The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1900-04-21
FARMER AND PLANTER.
PROFITABLE CORN CULTURE.
If the Best Results are Desired the
Proper Conditions Must be
Observed.

If VIC expect to get the best results
from a corn crop, we must begin early
to prepare the ground. Sod lard
should be plowed in the fall or early
winter. The freezing and thawing will
improve the condition of the soil, and
the water from the thawing of SHOWS
aid the spring rains, will sink down
into the subsoil, and remain as a
source of moisture when the summer
drought sets in. Much of the moisture
necessary for the growth of corn
cones from the subsoil, by means OF
ccI Hilary attraction, during the sum
mer season, and on lands where the
crop is liable to suffer from drought,
il is to the farmers interest to do ali
III his power to store up a good supply
of moisture in the subsoil for the use
OF his growing crop. 1t is estimated
that the corn plant requires 400pounds
OF water in order to grow one pound
OF dry matter. So the preparation CT
the soil, and it's after cultivation
should have for their objects the pull
verizing of the soil and keeping it in
good condition, the preservation of
moisture in the soil and the killing of
noxious weeds.
AS early as the ground is in good
working order in the spring, the land
should be thoroughly narrowed and
rolled. After rolling it is best to run
the harrow over the land again. Some
will say that by this means the land
will be kept too moist, but lands
which are too moist should be tile
drained and the surplus water carried
off under the surface. Care should be
used in selecting seed in order to Sc
cure such as will grow, and thus Sc
cure an even stand of corn. Some rec
ommend planting more seed than is
needed and thinning afterward to the
desired thickness. This is urged in or
der to secure the crop against the raw
ages of birds ana worms, but my ev-
perience is that if birds and worms
bother the crop they will take all, and
the farmer will find himself under the
necessity of performing the double
task of replanting where the corn is
taken and thinning where it is not. il
he should neglect the thinning, his
crop is more injured by being too
thick than if he had planted it the
right thickness at inst and never re-
planted.
In cultivating corn the cultivatol
should be SET to run about three inches
deep. This is deep enough to tie
stroy the young weeds and is not deer
enough to iI,jure the young roots OF
the corn, as they are about eight inch
es deep when they first reach the
middle of the row. AS the corn grows
the roots come nearer the surface;
hence the older the corn is the shall
lower should be the cultivation. There
is no danger of injuring the corr
plants by cultivatirg three inche.
deep at any season of its growth, if il
is cultivated frequently. SHALLOW cul
t"ivation favors the preservation d
moisture, by the creation of a mulcl
with the loosened dirt. and thus pre-
venting the loss by capillarity. Every
one has noticed how damp the soil il
under a bunch OF straw. This is no
because more rain fell OF the straw
than elsewhere, but because evapor.i
ton was prevented by the straw. Tit
loosencd dirt acts in the same way
A. j. Legg, in Agricultural Epitomist.