Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-04-14
How TO Grow One Hundred Bushels OF
Corn per Acre.

Having procured good seed-no, that is
rs vet impossible. Starting with the best
seed obtainable, we must think about put
ting it in the ground. and we shall be
asking of ourselves, How shall we pre-
pare the landp How far apart shall we
place hills? How many kernels in hillP
How shall we manure? etc.
First comes the blowing and we are met
at once with the question. How? Deep
blowing requires II strong team, and Is
slow work. Shallow blowing requires
much less labor, and enables us to make
broader burrows. All the principal fine
writers on agriculture say, "Plow deep
for good crop" so John puts the plow
down to nine inches. What does expert
ence teach me? Well, come to think OF it,
shallow blowing lin shallow soiD has
given me at least as good crop rs deep
blowing; sometimes better and never a
poorer crop. This settles it; if shallow
blowing is as good for the crop it is GER
tainly better for me, for | can do it
more cheaply; and in farming little
saving at each operation makes large
saving in the end. But why is deep plow-
ing so universally recommended? Come
to think of it, it comes from the desire
that most people have to generalize from
insufficient facts; it is the influence of the
writers familiar with wheat and root cul-
ture in old England, or of successful
gardeners. 1t is an outcome of Il crowded
population and intensive culture. Who
plows deep in the new lands of the west?
| But as corn is an American crop, let us
think it out on the corn line.
What of the corn plantp First, it is a
shallow feeder. Second, its roots also &C
deep. Third, it is almost tropical plant
in its love for heat. the roots being found
to grow most rapidly in a temperature Of
96o to 1909, and high temperature being
found to "attract" the roots, as proven by
experiment. By digging up carefully q
hill of corn in the autumn, you will find
great masses of the plant roots near the
surface, and coarser roots running straight
down, even three, four or more feet if the
character of the land permits. Again
put some superphosphate upon few
plants, and none on the same number o
adjoining plants, and note the influence or
the growth. In the late summer dig VI
these plants, and observe how the small
rootlets have developed in excess upon
those plants which have received the
phosphate, and the larger and fairer crop
This information can be attained by eacl
farmer for himself, if he pleases. W.
have tried the experiment, and thus fee
sure of the facts upon which we are rea
soning.
i But how do these facts enter into the
blowing question: Why, Just here. The
nearer the surface the richer the soil
4 This is the chief and the best feeding
ground for the plant. In cold eli
mates it is only near the surface that the
thermometer shows the most favorable
temperature for the root extension of the
corn plant. BY shallow blowing we hence
put the richer surface soil into the position
where the heat of the sun can stimulate
the roots the most toward feeding upol
the plant nutriment therein. The same
reasoning tells us that the land requires
deep pulverzation, so that other roots can
pass downward, and thus secure the croL
Il supply of water during droughts, from
the deeper and moister levels of the land
where the dampness is subject to more
constant conditions, and is not influenced
so quickly by external agencies.
These facts lead to the following conclu-
sions: Deep pulverizaton is good farm
practice; shallow blowing is the prac
tice for the corn crop in northern climates
To attain this, let the land be plowed Us
deeply as the soil and experience war
rants, within the circle Of each farm rota.
ton, in order to keep deep and permea-
BILE soil; but when we come to the corr
crop of the rotation, pillow shallow in order
to keep the surface soil near the surface
If the rules do not appear at all times
practicable, and the farmer must believe
in deep blowing even for corn, then com
promise, by insisting upon lap lurrow
and not q reverse furrow.
One more reason. During the season
of growth, atmospheric water but rarely
pcnetrates deeply into the soil. The ma
jority of rains during the dry season pen
citrate only few inches, even with all TIT
aid of capillary attraction, As plant foot
requires water for its solubility in orde
to feed the plant, it is the upper layer
which receive the water the most times
which thus furnish the most food to thu
plant, and which require to be the rich
est
These are the reasons for our advocating
shallow blowing for the corn crop. Tn
f same reasoning applied to wheat woult
r influence a deep blowing, or deep plowin:
for the intensive culture of the garden
0 When the sale value of the crop admits
Q the whole depth of the land can be mad
/ fertile in excess, one portion as good n
. another, and this should give the larges
e crops; but in consulting the economic
G required by field culture, we want to pu
the rich land where it will do the mos
! good, and seek to obtain the largest GRO
? that it is profitable to grow
! Another reason. and perhaps to man
s the most convincing one, on Waushake
farm with its shallow soil shallow pillow
| ing for corn has been seen to give bette
| results, and has been found to pay
Lewis Sturteuant in Laed and Home.