The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-07-02
THE EFFECTS OF DEEP PLOW-
ING.
Corn Virtually Drouth-Proof--All Farm
ers Should Take an Agricul-
tural Paper.

! Correspondence of the . Cessive Farmer.
The following, lt4og pent of N. w.
Woodfn, wiz expen.aar Asheville,
Buncombe co, lived "a has been sew
eral times puCnsEtbJMHy- puiCaSsEb a. Gut it is worthy
of the attention of every tiller of the
soil in the United States, and will con-
sequently bear repeating. The follow
ing is substantially Mr.. Woodfn's
statement:
Some years ago a committee ap
pointed by an agricultural society OF
Buncombe county (every county should
have an agricultural society } selected
an acre each for number of persons
who wished to compete in the matter
of growing corn. The land selected
was, believe, in every case old field,
thus affJrding an opportunity to i'm
prove as we'll as cultivate. Mr.. WIS
acre was old field that had been par
TALLY, if not wholly, worn out.
He plowed his acre and subsoiled,
crossed and re cross ID until the ground
was thoroughly broken to the depth of
16 inches (5he ground should be broken
fioe as we'll as deep. Hence the neces
sity for fall or winter plowing in order
that the clods may freeze and pull
verize)
After plowing, 500 two horse loads of
muck were hauled from an adjacent
swamp and spread; but, as there was
email hill to pull up, the loads we're
not large. Five hundred loads of barn
yard manure particulars as to the
strength of this manure were not given)
and about $50 pouL DIS of guano we're
also applied, and the whole turned
under lightly and thoroughly mixed
W tn the soil.
The ground was then laid eff into
rows three feet apart and the corn
dropped, one grain in place, seven
inches apart. A little calculation will
show that there was only Z square feet
for each stalk of corn. All the corn
that came up was permitted to stand,
but there IVES no re-planting. Where
there was missing stalk the adjacent
stalks did not appear to be any better
Gf the corn had been sprouted and
sprouted grains only planted the yield
would doubtless have been larger The
corn was cultivated in the usual way,
and in the fall 149 bushels and quarts
were gathered from said acre, which
believe took the first premium at the
county fair.
During the summer there was at
least one dry spelled that fired corn cul-
tivated in the usual way, considerably,
but the corn on the above acre re
m4ined green to the ground and
flourished throughout the dry weather,
being virtually drO1Ith proof.
There is an important feature here
which l wish to call the attention of
the reader. The above corn, though
very thick, did not fire, while corn
with plenty of distance and shallow
blowing, fired badly. Hence if corn
be planted 10 feet apart each way, one
stalk in hill, it will fire in dry weather
unless the ground be plowed efficiently
deep to retain the necessary amount of
moisture; and especially is this the
case If the corn stand too long after a
rain without blowing. All cultivated
crops should be plowed soon after a
rain, 1UithOot regard to the length of
time betlUeep olOtoings.
recently saw corn field belonging
to a neighbor that contained barely
half the number of stalks necessary for
a full crop. inquired of him the cause
of the great distance, when he informed
me that last year his corn fired, and
that this year, in order to prevent firing,
he gave it greater distance. advised
him hereafter to plow deeper and plant
his corn at least twice as thick. There
will evidently be loss hare of at least
half the crop that, with proper manage
ment, was easily attainable.
The foregoing is a fair sample of
what farmers fre q1ently lose by reason
OF failure to take some good agricul-
tural paper. BRYAN TYSON
EInXET