Waterbury Democrat., 1901-08-10
TOUR THROUGH CORN BELT.
Secretary Wilson Says Late Corn Will
 be Benefited by Good Weather.

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 be Benefited by Good Weather.
 Traer, Ia, Aug 1O.-Secretary Will son of the department of agriculture has completed his tour of the corn belt and is resting for a few days on his farm and among his townsmen at this .y7ssee
 ''The weather of the future.'' said the secretary to an Associated Press reporter, will have much to do with the final yield of corn, and final figures cannot4Se given by anybody at the present Iime. Late corn will be bene- fitted by favorable fall weather, and early cQs.n, growing under the best conditions, will fill out better with sufticiesM rainfall in the near future.
 T have been travelling through the corn belt" he continued, more with view to studying the conditions that have brought about present results, than to ascertain the precise amount of damage done to the corn crop by the hot weather, in order that I may have bulletins prepared in the depart ment for distribution among the farm CTS, showing them where they may improve their methods.
 There has been some injury, owing to the protracted heat, to all corn fields, but much less where rotation in crops has been observed
 "A common observation concerning the corn crop this year is that the tas- Sel upon coming out has been wither- ed by the heat and failed to fertilize through the silk. This is the case more or less in all the fields that I have visited. but pollination has been much more perfectly performed where
 
 from plowed under grass roots, than where corn has been grown so long that the organic matter has been oxi- dized-burned out of the soil. Where there was plenty of organic matter in the soil, and thorough cultivation had, the effects of the heat upon the tasSel has been to great extent balanced by the amount of moisture that the plant could get to offset evaporation. h cases where the ground was sat nlated by excessive rains in the spring (and this has occurred in many fields), the roots spread near the surface. They could not get into the saturated soil because they could not find oxygen there The growth under these condi- tions was retarded and when the heat came such fields were in bad condi- tion to resist it, particularly where cul-
  thorough as it should have been. Early corn has suffered most where all the conditions, including organic matter in the soil and thorough cultivation have not obtained, but where those condi- tions have obtained early corn is the | finest.
 '.The oat crop is abundant. Wheat | is excellent everywhere. The hay crop is abundant and put up in fine condi- tion. Northern and extreme western states have an abundance of potatoes. 1 The sugar beet is entirely healthy av- anywhere and has withstood the drouth admirably.
 ''I have visited no locality,' said Mir Wilson, where the people need help from anybody. There is an abundance of forage in the west to winter all kinds Of stock, and the damage done to the corn crop may result in manage ment in the future that will enable the farmer to avoid to a large extent a repetition of this years experience" Speaking of the value of continuous | cultivation, Mir Wilson said: sCultiva- l ton is valuable in that it tends to con- serve the moisture by creating q dust l much on the surface through which the moisture will not rise. Farmers make a mistake when they stop culti- | vation when there are no weeds 10 kill. When cultivation ceases tine ground cracks, cracks wide-go deeper l in the soil, moisture escapes and the crop suffers"