CORN GROWING IN KANSAS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1997, 25 April 1885, Page 3

CORN GROWING IN KANSAS.

MR J. R. Roche, well known as a founei readout of Te Awamutu, and who is now settled in Kansas, U S A., "ends iih the following :— I send you a shoit paper on the growing of coin, as at present carried on in K<iib,n. It may he of some interest to Waikato f.umer-s and if poik c.in be raised hei e to piy at from thiee to four cents the tt> live weight, fed solely on Corn, it xhdiikl pay in New Zoiland .it 2d to 3d -; The first yearV tmp, tailed " <u>d corn," 1 just nbout pays fm laboui. As mum as the f u»t la out of thegiound, say the end of March, the law pi.une is broken from tUO to three mche-s dorp, nml from fourteen to twenty inches wide. A man with a riding plough turning twenty inches can get ov er four acres a day. Along in May tbe corn w planted three feet apart botli with a, hand planter. An axe i" sometimes twed. A man walkin? along evciy other funow mikes a stroke of tbe axe about three feet apait. A boy follovvs, dropping two oi tlneo *eedh in the hole* made, and the planting is done. The skm is so tough harrows would have no effect. This is «od coin. Of course, your land is so friable you need not w ait for the second year to rawe a paying cio|>. Well, assuming the land to have been cropped the previous year, we will now piepare for the ne\t season. In Februaiy, the husking ifinished, and while tho btalks are buttle from the frost, a heavy sapling about thirty feet long is procured, or an old vail borrowed from a railway ; a team of horses is hitched to each end, the poll is dragged across the field thus breaking down the stalks, which ure gathered into windrows with a r.ike made with stout -takes driven at intervals into a rail. A bo\ of matches and a fair wind will «oon cl^ar the rubbish <>tf. The land is then ploughed and harrowed onco or twice, and the corn planted ; horse planters aie mostly used ; the lull* are about thiee or three and a half feet apart every way. The weeds grow so fast that the crop neods cultiviting a* often as pov«iWe ; hve ploughing* are not to many. Nothing fuither is necessary till husking time. This u-ed to bo a tfdiou* job m tho old days in New Zealand, tying the cb-. together by the leave 0 , and string ing tliPin on poles to nppn. It is done differently here. Tlnee men with a waggon will pick three acres a day. The waggon ".straddles" the centre row in every five, and l the diner picks tln» row and attends the horses, and the two rows on each side aie picked by the other men. (41oves are usually worn to pu.tect the hands, as they nre apt to gut tender from constant friction. A hulking pin is also necessary. A large percentage is sold straight from the held, the buyer claiming 701bs of ear corn to the bushel. Kiftj-.sk lbs of shelled coin is th recognised weight. But the greater portion w hauled to the corn crib and stored. These ciibs aie sometimes made for tempoiary u*e by setting posts in tho ground, laying a floor, and nailing boards on the sides of the structure clo«e enough to kee| the ears from falling thuuigh. Often no roof is put on, as the winter season is usually dry. Anyhow, a wetting or two will not hurt the corn while on the cob. As the wind can penetrate right through, the corn in thia way gets perfectly dry and ripe. Taking 35 bushels as the average yield, the cost per bushel from first to last is about 12 or 14 cents, and allowing the selling price to be 25 cents, this leaves Hip grower $4 noc pei acre. The old prices of from 9 cents to 15, or 18 cents will hardly return (they have returned this year, the country is so intersected with railway* that there is scarcely any part of the corn belt but is within the reach of a market. It takes about 70 bushels to fatten a s.teer. Provident feedeia will be careful to have stock hogs to " follow" the steeis, a hog to a steer, .so that even the undigested coin is not wasted. Hogs are seldom let run loose in Kansas; they are kept in the hog pen all the tune, a'sme'tunes with no shelter from the sun in summer, or frost in wintei. The coin is fed to them in the ear by most farmers. This is a wasteful way. It payto chop the corn, that is, have it giounu into coarse meal. Steaming this clioppu; corn would give better results still, but it would be too elaborate for Kansas at pie »ent. There is no mistake about the bieerl of hogs though ; t hoy have got them heie. The favourite breeds are Poland, China and Berk-hue. The former makes the largest frame, but the latter conies to maturity earlier, aud keeps fat on less food. 1 have fiequently weighed hogs that turned the scale at 300tbs when under 12 months old. I killed one my-elf that weighed 3021bs alive. The breeder stated it was only 10 rrHhths old— a Berkshiie. A hog to pay well should be fit for market at 12 months old. All animals die sold here b> live weight. Even hnr-e- ai« weighed. This, I think, is only fan to the fanner.