Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1881-11-02
AGRICULTURAL.
Contributions to this department should be ad-
lroSed to j. BLAR READ, Cleardeld, Pa,
LErEI CULTURE FHoED CROPS

LEVEL CULTURE OF HOED CROPS
As to the economy of hilling, the
economy is in Lowell culture, If the
plow be used the first and second time
Of cultivation, and the earth be turned
from the crop each way, il destroys all
the weeds, except in the small square
occupied by growing plants. II no
manure containing weed seeds be
placed in the hill there will be but little
trouble in keeping the weeds out and
II, the last time of cultivation, the cul-
tivator be used, the land will be level.
ed off and the weeds so completely
destroyed that there will be but very
little to be done with the hand hoe.
Careful experiments have proved
that corn which is hilled will blow
down more than that which has level
culture. THIS can be accounted for by
the fact that corn roots run very near
the surface, and when hills are made
they are confined to the space covered
by the hill but in level culture the
roots run from one row to the other,
thus making the corn stand strong, as
nature intended, and in no way liable
to blow down, except by an unusually
violent wind
In billing potatoes, new set Of roots
are formed every time tho hill is in
creased in height Wherever roots
appear there small potatoes soon begin |
to form, Those that form after the
last hilling will be very near the top
of the ground, at the peak of the bill,
which the first heavy rain washes
away and leaves the potatoes exposed
to the air. The real facts are that
more potatoes will grow out Of ground |
by billing than by level culture, pro.
viding the potatoes are planted as they !
should be. Potatoes that are not to |
be hilled should be planted deeper than
those that are TO be billed. This gives
room for the bill in which the potatoes
are to grow to form below the surface,
and, as the land is kept level, there is
no danger Of the potatoes being wash.
cd out by the first heavy shower or
suffering from the drought the first
good sunny day after rain, as is often
the case with those that are hiled If
there is any crop grown that ought
not to be billed, it is potatoes yet il is
almost the universal practice among
small farmers to hill, and many OF
them to degree that destroys more
THAN half the crop.
As the potato grows best in cool,
moist weather, any method of culture
which encourages GOODNESS and moist.
uro is beneficial, WHILE on the contra
ry, any method Of culture which en-.
courages dryness and heat is injurious.
II this reasoning be correct, then it
must be admitted that hilling potatoes
is wrong, for it seems impossible that
any one can fail to see that land which
is hilled offers more surface to the sun
and air, and that, while the hills where
the potatoes are expected TO grow will
easily dry through, the hollows be.
tween, having had all the pulverized
earth scraped of, bake so hard that
tho moisture from below is rapidly con.
Quoted up to the air. Thus in two
ways the ground is losing its GOODNESS
and moisture by hiling.
In the level culture the land is kept
loose, and thus the sun has compare
lively little power to draw up the
moisture, and as long as the ground is
kept pulverized it caLnot bake. Every
rain that comes, however small, reaches
the roots of the potatoes, and is not
carried oil, as is the case where the
land is hilled. Repeated experiments
have proved that, when potatoes are
properly planted, level culture on land
that is not wet will produce twice the
amount OF potatoes as those that are
billed, the treatment otherwise being
the same. Potatoes that are not to be |
billed should not be planted near the
surface, nor should they be planted on
the top of the manure that is put in
the bill, it should bo on the top Of the
seed. In level culture the seed should |
be put in at least tour inches below the
level OF the surface of the ground; but, |
when covered, left in a depression, to |
be leveled up at the first hoeing. In
this way large crops can be obtained
even in seasons as dry as this one has
been.
Tho prejudice against level culture
for Indian corn is not so great as that
for potatoes, yet the hilling process
even in growing corn is practiced to an
extent that reduces the amount grown
in the State many thousands of bushels
every year The fact that the premi.
um crops Of corn are almost invariably
grown by level culture speaks in Ian.
guagc not to be mistaken. We have
never yet seen seventy-fve bushels to
the acre grown where the land was
hilled very much but we have seen
over a hundred bushels to the acre
where level culture was practiced.-l
Farmers Friend.