Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1869-05-14
CORN AVID lTl CULTIVATION.

The proper soil for corn is one that is
deep, rich, warm, mellow and porous.
If the ground is hard or grvavclly, with.
out depth, but going down to hard pan,
there is littls likelihood of good crop
Though corn is hardy and viii grow
nearly any where within the limits of
the climate adapted to it, light, air and
moderate heat aud moisture are needed
1t requires also full supply Of all the
elements which form its proper food to
reach d maturity iu which both ear aud
stalk attain to their full development,
AMI give the most productive yield
River bottoms and sandy and loamy
siJls, iich in vegetable mould, form our
best corn lands. These are not always
in the farmers possession, and resort
must be hid to fertilizers, which can
hardly le too literally applied. Corn
is greedy f o lei; and rapidly takes up
aud assimulates the nutritious properties
of tie soil. Barn yard manure, if it
has beea we'll preserved and all its valua-
BILE constituents retained, is amog the
best as it is also the most economical
of fertilizers that can lie used. Lan !
literally broader sted with manure, then
ploughcJ througly, narrowed and laid
off at the distance at viii III the hills are
to stand, is ready for planting. In pre-
plring the land, the plough should b.
run deep, the soil well broken up and
finely pulverized. The more thoroughly
the soil is disintegrated the more rapid,
ly, under favorable conditions, will the
corn grow, and the less liable will it b.
to be affected by drought. This loose
aud porous condition of tho soil is {
prime necessity in the production of I
good crop. 1t admits free entrance tC
rain and air, it allows the decomposition
by their action, of the organic, and thu
disintegratiou Of tho inorganic matters
in the soil. Being thus decomposed anC
disintegrated, and consequently rendered
more soluble, these constituents becom,
properly available food for the GROWN,
plant.
In land thus prepared. there are u
obstacles, in soils long under cultivation
TO laying off the rows in a proper ma
ner. Tue use of the hoe, the shove
plough, and the cultivator, is rendcre,
easier aud more beneficial In after cul
ture, aud the roots of the plants, wheth
er spreading lateraIly or striking deepl,
Into the soil, are enabled to ramify I
greater distances in search of appropriat
food. In plougLipg, therefore, the sol
should be broken up TO a depth of fror
eight to twelve inches. The harro,
should then follow, 6rst in the dirccto
Of the fur:ows and next across then
and after this, if the land IS either yer
cloddy or very light, the roller shoul
follow. The after culture is conducte
with the hoe, the eul.ivator and ii
shovel pillow.
1t il important, nevertheless, that th
farmer, before putting his crop in tn
ground, should know what the soil
Able to afford tho growing plants f,
leir vigorous development. This ca
De acquired, as general rule, by u
analysis of the soil, and a knowlede
of the organic aud inorganic constituent
of which tho grain, leaf and stalk al
composed. The following analysis
Professor Joiust1n gives the comp, S
tion of the grain and stalk. The propol
tion of each constituent is given f
one thousandth part of the ash. /
other words, in one thousand pound
weight of the ashes of corn stalks, an
Of the grain of corn, respectively, II
following constituents are found