Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1904-08-06
FARMER PLANTER.
CORN CROP AND ITS NEEDS
An I%ntcrestiux Article in the Great
c,t al our Cereal ,rops W N
Proicssionht Expert.

Indian corn Is the greatest Of our
cereal crops used for he feeding Of
cattle and hogs and the food OF man
kind combined. and IT, importance to
the farmers in all paris OF The country
can hardly be oger-estimatod. And yet
there is no crop that varies 50 much in
production per acre. Though One soil
expert will make u3 believe that all
soils have the same average amount
Of soluble plant food, there is no doubt
chat the understanding roots Of the
corn plant find more food in some soils
than in others, no matter how careful
ly they are cultivated nor how well
watered, and the farmer who neslects
10 accumulate more plant food in his
soil, usually finds that his corn crop
shows the effects Of his bad treatment
sooner than any other. Much has been
said and written Of late in regard to
the improvement of corn by selection
OF seed, and there is no doubt that by
proper breeding the corn crop can be
greatly increased Independently of the
improvement Of the soil Bat both
should go hand in land. Most of the
so-called cor breeders give a great
deal Of attention TO the character of
the car and grain, and these are i'm
portant points. But the breeding
that looks simply TO the i'm
proyement Of o single feature Of the
plant can never DO a. successful as one
that takes the whole plant into CON
sideratlon. In breeding corn one must
know what his particular section needs.
II he IS in n region Of short seasons
aid early frosts, he must take earli-
ness Of the plant into serious c0nsid-
Grafton, as well as its productlyeness.
II he is in the south, whore he has
timo enough 10 mature any variety OF
corn, he need give attention only to the
character of the plant and its produce
tiyeness. In the south the farmers
have for generations been breeding
simply for the biggest ears. They have
gotten the big car, and only one a
stalk and that, on strong land, up out
OF a mans reach, and such & tall
growth that il seems necessary to plant
the crop wide apart. The result is
that single stalks six feet apart, with
a single ear at best on them and some
with none at all, make It impossible to
get a largo crop. The breeding then
that is needed in the south Is breeding
for a more dwarf and sturdy plant and
one that uniformly carries two ears or
more, The editor II one of our farm
papers recently told an inquirer who
wanted to known how TO overcome the
tendency OF corn in the south to grow
so tall, that II was a climate effect
which no breeding could overcome, But
right hero, in the south, 1t has been
overcome and We have a corn that
bears uniformly two or more ears near
the ground and Of a stature that admits
Of It's being planted nearly as closely
as IN the north, and which on sandy
uplands has made IS bushels OF corn
per acre, while the ordinary corn per
around it on similar land made about
ten to fifteen bushels. In breeding
corn, We must form in mind an ideal
Of the plant we want TO produce and
breed towards it year after year, for
the result can not be had in q single
season. Then we want to remove dis
turbing influences. In hundreds Of
fields we see nearly one-third of the
stalks without any car. These barren
stalks are the strongest males IN the
field and, il allowed 10 ripen pollen,
will make more and :nore barren stalks
the next seasons Cut out the tassels
from such as soon as they show, Their
select the stalks that bear two ears
and to get the plants down to a more
dwarf and sturdy character. Use for
q time only the lower ear for seed; it
will not be the best ear, but it will have
n tendency TO get nearer the ground
and to beat the ear above it. When YOU
have the ideal plant then will be time
enough to select the best ears. Corn
is always best when bred in the section
where It is to be planted, and seed
brought from far north or south Of any
locality must always be accllmated be.
fore it will adapt itself to the new con-
ditions and do its best.
Having the ideal corn plant, the
next important thing is the production
OF big crops is the preparation of the
land and the feeding of the crop, The
one-horse plow has been the cause Of
more poor crops in the south than any
ono other thing. The gullies in III hills
have been largely due to the scratch
blowing of the past. The shallow plow-
cd soils fills with water aud runs off
on the hard soil below aud a gully Is
started and Is annually enlarged by the
frosts of winter. We need deeper break
Ing OF the soil to enable II to hold more
water for the crop and TO Withstand
droughts and TO prevent washing. But
after We have this soil deeply plowed
and well prepared, we do not want to
pillow in the corn field afterwards, Lay
Ing by" corn with a turning pillow and
a big furrow is responsible for much OF
the short crop and also for the washing
Of the land, fer The water collects in
the deep burrows TIL a head forms and
breaks over and down the hill the
This would Eot happen If the crop was
cultivated shallowly and fiat so as to
form no burrows for the water TO ac-
cumulat in. Then the deep blowing
cuts the cor roots and damages the
crop, and also dries out the land by
turning it up to the sun, and the crop
suffers from drought, But no matter
how well the land is plowed nor how
carefully it Is cultivated, If the plant
food is not there in an available form
the crop will not be as large as it
should be, What is most needed in the
south is farming, as distinguished from
the old-time planting. Corn after corn,
sctton after cotton, Il crop continual
ly, will restore the fertility Of
our lands, no matter how much fer
tili2er or what brand We use. We need
to adopt a rotation OF crops that will
frequently bring in the recuperat.ve le-
sume crops. This is more especially
needed by corn than almost any other
crop, We have experimental many
yeara with fertilizers for various crops,