The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-07-16
How to Raise Corn.

INV
IT !. Wear. Of Durham County,
North Carolina, thus tells in the Pro-
gressive Farmer the way to raise corn:
As l have been travelling in North
Carolina this year and have watched
with interest the way in which the
farmers raise or try to raise corn. l
now wish. in your valuable paper, to
make some criticisms: these will, OF
course. not be in harmony with all
farmers views.
In the first place, the majority OF
farmers do not break their land deep
enough in the spring before planting.
Next they plant about one-third 100
much corn to the acre. The rows for
the average land should be at least
four feet apart and the corn three feet
apart in the drill arc only IL stalk
in a place.
The first tine il is plowCC. should
be done with 4 long plow next to the
corn. In some sections this pillow Is
called Il calf tongue Let this plow
run deep. The other plOw o. ploWs
should be wider and should run shall
lower.
The second blowing should be done
with shorter plows IN /. should not run
as close TO corn as tirst plowinG. The
third piowing should be done with
still larger plows, which should be u
shallower still than the second ploW-
inc. and should be run far enough
, away from corn as not 20 break any or
the little corn roots. which by this time
have spread out six or eight inches
from the stalk.
The fourth blowing should be done
with 4 turning piow OF some kind in
order that you may run far enough
from the corn rs to hot cut the roots,
and still be able to cover up the large
roots around the stalk. so that the
hot Il n of July and August will not
cook them and turn the corn yellow
CT burn it up.
If you have time after this blowing.
before the corr t~aSSels, take a long
shovel plow and run it through the
centre OF each corn middle as deep as
one horse can pull it. This p,ow should
not he owe" five or six inches wide.
know that my idea of raising corn
Is different from 4 great many the
oretical farmers, but it is not theory
that We want if it does not put corn
in the crib. 1 was raised OH a farm
and know from actual experience that
this way of c%ultivating corn is all right,
no matter what kind of land YOU may
be c%ultivating. l nave also Travelled
over several Of the Southern States,
and have observed that farmers who
cultivate their corn in this way always
have plenty of corn to do them. l
wish I could impress on the farmer
a. how very important it is not to
plant their corn too thickly on poor
land; C) that they should lever run
close enough to the corn with a plow
to break the small roots Of the corn;
~ that the last blowing should be done
with a turning plow in order that the
large roots around the corn could be
covered up without running close
enough to the stalks to break those
roots.
1 am satisfied that there has been
at least $4,000 bushels of corn de-
stroyed in North Carolina this year
by the farmers laying their corn by
with that old-fashioned double-shovel
pillow, OF some similar c%ultivator.
The above description as to cultivat-
ing corn does not apply where the corn
is planted on a ridge or bed or i'll the
water furrow, but only when planted
on a level, as most farmers plant it.