The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-06-19
EARLY PLANTED CORN BEST.
Roots Need to Get at Work as Soon as
 Possible

Roots Need to Get at Work as Soon as Possible.
 Although corn is a hot weather plant | and is mainly dependent on July and | August for its success it is none the lsss important to plant as soon as the ground is warm enough to germinate the seed and danger of frost if past. The plant which comes up in May will perhaps
 make slower growth al first than corn planted in June. It may not in Septem Der have a longer stalk than the June-
 planted corn, but it will average more ears to the stalk and these well filled and ripened. while the e-planted corn will have ears that are only partially matured The whole period between frost in spring and the first frosts in fall in most parts of New England is only a little more than one hundred days, usu- ally about one hundred and ten. Tn that time the corn roots have to draw from the soil the plant food to make a greater amount or grain than can be produced ill any small grain crop. Is 1t q wonder, then that the corn roots need to get tt that work as early as possible?
 Of course the great bulk of corn grain is drawn from the atmosphere through the magnificent leaf growth which this king of the grain makes, If corn were not so largely carbonaceous the crop could not be made at all in so short time But some nitrogenous matter is found in corn chiefly in the outer por-
 ton of the grain and the germ. This the
 roots have to furnish from the soil and all within less time than any other equal
 amount of equally nutritious grain food
 can be produced Even though at first
 the corn growth above ground be slow,
 the corn roots are working their way
 through the soil and getting ready to
 appropriate the first nitrogen they can
 lay hold of Frequent and thorough cul
 tivation even before the rows can be
 seen is great help to the soil It
 aerates it, and encourages the formation
 of nitrogen by the decomposition of ma
 nure or any other organic substance the
 soil contains. This is why coarse ma
 nures plowed under for corn do more
 good than applied to any other crop
 The manure begins to heat almost at once if the surface Is frequently cultiva-
 ted Then look to see the yellow-look-
 ing sicltly corn suddenly turn dark green, and begin growth that will put it far ahead of the corn planted week or two later that has had no check to it's leaf growth. What is more, these roots have time to search out the mineral ele- ments needed to make corn, which, | though not large in amount. are essen- tial. There is a good deal of potash in | corn cobs, as every housewife knows 1 who has used the ash from them to | make a strong I've for soap making.
 If the spring be wet and cold there ! may be two weeks or even more differ l ence between early and late planting, | yet without absolute frost to nip the | leaves at any time If frost should | nip the early corn, go through it and cut | off as far down as it is Drowned. This | is tedious tiresome work but 1t will | pay. As soon as the cultivator or har-
 TOW is put in a field thus treated, the | corn will make an extraordinary growth,
 each root having, besides it's main stalk, | sucker by it's side, and sometimes two, | each bearing either an ear or nubbin. | It would be impossible to get such a | growth of ripened grain on June-panted l corn, though so far as the stalks were concerned the e-planted corn might | appear best.
 All corn will send up suckers If it's le at | growth is checked early enough. But l with late-planted corn suckers are only | a nuisance If they produce nubbn or two it is sure to be soft corn, good in its | way, but not nearly so valuable feed as l the well ripened grain. The reason is !, that the early planted corn has longer l period in which to make the extraordi- 1 nary growth that corn always makes in | less than ninety days, using the remain der of the one hundred and ten or one l hundred and twenty between early and | late frosts to put all the extra nutrition | possible in corn stalks, all of which is later elaborated into ripened gran.- Massachusetts Ploughman.