The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1903-05-23

r'.uudi Stalk anQ ear, winch WOulC
De impossible in large field.
The culture of corn will vary with
the conditions of soil and climate
however, there are certain principle:
underlying successful cultivation
which have been true under all con.
aitions. A through preparation oi
the seed-bed is necessary, in order to
conserve soil-moisture, to aerate
and warm the soil. and to de-
stroy weeds. Frequently the soil
does not retain enough moisture
70 produce a crop. In other cases,
There is not enough saltwater for the
production of maximum crop. By
q proper system of cultivation, the
soil is put i'll condition to receive
and hold the rainfall, and, through
breaking up capillarity, prevent the
escape of moisture. The depth of
p.owing for this purpose depends on
the character of the soil For sandy
soil, shallow, and for clay, deep plow-
ing isa general principle. There are
several methods of planting now prac-
tised n the United States. In the
West, listing, or planting the corn in
a wide furrow, is widely practised.
In the South, plowing and drilling the
corn is common while in Illinois,
Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, eastern
Kansas and Nebraska, a thorough
plowing of the ground, and planting
the seed in hills checked to allow
cross-cultivation, gives best results.
In cultivating the crop, the results of
our experiments show that frequent
shallow cultivation is the best. This
plan will keep out the weeds, prevent
the escape of soil-moisture, and guard
against injury to the root.
We have found that injury to the
roots of complaints will result in
dwarfed and stunted plants, and will
reduce the yield per acre almost in
proportion to the number of roots cut
off or injured. The kind of imple-
ments used for cultivation will vary
with the season, soil and other condi-
tions, but weeder and a small shovel
cultivator are the two standard i'm
plements of corn-culture.
There is a general principle which
is coming to be universally recogniz-
ed !; namely, the entire plant should
be used on the farm. By feeding the
crop to live stock, and returning the
manure to the soil, together with
proper rotation with leguminous
crops, the fertility of the soil can be
kept up and the yield increased. This
is coming to be universally done, the
crop being cut with rn-harvesters,
and stored in silos for feeding to beef
and dairy-cattfe. 1t has been found
that such plan is economical in all
cases, and gives the most profitable
results.
In storing seed-corn, the ears are
placed SO that they can quickly dry
Ehcf fhs sesa Ei d9 St dh hf
most no amount of cold can injure
the seed, and the vitality of the germ
will be retained and preserved in the
best possible condition. When ready
to plant, the vitality of such seed is
tested by the termination test. A
plate is filled with fine sand, thorough
ly soaked with water, and the kernels
pushed in the sand, point down. In
this condition, they have the condi-
tions of termination, moisture, heat
and oxygen, and the time necessary
to germinate determines the vitality
of the seed. In making the test,
three kernels are taken from each ear
one from the tip, one from the mid
die and one from the butt of the ear.
The study of corn, the greatest and
most valuable American cereal, has
revealed many wonderful possibilities
for further development. What the
future will reveal will astonish and
surprise the world.