The Red Cloud chief., 1884-05-02
Corn and Corn.

The greater excellence of "sod-con"
.as become proverbial. Ii is true that no
! other ground Yields such bountiful crops
Of so great excellence rs sod ground
III S shows that green manuring is best
for corn. The BARNARD and stabia
manures should be saved for small grains
aud vegetable crops, while grasses ana
clover are sown 20 be plowed under
for corn. Red clover Is the best ma
nure tor corn. and is the most profitable
.rop as well. In the great corr produc-
ing States swine ar largely raised and
clover for summer pasture produces
cheap pork while il IS the foe of swine
pla ne ana turned under Will increase
the weld of corr for winter feeding:
| hence the wisdom of having clover sod
tor coru.
Sod ground is better plowed in the
fall, in nv opinion. The sod car not
WELD the corn any available plant fool
until dccomposed, and if plowed in the
autumn il will partly decompose during
the winter and be ready for the corn
in the sprng. For the same reason the
>ced-beI can he more easily prepared II
tine sod is turned under in the autumn.
and there will be no tough pieces oi sod
to interfere in cuitiyat on of the corn.
The great ob ect:on to the fall p!owlnT
of the other ground that it sOlidtieS
during the winIer-does not apply to sod
! ground. Ii will seen that ! am 4 strong
advocate of the fall blowing Of sod.
Yet | have raised splendid crops OF corn
I upon sod b oxen in the spring. The
breaking should be done early before
the roots have become strong and tough.
Quite frequently ,od can be plowed be-
fore other ground Is dry enough TO pillow
tor oats.
If corn is 70 be PM upon stalk ground
the stalks should be etiectually disposed
OF. 1t is no economy Of time TO simply
drag the stalks down leaving them up
on the @ ound to hinder and veX
tn 'oughout the cultivation of the corn.
Two modes OF disposal are worthy OF
commrn !ation: cut no into bits with .
cutter. and raking them into windrows
and burning them. The last method Is
the most laDorious and not lnfrequentl
q rain comes upon the wIndrowS delay
ing the burning of the stalks and max
in their complete destruct on exceed
iiIyly difficult. \ good cutter will dis
pose a. the stalks rs far as h!ndrance in
cultivation i concerned as effectually
! a rak No and burning. ] prefer one
! with spiral knives. The knise S should
be sharp and the stalks quite dry.
| am not what could be called an adj
vocatn of deep blowing but 1 pillow deep
for corn deeper than for oats and
wheat. The ONLY reason which | have
to give for this is that ! believe l raised
the best crops on deep, plowed ground.
Corn Is a gross feeder. and If only q
SHALLOW secd-bed is prepared ii viii be-
come Impoverished i'll 4 few Years.
Deep plowing is antagOnistic to drouth
and our cOrn crops are most often cut
short by drouth in midsummer and
early autumn. And the ground should
be plowed thoroughly u wei! as deeu.
The ground should g turned completely
upside down. Ii il i turned only On
ei@e the weed seeds Will terminate ii
once and outStrip tie corn. some farm
ers say they prefer 10 have sod thrown
upon edge but when blowing sod | want
4 plow that will turn it upside down,
smoothly and without breaking. can
then loosen it enough 10 have ! good
se-i-bed without tearing >odS face up
ward Ia grow among the corn. Apropos
o. thorough plowing for corn wish TO
say that II is a common mistaken notion
I at any boy who can hold the plow
along the furrow can do Il good job of
blowing, or al least Il good enough.
| re uently see boys plow ng who are
50 small that they must reach up TO the
pillow handles. The boy NAV he n good
bov but he is too small to pillow. To
maze good work with 4 walking piow
is Il mans work. A pillow should be
held To cut 4 uniform depth and via b..
| have found il to be decidedly risky
10 use a roller upon corn ground unless
the harrow Immediately follows it !
bel eve in a liberal use OF the roller
upon ground in the fail. because then
the ground i dry and hard rains inire-
Guent- But in the spring the ground IL
wet and sticky; the roller does not
crash the humps. il only spreads them
out into fiat layers; and when 4 hard
"a n comes. and such am are frequent
in the spring, it puts the ground in
worse condition than il ives before ii
was plowed. / got .augit in this way
several times. and sad experience taught
me To be exceedingly careful how |
used the roller on cor ground. rem
orally the Jumps are so SO I that a har-
row Will cut and %puiverize them, max
inT n better Sc d-bed than q roller
would. However. 4 roller may be
safely used f it is followed bya harrow.
The DRAG does work equally rs well as.
if not better, than the roller. and the
objections to the roller do not apply
10 if.
Although | do not advise the use of
the roller upon corn ground l must not
Toe understood as implicitly SAYING that
corn ground should not be put in the
very best of condition for the seed.
Halt OF the work of cultivation NAV be
done before the seed Is planted and it
X economy Of time and labor to do o
The ground under and Immediately
= ound the hills can not bc stirred after
the seed is planted. and if it is not pull
verIzed before planting it must remain
iumpy throughout the season. Ground
yields ~suStenance TO crops only in pro-
portion as it j. in a fine condition: il
the ground is lumpy when the seed is
planted the plants must Ian yuish at the
crmmencement of their growth. and
this stunning w II be perceptihle al the
season; on the other hand, if the grOi nd