The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1870-02-19
:farm-Garoem- Rousebolo.
For TIE Free Trader.

.tarml- 0aroen-R0u8eh0l0.
For TIE Free Trader.
About the Production OF Corn.
Al every useful hint 10 of interest to the far.
msr in the management of corn, will venture
ssns hinta Al to preparing the grounds it is
best to harrow it down we'll before the clods get
hAfdened, or about ~ fast a. it is plswed. Then,
when you begin to plant, whether spring or tall
blowing, have your ground free from weeds and
mellow. Then the ground IL to DO marked one
way, and then planted with planter in hills,
running the planter north and south. In two or
three days take your two.horse corn cultivator
and cultivate each row, gaugiLg the shovels very
near the rows; in q short time follow with
sharp harrow,-after the corn is sprouted, but
before it is up,-and as soon as it is up cultivate
the same way as at first, but gauge the shovsls
somewhst further from the rows. By this time
all stalks or stubble will be rotted enough to
cross pillow the rows; then cultivate each way al.
ternately, and each time gauging the shovels
q little further from the rows. Continue to cul-
tivate and pull weeds IF any until the corn we'll
shades the ground.
This is the system. Now, Why? First, then,
a. applied to the whole system, it il because
boys, or those unskilled, can easily do it. And
We harrow new blowing in the spring because it
takes less labor to make the ground mellow, than
when the burrows harden. and because it will
more readily absorb from the air moisture and
gaseous substances, and from the rain organized
matters Of various kinds, any of which it Will be
in condition to yield to the plants If corn
stalks are plowed under the land is to be plowed
north and south, then they are more out of the
way Of sfter-culture. You are to have your
ground free from weeds, and mellow, because
weeds are much more easily subdued when small
IT they get started before the corn is planted,
and after.culture is delayed by heavy rains. it
will be mere difficult, if not impossible to sub
due them so as to receive fall crop of corn and
because ground keeps mellow, retaining plant
food much better than that that is permitted to
be baked. We plant with planter because it
opens and stirs up the ground and prepares the
seed better than any other known way to render
the whole of the starch in the kernel soluble BY
the diastose, to perform its proper chemical fame
lions, and the rows, being straight one way, can
be worked nearer when young We plant in
hills, or checks, because We can more readily kill
the weeds; but mainly because it strs more Of
the ground than when drilled in. Here we may
~ we'll speak of the theory OF stirring the ground
When We stir the ground two or three inches
deep 1t lets in the rays OF the sun, and the air,
thereby warming the top of the ground, and that
warmed ground, coming in contac. with the
colder ground beneath, creates moisture, and
that moisture holds in solution, both organic and
inorganic matter, tina. may be appropriated to
the gro~th Of the plant mainly through the
roots which is also evolved through the ground,
mostly through the hard ground near the hills,
where it is introduced, and by the leaves into the
interior Of the plant. Then, through various
chemical processes, fitting il for the proper nour-
ishment Of all parts OF the plant. We run the
planter north and south because we wish 10 have
rows straight tina: way in after-culture.
We cultivate with twohorse corn cutiyator
because We can stir the ground the right depth,
and it leaves the ground in the best condition to
receive, collect and retain plant food. We would
cultivate the same way it is planted, then We can
run the .hovels near the rows without disturbing
the corn. We cultivate before the corn is up
because soon 1t is up and the first leaves are
formed the plant depends wholly on the ground
and the air. and if the ground is properly Guilt
waited and narrowed, it will furnish proper pour.
ishment to the plant at the right time. We har-
row to level the ground and kill the weeds. We
cultivate the same way as at first because can
do it faster and with less injury to the young
corn. We move the shovels further from the
row, at each successive cultivation, to avoid root
pruning, as no annual, that requires the whole
summer season to mature, can be root pruned
with advantage, so the plant. We continue the
culture until the corn well shades the ground
because the roots require more nourishment than
the leaves, until they are mostly matured when
the leaves require more nourishment to mature
and harden the wood and seel then rest, for the
ground and shade will furnish that want. We
pull weeds because they convert and appropriate
largely of plant food that is necessary for the
maturity Of the corn. We see weeds are not
much obstruction to farmer in a good year, but
in poor one they retain and return to the soil
much Of its richness. UP NORTH.
The Hog and its Diseases.
The following admirable and interesting paper
was prepared by Edward w. West, Esq, and