The Farm

As a very large portion of the corn raised in Michigan is fed in the State and is raised with special reference to feeding, Prof. Kedzie's analysis showing the relative food value of the different varieties are conclusive on that point and will materially aid farmers in selecting -the best. It does not follow, however, that the variety furnishing the largest percentage of "flesh fprmers" is in all cases the mostprofitable to cultívate. Account must also be taken of its product i veness, its hardiness, its adaptability to the soil and elimate, and its other qualities as well as its food value. In this as in all cases the conclusions of seience must be gcceptpd in the light of expenence and applied with common sense. Partly as a supplement to Prof. Kedzie's liiiper and partly as the experienee of some of the most successful cultivators of corn in Southern Michigan, we give ;he substancë of the discussion at Paw Paw which led to the chemical analysis. Mr David Woodman, Jr., said: My favorite is the Yellow Dent. 1 ïave cultivated it for 30 years without change of seed. To raise it successf ully requireft a good soil well prepared ; plant three grains in a hill, or thin to Lhree stalks, with rows four to four and a half feet apart each way, cultívate thoroughly, and with a favorable season I am very sure of 100 bushels of ears to the acre, whichis equivalent to 60 bushels shelled. ïhat I consider a good erop; an extra yield is 100 bushels of shelled, which I have frequently produced; 80 bushels is a fair, and 50 I would consider a poor crop. Next to the Yellow, I pref er the White Dent. lts yield is nearly equal to the Yellow, but its nutritive qualities are inferior. The Pony, or Small Dent, is a valuable variety, eaiiy and reliable. The eight-rowed Flint,Smut-nose, Wisconsin Dent, and Tuscarora are valuable for late planting or for the northern sections of the State. I have experimented with the White. Yellow, and Calicó Nebraska, Quail Track, Ohester County Mainmoth, lowa llackberry, Virginia White, and other varieties. Some of them sueeeed well and can be advantageously grown in this vicinity. I don't know whether Prof. Kedie has analyzed the corn yet, but I am satisfled that the Yellow Dent is the most nutritious and therefore the most valuable for feeding. Ilorses too, if offered both the White Dent and the Yellow Dent will prefer the Yellow, and ] believe they are pretty good judges. Capt. Hendryx said : I have had at least ten years more experienee in growing grain than Mr.Woodman. My son and I had some dispute about the White Dent and Yellow Dent. and it became so sharp that we linally concluded to weigh it in the ear, and the result was that the Yellow weighed seven pounds more to the bushei titan the White. The Ilon. ,T. J. Woodman said : There are several different varieties of White and Yellow Dent, of which one variety would correspond with Hendryx's statement, and one would produce from ftve to seven pounds more to the bushei than the Yellow Dent. I have a kind which I have raised for several years. which would weigh more than the Yellow Dent, the Captain speaks of. I procured it of Benjamin Sheldon, of Bloomingdale. It weighed from 80 to HO pounds to the bag, or from 12 to 15 pounds more to the bag than ordinary corn. Mr. Edwin Welch said: 1 planted some of this corn Mr. Woodman speaks of, side by side with some I had from Bloomingdale, and I found that the large Yellow Dent does not do as well on our light soils. It needs a strong, rich soil. So much as to the varieties. As to the planting and cultivating of corn we may add the testimony of Mr. William Strong, of Kalamazoo. He says : To attain the highest suceess incornraising for a term of years, it is necessary to plant on a good clover sod. By this 1 do not mean a sod formed by a poor, stinted growth of top and root, of only a tew inches in length, but by a thrif ty growth of top and a corresponding growth of root, ruling the top soil with fibrous roots and sending the top roots down through the hard-pan, clay and gravel to an unknown depth. With the spade I have followed clover roots down to a depth of six feet ; how much farther they went I cannot say, as at that point I broke them off and gave up the chase, This is the way we would have our clover grow to form a sod to start the rotation of corn, oats or barlev. wheat and clover again. The only safe way is to select the seed in the fall and put it where it will not freeze, It is not safe to plant frozen corn, Tluee-fourths might grow in a pan by the kitchen stove, but if at planting time the soil is cokl and wet, three - fourths will not. In scarcely any other way can the yield of (Din in this State be increased as by planting only perfectly sound seed. Wbile speaking of seed, it niay be well to observe that, to obtain the largest yield, it is necessary that we plant those varieties that will get the benefit of the whole growing season and ripen before frost. It is a poor recommendation for a variety that it will rippen in 80 or 90 days from time of planting. To obtain the best resulta, it will not do to have our com ripen before the growing season is tvothirds or three-fourths past. As to application of manure, 1 sa , without hesitation, apply it as a top dressing tothe clover sod intended for com the coming season. Just before or immediately after planting, it is advisable to pass a roller over the field, as by so doing the top soil is made very fine, so that the soil fits very closely about the seed, in a dry time causing it to germinate and grow much sooner than it otherwise would. Clean eultivation is acknowledged by all as necessary to obtain the best resulte, yet how often do we see the weeds higher than the corn! Oreat injury sometimos occurs by running the "two-shovel" and other tools too deep, thereby cutting off large quantitiesof roots and sometimes nearly overturning the hills themselves. I believe large loss comes each year by too deep eultivation of our corn after it has attained some height. The rule should be deep tillage flrst and shallow tillage as the corn increases in size. The almost universal practice is to plant in rows four feet apart each way. This is perhaps the best where fields are stumpy and stony and overrun withJune grass, and the like; but where thorough culture is given npon smooth farms where clover sod is the rule, drill culture will give the largest return. In my experience, the neare' ;he approach to drill culture, having hehills nearer together and the nunieiof stalks tothe hill less, the larger :he yield. Cultivation after harveet is advisable i f tools are run very shalow To sum up by planting on good clover sod to whieh the manure was ;ipalied during f all and winter; planting food seed every time, of varieties whicli will get the benefit of the whole ;rowing season ; reducing the damage iy wormsto aniinimium by tnuch clover and frequent plowing; and taking norc care in selecting tools and in the marnier of using them, the yield of corn may be increased ten bushels per icre, while the additional expense will e small indeed. When we remember ;hat three quarts of rneal per day will winter a 900-poundcow imd tliat Kalamazoo countv raises 28,751 acres of corn per annum, an increaae of ten )ushels per acre in this county alone would carry through from the first lay of ïTovember to the flrst day of April 22,848 cows, after the miller had aken out his toll.