Omaha daily bee., 1883-02-20

acres as o "a plowed, about May
10, and kept the plows going while
we were planting that frt plowed.
By the time the next twelve acres
we're ready to plant l found the seed
was w~orthlesss, not N in twenty
coming up. l knew nothing about
farming, and trusted to the recon.
mendation of tho man / bought tho
seed Of. The second twelve acres
were planted about the 20;h Of May.
| had another twelve-acre piece
planted, and about May 2S
tho last piece was plowed.
On the Cd day of June
the first piece was replanted. All
came good from tho second lot of
seed; and two boys, with old fashioned
single.shovel plows, were put at plow.
ing Immediately, aud kept constantly
going, Sundays excepted. until July
4. No rain came during that time to
stop the plows. Two thirds of the
farmers stopped blowing on account of
the drouth. Rains coming on after
the Fourth kept the ground 80 wet
that they could not pillow; 80 these
farmers had good crops of grass and
weeds, while those who did pillow had
fair crops. That crop brought me 81
per bushel. Profiting by my expert.
ence with bad seed, l saved plenty of
1t early for the next year.
In 1867 1 planted about ninety acres
In Grundy county. The spring being
very backward and cold, 1t was some
time In June before planting wal fin
ished. That summer was q dry one,
and I spoiled my crop by blowing too
deep and too late, keeping the plows
going until about the first of August.
Frost came on early, and most of the
crop was froutbitten. Since then I
have not plowed corn after the first
week in July.
There were no cattle to feed the
soft corn to In the country, SO I lost
the whole crop except what the little
stock I had could make use of.
In those early days In Iowa we
thought that thirty-fve or forty bush.
els to the acre was a good crop; but II
we do not get fifty or sixty bushels to
the acre now We think w are not
doing we'll. I often get an average OF
sixty.fve bushels. Some ask, why
do you get so much better crops Of
corn now than you did twenty.fv
years ago2 I answer for several, rea'
SOUS. Our land then wae too new
and plowed too shallow, so that the
roots grew too near the top Of thu
ground, and thus were cut off every
time 1t was cultivated. The soil
being light aud shallow-plowed, soor
dried out when a dry spell came
Now our lands are plowed from eigh
to ten inches deep, instead of fou
and five inches. Oar corn-lands now
after being plowed, are thorough.
narrowed, making q more compact ant
finer seed-bed, and tho planter pack
the earth around the seed.
Still, good o corn country as low
is, two-thirds of the Iowa farmers ar
poor co~rn.growers, and, I may say
poor farmers every way. There ar
some reasons for this. Our farms ar
too large, and men try to attend t
more han they can cultivate vel
y There is very little improvement
saving seed; and, taking one year wit
: another, fully one.hslf the time ther
! is a poor stand on the ground planted
: Wherever there Is q vacant hill thu
: land is idle and the labor lost. O
' the other hand, too thick a stand
. equally to be avoided. Our corr
planters vary too much in the dro]
ping. Most Of them drop from two
six grains. Labor In too high.price
to pay for thinning out. It Is not a
uncommon thing for a farmer In low
h with q half. section farm, to hay
s 1875 acres In corn, and for two team
and two hands to attend to 1t. E
Q must be a good boss of that job if h
s gets over forty bushels to the acre Q
that 125 acres, taking enc year vii
another. Yet that same land, in fort
: or eighty acre farms, can be made
produce from 80 to 100 bushels
7 the acre. The same can be said
f any of the western states I have seel
:. The largest part of the farms now
be bought In any part Of Iowa a.
n those that have been poorly farmed-
say those plowed from three to fol
8 inches deep. Those poor farmers a.
going to Dakota, Nebraska, Oregol
q or Washington Territory. But I Q
pect Iowa still to be the banner col
Is and hog state, oven though her dali
s industry Is rapidly advancing.
nj K. M