Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930, 1904-12-01
SOWING GRAIN IN STANDING
CORN

|
| 1t is conceded by most farmers, that
| q crop of grain soWn in standing corn
| is never as good as that taken from
| fallow ground; if often happens, how
ever, that the farmer is 50 situated
| that he cannot cut up all his corn, but
still wishes to seed all the land. what
then is the best way to proceed Win
wheat or rye? In the first place 1t IS
much cheaper getting in crop on
such ground than the summer ploW-
ing and preparing of falloW; good
wheat raisers tell us that land Tor
wheat should be sowed and worked
down several weeks before sowing
time. Now this is exactly the condl-
ton of corn land, broken in the
spring, cultivated during the season,
and then left in plenty of time TO
settle and become fine by September
Is or 2O-giving us then an ideal seed
bed encountered only by the standing
corn. To get the grain in properly
the farmer must have good one
horse drill either five or six hand with
strong, steady horse and give him MS
time, put a muzzle on him to save
wasting corn and use short single
tree: it will help in turning, II the
outside row of corn is cut at ends OF
fields. With a good horse, careful
man will do good work and SOW from
five to six acres per day. The drill
is arranged so it can be WIdened or
closed to suit the width of rows; IL
corn is down or leaning, it will re-
uuire an extra hand to go ahead and
turn it. By using care and having
slow horse, the drill can be run very
close to corn thus avoiding vacant
strips of land. Of course farmers
differ in their methods OF work; some
say you can never count on a good
yield of wheat on corn ground. But l
have raised % bushels per acre IN
standing corn and maintain that II II
is not the best way to grow wheat IL
is often a very convenient way anu
SO much cheaper, that one can afford
to take a little less per acre. 1t IS
often objected that the corn rows will
make very rough bottom II land IS
seeded down to meadow, but hnd by
actual experience hat il the corn re-
ceives level cultivation at It should,
if the last blowing is shallow, and IN
cutting meadow the mower is run
with the old corn rows, you will find
very little trouble. Again l think the
stalks are a protection to gram IN
winter, for after being pastured by
cattle they are broken down, make
covering, hold the SHOWS and hnalIy
decay on the land. | used to know
farmer who had creek bottom fields
planted in corn each year; he always
sloWed rye in his standing corn early
in the fall, by which he kept his helds
covered, got a lCt of pasture when
the ground was so he could turn III,
and had a valuable coat of green man
ure to turn under in the spring Tor
the next crop and mellow the effects
of the rye roots In sowing grain IN
standing corn, l would prefer that the
corn be planted north and south SO
that the drill rows of grain may STAND
fairly to the sun and receive its Ell
fects equally on both sides. II the
corn stands well, so it can be readily
done, a one-horse drag or an old ma
chine wheel drawn through the mid
dies ahead of drill will smooth down
any chance clods, level up the ground
and insure the drill covering the seed |
to a uniform depth. AS to amount OF
clean seed, kind and quantity OF fer
tilizer per acre, I leave that to the
intelligent decision of each farmer
A. B. Milligan, in the Epitomist.