife has a straight blade
(see Fig. 32) about 20 inches long,
two inches wide, and rather heavy on
the back. In the East a knife with ;

iscon-
flint

fhtly-

*Cornell University agricultural experiment station, Bul-
letin No. 16.

fV^isconsin agricultural experiment station. Annual re-
port for 1889, p. 126.

J Pennsylvania State college experiment station. Report
for 1892, pp. 34-43.

HARVESTING. 108

curved blade, set iii the end of a short handle,
bhide and handle forming an obtuse angle,
makes a favorite hand knife. Some people
use a grass hook or sickle from preference.
The straight-bladed corn knife is unsurpassed
for rapid and effective hand work.

Corn-harvesting machinery.— Within a few
years nuKdiines have been devised for cutting
corn by horse power. One method has been to
haul l^etw^een two rows a di-ag with wings on
one or both sides, to which knives are attached.
The Buckeye machine (Fig. 33) is one of the
most approved types of this class. It is carried
on four wheels and is pulled b}^ one horse. In
the center of the machine is a tripod with a
seat on which two men may sit, one on each
end and back to back, each facing a row of corn
and grasping the stalks as cut. When not in
use the wings with knives may be laid up
against the tripod. The knives adjust to leave
stubble 6 to 14 inches long as desired.

The self-biiuling form of the harvester, how^-
ever, promises to be the important one of the
future. In the Biiral New Yorher of June 20,
1891, Prof. I. P. Roberts of Cornell University
described a machine he devised for cutting and
binding corn. This machine was improved by
D. M. Osborn & Co. Since then a number of
firms have placed self-binders on the market.
The Deering Harvester Co. construct a machine

104

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Fig 33.— Buckeye Corn Harvester.

FIG. 33 a.— The McCobmick Corx Binoeb.

HARVESTING. Kl.")

which runs on two 3S-inc'li wheels. Two wide
gatherer arms embrace a row of corn and guide
the stalks to the point where they are cut while
standing npi'ight, being pressed against a long,
sharp shmting knife. The corn is seized b}^
the strong fingers of a rotary ledger plate and
pressed against a long beveled knife. As soon
as the corn is cut it is taken up by gatherer
chains and laid on the binding deck, tassels
backward and bound and discharged, the bun-
dles being tossed off lengthwise between the
wheels.

The McCormick Harvesting Co. also make a
self-binder (see Fig. 33 a) that is being used
with mucb success. The stalks are cut off near
the ground and carried in a vertical position to
a modified form of the common self-binder,
wdiere they are bound in bundles with the
butts square and in good shape for shocking.
The bundles are thrown off to one side. Ordi-
nary binding twine is used. The machine is
adjustal)le to short or tall corn and may be
tilted up or down to pick up sprawling stalks.
The McCormick and Osl)orn machines in a trial
at the Indiana experiment station did very sat-
isfactory work.

There has within the past year been a large
sale of these self-binders. The Deering Co.
state that they are unalde to supply the de-
mand, and the McCormicks have sold more than

106 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

10,000 machines since making their exhibit at
the Columbian Ex^DOsition.

Where corn culture is engaged in to an ex-
tensive degree the self-binding harvester is a
great labor-saving machine, while where less
corn is grown the simpler knife harvester can
be used to advantage.

In hauling silage corn or fodder a low-down
wagon is a great improvement over the high
wheels. Fig. 34, re-engraved from the Country
Gentlemcou represents a method of carrying a
load close to the ground. It is made by insert-
ing a reach 20 feet long, made of a round pole

bending down with a foot curve. Closely under
the axles two stiff timbers over 20 feet long are
chained to the axles, and cross pieces 7 feet
long are spiked on them to support the two
lu'oad boards or planks which are outside the
wheels. A platform is thus formed 7 feet wide,
over 14 feet long, only a foot above ground.
Small wheels may also be bought for common
axles, replacing high wheels.

Shocking the corn. — The number of hills
or amount of rows which may be placed in one
shock to best advantage depends upon the
class of corn, whether large or small. If grown

lIAin'KSTrNG. 107

in hills, and of niediiiin-sizod plants, ten bills
square (100 hills) will make a good shock. Of
smaller corn, 144 hills may be j)ut into a shock^
while of very large corn 81 hills makes a plenty.
Yet there is a difference of opinion on this sub-
ject and many place over 100 hills of fairly
large corn in one shock. However^ a medium-
sized shock cures out more rapidly than a large
one and the ear becomes fit for storing at an
earlier date.

Where corn is grown in drill rows about 40
feet each of eight rows will give material
enough for a good shock. A medium-sized
shock should have a circumference at its base
of about 25 feet. Anything much over that
might be termed a large shock.

Where wheat is to be sown in the corn rows
the shocks should be larger and further apart.
Under such circumstances they should be as
large and as far apart as economy of labor in
construction will permit. Waldo F. Brown,
in writing of his new method of shocking on
wheat seeded corn land, saj^s:*

"We cut the corn and put 10 rows in a shock row, but only
eight hills the other way, and in a few days when the corn
has dried out so as to reduce the weight about one-half we
carry one shock from each side and set around the middle
one, which gives us 240 hills to a shock and makes our shock
rows 30 rods apart. We do this handling in the morning
when the dew makes the fodder tough to handle, and as the

* Farmers' Revieti\ Sept. 26, 18S8.

108 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

fodder is partly cured we can make the shocks this large
without danger of their moulding. If wheat is not sown I
prefer 100-hill shocks and husk them as soon as cured,"'

Careful shocking necessary. — In shocking
it is important that the shock be set erect and
hekl firmly in place until husking, so as to keep
the contents dry from rain and not retard
proper curing of both fodder and grain. A
shock that has been blown over and well
soaked with water is materially damaged. If
the shock is properly placed about one uncut
hill, or two hills with plants bent part way

Fig. 35.— Corx Hobse.

over and twisted together, it should not blow
down. Care should be taken to place an equal
amount of stalks on each side of the shock. If
the central hill is cut a corn horse may be used
to advantage. This is made by taking a piece
of timber 2x4 inches by 12 feet, on one end of
which are nailed two legs about three and one-
half feet long. An inch hole is bored about
five feet from the raised end, through which is
loosely inserted, horizontally, a round cross
piece. An old broomstick will do nicely.
Charles E. Benton, writing of the corn horse,

HARVESTING.

109

says:* "Where they [the legs] join the main
piece, as shown at a in Fig. 'So, I have naih^l on
some light strips in such a way as to form a
little cage or box in which corn ties are carried,
each one with its string snugly wound on its
block." The stalks are placed against the corn
horse, when the cross stick forms four corners,
and the shock is built here. When it is com-
pleted the cross stick is pulled out, after wliich
the horse is withdrawn.

Tying the shocks. —After the shock is formed
it is tied near the top. A rope with a pulley
on one end may he used to advantage for draw-
ing the cornstalks together tightly near the
top, after which the tie may be placed on the
shock. Rye straw .cut in the bloom makes ex-
cellent tie bands. Cornstalks theuiselves are
too l)rittle. Binding twine is strong enough,
Init may 1)6 cut by mice. Tarred twine is
strong and is not cut by mice, and may be
rapidly tied so as not to slip. When economy
is to be considered rye straw is about as satis-
factory a cheap tie as can be secured. \n
Western Xew York \villow twigs are popular
bands.

Stacking.— To stack to best advantage, or to
handle on the wagon or elsewhere, the corn
should be placed in small bundles and tied at
the center after curing in the shock. If string

*Amencan Ayricultui-ist, Sept. 1, 1894.

110 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

is to be used for binding it will expedite work
to cut it into suitable lengths before getting
into the field.

The stack should be located in a convenient
and well-drained place and have a foundation
of straw, rails or boards, to keep the fodder
dry. The base of the stack should have a di-
ameter slightly less than the length of two
bundles of stalks laid end to end. The butt
ends of the stalks should form the exterior of
the stack and the center should always be from
two to three feet higher than the outside for
that layer of corn. The diameter in well-made
stacks slightly increases up to a height of six
or eight feet, after which it may contract until
topped off. As the stack is built bundles are
laid crosswise over each layer about and at the
center and over the ends of the bundles form-
ing the outer layers, to keep the whole well
bound together and to maintain a sufficient
slope to the stalks forming the outer circum-
ference of the stack. When the top is to be
formed the stalks may be gradually drawn in
and all the bundles placed in layers sloping
from center to without, so as to furnish good
protection for the fodder below. Sometimes
the stalks are laid up to a pole five or six feet
long, inserted in the top of stack, to which the
bundles may be fastened. Such a covering is
not easily displaced by the wind.

HARVESTING. Ill

Small stacks are preferable to large ones —
from 50 to 100 shocks to each one. Such a size
can be haiidled to better advantage than a large
one, whether the fodder is fed in field or
stable.

Pulled fodder is especially prepared in the
South. This operation is well described by
"H." in the Coimfnj Gentleman of Feb. 5, 1885:

"There are usually two stalks in a hill of corn; the blades
are gathered as high as the operator can reach, from both
stalks, and thrust between them to remain until dry enough
to bind into bundles, which are as large as the blades will
reach around and tie. This tying is done very late in the
evening after the dew begins to fall, when the corn blades,
thoroughly dry, are just moist enough not to crumble. The
fodder has then to be packed [carried] by hand, either to the
ends of the rows, where it can be hauled to the barn, or if
the rows are very long, to some central point to be stacked,
not in loose leaves, but in bundles."

This method of securing fodder is becoming
less and less practiced in the South. The cost
of fodder so secured is too great and valuable
food material is lost in the stalks left in the
field. As a practical business matter the
Southern farmer should cut his corn within six
inches of the ground and cure it in the shock,
as is done elsewhere. The practice of topping
corn is equally as undesirable as pulling.

Husking. — In the eastern United States
where the weather is somewhat uncertain in
the fall, and snow comes early, the corn is usu-
ally husked as soon as diy enough. The ears

112 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

are often pulled from stalks with husks on and
carried to the barn, where they may be husked
at leisure, or stalks with ears on are placed in
shelter, with the husking to follow later. In
the great corn-growing States, where less rain
occurs in the fall than in the East, field husk-
ing is more easily accomplished. Where the
corn is not cut and shocked, deep box wagons
drive through the immense fields when the
corn is well dried, and the ears are pulled from

FIG. Sti.— t'lNGEK Husking Pin.

the husks and thrown into the wagon and con-
veyed directly to crib or market. Where the
corn is shocked, after curing the ear is husked
and usually thrown into heaps in between the
rows, or into wagons, and the stalks placed back
into the shock. Several average-sized shocks
of husked stalks are generally combined to
make one very large one.

Dispensing with husking. — In an article in
the Rural New-Yorker published about 18S8
Prof. Sanborn favors dispensing with the husk-
ing process, on the basis that it involves a three-
fold cost, viz.:

"First, labor, which is a variable amount, depending- upon

HARVESTING.

118

whether the fodder is saved and the method hy which it is
saved. If the fodder is not saved the cost will be three
cents a bushel for husking and cribbing, and on the assump-
tion that coi-n sells for 30 cents a bushel, * * * then the
food must be 10 per cent more effective simply to repay us
for the cost. If the fodder is saved the cost of husking will
be doubled and 20 per ct-nt will have to be added to the
efficacy of the food to balance the cost of the process, and
more must be expected if a pi-ofit is to be received. The
second additional cost will be the loss of leaves, as the result
of husking in the field after the fodder is partly dried. This
loss is a material one and involves the most digestible pai-t
of the food. It is difficult to estimate the value of this cost,
but when added to the third loss, or the risk of the influence
of rain with its leaching effect on the fodder through neces-
sary-delay in housing the fodder while husking the corn, it
is safe to say that $1 per acre is involved, or two to three
cents a bushel of corn."

FIG.3T.— HAxn Husking Pix.

There are conditions on the farm Avhere it
wouhl be wise to profit by the above arguments,
especial 1}" whore steers are to be fed in tiie feed
lot, to be followed by hogs, or where the entire
cured plant is to be run through the feed cut-

114

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

ter. However, where grain is to be sold in the
market, and certain classes of feeding are to be
done, husking is necessary.

Husking machines.— For several years husk-
ing machines have l)een manufactured that do

HARVESTING. 115

a very satisfactory class, of work. These are
quite expensive and are usually owned by
parties who go from place to place husking the
crop at so much per bushel and shredding or
cutting the fodder at the same time. The Key-
stone husker and shredder (Fig. 38) and the St.
Albans shredder (Fig. 39) are two of the prom-
inent shredders on the market, and the manu-
facturers of the Keystone thus explain its
operations:

"The stalks are fed to the machine with the ears of corn
on. The feed rollers crush the stalks thoroughly and pass
them on to the knives, which cut them into fodder, or to the
shredder head, which tears the fodder into fine shreds, leav-
ing it in very much the same condition as hay. The fodder
elevator then carries it to the mow of the barn or to the shed
or stack. The feed rollers do not crush the ears of corn, but
simply snap them off the stalks. The ears drop to the husk-
ing rollers beneath the feeding platform, where the husks
and silks are taken off. The husks and silks are passed out
with the fodder and the ears of corn drop to an elevator
which delivers them to the wagon or crib."'

This nuudiine is a great invention, and in
large corn-growing disti'icts sliould ])e an im-
portant factor in the econ(jiny of handling and
saving the crop. The husking is done as well
as is usually done by hand.

Shredding. — ^The shredded fodder will keep
satisfactorily in the mow if well dried when
put in, but if it is damp it will mold. Care
should be taken to avoid shredding damp fod-
der. This material is very valual)le for feed

116 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

and is being regularly sold on the market. At
Lafayette, Ind., the writer has purchased it at
the feed store for $5 per ton, while in some
other places it fetches $S. In view of the fact
that so mu(di corn-fodder goes to waste in the
field the shredders offer a valuable medium of
rescuing it and placing it on the market in a
desirable form for economical feeding. Says
the Breeder's Gazette (Aug. 15, 1S94): "That
the invention of the shredder opens up a mar-
ket for an almost unlimited quantity of foddei',
shredded and baled (see Fig. 40), for city trade,
is beyond all question. It will soon be quoted
regularly in city feed stores " * ^' and we
are informed that a bright, well-cured quality
of shredded fodder has sold in bales at city feed
stores at $8 per ton.''

Testimony concerning shredded fodder.—
During the spring of l!S95 the Ih'eeders Gazette
published many interesting letters from exten-
sive corn growers and stockmen who have
shredded their dry corn fodder. The universal
testimony seems favorable to this method of
preparing the dry plant for feeding. The shred-
ded material may be stacked in the lot, after
the manner of stacking hay, though it is prefer-
able to place it under shelter.

The following evidence is abstracted from
the various communications in the Gazette as
presenting valuable information on a compar-

HAi;\ ESTING.

117

atively new process of preparing i-ou;^^li food:
Wulff Bros, of Nebraska say: "Corn to be
shredded ought to be cnt just as soon as it is

out of milk, and it will shred and handle the
best if it is left in the field. It keeps all right
if ricked outside with shed roof over it, but it
will heat and mould if not bone dry if it is put

118 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

ill barn and in great bulk." H. L. Buschling of
Missouri thinks that if entirely dry when shred-
ded it will not mould if put in barn in great
Inilk. With him the shredder has given entire
satisfaction, Sauiuel Senneff of Illinois writes:
"I have stacked it outside and it kept well. It
packed so solid the water did not run into it.
I would prefer having it under roof, fV>r it is
easier to handle during the winter storms." In
reply to the question, ''Is it not likely to mould
and spoil if put in great bulk.^" Mr. Senneff
says: ''It will not if it is fully cured and diy
when shredded. I have put the fodder from
40 acres in a barn and it has kept well. I am
now feeding to my stock fodder which wns cut
last Octol)er and it is bright and dry." (1. H.
Robinson of Vermont cuts his corn when ripe,
shocks it and lets it stand till the fodder is dry.
Then he husks it, after which the stalks are
drawn to the barn, shredded, and placed in the
mow. He has never had any mould or spoil,
and the larger quantity he gets together the
better it keeps.

The complaints of this shredded material be-
ing spoiled by moulding are very rare, and it is
generally agreed that if the stalks are fairly
dry when shredded they will not spoil in the
heap. While heating sometimes occurs, in the
experience of the writers the effects do not ap-
pear detrimental. In no case is a record given

HARVESTING.

119

of spontaiicuus coniljusLiou occun-Jiig froiu
ovei'-heating.

'I'lie intlications are that the shredding of dry

mu.

_j

coru-f odder will become a popular and econom-
ical method of preparing it for winter feeding.

120 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

The shredders handle from three to ten acres
of corn a day, according to size of machine and
character of crop. The prices of shredders are
listed at $80 to $130, and of huskers and shred-
ders combined at $150 to $400.

Threshing corn is frequently practiced where
threshing machines are common and the crop
is large. A common threshing machine is used.
W. J. Bingham of South Dakota says:*

"I have threshed it for the past five years, more or less,
using a Westinghouse Separator. It is just as easy to thresh
as wheat. Leave the cylinder the same as for wheat, and
take out all the concave teeth but one single row, putting in
blank concaves or boards to fill out. Run the machine about
half as fast as for threshing wheat; this will crack the corn
some but will not hui't it for feeding purposes. I think this
is a superior way of handling corn, especially where you .use
a binder and bind corn the same as wheat. The fodder is
almost equal to that cut by a fodder cutter, and will keep
here in Dakota in stack without being covered with anything,
but where they have more rain top with marsh hay and it
will keep all winter."

Where threshing is practiced the corn must
be well dried in the field, else the grain will
heat in the bin or pile.

* Breeder's Gazette. Oct. 10, 1894.

ROTATION OF CHOPS. 121

CHAPTER IX,

ROTATIOX OF (7?0PS.

Numerous factors demonstrate the necessity
of gi-owing different croj)S on the same land
during a period of years. Agricultural plants
differ in their root development and conse-
quently in their feeding capacity. The clover
plant is a vigorous feeder and sends its roots
over quite a range of territory, while tlie sugar
beet develops its roots to a mufh more limited
extent.

Rotation rests the land.— A\ e know that
rotating crops rests the land for some reasons
which cannot be entirely explained. Farmers
know that red clover can be grown satisfac-
torily only a year or two on the same field,
when the land becomes what is commonly
termed "clover sick." Says Sir J. B. Lawes:*

'"Land will also become sick of any other leguminous crop
if grown too often; but it is a most singular fact that where
one leguminous crop ceases to grow another will thrive. We
had a remarkable instance of this in one of our fields which
was bean sick, and as all our endeavors to grow this crop
were in vain we at last decided to give up the attempt, and

* Country Gentleman, March 12, 1885.

122 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

in place of the beans we sowed barley and x-ed clover together.
The result was that the red clover sown with the barley was
so luxuriant as greatly to interfere with its growth, and this
too upon land where we had been trying to grow beans with-
out manure for 30 years. In spite of our having grown a
leguminous crop something had accumulated in the soil
which was more favorable to the growth of another legu-
minous plant than to that of a cei'eal crop."

Pkiiits also differ in use of ingredients of soil
fertility. Tobacco is notably a potash feeder,
while the clovers use coniiDaratively more
nitrogen than phosphoric acid or potash. This
being the case, one kind of plant food might
1)0 accumulating in the soil while a crop was
l)eing grown upon it which made only a slight
drain upon that particular element. If no ma-
nure was put upon the land it is plain, in view
of these facts, that the land could be cropped
to better advantage by the rotation system
than by continuously growing the same class of
plants on it.

An important factor in rotation also beai's
on the plant food left in the roots of the crop
last removed from the field. Gulley states*
that when either red clover or cowpeas are
grown on land of average fertility in the South
after cutting off the crop for hay the stubble
and roots on an acre of soil contain as much
nitrx)gen, phosphoric acid and potash that may
become available to the next crop as a dressing

* First Lessons in Agriculture, 1892, p. 85.

ROTATION OF CROPS. 123

of 800 to GOO ]l)s. of cotton-seed meal <>.• .")00
]1)S. of a. standard fertilizer.

Importance of rotation recognized. — In the
rotation system tlie fart must not ]>e lost sight
of that the soil may be kept free of weeds to
the best advantage. Grass laud, followed by a
hoed crop, permits clean cultivation.

The importance of rotation is recognized to-
day by the practical farmer, even though he
may not understand the principles underlying
the practice.

In experiments at the Purdue I^niversity
station very notable gains are shown in favor
of rotation as applied to Indian corn.

An experiment was begun in ISSO to com-
pare different systems of cropping without
using manures. On one series of plats grain is
grown in succession year after year, or two
crops alternating with each other, these crops
being corn, oats, wdieat. On another series of
plats the same crops have been grown in rota-
tion with clover or timothy. The yields of
corn on the two series for 1898, and the average
yields for the last six years, as given hj Prof.
W. 0. Latta, are as follows:*

1S03. Average for 6 years.

Crops grown in rotation 22.2 bu. HI.!)!) bu.

Grain crops only g-i-own l.").l bu. 27.4(i bu.

Gain from rotation 7.1 bu. i.'i'.i bu.

* Purdue University agricultural experiment station, Bul-
letin 50, April, 1894.

124 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

As no manure was used the yields are natur-
ally small, but the balance in favor of the ro-
tation is a large percentage.

For 18 years rotation tests have been con-
ducted on corn at the Illinois station. ■'^ Where
corn, oats and clover were grown in rotation a
decided gain in yield of corn was secured over
those plats which did not receive a dressing of
commercial fertilizer, that were not in rotation.

Systems of rotation. — There are numerous
rotations including corn which are satisfactory.
On the Purdue University farm a rotation of
corn, oats, wheat, clover sown on wheat in
early spring of third year, and cropped fourth
and fifth years, proves quite satisfactory. To
favor large cropping stable manure is well dis-
tributed over the clover stubble before it is
plowed in. The corn has a fertile field and its
cultivation cleans it of weeds in good shape for
the crops wdiich follow that receive no hoeing.
The oat plant is a gross feeder, and following
after the corn it finds the ground well enriched
with the available food in the roots and stubble
and the manure i)reviously applied.

For the Southern States where red clover
will grow, Gulley recommendsf the following
five-year rotation: Corn; clover on corn stub-

* Illinois agricultural ex2)eriment station, Bulletin No.
30, p. 357.

t First Lessons in Agriculture, 1892, p. 86.

ROTATION OF CROPS. 125

l)le ill spring; clover; oats followed by cow-
peas the same year; cotton. Either the cotton
or oats may be left out, and a four-year rota-
tion be adopted.

To secure the most economical and profit-
able cropping of the farm the practice of a
judicious rotation is absolutely essential. This
fact can easily be demonstrated in noting the
practice of successful farmers.

120 IXDIAN CORN CULTUKE.

CHAPTER X.

INSECTS.

The lourpose of this chapter is to describe
briefly some of the more injurious insects affect-
ing the corn plant or its seed and to suggest
remedies with which to suppress them. The
descriptions and remedies are those given Ijy
economic entomologists of high standing, and
more especially by Prof. F. M. Webster, ento-
mologist of the Ohio experiment station; Dr. J.
A. Lintner, New York State entomologist, an<]
Prof. S. A. Forbes, Illinois State entomologist.
From a valuable paper by Webster on "Insects
Affecting the Corn Crop" * numerous important
descriptive abstracts were made. The State
reports of Forbes and Lintner were also freely
used.

Injuring seed after planting. — Tlte seed earn
fiij {PJiorhia fusicejjx, Zetty). This is a yellow-
ish-white, footless maggot, about one-fourth
inch long, blunt at posterior and pointed at
anterior end. It feeds on the substance of the

* Report Indiana State Board of Agriculture, 1885, pp.
180-215.

Fig. 41.— Wire Woum.

INSECTS. * 127

swollen kernel in the ground. It lias not proved
very destructive. A tarring of the seed before
planting will doubtless keep off the maggot.

]]l're iroruts {Elateridw). These are the larvae
(grubs) of the common snapping beetles, of
which there are many species. These worms
(Fig. 41) are greatly
abundant only in new-
ly-plowed meadows.
They eat into and destroy the kernels of corn
or eat off the germinating shoot or roots.
Lintner says the best preventive in infested
fields is starving out by crops
of buckwheat or peas.'*^ Fall
plowing of sod land is thought
desiral)le by many farmers, the
grubs being disturbed and ^'^- *=^- wl1<T "^'^^^
frozen out. Fig. 42 is of the False wire worm
(JuIhs).

Affecting the roots.— Coy/^ ijlant louse {Aphis
maid is, Fitch). Small, pale green lice, covered
with a v/hitLsh mealy substance, feed below the
surface on the juices of the corn root. Large
numbers of these will ))e found about the roots
(jf one plant. Later in the season great num-
bers of dull black and green aphis are found on
the leaves, husks and tassels of the plant, whicli
are the same insects in a different stage of de-

*F]ighth repoi't on the injurious and other insects of the
State of New York for the year 1891, p. 283.

128

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

velopment. Ants are nearly always found
associated with the aphis, they feeding on a
liquid known as honey-dew, which exudes from
the l)ody of the louse. There seems to he no

FIG. 43.— CORX-LEAF PLANT I.orSE, Ap/iis niaidis, Forbes. A. Winged female.
j6. Wingless female that gives birth to young. C. Pupa. (After Forbes.)

effective method at present known for destroy-
ing these lice on a practical basis.

Corn roof vorm (Diahrofica lo)ujico)-)iis, Say).
The developed beetle is green or yellowish-
green, about a quarter of an inch long, and re-
sembling in form the striped squash beetle.
From the latter part of July till the blossom-
ing period is past the beetle feeds on the pollen
and silk. When ready to lay her eggs the
female descends to the ground about the roots
of the corn and deposits a considerable number
of minute white eggs. From these the next

INSECTS. 129

spring liatcli out ininute, active grubs, which
begin to feed at once on the corn roots, if a new
crop has been plantcMl on old ground. The
worms follow these small roots to larger ones,
into which they burrow, often to the base of
the plant. When full grown the worms are
nearly white, a trifle less than half an inch
long and about the size of ordinary wheat
straw just ]>elow the head. When they reach
full growth the worms leave the root, crawl to
one side in the soil, make a cell there, and
transform into white pupa (grub stage), which
soon changes into the beetle form.

This insect has done great damage in our
corn fields, especially in the Central West. In
1885 Prof. Webster noted damage to the corn
crop of Moses Fowler of Lafayette, Ind.,
amounting to 15 per cent of the entire crop on
10.000 acres— a total loss of about $16,000. '^

A rotation of crops is a satisfactory method
for preventing damage from this insect, as has
been demonstrated on a large scale. Wheat or
oats may be suiistituted for the corn crop, as
this insect cannot secure food from their roots,
they being too woody and tough. The first
crop of corn on grass or clover sod is not usu-
ally injured by this pest, although numerous
cases have occurred where the corn was injured
on clover sod.

Report Indiana Board of Agriculture for 1885, p. 188.

130 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

White grub {Lachnostenia fusca, Frohl). This
is the larva of the common brown May beetle
or June bug. The beetles deposit small, whit-
ish eggs about the roots of grass which in about
a month hatch into small, brown-headed grubs
that feed on the roots about them. During the
second year the grubs w^ork near the surface
and reach their full growth during the spring
of the third or fourth year. They are most
abundant in old grass lands, and wdien this is
plowed for one or two seasons may work great
damage to the corn wdiich may be planted on it.
This is a difficult insect to exterminate. Fall
plowing is no douljt advantageous. Pasturing
land in the late summer and fall with pigs will
be a means of getting rid of manj^, then plow-
ing during the late fall or spring.

Affecting the stalk.— Cut nanus. Cut w orms
are of numerous kinds, all of which belong to

one special group — the
Noduidce. The follow-
ing are characteristics
common to nearly all
the species, according to
Lintner.*

FIG. 44 -GLASSY CCT WORM. Larva ^^^^^^^ f ul 1 gl'O WU, CUt

of Haaenaaetastamx. (After Riley., ^^q^^^ mCaSUre frOUl

an inch and a fourth to nearly two inches in

* Eighth report on the injurious and other insects of the
State of New York for the year 1891, p. 281.

INSECTS. 131

length. They have 16 feet, of which the three
anterior pairs (true legs) are pointed, and the
five remaining pairs (prolegs) stout, blunt, and
armed with minute hooks for clasping. In
form they are stout, tapering slightly toward
the extremities. In appearance they are usu-
ally dull colored, greasy looking, dingy brown,
gray or greenish, with some light and dark
longitudinal lines, and sometimes w ith oblique
dashes. They have a large, shining, red or red-
dish-brown head. The first ring or collar ))ears
a "darker-colored, shining, horny plate, as does
also the last one, known as the anal plate. The
body is never hairy, but the several rings have
upon each six or eight small, blackish dots or

humps, from each of
which a short hair is
given out.

The cut worms do
most of their feeding at
night, during the day

Fig. 45 —Moth of Cut Worm shown Y i • i i i ,1

in Fig. 44. (After Kuey.) beiug hidoeu ueueath
stones, sticks and rubl)ish. Some cut w^orms
feed on the parts of the young plant above
ground and some below.

The parents of cutworms are moths. These
deposit their eggs on a plant near by the feed-
ing ground as a rule, although they are also
placed on fruit trees. The eggs soon hatch,
when the young worms drop to the ground

132

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

and enter it, where the}^ feed. Later they go
deeper into tlie soil and remain there over
winter. In spring they come to the top soil
again and feed. In a few weeks they become
full-grown worms, when they make cells in the
soil, in which they locate and where they
undergo a change to pupa, and soon after de-
velop into the moth.

/

KiG i6.— Moth OF Dingy Cutworm Agrotis subgot/iiro. (After Kiley)

About 12 kinds of cut worms are especially
prevalent on corn. On new sod ground the cut
worm is most frequently found.

Numerous methods have been tried to pre-
vent the ravages of cut worms, but as a rule
they are more or less unsatisfactory, Lintner
recommends the use of a tablespoonful of salt
scattered over each liill of corn."-^ He says this
method has been used with considerable suc-
cess. The explanation of this protection is
that the salt dissolves and is taken up by the
roots into circulation and makes the food un-
palatable to the worms. It appears to the

* Eighth report, etc., p. 239.

INSECTS.

133

writer that great care should be used iu apply-
ing this salt, as too much will certainly kill the
young plants. Lintnor also notes* that a gen-
tleman who soaked his corn in copperas water
hefore planting was not troubled by the worms.
A bushel of coi'n is placed in a tub and covered
with water, and a pound or pound and a half
of copperas water added^ which has been dis-
solved in warm water.
This is stirred among
the seed, which are al-
lowed to soak 24 to 30
hours.

Prof. J. B. Smith
recommends the use
of kainit (a potash
salt) to prevent cut-
worm ravages.-}- Ex-
periments of his gave
favorable results. The
kainit should be
broadcasted over the
field just before planting, as in spreading fer-
tilizer, for such it also is. Riley, Fletcher and
others have recommended the poisoning of
green grass or clover and placing it in bunches
about the fields. The cut worm will Ite killed

Fig 47.— GKEASYoii Black Cpt Worm,
Agrotia ypsilon, Hatt. a, cut worm;
b. head of worm from front; c, motb.
(After Kiley.)

* Eighth report, etc., p. ^l'^^^.

t Bulletin 7."), New Jersey agricultural experiment station,
Nov 7, 1S90.

184 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

by eating the poisoned grass. This should be
done just at nightfall.

Stalk horer {Gorfyria u'dehi, Cluen). A full-
grown worm is a little over an inch long, bluish-
Ijrown above, with three white lines on the
back, the central one continuous, the others
interrupted for a considerable space at the
middle.* This worm is the product of eggs
laid by a moth on grass or earh^-planted grain.
When the eggs hatch the worm crawls down

± z

Fig 48.— Stalk Borer, Goriywa ;(i7Wo.Guen. 2, moth; 2, worm. (After RUey.)

into the stem of the plant. To prevent their
ravages, Webster recommends f one ounce of
pyrethrum powder in two gallons of water, or
one part crude carbolic acid to 100 parts water.
Spray or sprinkle the j^oung plants so this
liquid will run down among the unfolded
leaves.

Chinch bug {Blissns Jeucopterus, Say). This is
a true bug that is about three- twentieths of an
inch long and one-third its length in breadth.

* F. M. Webster: Bulletin 3, Purdue University, April,
1885.

t Report Indiana State Board of Agriculture, 1885, p. 192.

INSECTS.

135

The body is black iiiid slightly hairy as seen
under a microscope. The wing covers are
white with a sub-triangular black spot in the
middle of the outer margin of each and a few
black veins upon their middle. The feet, claws
and enlarged ends of the antenn-te are black,
while elsewhere the antennae and legs are dull
yellow.

The chinch bug deposits at least two sets of
eggs, one in the fall upon the crown or the
roots of plants, and another iji spring. The
eggs are very minute and one
bug deposits about 500 at inter-
vals extending over several
weeks. The eggs hatch in about
tw^o weeks. At first the larva
is pale yellow, but changes to
red, except the two anterior
segments of the body, and the
legs, which are yellowish. After
the first moult it becomes bright
red with a pale band across the
middle of the body. After the second moult
the wing pads begin to show and the general
color gets darker, with the pale band still con-
spicuous. A third moult develops the pupa
with distinct wing pads, the anterior portions
being dark l)rown and the abdominal portions
grayish, except the tip, which is brown. It
takes from five to seven weeks to change from

Fig. 49.— ArcT>T Chixch
BCG, Blissua teucoptenc^.
Say. (After liiiey.)

136

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

the egg to the perfect insect where winter does
not interfere."

When winter comes the insects seek shelter
under sticks, stones, leaves and rubbish of all
sorts.

This is one of the most destructive insects,
especially as applied to wheat and oats, and
also, though in a lesser degree, to corn. Mr. L.

FIG 50.— YoLTNG OF Chinch Bug; a and 6, eegs: c. young: c, larva after first
moult; /, larva alter second moult; o, pupa; A, leg of pupa; /. beak. (After
Klley.;

0. Howard, now United States Entomologist,
in 1887 estimated the losses from chinch bugs
in nine States to be $60,000,000. Walsh, in
1864, estimated the loss in Illinois for that year
caused by this bug to be $73,000,000, while
Shimer claimed tliat during the same year
three-fourths of the wheat and one-half of the
corn of the Mississippi valley was destroyed by
it, involving a loss of $100,000,000.1

* Abstracted from an article on the chinch bug in the
second report of the New York State Entomologist for 1885.

t Second report New York State Entomologist, 1885, p.
156.

INSECTS. 137

Many different methods have been attempted
to prevent the ravages of this insect, l)ut
each one is more or less unsatisfactory. The
area grown to wheat should l)e diminished.
All trash about infested fields should be as
fully l)urned as possible in fall, winter or
spring. Insecticides may be used to advantage.
Kerosene emulsion, diluted to about five per
cent, is perhaps the most effective insecticide.
To make the emulsion take one-half pound of
common soap and dissolve in one gallon of hot
water, after which add to the boiling mixture
two gallons of kerosene and churn the mixture
violently for about five minutes with a hand
force pump. This may l3e diluted with water
to make 30 gallons for use. This seems to be
about the best of the insecticides for chinch
bugs.

For some years past experiments have been
conducted to propagate among chinch bugs a
fatal disease. A large amount of work has
been done by Prof. F. H. Snow of Kansas Uni-
versity in this direction. A peculiar fungi be-
ing placed in contact with the bug soon causes
its death. Healthy bugs may be inoculated
with the disease and set at liberty in the in-
fested fields and may spread the disease with
such great rapidity as to practically annihilate
the l)ugs. A perfect epidemic of the disease
occurs. This fungus may be propagated and

188 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

distributed over the country, as done by Prof.
Snow, and used to inoculate bugs where neces-
sary. The work of Snow has been most en-
couraging.*

Clean cultivation is most essential in any
case, and Forbes recommends heavy fertiliza-
tion of lands as an additional safeguard.-}-

Corn hill hugs ( SpJienophoriis). There are a
number of forms of these bugs which are known
as snout beetles or bill bugs. They are all
medium-sized, dark-colored insects. With most

FIG 51.— CoKN BILL BvG, Sphenophorus rubustus, Horn, a larva; 6, pupa;
c, beetle, back view; d, beetle, side view. (After Riley.)

species the adult insects sink the beak into the
stem of the young corn plant and make small
cavities in it into which the eggs are deposited,
where they hatch later on.

One of the most destructive corn-bill bugs is
SpJienophonis och evens, Lee. Its depredations
are mainly confined to recently reclaimed
swamp lands. Webster, in discussing the life

* First, second, third and fourth annual reports Director
University of Kansas experiment station, 1891, 1892, 1893,
1894.

t Sixteenth report State Entomologist of Illinois for 1890.

INSECTS. 139

history of this pest/-' from which the following
information is secured, saj's: '"There is the best
of evidence that this pest has for several years
been working serious injury to the corn crop
planted on recently-drained swamp lands in
Indiana, hundreds of acres l)eing thus de-
stroyed."

The larva is white with brown head, the lat-
ter small, body becoming very robust posteri-
orly, so much so that it appears to be fully
two-thirds as broad as long, and very much
wrinkled. The feet are lacking. The adult is
black beneath, but varying in color ahove from
pale ochreous to plumbeous and cinereous.
Length one-half to nearly three-fourths inch.
The insect i^asses the winter in the adult form,
and in spring feeds on the tender parts of stems
of reeds and rushes, and later on on the same
parts of the young corn. In late May or June
the female burrow^s into the earth and deposits
her eggs in or about the bulbous roots of a
species of reed. The larvae burrow in these
bull)s, which are often the size of a hen's egg
and very hard, and transform to the adult in-
sect therein, appearing on the rushes, reeds or
corn in August or September. This species
will probably never breed in the roots of corn.

To get rid of this species the best method
will be to drain the land thoroughly and get

* Insect Life, Vol. II, p. 132.

140

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

rid of the plants it breeds in by l:)urning or cul-
tivating them out. Fall plowing has been tried,
but I am not informed witii what success.

If the stubble is burned in spring some
beetles of the other species may be destroyed.
An application of paris green to the young
plants may be of benefit by preventing injuries.

Affecting the ear. — Com worm (Heliothis
armiger, Hubn.). This is also known in the
South as the boll worm, as it injures the cotton

Fig. 52.— The Cobn Wokm HHiolfiis armiger, Hubn. a. b, eggs; c, larva;
rf, pupa In cocoon ; #, /, moth. (After Riley.)

boll. The adult insect is a medium-sized,
heavy-bodied moth, with yellowish-gray or
clayey-yellow fore wings, tinged with light
olive-green, marked with lines of darker green

INSECTS. 141

and dark brown or black. The hind wings are
of a paler shade, with a broad, blackish cater
band enclosing a pale spot toward the apical
portion.

Conistock states that there are five broods of
this insect in a season in the South, while in
the latitude of Missouri, Southern Illinois and
Virginia, Riley thinks there are but three.

The adult insect deposits its eggs in the tip
of the ear, among the silk. After hatching the
larvae feed until about one-third grown, when
they begin to tunnel through the kernels under
the husks toward the butt of ear. In Tennessee
the writer was unable to grow sweet corn suc-
cessfully owing to the ravages of this pest.
The grown worm is about one and one-fourth
inch long, rather robust, tapering toward the
head. In color the worms vary from pale
green to dark brown. There are several black,
shining, elevated tubercles on each segment,
each bearing a short brown hair.

The full-grown larvae make a round hole in
the earth, the inside walls of which they
cement over. At the bottom of these chambers
these larvae change to pupae, where they pass
the winter.

It is recommended to plow in the fall, thus
throwing up these chambers and subjecting
the pupae to winter exposure and destroying

142

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

INSECTS.

143

them. This is tliought to he quite an effective
remedy.

Aiit/oinin'sgrain i)iof/f{Sltofrogacere((IeU(f,0\'iv.)
The adult insect, a moth, is small and slender,
having an expanse of wings a little over one-
half inch. The hody and fore wings are dull
yellowish or huff color and satinj^ appearing.

FlG.o4.—ANGOlTMls GRAIN MOTU, SHotvogu cerealfilUi, Ollv. a, fullgrown larva;
6, pupa; c, female moth; «', ess; ^. corn cut open showing larva at worn.
(Alter Klley.)

The front wings are comparatively long and
narrow, freckled with black scales, which are
thicker toward the tips and form a line along
the plait of the wings. The fringe is paler in
color. The hind wings are blackish, of a leaden
lustre, narrow, very suddenly becoming con-
tracted to a point near the tip. Under side of
wings lead color. Front legs blackish; hind
legs with two spurs and fringed with long
hairs.

The egg will hatch and the change from
larva to adult occur in about a month's time

144: INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

under favorable conditions. A number of eggs
are deposited on the side of tlie kernels. In
four to seven days they will hatch, and the
larva will then burrow into the kernel and
begin to feed on the inside of it. In about
three weeks it is full grown, when it is aljout
one-fifth of an inch long. Then it burrows
towards the outer end of the kernel, leaving
only a thin cap to cover the cavity. A small
white cocoon is then made in the burrow, and
the larva in this soon changes to pupa, and
after a short time emerges in the moth form.

This insect is especially injurious in the
South, where stored corn is often seriously
damaged. North of Kentucky little inj ury may
be ex^Dected from it, as it is a warm climate
insect. At the New York State experiment
station the w^riter had considerable experience
wdth it, as it occurred in a collection of corn in
the museum. These insects were brought to
the museum in specimen ears shipped from the
South and before their ravages could be stopped
nearly the entire collection was ruined.

In the field there is no known method of
combating it. To destroy the insect in the
seed, place the grain in a comparatively tight
room and pour a little bisulphide of carbon in
among the corn. This soon changes into a
deadly gas and will destroy all insects inhaling
it. But to save the seed the operation should

INSECTS.

145

m

jtri

r^

-Str-"

■^-

Xi

1 1(> repeated as soon as new
moths appear. Tlie bisul-
phide of carbon is very in-
flammable, as Avell as
jtoisonous, so great care
should be taken not to ex-
pose a fire to the fumes.
Being heavier than air, the
lunies will sink down
through a pile of corn.
The fumes of this gas would
also destroy other insects
injurious to stored grain,
including the grain or barn
weevil, and the grain Syl-
van us. both of which are
common in the South. Ac-
cording to Weljster the
worms are destroyed at a
temperature of 120 deg.
F., for four houi's, so if
means can be obtained by
which to heat the ears to
this degree a very desir-
able thing will be accom-
l)lishcd.

Other Insects.— W h i 1 e
tiu'ic are numerous other
insects which injure corn,
thcv do it to so snniU an

10

146 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

extent that it is unnecessary to devote special
attention to them. Grasshoppers, blister beetles,
leaf hoppers, rose bugs, flea beetles, army worms,
etc., all at times do slight damage to growing
corn. Usually those insects which feed on the
growing plant may be destroyed by spraying
the leaves with some form of arsenic poison,
such as paris green, london purple, etc.

DISEASES. 147

CHAPTER XI

DISEASES.

The Indian corn plant is appreciably injured
by but very few fungous or bacterial diseases —
in fact less than is any other cereal. Of these
smut is the only one commonly known all over
the United States.

The following diseases are the only ones of
sufficient importance to especially merit atten-
tion in these pages:

Smut.— (Usfi I ((fjo i)iai/(h's, Corda.). Smut as
seen l)y the farmer is either a distorted, green-
ish-white piece of vegetable tissue, or a mass
of black, greasy powder, which generally ap-
pears breaking out fi'om an ear of corn or fi-oni
the leaf or stalk when green or succulent.

The source of this disease is a simple, tubular,
minute plant, too small to be seen by the naked
eye, which grows in the tissues of the corn
plant and feeds upon its juice. These little
plants, of which there are vast numbers, branch
out in tubular form Avhon thoy find a spot in

148

INDIAX rORX CULTURE.

the corn plant that i.s especially nourishing.
Then, inside af these tubes, minute bodies
termed spores (seeds) develop, and finally the
spot becomes a mass of these, and then all of

KiG. 56.— Corn Smttt breaking out on the ear. (After Tulasne.)

the little plants excepting the spores Avither
away. The dark-colored, loose smut, is mostly
the mass of spores, of which there are countless
numbers. A single culnc inch of them would
contain over fifteen billions. The top of a pin-

DISEASES.

149

head that has been muisteiied will bear from
30,000 to 50,000.*

These spores are really seeds, and if the right
degree of nioistnre is supplied they germinate
in a few hours and produce very minute, thread-
like plants, from which soon develop "sporids."
The wind may blow these latter upon a young
corn plant, in which case they may grow into
its vegetable flesh and develop to a remarkable
degree and eventually break out in the com-
mon form of smut.

This disease is distributed through the agency
of the smut, and the more the spores are scat-
tered about the more prevalent it may become.
It is abundant all over the United States and
in the corn-growing parts of Europe. While
considerable damage may occur from this fun-
gus the extent of this is not generally appreci-
ated l)y corn growers. Bessey states i- that in
Iowa he saw a piece of land the crop of which
'^ fully 66 per cent had been destroyed." This,
however, is an unusually severe case. Prof. W.
H. Brewer says: J ''I have never seen a field
which has been injured to the extent of one per

* Bessey: Bulletin 11, Nebraska agricultural experiment
station, Dec. 18, 1889, p. 29.

t Bulletin 11, Nebraska agricultural experiment station.

J Tenth census of the United States, Vol. Ill, report on
the cereal production of the United Stales, p. 107.

150 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

cent, but I have heard of cases in the year 1879
* * * where the damage amounted to one-
sixth."

Smut said to be injurious.— Smut is gener-
ally thought by farmers to be injurious to live
stock, yet but little satisfactory evidence is at
hand to prove that such is the case, as it is com-
monly eaten. But three experiments on this
point have come to the writer s knowledge. Dr.
Gamgee for three weeks fed two healthy cows
on smut, wet and dry. The wet did no harm,
but a loss in weight followed the eating of the
dry. The animals had voracious appetites,
were fed three times per day, and ate from 3 to
12 oz. at a dose. In three weeks they ate 42
lbs. of smut.* Prof. Henry of the Wisconsin
experiment station performed a similar experi-
ment on two cows.f One cow ate as much as
32 oz. of smut in a day, and the other up to 64
oz. The latter cow died suddenly the next day
after eating a large amount of smut. Prof.
Henry attributes her death to having eaten
this, which is not strange. In making a post-
moyteni examination no serious derangement
was found in the intestines, but Prof. Henry
thinks the brain was affected. An associated
press dispatch in the daily papers of Nov. 10,

*Report Comraissioner of Agriculture on Diseases of Cat-
tle in the United States, Washington, 1871, pp. 73-76.
t Breeder's Gazette, Oct. 10, 1894.

DISEASES. 151

1894, comments on the sudden death of cattle
in Illinois and sa3's that farmers attribute it to
the stock eating smutted corn. Prof. ]\rorrow,
so the dispatch says, thinks not, as they had
fed a steer two bushels of smut at the Univer-
sity of Illinois and it had not injured him.

It is very questionable if cattle are injured
by smut in the fodder; yet it will be safer and
better to keep it out of the rations.

Preventing smut. — There is no absolutely
sure method of preventing the appearance of
smut. The spores on seed corn may be de-
stroyed by the use of sulphate of copper (blue
vitriol or bluestone). A strong solution in
water should be made, nsing about half a
pound of the sulphate to a gallon of water.
The seed may be soaked about half au hour,
after which it should be removed from the
liquid and dried. The smut may also be killed
by soaking the seed in water at 160 deg. F. for
five minutes.

It is also important to adopt preventive meas-
m'es. The spores will pass through animals in
the manure and germinate, so that is a reason
why stock should not eat it. The smut in the
field which can be secured should be burned.
Kotation of crops will also reduce the degree
of prevalence.

Bacterial disease.— This is a disease caused
by a very minute class of plants termed bac-

152 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

teria, so small that they can be seen only
under powerful microscopes. One of these
plants consists of a single cell, with an outer
coat, and inside contents. These plants in-
crease by dividing in halves or sections and
each developing into a perfect plant, or by
spores which they may produce. Bacteria can
withstand great extremes of heat and cold.
There are many different kinds, one of which
causes injury to Indian corn by develof)ing in
its tissues and juices.

Symptoms.— The disease is characterized by
the plants turning yellow and sickly while
young. The roots of the plants, especially the
lowest ones, decay. While the whole plant
will be affected, the injury is most apparent in
the lower part of the stem, which will be dis-
colored and perhaps dying. Sometimes the
stem appears corroded, and semi-transparent,
firm, gelatinous material gathers upon these
marred places. After midsummer the leaf
sheaths become discolored and spotted, with
an appearance of decay. If these sheaths are
stripped off the injury is made more conspicu-
ous. These injured or spotted places appear
watery and sometimes are smeared more or less
with a thin coating of the gelatinous matter.
Finally the ears are attacked, the husks wilt,
turn brow^n and become packed close together,
and gummy matter exudes from the tissues.

DISEASES. 153

Often a white fungus occurs and permeates the
entire ear.

This disease was first investigated in 1882,
and most of the information known of its char-
acter is derived from studies made of it by
Prof. T. J. Burrill of the Illinois experiment
station.* The malady is widely prevalent, with-
out doubt, yet is mainly known in Illinois and
Nebraska. It is thought that animals eating
cornstalks affected by this bacteria will die of
what is called "cornstalk disease.''

While this trouble is not confined to spociul
kinds of soils and conditions it has been found
most prevalent on rich land.

Thus far the writer knows of no method
proposed to prevent the occurrence of this
disease.

Rust occurs on Indian corn, but only to a
slight extent and at uncertain periods. The
loss from this disease is probably very imma-
terial.

* See Bulletin (5 of that station, August, 1889, pp. 165-175.

154

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

CHAPTER XII.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AXD DIGESTI-
BILITY.

Several hundreds of analyses of Indian corn
have been made at agricultural experiment
stations, by the United States department of
agriculture, in college laboratories and else-
where. Most of these anal3^ses are of the grain,
although some are of various parts of the plant.

Composition of grain. — All of the available
analyses i)ublished in the United States up to

TABLE SHOWING AVFRAGK CHEMICAL COMPGSTTION' OF THE
SEEDS OF THE VARIOrS CLASSES OF COKX.

Number
Analyses.

1

'S
-^

1

Crude
fibre.

Nitrogen-

Jree

extract.

1

Dent

86

10.6

1.5

10.3

2.2

7U.4

5.0

Flint

68

11.3

1.4

10.5

1.7

70.1

5.0

Sweet

26

«.8

1.9

11.6

2.8

66. s

8.1

Pop

4

10.7

1.5

11.2

1.8

6 .6

5.2

Soft

5

9.3

1.6

11.4

2.0

TO. 2

5.5

All varieties and

all analyses. . .

208

10.9

1.5

10.5

2.1

69.6

5.4

September, 1890, showing the food composition
of corn, have been collated and ]3ublished by

COMPOSITION AND DIGESTIBILITY. 155

Jenkins and ^yinton,■^■ from which the figures
in the foregoing tal)le, reiDresenting averages,
are given. These represent i)ei* cents in fresh
or air-dry material.

Mr. Clifford Ivichardson, as Assistant Chemist
of the United States Department of Agricul-
ture, made a special study of the chemical com-
position of American cereals.-}- As based upon
over 200 analyses of corn from different parts
of America, he says: ''Corn may be said, there-
fore, without douljt, to be very constant in its
composition within narrow limits." The fol-
lowing figures are taken from Richardson's re-
port, the average results of 202 analyses made
in 1SS2 and 1883, showing per cent in the grain
of the sul»stances specified:

Ash 1.55 per cent.

Albuminoids 10.39 per cent.

Nitrogen 1.G6 per cent.

Composition of mill products.— The com-
position of the mill procbicts of Indian corn is
shown in the following figures, wdiicli are aver-
ages taken from Jenkins' and Winton's tables,
previously referred to:

* A Compilation of Analyses of American Feeding Stuffs,
by E. H. Jenkins, Ph. U., and A. L. Winton, Ph. B., United
States Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Sta-
tions. Experiment Station Bulletin No. 11, 1^92, p. 155.

t An Investigation of the Composition of American Wheat
and Corn, by Clifford Richardson, Department of Agricul-
ture, Chemical Division. Bulletin No. 1, p. 69; Bulletin No.
1, p. 98; Bulletin No. 9, p. 82. Washington, 1883, 1884, 1886.

156

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Corn-meal. Corn-and-coh meal.

Number of analyses. . .77 7

Water 15.0 per cent 15.1 per cent.

Ash 1.4 per cent 1.5 per cent.

Protein (M. X6.2o). . . . 9.2 per cent 8.5 per cent.

Crude fibre 1.9 per cent 6.6 per cent.

Nitrogen-free extract. .68.7 per cent 64.8 per cent.

Fat 3.8 per cent 3. 5 per cent.

Composition of by-products. — In these same
feeding tallies are given analyses of the by-
products and waste material of corn, including
the cob and refuse of starch or hominy mills.
The averages of these analyses are as follows,
in per cents:

Corncobs

Hominy chops . ,

Corn germ

Gluten meal . . . ,
Starch feed, xoet

OS

ji

^

1

1

0 ^ g

18

10.7

1.4

2.4'30.1

54.9

12

11. 1

2.5

9.81 3.8

64.5

3

10.7

4.0

9.8| 4.1

64.0

32

9.6

0.7

29.41 1.6

52.4

12

65.4

0.3

6.1

3.1

22.0

0.5
8.3
7.4
6.3
3.1

These figures show corncobs to contain some
nutriment. Gluten meal has a very high feed-
ing value, as based on a large per cent of pro-
tein.

Composition of green corn. — The composi-
tion of the green corn plant, of silage, and of
the dried fodder, and the several parts of the
plant, is given in the following table which
is also arranged from Jenkins' and Winton's

COMPOSITION ANO DIGESTIBILITY,

0/

tables of American feeding-stuffs. The figures
given are averages in per cents:

GREEN.

1'

1

1

Corn-fodder—
Flint varieties

40

79 S

1.1 2.0
1.1 2.1

4.3
4.3

5.6
6.7
4.4
5.0
8.7
7.3
6.0

14.3
21.4

12,1

0,7

Flint varietiet*

lOiTT.l

14.6

0.8

Dent varieties

63,79.0 1.2 1.7

7 17:^.4 1.5 2.0

21 79.1 1.3! 1.9

126 79.3 1.2i 1.8

12. 0| 0.5

Dent varieties*

Sweet varieties

All varieties

15.51 0.9

12.8 0.5
12.2 0.5

Leaves and husks cut green.

Stripped stalks out green. . .

Silcig^

4
4

99

35

17

66.2 2.9 2.1
76.1 0.7 0.5
79.111.4 J. 7

i
42.0 2.7 4.5
30.0 5.5 6.0

19.0' 1.1
14.9: 0.5
11. 1| 0.8

Dry fodder—

Fodder, field cured

Leaves, field cured

34.7. 1.6
35.7 1.4

Husks, field cured

Stalks, field cured

Stover, field cured

16
l.j

1 60

.50.9 1.8
68.4 1.2
40.1 3.4

,2.5
■1.9

3.8

15.828.3
11.0|l7.C
19.7 31.8

0 7
0.5
1.1

Digestibility.— The chief value of a food
depends upon its i^ahitability and digesti-
bility. The digestibility of some of the parts
of the corn plant has been determined in
feeding experiment.s, while that of other parts
has been computed. The per cents of digesti-
ble matter of some of these parts are given in
the following table, which is arranged from
tigures given by Prof. W. A. Henry :f

*Cut after kernels had glazed.

t Special Report on the Diseases of Cattle and Cattle-
Fet ding, United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau
of Animal Industry, Washington, 1892, p. 496.

158

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

CLASS OP CORN.

Per cent digestible matte'r
in corn of

Crude
protein.

Carbo-
hydrates.

Fat.

Green fodder —

Flint varieties

Dent varieties

Sweet varieties

Silage

Dry t odder -

Foddi r, tield cured

Stover, fi Id cured

Grain —

Dent

Flint

Sweet

Average for all varieties ,

Mill products and refuse

Corn-meal, bolted

Corn-and-cob meal

Corncob

Corn germ ,

Gluten meal ,

1.0

].2
1.4
1.2

2.S
2.0

7.0
7.1
7.9
7.1

6.3
6.5
1.6
9.3
25.0

12.0
12.8
12.6
11.8

29 . .5
34.1

6.S.4
68.0
61.4
62.7

61.8
56.3
43.9
63.6

49.4

0.5
0.4
0.4
0.6

1.0
0.6

3.9
3.9
6.3
4.2

3.0
2.9
0.3
4.1
5.6

Digestible matter in different parts. — The

accompanying table, the result of researches by

Ears.

Topped
fodder.

Blades.

HusTcs.

Stubble.

To^al dry matter. .
Ash

1,530

450

5

10

190

232
13

197
14

6

88

105
4

426
4
6

168

246
2

569
5

Crude protein

Crude fibre

Nitrogen -free ex-
tract

157
1,343

6
241

304

Fat

30

13

Total digestible matter in ears of one acre 1,^30 lV>s.

Total digestible matter in fodder of one acre 1,642 I'ls.

Total digestible matter in entire crop of one acre. ..3,172 lbs.

COMPOSITION AND DIGESTIBILITY,

159

Mr. H. J. Patterson," Chemist at the Maryland
experiment station, shows the yield in pounds
per acre of the digestible matter in the differ-
ent parts of the corn plant.

The fertilizing constituents to he found in
the corn plant as a whole, or in its several parts
or by-products, are given in the following table.
These figures are the averages of many pub-
lished American analyses,! as prepared by Mr.
W. H. Beal, of the Office of Experiment vSta-
tions, Washington, D. C:

MATERIAL.

Green fodder

Silag-e

Fodder, with ears

Stover, without ears

Kernels

Corn-meal

Corn-and-cob meal

Corncob?

Hominy feed

Gluten meal

Starch feed (glucose refuse

78.61

77.95

7.85

9.12

10.88

12.95

8.96

12.09

8.93

8.59

8.10

4.84

4^91
3.74
1.53
1.41

6!82
2.21
0.73

0.41

0.28
1.76
1.04
1.82
1.58
1.41
0.50
1.63
5.03
2.62

.H~3

0.15
0.11
0.54
0.29
0.70
0.63
0.57
0.06
0.98
0.33
0.29

0.33
0.37
0.89
1.40
0.40
0.40
0.47
0.60
0.49
0.05
0.15

These tables, bearing on the composition of
Indian corn and its products, will give the

* Bulletin No. 20, Maryland agricultural experiment sta-
tion, March, 1893.

fFrom table II, Appendix, Handbook of Experiment Sta-
tion Work, Washington, 1898, pp. .397-8.

160 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

reader nearly all the information necessary to
an intelligent knowledge of the subject.

Value of the corn crop. — The great value of
the corn crop to America is clearly brought out
in these tables. No other plant we grow will
produce 3.172 lbs. of digestible food on one acre
of land at so little expense. No other cereal
crop yields the farmer so large a return for his
labor as the Indian corn. It is the king of the
cereals.

THE FEEDING OK LIVE STOCK. IGi

CHAPTER XIII.

THE FEEDIXCI OF LIVE STOCK.

No one kind of food, unless we except milk,
meets all the requirements of the domesticated
animal. The composition of all others is one-
sided, and it is essential that two or more foods
he fed so as to give a ration that will be fairly
balanced, and not one-sided. Some foods are
more nearly perfect for certain animals than
others, but combinations usually l)ring about
the best results in feeding.

Constituents of foods.— The chemist who an-
alyzes a food finds it composed of several groups
of sul)stances quite different in character. For
the feeder's purpose three of these only need
be considered. First is the i^rotein, consisting
of a class of bodies best represented in the com-
position of the white of an egg or in perfectly
lean meat. The muscles of the body consist
mainly of protein. Another group is known as
nu-hoJii/drafrs, or heat-formers. These consist
mostly of starch, sugar, and woody fibre or cel-
lulose. The third group is the faf of the plant,
as for example the oil extracted from the cot-
11

162 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

ton seed. Those foods which contain a large
per cent of carbohydrates and fat are usually
termed carbonaceous.

Nutritive ratio.— Foods contain these three
groups in different proportions. W hat we know
as a rich feeding stuff, as oil-meal^ for example,
contains a much larger percentage of protein
than is possessed by the average food. An an-
imal cannot eat so much of it as wliere it is
specially abundant in carbohydrates, and not
in protein. The relationship existing between
the protein on one side and the carbohydrates
and fat on the other, is termed the nutritive
ratio, meaning one part protein to so many
of the other two combined. Where the ratio
of a food is 1 :2 it may be termed a narrow nu-
tritive ratio, while if it is 1 :12 it is a wide one.
A food having a ratio of 1:6 would be well bal-
anced^ j)erhaps, but if it was an extreme on
either side of this it might be ill balanced.

Feeding standards.— Many feeding experi-
ments, made both in Europe and the United
States, have shown that animals require prac-
tically certain amounts of each one of these
classes of foods to maintain the body or to pro-
duce growth. Wolff, a German, after much
experimentation, published a table of feeding
standards. This table gives the number of
pounds of dry matter (food without moisture),
protein, carbohydrates, and fat required by the

THE FEEDING OF LIVE STOCK.

WS

animal per day, per head or per 1.000 lbs., ac-
cording to circumstances. In connection with
these tables Wolff published another tal)le
showing how much of the protein, carbohy-
drates, and fat were digesti))le in the different
foods available. A similar table has been pul)-
lished by Allen showing the digestibility of
American feeding stuff's."''

Wolff's feeding standards are given in the
following tables:

PER DAY AND PER 1,000 LBS. LIVE WEIGHT.

Oxen at rest in stall

Wool sheep, coarstr breeds.
Wool sheep, finer breeds. . . .
Oxen moderatelj' worked.. . .

Oxen heavily worked

Horses moderately worked . .

Horses heavily worked

Milch cows

Fattening steers:

First period

Second period

Third period

Fattening sheep:

First period ,

Second period

Fattening swine:

First period

Second period

Third period

Dry
matter.

Lbs.
17.5

2( .0
22.5
24.0
20.0
22. o

2r)..->

24.0

27.0
2(j.O
25.0

Digestible food
matenals.

Pro-
tein.

20.0
25.0

36.0
31.0
23.5

Lbs.
0.7
1.2
1.5
1.6
2.4
1.8
2.8
2.5

2.5
3.0

3.0
3.5

5.0
4.0
2.7

Carho-
hydratis

Lbs.
8.0
10.3
11.4
11.3
13.2
11.2
13.4
12.5

15.0
14.8
14.8

15.2
14.4

Fat.

0.50
0.70
0.60

0.50
0.60

27.5
24.0
17.5

*The Feeding of Farm Animals, by E. W. Allen, Farm-
ers' Bulletin No. 22, United States Department of Agricul-
ture, p. 7, 1895.

164

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

PER DAY AND PER HEAD.

Growing: cattle— Age.

2 to 3 months

3 to 6 months

6 to 12 months

12 to 18 months

18 to 24 months

Growing sheep — Age:

5 to 6 months

6 to 8 monti.s

8 to 11 months

11 to 15 months

15 to 20 months

Growing fat swine — Age

2 to 3 months

3 to 5 months

5 to 6 months

6 to 8 months

8 to 12 tnonttis

Av.

live
weight

per
head.

Lbs.
150
300
500
700
850

56
67
75

82
85

50
100
125
170

250

TotcCl

dry I

matter Pro-
tein.

Digestible food
materials.

Lbs.
3.3
7.0
12.0
16.8
20.4

2.1
3.4
3.9
4.6
0.2

Lbs.

0.6

1.0

1.3

1.4

1.4

0.18
0.17
0.16
0.14
0.12

0.38
0.50
0.54
0.58
0.62

Carbo-
hydrates

Lbs.
2.1
4.1
6.8
9.1

10.3

0.87
0.85
0.85
0.89
0.88

Fat.

Lbs.
0.30
0.30
0.30
0.28
0.26

0.045
0.040
0.037
0.032
0.025

1.50
2.50
2.96
3.47

4.05

Standard confirmed in practice.— It is not

to be expected that an animal Avill receive tlie
exact amount of digestible material in the
rations as specified in this table, but a reason-
able approximation to it, it is believed, will
give the best results in feeding. For example,
Wolff gives for a milk cow weighing 1,000 lbs.
a ration containing 24 lbs. dry matter, 2.5 lbs.
protein, 12.5 lbs. carbohydrates and 0.4 lbs. fat.
After examining into numerous rations fed by
prominent dairymen the Wisconsin, New York
and Connecticut experiment stations have
found the al»ove amounts recommended by

THE FEEDING OF LIVE STOCK.

165

Wolff to be substantially near those fed by
these dairymen. The feeder, however, has to
keep in mind that he is dealing willi individual
aninuils Avith different appetites and digestive
capacities, so that rather than attempt to feed
each by rule he should hardly expect the feed-
ing tables to more than assist him in judiciously
selecting and comlnning the foods and suggest-
ing the extent to which they may be fed.

Ration for dairy cow. — A complete calcu-
lated ration for a dairy cow is shown in the
folloW'ing table given by Allen* The corn
plant plays an important part in this ration:

5.!

s:

to

.,^

"S

C

<^

Material fed.

§ Si

s

f*o

»3

** "S

30

C5

^

^-s

ft

-:)

Sg 1 q

12 lbs. clover hay, 20 lbs. corn silage, 4

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

lbs. corn-meal, and 4 lbs.

wheat bran.

21.28

1.66

10.86

0.57

4 lbs. gluten feed

8.69

0.82

1.75

0 S4

Total

24 97

2.48

19 fil

n qt

Wolff's standard

24.00

2.50 i2. 50 0.40

1 1

This is a close comparison, excepting for fat,
which is not so important as the other two in-
gredients.

Corn a carbonaceous food. — Indian corn is
acarl)onaceous (carbohydrate) food rather than
protein, and in making feeding rations this

♦Farmers Bulletin No. 22, 1895.

166 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

forms the most valuable source of au econom-
ical carbonaceous food we have.

It has long been known that the grain of
Indian corn is a most valuable food for domes-
tic animals. It is generally relished by farm
animals and imparts a quality to meat, milk
or butter which ranks it among the most, if
not ihe most, important common feeding-stuffs
at our command. During recent years it has
been well established, also, that the mature
plant, independent of the seed, has a high food
value, either green or as dry fodder.

Rations illustrated — Without attempting
any elaborate discussion of the merits of Indian
corn as a food, and presenting a large number
of feeding rations, the balance of this chapter
will be devoted to a few illustrations of rations
and to demonstrating its importance when fed
on the farm under certain conditions. Man}'
different combinations of foods might be dis-
cussed, with corn as a part of each ration, but
the space to be occupied here will not admit of
this. The purpose is rather to note the desir-
able and undesirable use of corn as a food in
common practice, so that a brief amount of
space will l)e devoted to corn as a food for each
class of farm animals.

Horses. — In that part of the country where
corn forms a prominent grain crop, as in the
Central AYest, and in much of the Southern

THE FEEDING OF LIVE STOCK. 107

States, the priiicipal grain fed liurses is c<jni on
the ear. Each horse is given a number of ears
at a feed, dependent upon the amount of labor
he is performing and the size of ear and char-
acter of grain upon it. In addition to this,
timothy hay, especially in the North, forms the
balance of the ration. In many cases, how-
ever, clover hay is fed. The writer has fed cut
cornstalks instead of hay with mucdi success.
The horses eat the cut or shredded fodder with
relish.

It would not appear, however, the best prac-
tice to feed horses corn alone for grain. This
food is too heating in summer, as it is essen-
tiall}^ a heat and fat-forming food. Some of the
corn may be replaced to advantage with oats,
which is more of a muscle former. Stewart
sa3^s* the rations of thousands of horses on
street railroads in this country have finally
been fixed. The ration for summer is half oats
and half corn, ground together, 16 lbs. to each
horse, with 12 lbs." of cut hay. In winter 16
lbs. of corn-meal, with the same amount of hay,
forms the ration. This practice he specially
refers to as occurring in New York city, but
states that in many other cities the corn and
oats are fed the year through. This ration, it
is to 1)6 understood, was fed to a class of horses
that worked hard seven days a week.

* Feeding Animals, 1886, p. 378.

168 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Where corn is fed to horses the most econom-
ical results may be attained Ly giving chopped
rough fodder or hay, moistened, with the
ground grain well mixed with it. Corn-meal
ought never to be fed by itself, as it will tend
to cause colic. The digestive fluids are not
able to act freely on compact masses of the
grain alone. Stewart notes that ''xDrobably
more cases of horse colic arise from feeding
corn-meal than from all other foods combined."

A committee of the American Institute
Farmers' Club in 1855 made an examination of
the rations fed stage horses in New York city.
Hundreds of animals received hay and corn-
meal only for their feed. The New York Con-
solidated Stage Co. reported on 335 horses,
weighing from 1,000 to 1,100 lbs. each, that
traveled on an average 21 1 miles per day. They
had for feed 8 lbs. of hay and 17 lbs. of corn-
meal per day. This meal was used in cut feed.

Stewart recommends the following ration as
one more satisfactory with liim than anything
else:* Grind together 950 lbs. oats, 950 lbs.
corn and 100 lbs. flax-seed. The 20th part of
flax-seed improves the ration in protein and
very much in fat — 35 lbs. or If per cent to 2,000
lbs. This is well balanced as a working ration,
is just laxative enough for health, and keeps
the coat fine and glossy.

* Feeding Animals, 1886, p. 390.

THE FEEDING OP LIVE STOCK. 1()1)

A writer in the Breeders^ Gazette (Jan. 11,
1893) feeds horses to be shipped to city markets
with half oats and half shelled corn. To this
grain he adds one pint of oil-cake meal per
feed. He feeds all the grain they will eat np
clean, and liberally of hay at night and only at
night. While horses should never be fat. those
poor in flesh must be fed np to a suitable con-
dition for shipment.

For the use of the by-products of corn for
horses the reader is referred to the experience
of Prof. Caldwell, given further on in this chap-
ter under by-products.

No one need hesitate at feeding horses with
the dried corn plant in place of hay. At a lib-
eral estimate three pounds of fodder may be
considered equal to one pound of timothy hay.
If the fodder was carefully harvested and w^ell
cured prol)al)ly two pounds would be its equiv-
alent. Silage does not seem so well suited for
horses, although a small amount of it may be
fed with safety and with beneficial results. Ten
or 15 lbs., in the writers opinion, would be
ample. See reference to silage for horses un-
der chapter on silos and silage.

Cattle.— Xo kind of grain is relished by cat-
tle more than corn-meal, while well-preserved
corn-fodder or silage is becoming more and
more popular as rough feed for these animals.
For dairy cattle this food is unexcelled for giv-

170 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

ing good quality to milk or butter. For this
reason corn-meal is extensively fed, although
there are other grains, as bi'an for example,
that may increase the milk flow. Among the
great cattle feeders of the West either the grain
or the fodder of the corn plant forms the lead-
ing food for beef production. It is not desir-
able, however, as has already been explained,
to feed corn entirely. Bran or shorts and a
little oil-meal may be added to the grain rations
where fed to milk or beef stock and better
results secured. This question was asked Prof.
Henry by a reader of the Breeder''s Gazette:
"With corn at 25 cents per bushel, oil-meal
$22 per ton, bran and shorts $12 per ton, would
you recommend feeding a so-called balanced
ration, and what should the steers eat of the
mixture?'' This is the reply: "At the price
named for corn some oil-meal or bran or both
can be fed to profit, I think, keeping the ration
largely corn, however. Five or six pounds of
bran or two or three of oil-meal per day will
aid digestion and keep the steer in better con-
dition and less liable to get off feed than if the
ration is made up wholly of corn." This ration
was for a 1,000-lb. steer.

In making a study of 100 feeding rations used
by owners of dairy cattle in the United States,
Prof. Woll of the Wisconsin station notes* that

^Farm (ind Dairyman, January, 1885.

THE FEEDING OK ],IVE STOCK. 171

corn silage was fed 68 times, corn-fodder and
stalks 35 times, corn-meal 42 times and corn-
and-cob meal 14 times. Excepting bran, no
other grain food was used as much as corn-
meal, and corn silage was fed much more than
any other kind of coarse fodder. From these
100 rations the writer selects the following as
representing a notable use of the corn plant or
its products. Where corn silage is fed it is
assumed that it contains the grain that was on
the plant:

(1) 40 lbs. corn silage, 7 lbs. hay, 1 lb. straw, 2 lbs. oil-
meal, 2 lbs. corn-and-cob meal, 2 lbs. wheat bran.

(2) 30 lbs. corn silage, 8 lbs. hay, 5 lbs. corn-fodder. 4 lbs.
oats, 2 lbs. pea meal.

(3) 40 lbs. corn silage, V> lbs. hay. 5 lbs. bran, 2 lbs. cotton-
seed meal, 3 lbs. corn-meal.

(4) 50 lbs. corn silage, 9 lbs. clover hay.

(.■)) 32^ lbs. corn silage, 6 lbs. clover hay, 3 lbs. corn-fodder,

5 lbs. corn-meal, 4 lbs. shipstuft", 2 lbs. oil-meal.

(6) 24 lbs. corn-fodder, 5 lbs. corn-meal, 3* lbs. bran, H
lbs. oil-meal, i lb. cotton-seed meal.

The above rations are not given as perfect
ones, but as representing some of those fed by
prominent dairymen of the country.

The late Prof. E. W. Stewart gave much
attention to feeding problems. The five fol-
lowing rations were recommended by him for
the purposes specified:'"

For fattening cattle, 1,000 lbs. weight: 20 lbs. corn-fodder.

6 lbs. corn-meal. 6 lbs. linseed cake.

* Bulletin No. 38, Wisconsin agricultural experiment sta-
tion, p. 44.

172 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

For dairy cattle, 1,000 lbs. weight: (1) 10 lbs. corn-fodder, 10
lbs. oat straw, 2 lbs. linseed-meal, 4 lbs. malt sprouts, 10 lbs.
oat and corn-meal.

(2) 60 lbs. corn silage, 5 lbs. hay. 2 lbs. linseed-meal. 4 lbs.
bran.

(.3) 18 lbs. corn-fodder, S lbs. wheat bran, 4 lbs. cotton-seed
meal, 4 lbs. corn-meal.

(4) 17 lbs. clover hay, 3 lbs. wheat bran, 10 lbs. corn-meal.

The writer has fed very young calves skim-
milk in which was stirred 2 to 4 oz. of very fine
corn- meal per feed, with satisfactory results.
Numerous old feeders drop a handful of shelled
corn in the milk bucket when feeding calves,
and they soon learn to clean up the grain with
avidity.

Sheep. — In the West, shelled corn is more
often fed to sheep than any other kind of grain,
a pint a day in a general way being given ma-
ture animals, although many feed much heav^ier
in finishing for the market. It is an interest-
ing fact that while if mature cattle are fed
shelled corn some of it will pass through them
whole, sheep will digest the kernel entirely.

Feeding experiments on sheep have been un-
dertaken at the Michigan station by Smith and
Mumford to an extensive degree.* During the
winter of 1893-94 125 lambs were divided in
nine lots and fed different rations for fattening.
In all of these rations but one corn was fed, as

* Bulletin 113, Michigan agricultural experiment station,
October, 1894

THE FEEDING OP LIVE STOCK.

178

is shown in the following table, which gives a
snnimary of the resnlts of the expei'iment.
These figures refer to the average effects of the
food per lamb per lot:

Corn

Corn and roots

Corn, oU-meal and roots..

Corn and oil-meal

Corn and bran

Corn and wtieat

Wheat and oil-meal

Corn (self feed)

Corn and bran (self feed)

Weeklp
gain.

2.18

2.ei

2.61
2.38
1.78
1.97
1.94
1.65
1.58

Coat of

1 lb.
gain —
cents.

Pout}ds

dry
mailer
fed to 1
lb. gain

4.6
4.6
5.3
5.1
5.3
5.4
6.3
5.7
6.8

Protein
ted per
day per
1000 lbs.

7.02
6.41
6.72
6.99
9.13
7.64
8.01
8.57
10.03

2.0
2.1
2.7
2.8
2.5
2.1
2.7
2.0
2.6

Carbofiy- \
drates fed Nutri-

per day

per 1000

lbs.

16.0
16.7
Ifi.l
15.7
14.8
15.5
15.0
15.7
16.1

ttve
ratio.

1:8

1:8

1:6

1:5.6

1:6

1:7.5

1:5.5

1:7.9

1:6.2

It will be noticed that the best results in cost
of one pound of gain occurred where corn or
corn and roots were fed. The other feeds were
somewhat more expensive.

At the Wisconsin station a ration of shelled
corn, silage, and cut corn-fodder, fed fattening
wethers, yielded the cheapest gain. One hun-
dred pounds of gain cost $3.46 in 1890 at this
station when fed this ration. In 1891 the same
kind of ration made 100 lbs. of gain cost $3.70.
This ration was 1.3 lbs. corn-fodder, 0.8 lb. corn
silage, and 1.8 lbs. shelled corn per day and head.
A ration of corn and oats, equal parts by weight,
clover silage and clover hay, made the cost of
100 lbs. of gain $4.01. A ration of oil-meal and
oats, clover silage and clover hay, made 100 lbs.
gain cost $6.09. The wethers receiving the clover
and oats and oil-meal produced more wool than

174 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

the corn-fed ones, but this increased weight
was chiefly due to increase in yolk.

Pregnant ewes should not be fed a fattening
food like corn. In fact corn is essentially a
fattening food for sheep. If this end is not de-
sired, then oats, bran, and oil-meal may be fed
to better advantage, along with roots or silage.

Writing some years ago* Mr. F. D. Curtis,
then a well known student of sheep husbandry,
said :

"No argument can now convince me that corn is a good
kind of grain to give sheep to make them grow well or fit
them for the lambing season. A very little corn will do
mixed with other grain. * * * Corn makes the sheep
fevery, and this dries the wool, makes it brittle and checks
its growth. It inflames the udders of the ewes and makes a
big show of milk, whereas it is actually mere fever, inflam-
mation and swelling. It makes the lambs weak and tends to
cause the ewes to forsake them, or not to own them."

It is well to hear both sides of this question,
but it is practically true that the grain of corn
should not be fed pregnant animals of any
class, sheep as well as others, especially to-
ward parturition. Bran or oats are much bet-
ter at this time. But for promoting the laying
on of flesh corn is a superior feed.

Corn-fodder and silage have not as a rule
been largely fed sheep, but their use is becom-
ing more and more common. Either one of
these coarse foods may be fed sheep with sig-

* Country Gentleman, Jan. 29, 1885.

THE FEEDING OB' LIVE 8T0CK. 175

nai success. Mr, A. 0. Fox, one of the most
extensive owners of Shropshire sheep in Amer-
ica, writing of feeding shredded fodder, says in
a recLMit letter:*

"When I first put the ewes into winter quarters upon the
dry fodder I feared they would not relish it, but I soon found
they took to it even more kindly than to good hay. They ate
it ravenously and would fill themselves to perfect satisfaction
and lie down in contentment to sleep. I am now thoroughly
convinced that they have done better upon the corn-fodder
ration than they would have done upon good, bright mixed
clover and timothy hay. The corn-fodder did not have the
slightest constipating eflFect. I have fed the lightest grain
rations this winter that I ever gave my ewes and they are in
fine bloom. Their fleeces ar-e much cleaner than if they had
been fed hay. and as for lambing, we are now well into the
most successful lambing season we ever experienced; 98 ewes
have to-day 158 lambs, which you will see is 160 per cent.
Every lamb is strong and hearty from birth. The ewes are
experiencing no trouble with their udders, and in fact I do
not see any objection to confining them exclusively to corn-
fodder instead of hay."

At the Wisconsin station corn silage has
been fed wether lambs and suckling ewes with
most satisfactory results. In the 1893 report
of the station Prof. Craig says, where fed
wethers, "the corn silage, considering its
action as a food and the fact that it can be
preserved cheaper and better than the clover
silage, was the most satisfactory." Further,
in referring to this food for breeding ewes, he
says: "Of the succulent fodders, the best re-

*Breedii's Gazetk, March 13, 1895.

176 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

suits were secured from feediug corn silage.
It is cheap, the ewes like it, and they can
easily be kept in a healthy condition when it
forms part of the ration. The only danger
lies in the fact that it may contain too much
corn for breeding ewes." At the Michigan and
Cornell University stations silage has also been
fed with success. There is plenty of good evi-
dence in the agricultural press of the past ten
years demonstrating that corn silage is a
valuable succulent food for sheep.

Swine.— Being the cheapest food available to
the corn-grower in the West, most of the hogs
shipped into the market have been raised and
fattened on corn as the only grain food. In the
past, however, pigs have been fed corn too ex-
clusively. Numerous experiments have shown
that better results are secured where some
other grain is fed, using corn, however, as the
principal food. Prof. Henry at the Wisconsin
experiment station has probal>ly conducted the
most extensive feeding experiments on swine
extant. His work emphasizes the importance
of using other foods in connection with corn.
Brood sows should be fed lightly of this and
mainly with bran, shorts or some such food, be-
fore and at farrowing time, to get the best
results. Pigs fed corn exclusively lack the
strength of bone and desirable meat quality
that is j)0ssessed l)y those that receive in con-

THE FEEDING OF LIVE STOCK.

177

nec'tioii with the corn some food rich in pi'o-
teiii and ash. The following table, from the
eleventh annual report of the Wisconsin sta-
tion, contains in concise shape much valuable
information bearing on the question of amount
of food required to produce 100 lbs. of pork. It
is to be noted here that corn is the important
"Train factor in these rations:

KIXD OP FOOD.

Whole corn

Corn-meal

Corn-meal

Barley meal

Shorts

Sweet skim-mllk

a corn-meal, H' shorts (dry)
J^ corn-meal. 3^ shortsCwet)

Com-meal and sklm-mllk..
Corn-meal and skim-mllk. .
Com-meal and skim-mllk..

Time year.

Winter

Summer

Winter

Winter

Summer

Summer

Fall

Full

Summer
Summer
Summer

No.
trials

ani-
mals.

Average

veight at

beginriing

trial.

229 lbs.

71 lbs
177 lbs.
159 lbs.

68 lbs.

66 lbs.
l:i7 lbs.
136 lbs.

95 lbs.
254 lbs.
251 lbs.

3
5

3
4
1
2
4
4

5
4
4

8
12

8
12

3

4

l5
10

10

10

Food reqiitred

Jor 100 lbs.

gain.

784 lbs,

534 lbs.

517 lbs.

5K7 lbs.

525 ll>8.
1,877 lbs.

531 lbs.

431 lbs.
J 147 meal
I 802 milk
j 379 meal
I 189 milk
j 432 meal
1 216 milk

By this table it will be seen that far less corn
and shorts were required to make inO lbs. of
gain than wdiere corn was fed alone, and the
showing is much better than that made by
corn-meal alone. The first ration also has the
advantage of being much the cheapest of the
three.

The practice obtains to a large extent of feed-
ing steers corn on the ear and letting pigs fol-
low after and feed on the grain which passes
through the steers undigested. AV^here steers
are thus fed this is unquestionably the most

178 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

economical practice. At the Wisconsin station
a bnshel of shelled corn made 11.4 lbs. of pork
when fed alone to pigs, while a bushel fed to
them when running with corn-fed steers made,
with the help of the droppings of the steers,
17.6 lbs., or over one-half more.

Corn -and -cob meal vs. corn -meal. —The
question is often asked as to which is the more
valuable food, corn and cob ground together or
corn-meal alone. Considerable experimental
feeding has been conducted to throw light on
this question, and very generally the informa-
tion secured favors the grinding of the corn and
cob together. It is assumed that the pure meal
packs in the digestive organs and is not so
readily permeated by the digestive fluids as is
the corn-and-cob meal, the cob making the
mass more porous.

At the Maine experiment station Jordan fed
two lots of pigs 81 days^ one receiving corn-
and-cob meal, the other pure meal. There was
but little difference in the gain made by each
lot. Shelton at the Kansas station found that
it required 650 lbs. of corn-and-cob meal to
make 100 lbs. of gain when fed to pigs, while it
required 670 lbs. of pure meal to make an equal
gain. In a steer-feeding experi ment Prof. Shel-
ton also secured results favorable to the use of
the cob with the corn.

General testimony seems to show that a

THE FEEDING OF LIVE STOCK. 179

pound of cuni-iind-colj nieul has the Sciiiie feed-
ing value as a pound of pure corn-meal. In
this connection it is important to grind the
cob finely. The wi-iter has had difficulty in
successfully feeding corn-and-col) meal to pigs
when the cob was flaky or coarse, as they re-
fused to eat it unless well milled.

The by-products of the corn plant eml)race
most important and valua))le feeding-stuffs.
The glucose and starch factories, distilleries
and hominy mills produce liy-products from
the corn grain that are used for stock food on
an extensive scale. They include gluten meal,
gluten flour, gluten feed, glucose meal^ glucose
feed, maize or starch feed, sugar feed or meal
and grano-gluten. These are produced by dif-
ferent methods of manufacture and so vary
widely in composition. Quoting from Allen:*
The corn is soaked until it is swollen and soft,
and is passed through the mill while wet, the
hulls and germs of the corn being rubbed off.
In some cases the starch is separate<l from this
mass by means of running water and the wet
residue is dried and sold as gluten feed. In
other cases the mass after grinding is bolted,
the starch and gluten passing through, while
the husk and germ remain Ijehind. In some
factories the latter (husk and germ) are dried
and sold as corn-germ feed, corn-germ meal,

* Farmers' Bulletin No. 22, p. 16, The Feeding of Farm
Animals.

ISO INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

etc. Ill others the material is treated to ex-
tract the oil from the germ and then sold
under the name of maize feed. The material
which passes the bolting cloth is treated to
separate most of the starch, and the residue is
sold as gluten meal, cream gluten, etc. The
Chicago gluten meal, it is said, has had a part
of the fat extracted from it. In some cases the
gluten meal is mixed with the hulls and germs
without the oil being extracted. This is said
to be the case with Buffalo gluten feed. These
materials should not be compared w'ith grano-
gluten, which is a dried distillery refuse. The
residues from these factories are frequently
sold in their wet condition, containing from 60
to 70 per cent of water, under the names of wet
starch feed, sugar feed, glucose feed, etc. These
wet products must be used at once, as they
ferment. The dried products from the same
factory often vary considerably in composition.
Owing to these variations, and to the fact that
there is such a variety of names for these pro-
ducts it is difficult to make any helpful class-
ification; the farmer can only be certain of
what he is buying when he buys on a guar-
anty of composition or from lots that have been

analyzed.

Hominy chop, meal and feed are by-products
from the manufacture of hominy and contain
the germ and coarser portions of the corn.

THE FEKDIN(4 OF LIVE STOCK. 181

The composition of a number of these feeds
is given further on in this chapter. The wet
foods are undesirable for summer use, unless
fed when perfectly sweet, as they soon become
badly fermented and offensive. If the dry [)i-o-
duct can be bougjht it is much preferable. The
writer has fed wet starch feed, and when sweet
it is eaten with relish, but the same product
freed of excess moisture he found to be more
satisfactory. He has also used gluten and
hominy feeds. The former is high in protein
and serves as a valualjle suljstance to balance
up with carbonaceous material, such as corn-
meal. Hominy feed contains much less pro-
tein, but it is one of the most satisfactory corn
by-products that the writer has ever used in
feeding cattle. Gluten feed is not relished by
cattle, in the authors experience, as generally
as the hominy feed.

Testimony from users of by-products.—
Four well-known feeders of dairy cattle con-
tribute articles on feeding l\\^-products of corn
to the Brmler\s Gazrffe of Sept. 5, 1S94. The
following quotations from three of these arti-
cles are of interest.

Prof. W. H. Caldwell, wdio had charge of the
Guernsey herd in the dairy cattle tests at the
World's Columbian Exposition, says: I have
used gluten meal, both the Chicago and Buffalo
brands. To horses it has only been fed when I

182 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

desired to winter cheaply and had no heavy
work. The mixture used was two parts gluten,
two parts bran and one part linseed meal, with
plenty of good hay. Were I to do the same
again I would add one part of what is called in
the East provender, half corn and lialf oats,
ground. I have never noticed any ill effect
from the use of gluten with dairy cows. Some
believe it to make butter soft, or with less body
to it. The cream from my own dairy herd has
always gone to the creamery, but butter was
made from that of the Pennsylvania experi-
ment station herd, with which I have been
associated, and there was never any difficulty
in making a fine quality of butter that con-
trolled a good market. * * * During last
winter's feeding, with the high i^rice of bran,
gluten was made the basis of the mixture, as
three parts gluten to one part oil-meal and one
part cotton seed.

C. A. Sweet: Has fed considerable gluten
meal of the Buffailo brand to his herd of Jer-
seys. Feeds three quarts per day in two feeds,
mixed with double the quantity of bran. Has
only used it in cold weather and mixed it with
water about twelve hours before feeding. He
believes it a wholesome food for the cattle, and
that it increases the milk floWo

H. H. Hinds, in charge of Short-horn cattle
in dairy test at Columbian Exposition, says:

THE FEEDING OF LIVE STOCK. 183

Owing to high price of corn-meal he fed to Ex-
position cows considerable corn hearts from
liominy mills and gluten feed. These were
liberally used with other grains. The corn
hearts, considering cost, gave satisfactory re-
sults.

Digestible constituents in by-products. —
The following table is given by Prof. W. A.
Henry, in answer to a correspondent,* showing
the digestible constituents in 100 lbs. of each
of the by-products of corn : •

Protein. Carbohydrates. Fat.

Cora 7.1 lbs. 62.7 lbs. 4.2 lbs.

Hominy chops 8.9 lbs. 61.9 lbs. 6.3 lbs.

Corn germ 8.9 lbs. 61.4 lbs. 5.6 lbs.

Germ meal 9.3 lbs. 63.6 lbs. 4.1 lbs.

Gluten meal 25.0 lbs. 49.4 lbs. 5.6 lbs.

Each one of these contains more protein than
the corn, and the gluten meal more than three
times as much.

* Breeder's Gazette, Sept. 5, 1894.

184 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

CHAPTER XIV.

SOILING.

In the dry summer season when pastures be-
come scant it is im])ortant that green food be
supplied farm live stock. The process of soil-
ing commonly means the feeding of stock green
food in the stable during the summer, rather
than pasturing the animals. In some places,
near cities, where land is expensive, soiling is
resorted to exclusively in season. One cannot
always afford to pasture land worth $100 per
acre. In other places, where pasture grasses
dry up and become short, the stock is fed some
specifically grown green crop additional to the
pasturage. Either method embraces the prin-
ciples of soiling.

Importance of green food.— The impor-
tance of supplying plenty of green food to
stock in summer, and especially to cattle, can-
not be emphasized too much. Quincy says*
there are six advantages to be derived from
this process:

* Essays on the Soiling of Cattle. Boston, 1866, p. 56.

SOIIJNG. 185

1. From the saving of land.

2. The saving of fencing.

3. The economizing of food.

4. The better condition and greater comfort
of the cattle.

5. The greater ijroduct of milk.

6. The attainment of manure.

To this it is fair to add that if cattle are
soiled in darkened stables a seventh benefit
comes from reduced attacks of flies. In the
case of the hornfly this is an important consid-
eration.

Every farmer should provide a summer sup-
ply of succulent food to iiis cattle, sheep and
swine. If this is not done when hot, dry winds
prevail the pastures will become short and the
animals will fall off in weight or in milk yield.
At this time the far-sighted feeder draws upon
a provision of green food, which maintains the
balance on the ledger account in his favor
through the critical feeding season.

Crops for soiling.— At the Indiana experi-
ment station the writer has practiced soiling
for several years, although the cattle have had
the run of the pasture during the entire season.
For tw^o months each summer, however, the
blue grass is dried off and eaten to the ground,
so that extra green food has to be provided.
To get the best results for a season of soiling
the following crops planted in the order given

186 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

may be recommended: Rye sown in the fall
gives the earliest green fodder in spring. Oats
and peas planted just as early as the soil can
be suitably worked give a good succession to
the rye. If two sowings of oats and peas fol-
low each other at intervals of ten days, or
thereabouts, one will secure a most nutritious
and palatable green fodder that will yield
heavily. Common oats and Canada field peas
in the North make a good combination. A
very satisfactory way will be to sow broadcast
a bushel of peas to the acre and plow the seed
under three to four inches; then harrow thor-
oughly and drill in two bushels of oats per
acre. Some persons drill in oats and peas at
the same time, but the peas should be planted
twice as deep as the oats.

As soon as the seed can be safely put in the
ground the corn crop for soiling should be
planted. Three seedings may be made, so that
a succession of green food will follow to frost.
The rows may ordinarily be about three and
one-half feet apart, and the seed six inches, or
thereabouts, apart in the row. While the most
nutriment is secured from the plant at ma-
turity it wHU be desirable and profitable to be-
gin feeding the green fodder just as soon as it
assumes a size that wall justify cutting, say at
the time the blossom first appears.

Red clover and sorghum also make impor-

SOILING. 187

taut soiling crops. The latter plant seems to
do especially well in localities where consider-
able dryness often prevails in summer, and it
furnishes a good succession of green food.

Of all the soiling crops, however, that which
may he depended on by the feeder over the
longest period of time, that will give the great-
est yield at the least expense, is Indian corn.
Green rye may injure the Havor of milk given
by cows fed this crop, ])ut Indian corn assists
in producing the finest quality of milk and
butter.

Soiling at Wisconsin station.— In an ex-
periment at the Wisconsin station this amount
of green food was supplied between June 15
and Oct. 15, from an acre and a half of land,
according to Prof. Henry:*

Fodder corn 23,658 lbs.

Green clover 19,762 lbs.

Green oats 2,385 lbs.

Early variety of corn desirable.— In plant-
ing corn to secure the first crop it will be desir-
able to get an early variety. The early van-
ties of sweet corn produce but small plants
and comparatively little fodder, while the
later sweet corn is no improvement over the
field varieties, and as a rule does not yield so
bountifully of forage. Of the sweet varieties
S to well's Evergreen is among the best for this
purpose.

* Breeder's Gazette, Nov. 21, 1894.

188 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Results at the Iowa station. — At the Iowa
experiment station, according to Prof. James
Wilson,* the following yields of soiling crops
on an acre of land each were obtained:

Total dry matter
Total green food, in green food.

Oats and peas 20.800 lbs. 6.656 lbs.

Second-crop clover. . . 14,400 lbs. 2,880 lbs.

Rape 54.400 lbs. 5.755 lbs.

Sweet corn 36,800 lbs. 12,512 lbs.

While the corn gave a smaller yield of the
green food than the rape it produced more than
twice as much dry matter.

The milk made by cows fed different soiling
crops was taken to the college creamery and
the butter made from it was scored for flavor
by experts, rating 45 points for perfection.
Blue grass, oats and peas, and clover butters
scored 42, raj^e butter 39 and sweet corn butter
45, or perfection. Prof. Wilson says: "The
sweet-corn butter had the very finest flavor
and suggests the reason why Western corn-fed
butters rank so high. Many Iowa farmers feed
nothing but corn and its fodders.''

Experiments at Pennsylvania station.— At
the Pennsylvania station experiments w^ere con-
ducted for three years to ascertain the food
yield of forage corn.t Two kinds of corn were
planted, some plats thick, others thin, on plats

* Breeder^ s Gazette, March 7, 1894, p. 151.
t Annual Report Pennsylvania agricultural experiment
station, 1892, p. 22.

SOILING. 189

one-tweiitietli of au acre each, and samples
from each pk\t were taken at intervals and
analyzed. According to the results secured
Breck's Boston Market, sown thick, yielded in
the milk or just past this stage from 4,043 to
0.41)4 Ihs. of digestible food per acre. The di-
gestible protein in this food ranged from 110 to
814 lbs. per acre. These figures show that a
large amount of food may be secured in the
plant sometime before full maturity, when the
largest amount of nutriment is usually ol)-
tained.

Beneficial effect of green food.— In soiling
stock, however, it is to be noted that an un-
known value may be attributed to these green
foods, wliich is shown in their inHuence on the
general health of the animals. There are some
who disapprove the use of corn silage because
a ton of it. water-free, contains no more digesti-
ble food than a ton of dry fodder, l)ut these men
as a rule overlook the physiological effect of a
green food on the system — an influence that
cannot be measured by chemical standards,

Stewart on corn for soiling. — In discussing
the corn crop for soiling Stewart says:*

"Corn is adapted to the soil of all the States, and pro-
duces, under favorable circumstances, enormous yields of
green fodder. The author has grown 28 tons to the acre; but
M. Goffart, of France, grows from 30 to 50 tons, as he has
slated in his work upon "Ensilage." * * * There is no

♦Feeding Animals, 1886, p. 194.

190 INDIAN CORN CILTUEE.

doubt that it produces a larger weight of green food than any
other ci-op raised in the United States except, perhaps, sor-
ghum, and this renders its study as a soiling crop of the
highest importance. * * * It is a most desirable crop, as
it can be fed in combination with clover, oats and peas, and
other moiv nitivgenous food. The largest crops may be
grown with the large Western or Southern varieties of field
corn; and next to these. Mammoth sweet corn and Stowell's
Evergreen sweet corn. The quality of the sweet varieties is
better than the field varieties. The gi-eatest amount of de-
sii-able nutriment is obtained by planting in drills 32 inches
apart, so that the corn can be thoroughly cultivated. The
sweet corn will then grow eai-s upon a large proportion of the
stalks, and these ears in the soft state greatly impi"Ove the
quality of the food for both fattening and milk production.
When thus grown cattle fatten rapidly upon it and cows
yield milk abundantly. Corn is so easily grown and pro-
duces so largely that dairymen make it the principal green
food to sustain their hei-ds upon short pasture. Judicious
feeders, when they have no other gi-een food but fodder corn,
are in the habit of feeding wheat bi-an and middlings with
the corn- fodder, so as to make it a well-balanced food."'

Early cutting objectionable.— If cut at a
very early stage greeii corn is too watery, and
unsatisfactory results may ensue unless grain
or hay is fed in connection with it. Corn es-
pecially lacks in protein, but this may be sup-
plied in bran or other grain which contains a
fairly large per cent of this substance. Says
the late Prof. L. B. Arnold, than ^Yhom there
was no better authority on dairying hfteen
years ago:*

"Those who have condemned it have fed it too young, or
have sown it so thick that its aliment (nutriment) was not

* American Dairying. 1S79, p. T2.

SOILING. 191

developed. When too thickly planted its steins and leaves
are soft and pale, its juices thin and poor, and the effect is a
growth somewhat like a potato vine in a cellar. If sown
thin, or in drills, so that the air and light and heat of the sun
can reach it, and no*, fed till nearly its full size, it is a valu-
able soiling plant and is fed with satisfactory results.''

Soiling on pasture. — It is a good thing,
where entiielj" ft^a.<iljle. to have a corn field
convenient to the pasture or stable. This may
be planted as though to be harvested with the
eai-s as an important factor of the crop. When
the plants begin to flower use from the field for
soiling until the plants pass beyond their use-
fulness for that pui-pose. Wli^n maturity ar-
rives this field may also be dmwn upon for fill-
ing the silo. If the field is conveniently situ-
ated plants may be cut fi-om day to day and
thrown into the pasture. This is a most satis-
factory method.

192 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

CHAPTER XV.

SILOS AXD SILAGE.

At the present cla}^ a silo is generally repre-
sented by a pit or room, in some cases with
partitions, which is filled to the top with green
fodder. The silo is built of stone, brick or
wood, and is necessarily of strong construc.'tion
in order to withstand the side pressure of the
contents, which in deep silos is very great.

The practical use of the silo in the L'nited
States really dates from 1S76. Since then
thousands of them have been built in this
country and Canada.

Constructing a silo.— In Iniilding a silo there
are important points which it will be well to
take into consideration. It should be made
deep. The greater the pressure from above
the more the air is expelled from among the
silage and the better it will keep. A depth of
24 feet is shallow enough, and if deeper it will
be better still.

The wall of the silo on the inside should be
smooth. If of brick or stone it should l)e cov-
ered with a coat of smooth cement. If wood
is used the inside lining should have a smooth

SILOS AND SILAGE. 198

dressed face. The puritose of this is to ena])le
the silage to settle evenl}^ No blocks or i-ods
should interfere with the settling process.

There should l)e as few corners as possible,
for it is in corners, at the door casings and on
the surface that the most silage spoils. Con-
sequently a round silo offers advantages over a
square or rectangular one. Corners may be
boarded off and the angles reduced. Door
boards should fit smooth and flush with the
side of the silo.

(las tar may be protitaljly painted over all
woodwork, for as a preservative it is of the
highest character. No wet or green wood
should be used, and only the dry timber be
tarred. This material caii be applied to best
advantage when hot.

Most desirable forms. — The two most de-
siral)le forms of silos are round and square.
The round contains the least amount of waste
space, and owing to its form of construction
presents more strength to resist side pressure
than any other shape, as it is equally distributed
against the walls at every point.

The square or rectangular silos may be often
built to advantage in the barn, in a corner or
in a bay. If to be built to stand by itself the
square form is preferable to the rectangular.
The walls are stronger. For equal capacity
there is less waste wall space in the square.

13

194 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Lining and floor. — The most satisfactory
inside lining for the walls of wooden silos con-
sists of two layers of boards with tarred paper
laid between. The first layer would be placed
horizontally against the studs, next would
come the paper, and last the inner layer of
boards nailed on vertically, smooth side out.
With the round form the lining all goes on
horizontally. Strips one-half inch thick and
four to six inches wide are placed on each
other tightly and so as to break joints. This
construction strengthens the silo, as a hoop
does a pail. There can be no springing out at
one place in the side and not at another. An
equal pressure extends from the center to the
circumference on all sides.

It will be well to have the floor of stiff clay
or of cement. It is important to have it rat-
proof, as these pests burrow up into the silage
where the floor is soft and cause great damage
by admitting air into it.

Walls. — The walls of wooden silos remain
sound longest when they are well ventilated.
Where they are tightly boxed up moisture ac-
cumulates within and decay occurs. Auger
holes bored between studs at bottom give suffi-
cient ventilation if there are openings at top of
wall. All these holes or openings should be
covered with wire netting to keep out rats and
mice. The studs must be strong enough to

SILOS AND SILAGE. 11)5

guarantee against springing out under the
greatest pressure they are likely to undergo.

The feeding door should be two and one-half
to three feet wide and extend in sections from
sill to within three or four feet of the top, each
part being about five feet long. A space two to
three feet wide should be left or iron rods should
be placed in between the doors at sufficient in-
tervals to make the wall perfectly strong. One
or two extra studs on each side of door casing
secure the strength of wall here. Boards as
long as the door is wide are placed horizontally
in the frame, edge to edge and flush with the
inside of silo, resting against cleats nailed on
inside of casing or fitting into grooves. These
boards may be put in place as the silo is filled.

Weather boarding is not essential, though in
the North it assists in reducing freezing. With-
in the barn only the inside linings are at all
necessary.

Fasten cables or ties of timber across the tops
of square or rectangular silos, attaching to op-
posite studs, to prevent the walls from spread-
ing. Ties every seven or eight feet will answer.

Sills. — The sills, well tarred, should rest on a
good foundation that extends Ijelow frost line
and be bedded in cement or mortar. Have the
sills placed freely above the outside soil. In
square or rectangular forms the sills must be
anchored to the wall to keep them al)solutely

196 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

in place. Usually bolts are set in the wall
when it is built, and these project enough above
this to just extend through the sills to permit
capping with washers and nuts.

Roof. — A roof is required only on silos out of
doors. This may be built to suit, but it should
at least protect the silage from rain and snow.
It should, if of permanent chai-acter, contain a
dormer window or door in roof through which
the elevator may carry the cut fodder and de-
posit it within the silo.

Capacity of silo. — The capacity of the silo
depends on the needs of the farmer. A cubic

foot of silage under average conditions will
weigh 40 lbs. — perhaps a little less. A day's
feed for one cow would not probably as a rule
exceed this amount. If silage is fed one cow
200 days she w411 consume, say 8,000 lbs., or
four tons. On this basis 10 cows will require
40 tons, though it would be well to make the
capacity 50 tons.

Plans for round silo. — The accompanying
illustrations, reproduced from Bulletin 28 of

SILOS AND SILAGE.

107

the Wisconsin experiment station, by Prof. F.
H. King, explain in a measure tlie process of
constructing the round silo. Fig. 57 shows a
method of laying and leveling the foundation.
.1 is a center post with top level with top of
proposed wall; B B are straight-edge boards

nailed to stakes driven in the ground; C is a
straight-edge fixed to tni'n on a pin at A; B B
are all nailed level with top of post A.

Fig. 58 shows the construction. Tlie sills are
2x4s, cut in sections on a radius of the silo
circle; these should be sawed out with much
care. After being bedded in mortar they may

198

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

be nailed together. The plates are the same
spiked to top of studs, which are 2x4s, one foot
apart. Short lengths of studs may be used,
lapped to get the depth; 16s and 14s will give
a silo 30 feet deep. Linings are made from
fencing ripped in two to give one-half inch in
thickness; outside sheeting the same. Use for
silos under 28 feet, outside diameter, common

siding, rabbeted; for diameter over 28 feet out-
side, common drop siding or shiplap may be
used.

In Fig. 59 is seen a method of roofing a round
silo and manner of connecting it with a barn.
A shows where air is admitted between stud-
ding to ventilate between the lining; B is the
feeding chute; C is filling window, and the
cupola serves as a ventilator.

SILOS AND SILAGE. 109

Square silo. — In building the square or rec-
tangular silo the sills may bo of 2x10 plank, in
two layers, halved and spiked at the corners.
The 2x10 studs are toe-nailed to the sills, 18
inches apart, center to center. If the silo is to
be nn:»re than 20 feet deep then 2x12 sills and
studs would be better, on account of increased
side pressure. The base of each stud may be
cut on the outside to block against a 2x4 piece
spiked along the outer line of sill to keep base
of studs from being forced outward. The studs
at the top are fastened with a strong plate, to
which thej^ are spiked.

Cost of silo. — The cost of a silo depends upon
many conditions, and no estimates can be given
that will apply to all localities, there being such
a difference in cost of materials, labor, etc. A
cheaply constructed silo, however, is an expen-
sive one in the long run. It will pay much
better to build carefully and well, having the
construction strong, tight, and free of air-holes
at sides and bottom. Most of the condemna-
tion of the silo has resulted from trials where
the construction has been poor and the con-
tents badly preserved. Prof. King gives in Bul-
letin 28 of the AVisconsin station estimates on
the cost of a w'ell-constructed round silo of 180
tons capacity as $344.44, or $1.91 per ton. Nu-
merous estimates have been published l)y dif-
ferent persons where the cost is much less than

200 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

this, but King's figures represent first-class
v/ork and include all the details of construc-
tion.

Corn the best for silage.— Indian corn is rec-
ognized as the plant superior to all others for
silage when cost of production, yield of food
material, etc., are taken into account. Other
plants are used to an insignificant extent for
silage as compared with this, and it is not the
purpose of the writer to consider their merits.

Indian corn is adapted to a wide geographical
range and will produce the largest amount of
desirable silage per acre of any crop we can
grow. Fifteen to 20 tons of green fodder can
be produced on an acre without difficulty over
a large part of the United States.

Varieties best suited for silage.— All of the
large varieties of corn are suitable for silage.
It is important, however, that the variety ma-
ture in the region grown in. Southern corns as
a rule will not mature in the North sufficiently
to justify planting them where the corn-grow-
ing season is short. Perhaps the safest way is
to plant the best known heavy yielding va-
riety grower in the county or vicinity — one well
adapted to the local conditions. If other varie-
ties are to be grown they should possess early-
maturing powers and also jield heavily of both
forage and grain. A reference to the varieties
in Chapter III will assist one in selecting what

SILOS AND SILAGE. 201

may be a satisfactory variety for a given local-
ity and conditions. In the Sonth there are
numei'ous varieties which produce the best of
material for silage tliat would not mature in
New Enghmd, Michigan or Wisconsin suffi-
ciently to warrant their being pUmted there.

Growing corn for silage. — The writer rec-
ommends that silage corn be grown under
ordinary field conditions, and that such of the
crop be used for the silo as circumstances make
necessary, using the remainder for the later
harvest. This is a method which he has found
in practice to be very satisfactory. Prof.
Georgeson of Kansas^ however, recommends*
planting thicker than ordinary when the crop
is grown for silage. At the Kansas experiment
station they always plant the silage corn in
drills, and have found by experience that they
get the heaviest yield when the stalks are four
to eight inches apart in rows one and one-half
feet apart. At this distance the ears are small
and totally unfit for market, but the plants
furnish a large amount of nutrition and make
up in numljer what they lack in size.

The same rules for caring for common field
corn will apply to that intended for the silo.
The cultivation should be frequent enough to
destroy all weeds and encourage a rapid growth
of the plant. Unless a rotation of crops or

* Prairie Farmer, June 8, 1895.

202 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

other conditions prevent, it will be well to have
the cornfield as near to the silo as possible to
save time and labor in hauling. For informa-
tion on cultivating and field harvesting the
reader is referred to the chapters on tillage and
harvesting. In the latter chapter the harvest-
ing of silage crops is given special attention.

Filling the silo.— The fodder-cutter should
be placed convenient to the silo, so that the
carrier may be made as short as possible. The
stalks are eaten up most completely when cut
very short, and one-half an inch is a desirable
length.

After much experimental work it seems to be
demonstrated that rapidity of filling is on the
whole unimportant. Some fill as fast as they
can haul and cut, while others allow an inter-
val of two or three days to occur in course of
harvesting when no material is placed in the
silo. In each case the preservation may be
eminently satisfactory.

The cut fodder can be handled to best advan-
tage if deposited in the center of the silo and
distributed to the sides from there. Some rec-
ommend a cloth chute to be fastened at one end
of carrier, and the other end tied from time to
time in different directions, so as to generally
distribute over the entire surface. While the
practice is not universally followed, the writer
has had the best success in preserving when

SILOS AND SILAGE.

203

the corn was well trampled at the sides in fill-
ino-. The more uniform the packing through-
out the l)ettor will the silage be preserved.

Covering the top —When full the contents
may he allowed to settle for a day or so, when
more corn may he cut into the silo, or cut straw
or chaff may be filled on the sihige to a foot or
so of depth. A layer of tarred paper may first
be laid on the silage and the straw placed on
this. Some dispense with the paper, while
others begin feeding the siUige from the top as
soon as filled, never covering at all. No pres-
sure on top of the corn is necessary.

Wetting the silage.— When the corn is cut
in a very dry season, and is not as juicy as com-
mon, the writer has found it advisable to pour
water on it after the temperature reaches a
high point. If one has a water pressure and
can turn on through a hose, that will be a con-
venience. Plenty of water may be used to
advantage, but no fixed rate of application can
be recommended.

Cost per ton.— The cost of corn silage per
ton varies, and the estimates made by those
owning silos vary widely — from 25 cents to $4
per ton. At Lafayette, Ind., the writer esti-
mated the cost to be $1.50, and this included
higher-priced labor than many pay for, and nu-
merous other factors, such as taxes on land, etc.,
that are not taken into account by the farmer.

204 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Feeding it out. — The silage may be fed at
any time. As already stated, some begin to
feed as soon as the silo is filled. The feeding
should be from the top if possible, so as to al-
low no part an opportunity to decay. Where
long, shallow silos, however, are used, the bet-
ter way is to keep the top covered, excepting
toward one end, and then to feed from the end,
working off a vertical section to the floor from
time to time.

Corn silage has been found, as a result of
large practice, to be a valuable food for cattle
and sheep. Swine do not eat it to any appre-
ciable extent, excepting for the grain it may
contain. There is considerable diversity of
opinion as to its value for horses. Mr. ]\I. W.
Dunham of Wayne, 111., one of the greatest
breeders and importers of horses in the United
States, if not in the world, writes the author
that after carefully testing it on a large scale
as a food for horses, during two years, he finally
discarded it as unfit for them. Others, how-
ever, feed horses silage with satisfactory re-
sults. It is important to remember that horses
have comparatively small stomachs and should
be fed lightly of this food, otherwise colic or
bowel trouble is liable to occur. For a further
consideration of silage as a food the reader is
referred to Chapters XII and XIIT.

BTATiaTICS.

205

CHAPTER XVI,

STATISTICS.

Indian corn is the most important cereal
crop grown in America, as based on crop pro-
duction and values. The crop for 18^3 had a
much greater money value than the comljined
ones of wheat, oats, rye, barley, and buckwheat
for the same year. The magnitude and com-
mercial value "^of the corn crop of the United
States can only be comprehended by a study of
statistics bearing on this subject.

The corn crop of 18SS amounted to nearly
2.000,000.000 bushels. Commenting on this
fact, one of the agricultural journals"^"- presented
its readers with the following graphic state-
ment. If the corn crop w^ere put into 40-lmshel
wagon loads, and 30 feet be allowed for the
wagon, team and headway in the road, the
string of teams would stretch 2S4.090 miles, or
11 rows around the world, and 9,000 miles more
of teams not in line. If in car-loads of 500
bushels per car, allowing 40 feet for length and

* Oranfifc Judd Farmer, St-pt. 29, 1888.

206

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

couplings, the com crop of 18S8 would require
4,000,000 cars, and they would make up a con-
tinuous freight train 30,303 miles long; or 10
trains from the Atlantic to the Pacific; or one
freight train of corn clear round the world
with enough cars left over to form two con-
tinuous trains from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

STATES AXD TEEKITORIES.

Maine

New Hampshire.

Vermont

Massachusetts...

Rhode Island

Connecticut

New York

New Jersey.

Pennsylvania

Delaware

Maryland

Virginia

North Carolina. .
South Carolina. .

Georgia

Florida

Alabama

Mississippi

Louisiana

Texas

Arkansas

Tennessee

West Virginia ...

Kentucky

Ohio

Michigan

Indiana

Illinois

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Iowa

Missouri

Kansas

Nebraska

South Dakota

North Dakota

Montana

Wyoming

Colorado

New Mexico ... .

Arizona

Utah

Nevada

Idaho

Washington

Oregon

California

Total 72,036,465

Acres.

Bus/iels.

Value.

1.3.553

410,656

8254,607

25,0T4

794,846

453,062

44.094

1,428,646

871.474

40,460

1.3.J5,410

840,354

8,949

218,356

160,666

43,557

1,228.307

786.116

517.135

15.255,483

8,390,516

277,183

7,179,010

3.733.101

1,273,418

31,198,741

15,287.383

199,874

4,916,900

1.966,760

623,667

15.078,221

6.634,417

1.652,595

31.234,046

14,.?67,661

2,435,310

29,954.313

14.977,157

1.623,511

12,501.035

7.500,621

3,034,079

33,678.277

18.859,835

506,120

4.909,364

3..3.S8.368

2.463,349

28.328,514

16,713.823

1.970.777

25.817,179

14,199.448

l,071,5Ba

15,216,266

8,673.272

3,475,623

61.170.965

33,032,321

1.982.149

32,110,814

14,449.866

2,988.247

63,649,661

24,823.368

649,265

14,089,051

7,748,978

2.8&3,960

68 008,060

29,243.466

2.709.549

64.487.266

25,794,906

919,432

21.790 5.38

9,805,742

3.456.226

85,368 782

30,732,762

6,247,100

160,550,470

49,770,646

971 C86

28 956,243

10,134,685

887 052

25,103,572

8.535,214

7,428.677

251,832,150

67,994.681

5,670.169

158,197,715

47,459,315

6.547,263

139,456,702

43.231,578

6,241.226

1.57,278,895

42,465,-302

865,472

20,511,686

5.127,922

20.142

416.939

158,437

1,102

30.305

21,214

2071

38,314

24,138

123,107

2,031,266

1,035,9 6

25.155

636,422

451,860

4.604

81,951

54.088

8,575

184,363

106,931

1,628

31.7J6

22,540

8,405

179.027

110.997

13.132

324,360

152,449

71,775

2,275,288

1,137.634

72,036,465

1.(519,496.131

$591,625,627

STATISTICS. 207

Area planted to corn.— The preceding table*
gives the num])er of acres of com planted in
the United States in 1S03, number of bushels
of grain grown, and its value. The corn crop
for 1894 was tlie smallest, with one exception,
harvested in the past fifteen years, being almost
390,000,000 busliols less than the average for
1890-1S94, and over 490,000,000 bushels less than
the average crop of the ten years 1880-1889.
For this reason the 1893 yield of the several
States is given, instead of the 1894:

The average rate of yield, 22.5 bushels per
acre, is the lowest for ten years, with the ex-
ception of the years 18SG, 1887 and 1890. It is
only a little lower, however, than that of 1883,
which was 22.7, or two-tenths of a bushel
greater. The average value per bushel is 36.5
cents, which is 2.9 cents, or about 7 per cent
lower than the value of 1892. This value is
G.l cents less than the average of the ten years
1870-1879, 2.8 cents less than that of the de-
cade 1880-1889, and 6.6 cents below the average
value of the three years 1890-1892. In the ten
years preceding only four croj^s, viz., those of
1884 (35.7), 1885 (32.8), 1888 (34.1), and 1889
(28.3), have had a lower average value.

Magnitude of corn crop. — The significance
of the corn crop of the United States, as cover-

*From December, 1893, report of of the Statistician of the
United States Department of Agriculture..

208

INDIAN CORN CULTURE,

ing a term of years, can be best showii in the
following table:*

Average for lo years, 1870-1S79.

1880

1881

1882

1883

1884

1885

1887

1888

1889

Average, i880-iS89.

1890

1891

1892

1893

1894

Total

Average, iS90-U94.

Total produc-
tion, bushels.

954

543
000
,100
895
,000
000
,000
000
,000
000

054

,(00
,000
,000
,131
,052

Total area,
ac'-es.

43.741,331
6-2,317,842
64,262,026
65,659,545
68,301,889
69,683,780
73.130.150
75,694.208
72.392.720
75,672,763
78.319,651
70 543,457
71.970,763
76.204,515
70,626,658
72,036.465
62.582,269

8,010,854,183
1,602,170,837

353.420,670
70,684,134

Statistics of yield and price. — The tal)le on
next page, prepared from the reports of the
Statistician of the United States Department
of Agriculture and the United States census,
has a special interest as bearing on the two pre-
ceding tables .

The exports of Indian corn from the United
States have been and are comparatively small.
From 1870 to 1893 there has been exported each
year 3.8 per cent of the entire crop grown, as an
average for that period of years. The greatest
percentage amount exported in one year — 6.5
per cent — was in 1877, while the smallest
amount, 1 per cent, was exported in 1870, al-
though the amount was only 1.7 per cent in

* Report of Statistician of the United States Depai'tment
of Agriculture, Report 3, December, 1894, p. 720.

STATISTICS.

209

1887. Notwithstanding the United States
Department of Agriculture under Secretary
Kiisk's administration made an effort to dis-
seminate information abroad concerning the
value of Indian corn as a food, by sendnig a
special agent, Mr. Charles J. Murphy, to Eu-
rope, there has been no striking increase in the

YEAR.

I8:i9.. .

1849...

1859..

1869..

1870..

1871..

1872..

1873..

1874..

1875.

1876..

1877..
1878..
1879..
1880.
1881.
1882.,
1883.
1884
1885
18S6
1887

Com crop.
BusheiS.

Bushels ji^erage Average

pel- head \ ,.^^^ p„. yma

popula- I ffushel. per acre,
lion. I I

37,7.it;.0U0 I

ss.f)jS.:<7l I

09.555.000

40.5'.»G,0(0

41.677,000

42,796 000

4.'i.95;,000

45,137.000

46 353,000

47.598.000

48,866,000

50.155.783

51,316.000

52.495,000

53,6.'3,000

54 911.000

56,148,000

57.404.000

5.S.6SO.0OO

59.974,000

61.289.000

62.622.250

64.002.000

65,403.000

66,82<;,000

68,275.000

377.531,875

.592,071.104

g38.792.742

874.320000

1,094,255,000

991.898,000

1,092,719.000 ,

932,274.000 !

850,148,500 '

1.321,069,000 I

1,28:^.827,500 I

1,342.5^.8,000

1.388,218,750 I

1.. 54 7(101.790 i

1.T17,434..543

1,194,916,000

1,617,025,100

l,.55l, 066,895

1,795,528.000

l,93i;,176,(*0

1.665.441,000

1,456,161,000

1.987,790,000

2.112,S92.000

1.4h9.970.(IOO

2,060.154.000

1.628.464.000

1,619,496.131

1.212,770,052

22

25

27

23

28

25

27

22

20

30

28

29

29

32

34

23

31

29

;!3

34

29

25

33

34

24

32

25

24

18

75.3

54.9

48.2

39.8

43.0

64.7

42.0

37.0

35.8

31.8

37.5

39.6

63.6

48.4

42.4

.35.7

3i.8

36.6

44.4

34.1

28.3

50.6

40.6

39.4

36.5

45.7

2.1.5

28.3

29.1

30.7

23.8

20.7

29.4

26.1

26.6

2«i.9

29.2

27 6

18.6

24.6

22. T

25.8

26.5

22 0

20.1

26.3

27.0

20.7

27.0

2:j.l
22.5
19.4

export trade. A verification of this statement
may be found in the following table. In spite
of this fact, it is confidently l^elieved that the
persistent and judicious work of Mr. Murphy
will result eventually in a decided increase in
our export trade. With a firm belief in the
value of Indian corn as a food, he has sacrificed

14

210

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

much of personal fortune and time to properly
present the merits of this grain to the several
European governments. Mr. Murphy will never
reap the reward he deserves for the service he
has bestowed upon American corn growers:

TOTAL CHOP AND EXPOET OP IXDIAX CORN.

Total yield.

Bushels exported.

Per cent
exported.

1,094,255.000

10.673,553

1.0

991,898,000

65.727,010

3.6

1,092,719,0 0

40.154,374

3.7

932,274,000

35.985,834

3.9

850,148,500

30,025,036

3.5

1.321,069.000

50.910.532

3.9

1,283.827,500

72,652,611

5.7

1,342,558,000

87 192.110

6.5

1.388,218,750

87,884,892

6.3

1.754,591.676

99 572,329

5.7

1.717,434.543

93,648,147

5 5

1.194,916,000 -

44.340,683

3.7

1,617,025,100

41.655,653

2.6

1.551,066.895

46,258,606

3.0

1.795,528,000

52.876,456

2.9

1.936,176,000

64.829.617

3.3

1,665,441,C00

41,368,584

2.5

1,456.161,000

25,360,869

1.7

1,987.790,000

70,841.673

3.6

2.112,892,000

103.418,709

4.9

1,489.970,000

32,041.529

2.2

2,060,154.000

76,602.285

3.7

1,628,464,000

47,119.524

2.9

1.619,496,000

66,489,529

4.1

1.495,169,749

66,568,021

3.8

These figures show that the largest ship-
ments abroad were made in 1879 and 1889, and
that after 1879, up to 1892, excepting 1889, the
shipment fell below the average amount ex-
ported yearly for 23 years.

The average yield in bushels per acre for
the country, for the years 1890-94, has varied
from 9.6 for Colorado in 1893 to 51.7 for Con-
necticut the same j^ear. New Hampshire shows
the highest general average yield, being 44.6,

STATISTICS.

211

45.7, 43.2 and 47.8 bushels respectively for the
years 181)0 to 181)3. The averages of all the
States for the same periods were 23.1, 28.7, 26.8
and 25.9 bushels. The relatively high yield of
the New England States is due to the intensive
methods of farming practiced over a small area,
in which either stable manure or artificial fer-
tilizers are largely used.

Corn crop of the world.— Before leaving this
subject it will be well to note the extent of the In-
dian corn crop of the world. About 80 per cent

COCTNTBY.

United States

Canada

Austria-Hungary —

France

Italy

Portugal

Roumanla

Russia

Japan

Cochin China

Natal

Argentine Kepubllc.
New South Wales...

New Zealand

Queensland

Victoria

Year.

Acres.

Bushels.

1891

76,204,616

2,060,1.54,000

1891

241,086

9,432,5.59

1890

5,691.886

109.126.632

1890

1,350.641

23.S1.5.177

1890

4,724,110

74,9«n,075

1891

1,284,920

20,225.700

1891

4.184,3?2

59,977,319

18!0

24,233 177

1887

55.365

1,245,016

1889

18,245

304,180

18S7

206,368

2,5ilt!,628

1888

49,200,61 >•

1890

173,8:56

5,52;i.611

1891

5,7o9

246,393

1890

99.4C0

2,448,625

1891

10,357

592,178

of that grown is produced in the United States,
while the large share of the balance is grown in
a few countries along the lower Danube river
in Europe, in Spain, Argentine Republic and
Mexico. An entirely satisfactory statement of
the world's crop cannot be secured, owing to
the fact that statistics are not available of the
crop grown in Mexico and many other coun-
tries. The above table is as recent a statement

* Commercial estimates.

212 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

as the writer could secure of the yields of corn
of different countries, and is compiled from
many government reports.*

When the Indian corn harvest of the United
States is better than an average one the total
world's crop of this cereal exceeds in size that of
the total yield of any other cereal.

*Production and distribution of the principal agricultural
products of the world. Compiled from official statistics.
United States Department of Agriculture. Report No. 5,
p. 15.

MISCELLANEOUS.

2\Z

CHAPTER XVII,

MISCELLANEOUS.

A number of subjects of interest and impor-
tance are placed in this chapter. They seemed
inappropriate to the subject matter of the pre-
ceding chapters, yet of sufficient importance to
be classed by themselves under this general
heading.

Detasseling.— Since 1SS8 this subject has re-
ceived considerable attention at some of the
experiment stations. According to ;MeLaren'-
in 1739 James Logan of Philadelphia pul)lished
an account of some experiments made by him
where he removed the tassels of the corn plant
and transposed the pollen. In 1879 Beal called
attention to the fact that a corn plant does not
naturally fertilize itself, the pollen being dis-
charged from the tassels before the appearance

of the silk.t

Among the early experiments made at the
stations some evidence seemed to indicate that

* Agricultural Science, Vol. 7, p. 319.

t Michigan Board of Agriculture Reports, 1S79, p. 198;
1880, p. 283.

214 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

a larger crop was secured bj^ detasseliiig. Later
investigations, however, in most cases gave
evidence of reduced crop yield due to this
practice. In 1888 Shelton of Kansas found a
loss of nearly 10 per cent due to detasseling.*
Roberts in 1890, at Cornell Universit}"^ how-
ever, secured a gain of 50 per cent due to de-
tasseling, and this experiment attracted wide
attention to the subject.f Further work at
Cornell seemed to corroborate this result in a
measure. In 1892 there was a gain in weight
of good ears amounting to 15 per cent, and of
poor ears of 26 per cent on the detasseled rows,
besides being a gain in number of ears.:{;

At the Illinois station, however, several years
of experimentation have shown no advantage
to be derived from this process, but if anything
a loss. At the Nebraska station, a decided loss
is shown from detasseling.§ Ten detasseled
rows 20 rods long each gave a jield of 528 lbs.
of corn; 10 alternate rows, not detasseled, 1,220
lbs., and 20 undisturbed rows elsewhere in the
field, 2.369 lbs. The cost of detasseling was
estimated at $1.25 per acre. At the Kansas
station in 1891 the results were adverse to detas-

* Kansas experiment station. Report of 1888, p. 27.

t Cornell University experiment station. Bulletin 25,
1890.

XlUd., Bulletin 49, December, 1892, p. 317.

^ Nebraska experiment station. Bulletin No. 25, Dec. 1,
1892, p. 4. ■

MISCELLANEOUS. 215

seling, while in 1S92 they were favorable.* As
based on this experience the Kansas investi-
<?ators state that in seasons favorable to the
production of much pollen, when the poUena-
tion can take place under normal conditions
(as to rainfall and temperature) it is advanta-
geous to remove a portion of the tassels, but
* » --i-- ^vhere the contrary conditions prevail
the practice results in diminishing the crop.''

No doul)t the practice will have but few fol-
lowers. In numerous experiments the opera-
tion has been thought to be a direct injury to
the plant. Further, the oj)era,tion of detassel-
ing involves extra cost of crop, while the re-
turns where an increase has occurred in most
cases were not remarkable.

In case the corn-grower wishes to experi-
ment in this work the following suggestion by
Watson of the Cornell University station may
be of service :f " From these three experiments
made at this station in detasseling corn it has
been observed that it is of the utmost impor-
tance to have the tassel removed at the earliest
time possible, certainly before they have be-
come expanded, and still better if enclosed
within the folds of the leaf." The operation of

* Kansas experiment station. Bulletin 45, December, 1893,
pp. 132-138.

t Cornell University agricultural experiment station, Bul-
letin No. 49, December, 1892.

216 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

removing the tassels was by giving them an
upward pull by hand, wdiich caused the stalk
to break off above the upper joint without in-
juring the leaves at all.

Cost of growing a crop.— Much has been
published in the agricultural press on the cost
of growing a crop or acre of Indian corn. Of
course, as might be expected, there is a great
diversity of opinion on this subject. Many
statements have been printed and often these
have been quite imperfect in detail. No inter-
est may be allow^ed on money invested in land,
tools, buildings; no account is taken of taxes
and loss of soil fertility in many instances, yet
al] these facts bear on the cost of producing
the crop. Says Sanborn : "

"We wish to repeat again, what we in effect have already
said, that we have not seen by any writer a fair statement of
the cost of a crop. Such cost must include something of the
manager's time, something for the use of machinery and its
breakages, something of the time lost in purchase and sales,
and loss of time in dull weather and winters. A true calcula-
tion will add, probably, at least 25 per cent to the apparent
cost."'

The following figures bearing on the cost
question are from some of the most complete
statements secured by the writer. These are
given simply as evidence along a line in which
the corn-grower takes much interest. None of
the figures are really conclusive, but are more
or less interesting and suggestive.

^Mirror and Farmer, Dec. 6, 1894.

MISCELLANEOUS. 217

111 1SS6 the Secretary of State of ^Michigan
published a crop report giving information on
the cost of producing \vheat, oats and corn
crops in that State." The estimates are based
on 817 reports from coi-respondents represent-
ing CoO townships. Tlie cost of producing and
marketing one acre of corn in the State was
$10.14, or 21.4 cents per bushel of ears. This is
based on the average price for corn on Jan. 1,
ISSC, viz.: 24 cents per bushel of ears. The
cost for the year 1885 was estimated at 20.9
cents per bushel of ears.

In 1SS9 the Secretary of the Kansas Board of
Agriculture investigated this subject in that
State and estimated from the returns that it
cost the fanners of Kansas, where an average
yield of 30 bu. per acre was grown, 21 cents a
bushel to produce and deliver.

For a number of years the Fanners' Review
published numerous articles from corn-growers
on the cost of crop production. In the Review
of April 7, 1886, A. S. Morley, Arlington, Neb.,
gives the following figures from his ledger:

TWENTY-FIVE ACRES CORN.

Fall plowing, 9 acres at $1.25 $11.25

Interest and taxes, at $3 75.00

Cutting- nine acres stall^s 2.25

Plowing 16 acres, at $1.25 20.00

Cultivating 9 acres— fall plowing .3.00

Harrowing and marking 4.00

♦Michigan Crop Report, Jan. 1, 1886. No. 51, page 8.

218 INDIAX CORN CULTURE.

Planting at 25c. per acre $6.25

Seed 1.50

Double harrowing 6.00

Cultivating 12i days 37.00

Total cost $166.25

Cost per acre 6. 65

Yield per acre, 50 bushels. Cost per bushel in field, 13.3
cents. Adding 4 cents i^er bushel for husking and market-
ing, the cost will be 17.3 cents.

8. B. of Clinton Co., Tnd., in the Indiana
Farmer (March 19, 1892), gives the following
figures, based on the cost of raising 12 acres of
corn :

Plowing 8 days at $2.50 $20.00

Preparing ground 3 days 7.50

Planting 4.00

Seed 1.00

Cultivating 10 days at $2.50 25.00

Husking 600 bushels at 2^c 15.00

Rent of land at $4 per acre 48.00

Total cost unmarketed $120.50

Cost per acre 10.04

At 50 bushels per acre, cost per bushel 20 cents.

At a meeting of the Oxford (Ohio) Farmers'
Club President L. N. Bonham gave the follow-
ing itemized statement of the cost of growing
a 24-acre field of corn 110 rods long.'''

Breaking stalks $1.50

Raking and burning 1.50

Plowing ten days 25.00

Harrowing 2} days 5.62

* Farmers' Review, June 24, 1885.

MISCELLANEOUS. 219

Planting- U days \^^

Seed (;5 bushels) ^" .,g

Ufplantiug -'qq

Rolling 2 days • • • .^q

Cultivating 3 times, long way, 3 days •

Cultivating 2 times, short way, 4* days ^-- _^

Thinning ! —

Total cost of cultivating r^d qq

Husking 8 days, 4 men, 2 teams ;^^^_^

Tax on land ^~^^q

Interest on land or rent _2__

Total cost unmarketed "i i 87

Cost per acre in crib "'

Cost to cultivate and gather per acre -

There were 60 bushels per acre, or a total of l-'l^'^

bushels, worth at husking time *-^'^^ y"

.... 1;).UU
Worth per acre

Cost per bushel, 18.6 cents.

No allowance is here made for the fodder,
which is worth as much as average hay if
properly cured.

The Practiced Fanner a few years ago pub-
lished a number of articles on the cost of grow-
hio- corn. Among the contributors to this sub-
ject was Mr. T. B. Terry, who gave the figures
of the cost of the crop of ]\Ir. E. A. Peters of
Central Ohio. They are as follows:

Plowing 30 acres, 20 days at $3 ^'^:^

Harrowing and working land 15 days Jo.u^

Planting. 3 days at $4 "'^

Seed, 5 bushels at ()0c ^^^

Cultivating, 20 days at $3 _ ^-.^

Cutting 750 shocks at 7c. each '^'--^^

Huskino- 2.400 bushels at 4c '•

220 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Hauling to cribs, 18 days at $3 $54.00

Rent of land 200.00

Total $592.50

By 750 shocks at 10c. each 75.00

$517.50
Cost per bushel a trifle over 21.5 cents.

Ill the Eastern States the cost of production
is somewhat higher. It is interesting to note
that in these figures the question of impover-
ishment of soil is not considered, although it is
far from an insignificant one.

Large yields of Indian corn.— In 1SS9 the

American Agriculturist offered a number of
valuable i)rizes, which were supplemented by
other parties, for the production of large yields
per acre of farm crops of certain kinds. In the
corn class the first prize offered was $500 cash
in gold. A number of other prizes were offered.
The crop was in each instance grown on not
less than one acre of land and a complete record
kept of the work of preparing land, fertilizing,
labor, etc. The harvesting was done in the
presence of three disinterested witnesses, who
measured the jDroduct, and wdiose signatures
attested the honesty and correctness of the con-
testant's report, which was made out on a form
properl}^ prepared and sworn to. Fortj^-five
people filed competitive reports, and the aver-
age yield of crib-cured shelled corn for the 45
was 89 bushels per acre. The largest yield was

MISCELLANEOUS.

221

secured l)y Z. J. Drake of Marlboro Co., South
Carolina, who grew 280 bushels of crib-cured
shelled corn on one acre of land, or 217 bushels,
free of all water. This the writer believes to
be the largest yield of corn from one acre of
land on record.

The land on which this crop was grown was
sandy in character, the original growth on it
being oak, hickory and long-leaf pine. It has
a gentle slope, with northern exposure, and was
well drained naturally. The soil "was a fair
specimen of much of the poor land in the
South." In 18S5, planted to corn, almost no
crop was secured, and in 1887 not over five
bushels per acre was obtained.

The following tal)le gives some facts as to
how this acre was fertilized for the cro]) of
corn :

1,000 bushels stable manure ^^I!'^^

867 lbs. kainit 'j'^^

867 lbs. cotton-seed meal -i"-^"

200 lbs. acid phosphate -^-^^

1,066 lbs. manipulated guano 13.31

200 lbs. animal bone ^-"^

400 lbs. nitrate of soda 1--^^

600 bushels cotton seed ^'-"^

Cost of application '"

Total cost ^226.92

There were other items of expense, such as
labor, interest on land, etc., amounting to
$87.50, bringing the total cost of crop to
$204.42.

222 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Coni at that time in South Carolina was
valued at 75 cents a bushel, which makes the
grain worth $191.16, and adding the fodder
value, $15, makes a total of $206.16 value in
receipts. In February stable manure was
hauled on the land, followed by applications of
guano, cotton-seed meal and kainit. The land
was then plowed, and following the plow
cotton-seed meal was strewn in the furrows.
A subsoil plow came after, breaking the soil to
a depth of 12 inches. A Thomas smoothing
harrow followed after the plowing. One bushel
of Southern white dent corn of the gourd-seed
variety was planted on March 2. The rows
were furrowed out, alternately three and six
feet apart, and five or six kernels were dropped
to each foot of the row. Between the wide
rows, later on in Ma}^, guano was applied, and
then later, in June, a mixture of 500 lbs. of
guano, cotton-seed meal and kainit was spread
in the wide spaces. Still later, in June, 100
lbs. of nitrate of soda was scattered between
the narrow rows and hoed in. Frequent culti-
vation was employed, but the land was kept
flat, not ridged.

The plants grew so large it became necessary
to erect posts and nail slats to them on both
sides of each row to prevent the corn from
falling. The harvesting was done in the pres-
ence of a large number of spectators. J. C.

MISCELLANEOUS. 223

( aniplji'll, lepreseutative of the American Aijvi-
vnlturist, G. B. W. Dunn, J. W. Roynolds and
John J. Tiirt were the witnesses to the harvest-
ing.

Besides winning the $500 in gold offered by
tiie Anicrican A</)-icti/f/irisf Mr. Drake also won
an additional prize of $500 offered by the South
Carolina Board of Agriculture to the person
who would bring the first prize to that State.

In competition for the same prize, Mr. Alfred
Rose, of Penn Yan, N. Y., won the second
prize, growing 191 bushels of shelled crib-cured
corn on one acre of ground. The total cost of
producing Mr. Rose's crop was $55.

The third prize went to George Gartner of
Pawnee Co., Neb., wlio grew 151 bushels of
shelled crib-cured corn on one acre. The total
cost of producing his crop was $49.70.

Cross fertilization.— The subject of crossing
varieties of Indian corn has been studied at a
numl)er of the experiment stations, especially
Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, New York and
Ohio. Of these Illinois has published the larg-
est amount of information concerning this
work.*

It is commonly known that if two different
varieties of corn are grown near each other
they will " mix " or cross fertilize. In this way,

* See bulletins Illinois expei-iment station, especially 21
and 2-5.

224 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

iniiDtentionally, the purity of seed is injured
and perhaps new varieties are accidentally
begun.

In crossing it is essential that the female
parts of the plant be kept covered, so that the
only pollen to come in contact with the pistil
shall be of the variety it is desired to cross
with. The following is given by McCluer as
the method most satisfactory at the Illinois
station:*

"We have found the best method to be to cover up, before
the silks ai'e out, both the tassel and the coming ear, with a
closely-woven cloth hag. Covering the tassel of the stalk
desired for a male parent insures a full supply of pollen,
which seems to retain its vitality for several days if kept
di'y. * * * When the silks reach a length of three or
four inches the ear is ready for fertilization. We then
gather the pollen on a sheet of smooth paper and roll it up
funnel-shaped. Next raise an umbrella and hold it in such
a way as to keep all flying pollen from the ear, remove the
bag, and apply the pollen until the silks are almost hidden.
In favorable corn weather a single application of pollen is
sufficient."

The practical results of cross fertilization to
produce new varieties are as yet slightl}" felt,
so far as experimental data goes. The results
now iDublished are interesting, yet contain
much of uncertainty. Morrow and Gardner
think, however.! t\vAt increased yields can be
obtained by crossing two varieties, and note

*Tllinois experiment station. Bulletin No. 21, p. 100.
t J&id, No. 25, April, 1893, p. 179.

MISCELLANEOUS. 225

that ii few fanners are changing tlieir practice
accordingly. This practical crossing is accom-
plished by planting in one row one variety and
in the next another, and removing the tassels
of the one as soon as they appear. Of course
the ears of the plants lacking tassels will be
fertilized by the other row where pollen exists,
thus producing a cross from which seed may
be selected.

Not much effect may be seen as the result of
planting crossed seed the first year, while the
second it nuiy be very marked.

Interesting data concerning several crossing
experiments is given by McCluer in the IniUe-
tins previousl}^ referred to from which the fol-
lowing notes are gleaned. Figs. GO, 61 and 62,
loaned by the Illinois station, show the effects
of some cross fertilizing done there:

'"Of 142 plats planted with sweet corn, popcorn, and these
crosses, it is safe to say there was as much uniformity in any
one of the crossed plats as in any, and very much more than
was found in most of the plats planted with pure varieties.

"Corn grown from the crosses the second year has con-
tinued to be comparatively uniform in type where the parent
varieties were similar; but where the parent varieties were
widely different, as in the crosses between sweet and dent,
the progeny has tended strongly to run back to the parent
forms, while at the same time taking on other forms differ-
ent from either.

"From the work so far done there seems to be no way of
telling beforehand what varieties will, when crossed, pro-
duce corn of an increased size, and what will not.

"In the production of new varieties by crossing it will
15

226

INDIAN CORN OL'LTUKE.

MISCELLANEOUS.

227

C X

0- =

228

i:n'dian corn culture.

MISCELLANEOUS. 220

seldom bo desirable to cross two varieties that are very
widely different from each other. It is probable that, on
the whole, selection with occasional partial changes of seed
will give more permanent as well as more satisfactory re-
sults for the general farmer than would the continual cross-
ing and breaking up of well-fixed types."

Measuring corn in the crib.— Multiply the
length, breauth unci height of the crib together
ill feet to obtiiin the cubic feet of space it con-
tains. Mnlti])ly this product by four, strike off
the right hand iigure and the result will be the
number of shelled 1)ushels. This measure is
not al)Solutely correct, but nearly so.

White vs. yellow corn.— The question of the
relative merits of white and yellow corn has
been discussed in the agricultural press and be-
fore farmers' meetings at frequent intervals.
From the chemical standpoint the color seems
to have no special significance. Upon the ques-
tion of relative productiveness opinions have
been rather evenly divided. Tracy and Lloyd
of the Mississippi station made a special inves-
tigation of this subject, upon wdiich they ren-
dei'ed an interesting report.''' Of the tests made
at seven agricultural experiment stations six
report greater yields with wdiite than yellow
varieties. The following table by Tracy and
Lloyd gives a summary of their investigations
(HI this subject:

* Bulletin 33, Mississippi agricultural experiment station,
March, 1895.

230

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

White. 1

Yelloic. 1

Excess yield.

STATION TEST-
ING.

Arkansas

Illinois

Number

varieties

tested.

14
64
16
53
30
25
25

217

Yield
per
acre.

36.7 bu.

63.1 bu.

54.8 bu.

54.2 bu.
47.5 bu.
43.0 bu.
55.4 bu.

56!7bu.

Number

varieties

tested.

14
101
28
67
9
20
34

273

Yield
per
acre.

36.6 bu.

62.0 bu.
56.3 bu.

63.1 bu.

39.7 bu.
38.7 bu.
51.3 bu.

4S]2bu.

White.

0.1 bu.
1.1 bu.

i!ibu.
7.8 bu.
4.3 bu.
4.1 bu.

Yellow.

1 5 bu

Louisiana

Mississippi

Ohio

Total

Average.. ...

It does not follow, however, from this table
that all white varieties yield more than all yel-
low ones. Numerous yellow varieties are i\x\\y
as productive as many white ones. It is worthy
of note that this table shows a yield in favor of
white varieties, especially in the South, where
yellow corn is grown niu(di less than in the
North. If the best varieties of wdiite and
yellow w'ere compared the relative difference
w^ould probably be slight.

Corn palaces. — Much beautiful decorative
work of a temporary character has been done
with Indian corn. This work has been most
extensively done in Sioux City, la., wdiere for
several years so-called corn palaces have been
erected. This was first attempted in 1887 at
Sioux City, where the idea originated. A corn
palace, saj^s the Pacific Biiral Press, is covered
and embellished, as with tapestry, outside and
inside, with products of the field, corn predom-
inating, ingeniously and fancifully arranged.
In building the palace a large structure is first

MISCELLANEOUS. 281

erected of lumber, of a shape tliat will carry
and show to advantage the nmltiforni decora-
tions with which it is to be adorned. It is in
form lofty, with broken lines, pinnacles, but-
tresses, Inidges, gables, ornamental windows,
etc. Over every inch of this wooden surface
are laid corn and kindred plants in architect-
ural harmony, in a multiplicity of designs.
The corn is used in the stalk, ear, kernel, and
even the husk has its decorative uses. The
walls are covered on the outside with ears of
corn, cut lengthwise or crosswise, and nailed
on in geometrical figures or other designs. The
various colors of the cereal permit of a wide
range of shading and coloring.

The Sioux City corn palace in 1887 was lOOx
210 feet, with dome and spire over 100 feet
high, and of ]\Ioorisli style of architecture. The
outside was a blending of corn of various colors
arranged in many designs. It is said 25.000
bushels of ears were used in decorating this
palace and cit}'.

In 1889 the decorations were of great merit.
From the kernel pictures illustrating farm
scenes, legendary and nursery tales, etc., were
made on the walls. Frescoes and flowers,
figures of persons and animals, draperies, and
numerous surprising and beautiful things were
also worked out.

In 1890 a building 2(34 feet square, with a

232

INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

central part and dome 172 feet high, was
erected. The main building was in the form
of an octagon 166 feet across. A central space
78 feet in diameter was unobstracted by pillar
or post. The decorations in this building were

!-f tii '

<s??-

—- . ViA,

r**-- -i

Fig. 63.— The Sioux City Corn* Palace op

^few,tprr~iEri

very remarkable and included among other
things a miniature Niagara Falls.

At the World's Columbian Exposition the
Iowa building was very beautifulh' decorated
all over the inside with Indian corn in manj^
unique designs.

MISCELLANEOUS.

233

Number of days required to mature va-
rieties— The following dutii is abstra.cted from
an interesting article on the subject by Prof.
W. C. Latta.* Excessive rain in late seasons
often delays planting in spring. This was the
case in Indiana and Illinois in 1892. The bulk
of the crop was not planted before June 1.

Can the varieties commonly grown in Indiana
l)e matured when planted as late as June 10?
The following table is the result of experiments
at Purdue University, and shows the number
of days required for varieties to mature:

Average No.

days Jor
thife years.

Boone Co. White

MunD'8 Early

Riley's Kavorlte

White Proline

Yellow NoneBuch

Hartman's White

Early Yellow Dent

Yellow Dent

Yellow Speckled Dent
Purdue Yellow

Xwnbet

days to mature in. 1

1889.

1890.

1891.

139

121

124

lOS

118

138

116

124

138

121

12(; •

121

12.^

116

122

111

!!•

IIG

iii;

112

114

102

ill

128
ill
126
128
123
119
112
IIH
113
lU

The cause of this wide range iu time for
maturing is dependent on season—whether
warm or cold, wet or dry, or seasonable.

With average weather conditions any of the
above-named varieties would mature in Sep-
tenil)er as far north as Lafayette if planted by
June 1. Late-planted corn will mature in five
or ten less days, owing to higher temperature
as the season advances.

* Indiana Farmer, May 28, 1892.

234 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

CHAPTER XVIII.

LITERATURE ON INDIAN CORN.

Thousands of articles on Indian corn and
its culture have been printed in agricultural
papers, and numerous addresses on this plant
have been published in agricultural and other
reports. The bulletins of most of the agri-
cultural experiment stations have published
experimental data the result of culture or feed-
ing tests. The stations of Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Missouri, Kan-
sas, Wisconsin and Minnesota have given spe-
cial attenflon to problems concerning the grow-
ing or feeding of this plant. Special chapters
on corn have also been published in books de-
voted to the cereals in general and in cyclopae-
dias and agricultural volumes.

So far as the writer has been able to ascer-
tain, but few books or pamphlets have been
published on Indian corn or maize. The fol-
lowing titles, given in sequence of issue, are of
those publications in the author's possession.
This list probably could be extended some,
though not materially:

Parmenfier, A. A. Le mais on ble de Turquie,

LITERATURE ON INDIAN CORN. 235

apprecie sous tous ses rapports: Paris, 1812, pp.
303; paper.

LesjM's, J. Max Louis. Essai sur le mais on
bio de Turquie, considere sous ses rapports hy-
gienique et medical: Paris, 1825, pp. 44; paper.

Cobbeff, William. A treatise on Colibett's
corn, containing instructions for propagating
and cultivating the plant and for harvesting
and preserving the crop; and also an account
of the several uses to which the produce is ap-
plied, with minute directions relative to each
mode of application: London, 1828, pp. 290, pi.
Ill; half leather, 7x4-| in.

Bonafoiis, Matthicu. Histoire naturelle, agri-
cole et economique du mais. Extrait presente
a la societe d'agriculture de THerault, par M.
Raffenau-Delile. Abstract in Bulletin de la
Societe de THerault, September, IS.SG, of con-
tents of large illustrated volume published in
1836 at Paris by Bonafous.

Salisbury. J. IL History and mythology of
Indian corn. From Transactions New York
State Agricultural Society, 1848, pp. 678-692.

Flint, C. L. An essay on the history and im-
portance of Indian corn as an agricultural prod-
uct. From Transactions New York State Agri-
cultural Society, 1849, pp. 281-293.

Enfield, Edward. Indian corn; its value, cul-
ture and uses. New York: D. Appleton & Co.,
1866, pp. 308; cloth, 5x7^ in.

236 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

Kdrniche, Fr. Vorliiufige Mittheiliingen iibei*
den mais. (Abstracted from den Sitzungsber-
ichten der Niederrheinisclien Gessellschaft fiir
Natur-und Heilkunde.) Bonn, 1872, p. 16.

Sfurfevaiit, M. D., E. Lewis. Indian corn.
Paper presented by request at the annual meet-
ing of the Massachusetts State board of agri-
culture, Jan. 22, 1879, pp. 38.

Godro}), D. A. N^ote sur le mais geant Cara-
gua (Zea Carafjua Molin). (Extracted from la
Revue des Sciences naturelles de Montpellier,
June, 1880, pp. 3.)

Sturtevant, E. Lewis. Maize: An attempt at
classification. Geneva, N. Y., December, 1883,
pp. 9, fig. 21. Rochester, N. Y., Democrat and
Chronicle Print, 1884. Printed for private dis-
tribution only.

Sturtevauf, E. Lewis. Indian corn and the
Indian. From the Anierican Xafuralisf, March,
1885, pp. 226-234.

Devol, W. S. A study of the germination of
corn. Thesis presented at Ohio State Univer-
sity for the degree of B. Ag., June 23, 1886, pp.
12.

Scott ^ Mary S. Indian corn as human food.
Nevada, la.: Payne & Son, 1889, pp. 122; boards,
4|x6 inches.

Mmyhy, Charles J. American Indian corn
(maize) as a cheap, wholesome and nutritious
food. Lecture delivered by Charles J. Murphj'

LITERATURE ON INDIAN CORN. 287

before the Katioiuil Agricultnnil Society of
France at tlie Intel-national Congress of Mill-
ers, held at Paiis in August, 1S89. Eclinburg,
Scotland: R. Grant & Son, 1800, pp. 97; paper.

Ladil, E. J\ Investigation upon maize. Re-
printed from tlie Journal of the American
Chemical Society, Vol. XII, No. 8, pp. 24.

Mifrj)Jn/, Wilcu & Snoir. Report on the use
of maize (Indian corn) in Europe, and the pos-
sibilities of its extension. United States De-
partment of Agriculture. Washington : Clovern-
ment Printing Office, 1S91, pp. 3f).

lldrshhvnjer, John W. Maize: A l)otanical
and economic study. Contrilmtions from the
botanical laboratory of the University of Penn-
sylvania, Vol. I, Xo. 2, 1893, pp. 75-202, pi. IV;
paper.

StiirteiciHtjE.L. Xotes on maize. Reprinted
from Bulletin Torrev Botanical Club, Vol. XXI.
Aug. 20, 1894, pp. 319-843, and Dec. 24, 1894,
pp. 503-523.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

A large number of the illustrations in this
book were provided through the kindness of
numerous friends of the author, agricultural
experiment stations and manufacturers of ma-
chinery making loans of electrotypes and en-
gravings. The writer here wishes to express
liis hearty appreciation for favois of this (diar-
acter to the following:

238 INDIAN CORN CULTURE.

S. L. Allen & Co., Philadelphia, Pa.: Gale Manufacturing
Co., Albion, Mich.; Deere & Co., Moline, 111.; David Brad-
ley Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 111.; Emerson, Talcott &
Co., Rockford, 111.; Challenge Corn-Planter Co., Grand
Rapids, Mich.; Stoddard Manufacturing Co., Dayton, O.:
Richmond Safety Gate Co., Richmond, Ind. ; J. D. Tower &
Bro., Mendota, 111.; Rock Island Plow Co., Rock Island.
111.; Foos Manufacturing Co., Springfield, O.; St. Albans
Foundry Co., St. Albans, Vt.; Keystone Manufacturing Co..
Sterling, 111.; Illinois Experiment Station, Champaign, 111.:
Iowa Experiment Station, Ames, la.; Indiana Experiment
Station, Lafayette, Ind.; Nebraska Experiment Station,
Lincoln, Neb., and Prof. F. ]M. Webster, Wooster, O.

INDEX.

Ackno\N'k'(lf,'fnu'nt^, liJT.
Acres corn in United States. 'Hk), 207.
-Vdaptability of varieties. 4(1.
Alabama, varieties for. 40.
Antfoiiniis ^raiu moth, 14:i.
Antliers. Hi.

Aphix tuiiidix. Forbes. 127.
.\rkansas, varieties for. 41.
.Artificial fertilizers, (il.
.\veraKe yield in bushels i>er acre,
210.

Bacterial disease, l.")l.

Kill biiKs. corn. llis.

Blissus leucopterus, Say, I'M.

Borer, stalk, i:U.

Botanical characteristic^^, 12.

Botanical races, 17.

Buffalo ffluten feed, 180.

Bub, cliincti, i:54.

Bugs, corn bill, W'^.

Butt, center and tip kernels, relative

value of. 4.'^, .')2.
By-products, composition of, l.')0.

constituents in, IM.

of the corn plant for feed, 179.

Caldwell on pluteu meal, 181.
Canada, varieties for, 46.
Canuinw, variety for, ;i7.
Capacity f>f silo, lit6.
Carbolijdrates, Itil.
Carlx)naceous food, corn a, lij.").
Center and tip kernels, relative

value of butt, 4s. '>2.
Characteristics, botanical. 12.
Chemical composition and diwsti-

bility, 1.58.
Chicat,'o gluten meal, 1*^0.
Chinch bug. IM.
Chop, hominy, 180.
Cob-aud-coru meal vs. corn-meal,

178.
Colorado, varieties for, 41.
Comjiosition and digestibility, chem-
ical, 154.

of by-products, 156.

of grain, 1.54.

of green corn, 15fi.

of mill pro(hicts. \'C).
Constituents, fertilizing, l.V.i.

in by-products, ISJ.

of foods, 16L

< 'orn-an<l-cob meal vs. corn-meal, 178.
Corn bill bugs, i;i8.

for silage, 200.

hearts, is;i.

horse, 108.

palaces, 2:50.

worm, 110.
Corneous matter. 18.
( 'ost of growing a crop, 216.
Cost .if silage. 203.
Cost., f silo. Iil9.
Cotton seed for manure, 67.
C.ivering silage, 20:{.
Cow, rati.)n for dairy, 165.
Cream gluten, ISO.
Crib, measuring corn in tlio, 229.
Crop, cost of growing a, 216.

of tiie world, 211.

value of corn, 160.
Crops for soiling. 185.

rotation of, 121.
Cross fertilization, 22."?.
Culm, 14.
Cultivation, depth of, 78.

frequency of, 76.
Cultivating, 73.
Cutting for silage, 101.

in s.iiling, early, 190.

nictli.xls of, 102.

timi! for, 99.
Cut worms, I'M.

Dairy cow, ration for, 165.

Days required to mature varieties,
number, 2:i3.

Dent corn, ix, 21.

Deptli of cultivation, 78.
of iilaiiting, 92.

Detass.'liiig. 213.

I)i(tl>roiir(t loitfjicornis, Say, 128.

Digestible constituents in by-prod-
ucts. 18:{.
matter in diflFerent parts, 158.

Digestibility, 157.

diemical composition and, 1.54.

Disease, bacterial, 151.

Diseases, 147.

Distance apart of jilanting. r.ite or,
86.

Drills vs. hills, 80.

Ivir. insects affecting the. 140.
typo of, 4s, 51.

240

INDEX.

Early cutting iu soiling, 190.
Elnteridce, 127.
Embryo ear, 16.
Exports, 208, 210.

Fat, 161.

Feerl. glucose, 179.

gluten. 179.

liominy, 180.

maize, 180.

starch, 179.

sugar, 180.
Feeding of live stock, 161.

silage, 204.

standards, 162.

stuifs. manuriai value of, 69.
Female flower, 1.5, 16.
Fertility removed by corn crop, 58.
Fertilization, cross, 223.
Fertilizers, experiments with, 62.

manures and, 58.

necessary, .58.
Fertilizing constituents, 159.

flowers, 16.
Filling silo, 202.
Fish scrap for manure, 67.
Flint corn, 18.

varieties, 27.
Floor for silo, lining and, 194.
Flour, gluten, 179.
Flower, 15.

kinds of, 15.
Flowers, fertilizing, 16.
Fly, seed corn. 126.
Fodder, pulled. 111.

testimony concerning shredded,
116.
Food, corn a carbonaceous, 165.
Foods, constituents of, 161.
Form of silos, 193.
Frequency of cultivation, 76.

Georgia, varieties for, 41.
Germination temperature, 48.
Glucose, 18.

feed, 179.

meal, 179.
Gluten, cream, 180.

feed, 179.

feed, Buffalo, 1-0.

flour, 179.

grano, 1(9.

meal, 179.

meal, Chicago, ISO.
Gortyna nitela, Guen., 134.
Grain, composition of, 154.

moth, .Vngoumis, 143.
Grano-glutou, 179.
Green com, composition of, 1156.

food, beneficial effects of, 189.

food, importance of, 184.

manure, 67.
Growers, Indians as corn, 9.
(irowiug for silage, method of, 201.
Growth, rapidity of, 14.

Grub, white, 130.

Harrowing, 73.
Harvesting, 99.

machinery, 103.
Heart.';, corn, 183.
Hcliothis armiger, Hubn., 140.
Hills, drills vs., 89.
Hinds on by-products, 182.
Historical. 7.
Home of maize, 8, 11.
Homiuy chop, 180.

feed, 180.

meal. 180.
Horse, corn, 108.
Horses, rations for, 166.
Husking, 111.

dispensing with, 112.

machines, 114.

Illiuois, varieties for, 42.
Importance of green food, 184.

of rotation, 123.
Indiana, varieties for, 41.
Indians as corn-growers, 9.
Injuring seed after planting, insects,

126.
Insects, 126.

affecting the roots, 127.

affecting the stalk, 130.

injuring seed after planting, 126.

other, 145.
Iowa station, soiling at, 188.

varieties for, 43.
Judging corn ; a scale of points, 48,
56.

Kansas, varieties for, 43.
Kentucky, varieties for, 43.
Kernel, 17.

Kernels, relative value of butt, cen-
ter and tip, 48, 52.

Ldchiiosterna fusca, Frohle, 13U
Leaves, 14.

on stalk, number, 15.
Lining and floor for silo, 194.
Listing, 94.

Literature on Indian corn, 234.
Live stock, feeding of, 161.
Louse, corn plant. 127.
Louisiana, varieties for, 43.

Machinery, harvesting, 103.
Machines, husking, 114.
Maize feed, 180.
Male flower, 15, 16.
Manure, effect of stable, 59.
Manures and fertilizers, 58.
Mauurial experiments, summary of,

66.
value of feeding stuffs, 69.
Meal, corn-and-cob meal vs. corn,

178.
glucose, 179.

INDEX.

241

M.'iil. Klutoii, 179,

liominy, \H).
MoasuriiiK cprn in tho crib, 2"20.
Mctliod (it Hi'lcctiiiK seed, +,h, .'io.

(if proserviiif; seed, 4M, .")((.
Metlioils of cut tint,', lOli.
Mill iiriidiicts. conipositiou of. l."iri.
Mississippi, varieties for, 41.
Mis.souri, varieties for, 44.
Muth, Angoiunis grain, 14:{.

Nebraska, varieties for, 44.
New York, varieties for, 44.
Night soil for maimro, 67.
Noctuidw, I'M.

Ohio, varieties for, 4r>.
(Iregon, varieties for, 4r>.
Original lionie, iS, 11.
Ovule, 17.

Palaces, corn, 230.

Panicle, 15.

Pasture, soiling on, 191.

Pennsylvania station, soiling at, 1*8.

varieties for, 4.").
Phorhia fitxi'-rps, Zetty, I'JO.
Pistillate flower, 16.
Plant louse, eorn, 127.
Planting, 85.

depth of, 92.

insects injuring seed after, 126.

rate or distance aiiart of, &6.

time of, tvJ.
Plowing, 71.
Pod corn, 19.

Points, judging corn ; a scale of ,4S, 56.
Pollen, 17.
Pop corn, 18.

varieties, 39.
Preserving seed, method of, 4S, .50.
Primary root, 12.
Protein, 161.

Pruning of corn, root, 80.
Pulled fotlder, 111.

Rate or distance apart of planting,

86.
Races, 17.

Ratio, nutritive, 162.
Ratitin for dairy cow, 165.
Rations for horses, 166.

for sheep, 172.

for swine, 176.

illustrated. 166.
Klioilc Island, varieties for, 45.
Roof of sUo, 196.
Root, 12.

develoi>nient, 12, 1:5.

pruning of corn, SO.

worm, corn, 128.
Roots, insects affecting the. 127.
Rotation, importance of. 12!!.

of crops, 121.

systems of, 124.

Round silo, plans for, 196.
Rust, 1.53.

Scale of points ; judging corn, a, 48,

56.
Scr.ii) for manure, tisli, 67.
Sea weeds for manure. 67.
Secondary root, 12, 13.
Seed, 17, IN.

after planting, insects injuring,
126.

corn fly, 126.

method of preserving, 48, .50.

method of selecting, 48, .50.

size of, 48, ,53.
Selecting a variety, 20.

seed, method of, 48, 50.
Sheep, rations for, 172.
Sheath, 14.
Shocking, 106.
Shocks, tying, 109.

Shreilded fodder, testimony concern-
ing, 116.
Shredding. 115.
Silage, corn for, 200.

cost of, 203.

covering, 203.

cutting for, 101.

fei^ding, 204.

method of growing for, 201.

silos and, 192.

varieties for, 200.

wetting, 203.
Silk, 16.

Sills for silo. 195.
Silo, capacity, 19().

constructing a, 192.

cost of, 199.

tilling. 202.

fori;is for. 193.

lining and floor for, 194.

plans for round, 196.

roof. 196.

sUls, 195.

square, 199.

walls, 194.
Silus and silage, 192.
Sitotnjga cerealellu, Oliv., 143.
Size of seed, 48, 53.
Smut, 147.

preventing, 151.

said to be injurious, 130.
Soft corn, 19.

Soil for manure, night, 67.
Soiling, 184.

at Iowa station, 188.

at Peiuisylvania station, 188.

at Wisconsin station, 187.

croi)S for, 1^5.

early cutting in, 190.

on jiasturi?, 191.

Stew.irt on corn for, 189.

v.iriety of corn for, lN7.
South Dakota, varieties for, 45.
Sphenophorus, l:J8.

242

INDEX.

Sphenophorus ochereus, Loc, l.iM.

Square silo, 199.

Stable manure, 59.

Stacking, 109.

Stalk borer, 134.

Stalk, insects afiFecting the, V.M).

number leaves on, 1.5.
Staminate flower, 16.
Standard, feeding, 162.
Starch feed, 179.
Starchy matter, 18.
Statistics, 205.
Stem, 14.

Stewart on corn for soiling, 189.
Stock, feeding of live, 161.
Succession, sweet corn for, 38.
Sugar feed, 180.
Sweet corn, 18.
Sweet on gluten meal, 182.

corn for succession, 38.

varieties, 33.
Swine, rations for, 176.
Symptoms of bacterial disease, 152.
Systems of rotation, 121.

Tassel, 15, 16.

Temperature, germination, 48.

Tennessee, varieties for, 46.

Testimony concerning shredded fod-
der, 116.

Testimony from users of by-prod-
ucts, 181.

Threshing corn, 120.

Tillage, 71.

Time for cutting, 99.
of ijlanting, 83.

Tip kernels, relative value of butt,
center and, 48, 52.

Tested varieties, 21.

Tying shocks, 109.

Type of ear, 48, 54.

United States, acres corn in, 206. 207.

value com in, 206, 207.

yield of corn in, 206, 207, 208.
Ustilago maydis, Corda., 147.

Value corn crop, 160.

corn in United States, 206, 207.
Varieties —

Adams' Early, 21.

B. & W., 22.

Black Mexican, 33.

Black Sugar, ;ij.

Blount's Proliflc, 22.

Boone Co. White, 22.

Burrill & Whitman, 22.

Canada, 27, 30.

Canada Twelve-Rowed, 27.

Chester Co. Mammoth, 23.

Compton's Early, 28.

Compton's Surijrise, 28.

Cory, ;«, ,38.

('ory Early Sugar, 33.

Crosby's Early, 34,

Varieties —

Crosby's Early Twelve-Rowed,34.
Dungan's White Prolific, 24.
Button, 28.
Dwarf Golden. 39.

Earliest Rockford Market, 33

Early Canada, 27, 30.

Early Concord, 35.

Early Cory, 3.3.

Early Button, 28.

Early Marblehead. 34.

Early Minnesota, 34.

Early Narragausett, 35.

Egyptian, 34, SS, 39.

Eight-Rowed Brown, 29.

Eight-Rowed Copper-Col<)red,29.

Eight-Rowed YeUow, 28, 29

Extra Early Cory, Si

Extra Early Crosby, 34.

Farmer's Favorite, 24.

Ford's Early, 34, 35.

Golden Beauty, 24.

Hickox, 34, 38.

Hickox Improved, 34.

Improved King PhUip, 29.

King Philip, 29.

La Crosse, SS.

Landreth's Earliest Yellow, 27.
28. ' '

Leaming, 24.

Longfellow, 30.

Long Island White Flint, 31.

Long YeUow. 28.

Mammoth, 38.

Marblehead, 34.

Maryland White Gourd Seed, 25.

Maule's XX Sugar, 36.

Minnesota, 34.

Moore's Concord, 35, 38.

Moore's Early, 35.

Moore's Early Concord, .35.

Narragan.sett, 35.

Ne Plus Ultra, .36.

New England, 39.

Now England Eight-Rowed, 30.

Nonpareil, 39.

Northern Pedigree, 38.

Pearl, 39.

Pee and Kay, 36.

Perry's Hybrid, 38.

Pride of the North, 25.

Queen of the Prairie, 26.

Riley's Favorite, 26.

Rural Thoroughbred Flint, 3L

Shaker's Early, 38.

Slate Sweet, 33.

Smedley, 27.

Squantum, 37.

Stabler's Early, 38.

Triumph, 38.

Stowell's Evergreen, 36, ::«,

Washington Market, 34.

Waushakum, 31.

Western Queen, .36.

Wliite Flin^ 32.

INDEX.

243

Varieties; —

White Rice, 39.

Wisconsin Yellow, "JT.
Varieties ami tlieir adaptatiuu, "Jit,
40.

for sUajje, '2W.

iiunibiT days required to mature,

Variety for canuiuK. 37.
of corn for soUiuK, 187.
selecting a. Lti.

W'eods for manure, sea, 67.
Wliite grub, l»t.

vs. yellow, 229,
Wild maize, 8.
Wire worms, 127.

Wisconsin station, soiling at, 187.

varieties for, 46.
Wcjlff's tables, 16:{.
World, corn crop of the, 211.
Worm, corn. 140.

corn ro<jt, 128.
Worms, cut, 13U.

wire. 127.
Wyoming, varieties for, 46.

Yellow vs. white, 229.

Yield in bushels per acre, average,

210.
Yield of corn in United States, 206,

207.208.
Yields of Indian com, large, 220.

BEPRESENTATIVK FARMERS.
THE MOST EXTENSIVE FARMERS,
THE MOST PRACTICAL FARMERS

r.NnoKsi; and praise

The McCormick

Corn Binder.

FROXT VIEW.

Just as tho principles of
the original McCormick
Reaper serve as the type
and pattern for all frrain-
cutting machines, so the
principle of the McCormick
Corn Harvester is recos-
uized as the only correct
method for this class of ma- rear view.

chines. _ . . , ... .,„

It takes a row of corn, keeps that row standing,' on end. binds it in its
vertical position, and discharges it at one side from tlie machine The
bundles thns bound are square-butted, easy to shock, and are better
shaped than bundles bound in any other way.

Thoroughly tested hi the WorhVs Fair Field Trials in 1S93, wheii the
judges recommended an award for extreme simpUcitu of construction and
excellence in the performance of its irork.

MORE THAN 10,*IOO IN USE.

See illustration of machine at work on page lOt. Write for circular.

M'CORMICK HARVESTING MACHINE CO., Chicago.

Corn-Growers'

MACHINERY

MADE BY

Keystone Mfg. Co.,

STERLING, ILL.

Corn Huskers and

Fodder Shredders,

Corn Shellers for

Po\ver and Hand,

Corn Harvesters,

Self-Binders,

Corn Planters,

Corn Drills.

WE ALSO MAKE

Disc Harrows, Hay Loaders, Side-Delivery Hay
Rakes and Horse Powers.

Address

KEYSTONE MFG. CO., Sterling, III.

We have Branch aud Supply Houses. (Mention this hook.)

Emerson Manufacturing Co.,

Successors to En\ersou, Talcott A^ Co.,

ROCKFORD, ILL.,

MASITKACTrRKUS OF THK

"STANDARD"

CULTIVATORS,

Corn Planters, Check Rowers, Etc.

We have not the space here to show cuts and give descriptions
of our different "Standard"' machines, including various styles of
Ridintf, Combined and Walking Cultivators, but we will lake pleas-
ure in mailing Illustraied Catalogues to all who will send us their
address.

EMERSON MANUFACTURING CO.,

Roekford, 111.

THE

ST. ALBANS

Fodder-Shredder.

The new method of preparing Ensilage and Dry Corn-Fodder. The
only machine ever invented that actually shreds corn-stalks. Reduces
the hard butts to a light fluffy condition resembling the excelsior used in
upholstery.

Send for .50-page catalogue specially descriptive of this unique ma-
chine, containing also a valuable report upon the feeding properties of
the corn plant issued by the Maryland Experiment Station.

CAUTION: We are the sole owners of patents completely covering
this method of preparing fodder. All attempts at infringements will be
vigorously dealt witli.

ST. ALBANS FOUNDRY GO,, St. Albans, Vt.

THE IDEAL STOCK FOOD.

"Old Process" Ground Linseed Cake.

(OIL-MEAL)

Beyond all question TUB BEST food for all farm animals. At the Chi-
cago World's Columbian Kxposltlon the dairy cowB and live stock of all kinds
were fed vrlth goods of our manufacture and we received the highest award

CATTLE.

Mr-Tni-TH TKKFEKSON Co.. Kan.-I bave been feeding cattle f'-r twenty
other feed that 1 have used.

8\V1NE.
I .,r AN-*i>(.RT ind April, 18y.i.-We have fed oil-meal (Old Process) to hoss

mmmmsssssm

thrift and health. I recommend Its use In proper quantities.

Yours respectfully, ... - .>

COTT BAKNKTT. Secy Indiana Swine-Breeders Association.

SHEEI'

lANSEX Neb -1 regard Old Process T.lnseed Cake as tho best Possible food
for sheep and all otherklnrts of live stock. I am feeding It not as a •'medicine
but as a'iooD. and consider it cheaper than corn or wheat. I i™/«e^'".« "^'^^

thl'rdo?a pound of cake and ^^^ VOU-^-,[ZXU^W■?^ l^'l'^^^^^^^
verv satisfactory resuts. I have tried ( otton->eea -"«-•"• '^'"'. t^ffS'V-rt hHlf
leed Cake There Is no reason in the world why sheep snould not be fed halt
otf-cake and half either corn, oats or wheat-only the price. 1 believe sheep
would do well on the cake and hay alone without any Prain.^^^^^ jansex

HOUSES.

In regard to your l.inseed OU-Meal I have found U to be allthat is required
of it Those friends of mine In the .same business that I recoramenueu ii lo

in the business. You can refer any party or parties to me with P casure.
main, with respect. Yours. ^^^^^ ^ ^^^^ ^ co.'sStabie, Chicago. HI.

Old Process Ground Linseed Cake is just as good for dairy cows as for other
farm animals, b'or prices and particulars address

Plqua, O.
W. P. Orr Llnseed-<M1 Works, - * _ Indianapolis, Ind.

Evans Llnseed-Oll \\ork8, - - _ . Gllman, III.

Oilman Llnseed-Oll Works, - - _ , Burlington la.

Burlington Linseed-Oil Works, - - _ _ pubuque, la.

Dubuque I,lnseert-01I Works. - - _ _ _ ^^^^ Moines, la.

Des Moines Llnseed-Oll Works, - _ _ Marshalltown, la.

Hawkeye Llnseed-Oll Works. - _ _ Iowa City. la.

Close I Inseed-OU Wijrks - - - _ _ ^^^^^ ^^^^J j^.

Sioux City Llnseed-Oll Works. - _ ^ Omaha, Neb.

Woodman Llnseed-Oll Works, • - ^ _ Chicago, 111.

National Llnseed-Oll Co.,

LIVE-STOCK

Commission.

CONSIGN YOUR SHIPMENTS TO

CLAY,
ROBINSON

& COMPANY,

Chicago, Kansas City, So. Omaha,

Denver and Salt Lake City

Stock-Yards.

PUBLISHERS "THE LIVE-STOCK REPORT."

FREE TO OUR PATRONS.

Sample Copy to Any Address on Application,

^^r-/
yr

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