Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1898-07-15
Corn Culture.

Bulletin "a, Georgia experiment sta
ton: Corn delights in deep, mellow,
rich and moist loan. Any of the or
binary soils of the country that are
either naturally of the above charac-
tiers. or can be brought into the re-
quired condition by proper rotation,
deep and thorough preparation and lib
eral manuring, and can be maintained
In this condition by frequent and thor
ough surface culture, will produce sat-
isfactory yields of corn, with mod
crate, we'll distributed rainfall. Per-
haps the most essential requirement
for an abundant yield of corn Is plenty
of moisture in the soil. Without this
plenty of moisture, such a yield is abb.
solutely impracticable. 1t is not in
dispensable that the moisture shall be
supplied directly by abundant rains
during the period of the growth of the
crop, but the requirement must be met
In some way. The supply of moisture
from rainfalls may be supplemented,
or entirely substituted, by irrigation.
as is done in arid and semi-arid re-
gions; or the farmer may trust to the
clouds for a generous supply; but the
demand for moisture must be met, or
the crop will be more or less a failure.
Without resorting to expensive irri-
cation, and not willing to rely on the
rainfall from the heavens. the farmer
may select the low-lying, naturally
moist and deep soils, along the water
courses-the bottom lands" These
soils are moister than the uplands, not
solely because Of their being lower, and
near watercourse, but-and perhaps
chief1y-because of their greater depth
and their loamy character, or large con-
tent OF humus, or decayed vegetable
matter. These soils become thorough
ly saturated with moisture during the
winter and spring rains, and on ac-
count of their depth and quantity OF
humus, they retain the moisture dur
ing a much longer period.
In the absence Of such soils. II the
farmer wishes to produce regularly
profitable crops of corn, he must bring
his uplands, as nearly as practicable,
into the condition of the loamy, bot
tom lands. Moisture, moisture, is the
~
provide, or he will certainly fail of
crop, If the clouds withhold their ac-
customed supply. Every intelligent
farmer understands the Importance OF
deep and thorough breaking of the soil
early in the spring, or even earlier. Not
so many appreciate the Importance OF
fining the soil, by narrowing until the
I'D inf1 An coil TT Ia
also desirable to keep the soil in this
fine, friable condition, especially the
superficial layer. But more valuable
and only permanently effective means
is to fill the soil, as rapidly as possible,
with vegetable matter, or .humus. This
may be done in two ways: Il. By actu-
ally transporting from elsewhere the
necessary vegetable matter, in the form
of stable manure, composts, leaves,
muck, etc. Under the present system
of farming in the south this method is
impracticable, except on small scale;
and often 1t cannot be protitably fol-
lowed, even on a small scale, because
of the cost of the labor involved in
handling and hauling of leaves, muck,
and other coarse and crude materials
(2) The other, and most practicable
method, and one that is adapted to any
scale of operations, is regular rotation
OF crops, including small grain, red
clover, cowpeas, or other renovating
crop. A judicious, well-managed rota-
ton may be made profitable at every
stage and every crop, as well as profit
able in the long run.
An experience of seven years in di-
recting the operations of the station
farm has served only to confirm and
deepen the conviction that the uplands
of Georgia do not, as a rule, produce
profitable crops of corn, unless farmed
in accordance with the suggestions
here given. Farmers are prone to base
their calculations of the "loss and
gain" in farming almost solely on the
cotton crop, probably because it is the
crop that actually requires the greatest
outlay Of capital and labor, and it is
the one crop that is always converted
into cash. But careful account of the
loss and gain of other crops would
probably reveal the fact that many
farmers lose as large per cent or Sc
cure as much profit in producing
corn, oats, potatoes and other provision
crops as they do in the cotton crop.
Force of habit and the traditions of
the past have brought the farmers to
rely too much on corn as the great
provision crop. When the soils were
choice and In an almost virgin condi-
ton, it was a most convenient, salts
flying and profitable crop.
rr;,rosou rIoyar a.