The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1905-03-25
THE FARMBR,s GREAT CROP.
Successful Corn Growing How to Plow
Plant and Cultivate-lmportaIce
of Selecting Seed, Etc.


Successful Corn-Growing-H How to Plow,
Plant and Cultivate-lmportaIce
of Selecting Seed, Etc.
Mr.. Samuel b. Woods, Of Albemarle county,
Va, writes as follows to the Country Gentleman:
Successful corn-growing, in my experience,
depends more on the preparation of the soil
than on any other one thing. A writerin Country
Life recently stated that corn was shallow
rooted plant. There could not be more fatal
error. Corn roots remain near the surface
because they cannot go down through the hard
subsoil, as land is ordinarily plowed. Break the
hardpan so that the roots can get through and
they will go five or six feet deep. Such corn
will not suffer from drouth and it is safe to say
that it will yield twice as much per acre as corn
on land broken shallow. Deep blowing also
allows the spring rains to sink into the ground.
prevents washing of land and renovates the soil.
"a three-horse pillow, followed by subsoil
piow or a coulter in the furrow, will break low
grounds 20 inches or more. and hilsides IA inches
or more. The subsoil is not thrown out of the
furrow, but, being broken, is acted on by the air
and moisture, and the next season is ready to be
thrown on top. After being broken as deeply as
possible, the soil should be thoroughly pulver
lied by harrows, the disk being one of the best.
If needed, corrugated iron roller should be
used to break all cods, for clods left at planting
time will roll around the rest of the season,
locking up their plant food from the roots
Corn can be better cultivated before planting
than afterward. Better be little late and have
the land in fine order than plant early on poorly
prepared soil.
do not plant till the land is warm. A noted
farmer of the old school in Virginia used to say
that you should sit on the ground, and if it was
warm, it was time to plant.
sSome mistakes are made in selecting seed.
The most common is in cutting off the tips and
butts and planting only the big grains from the
middle of the ear. The best seed, showing the
strongest vitality. comes from the tip, the next
best from the butt. though the difference is not
so marked as in the tip, and the least desirable is
from the middle of the ear. The big, fat grains
have more starch but less vitality. and seem
analogous to the latest animals in breeding.
If you doubt this, test it with some rows of tip,
butt and center grains in your garden. On thin
soils, not MANFRED or fortified, a single-eared,
short-stalk corn should be used. On rich soils,
the heaviest yields of ensilage or of grain and
fodder the writer has ever grown, Or seen grow,
are made by the prolific varieties. The latter
also have the advantage of maturing more per-
fectly than the big-cob varieties in some Sec
LlOnS Oh JQ6 country Wucro logs anu luOlSb
weather prevail at ripening time.
I'm planting on ground broken deep and thor
oughly prepared, more seed should be used than
is ordinarily planted. A great crop of any grain
cannot be grown without heavy seeding. The
writer endeavors to have the rows not more
than 80 inches apart, and to have stalk every
IL inches in the row, using Albemarle Prolific
seed. For years the crop has varied from lis to
163x bushels (shelled) to the acre. The heaviest
yield ever made was from a field of corn which
good farmer from the valley criticised as being
too thick, saying that unless thinned it would
make nothing but fodder. This would have been
true except for the deep blowing, which pro-
vided for the roots going down into the ground
instead of being forced near the surface, and
thus allowed heavier planting. Land broken
twice as deep as another plat will grow about
twice as much corn, accommodating twice as
many plants as the shallow-plowed land. 1t is
economical to put in the ground as heavy crop
as the land will bear, for the expense of work
ing the crop will be the same.
AFTER the corn begins to come up a weeder
should go over it frequently, as often as the
weeds start. This valuable implement culti-
Yates about 20 acres day, but is useless if the
weeds are allowed to establish their roots. When
the corn gets too high for the weeder, seven
tooth cultivator should be used All cultiva-
ton after planting should be shallow and level
The old-fashioned way of cutting the roots and
killing the corn will very much reduce the yield.
"The farmer should never be tempted to pillow
or work his land when wet. 1t kills the soil for
the growing crop and Injuries it for many years,
often producing gals and 'gullies.' handful
of the soil should be squeezed tightly and thrown
upon the ground. When it strikes if it crumbles
into pieces, it will do to pIow or work; if it
sticks together in Jumps, it is too wet.
what has been said in this article may have
to be modified by different condiSons of soil
and climate. For instance. in deep sandy soil.
without subsoil, subsoil blowing would no
doubt be useless. 1t is possible, too. that the
heavy planting recommended might not be salts
factory in the very hot sections of the South.
1t was thought at one. time that it would not do
in this section, but, accompanied by deep plow-
ing, it has invariably produced great results.
"a word might not be amiss as to handling the
corn crop after maturity. AS soon as the grain
begins to harden after it has glazed, the stalks
should be cut while still green. It is well to cut
few rows at a time and start the rows of shocks
through the field, adding to them in a few days,
when the first cut is partially cured. Them in
the early days of fall, the beautiful Indian sum-
mer which we have in November being ideal
weather, haul up the shocks and put them
through the husker and shredder. Analysis has
shown that there is as much nutriment in the
stalk as in the shuck and blade, and the shred
der puts 1t in such condition that live stock will
eat almost all of it. Corn fodder, properly cured
and shredded, is as good as timothy hay. think
that the husker and shredder has made the corn
crop one-third more valuable than itused to be.
Good shredded fodder will bring $12 ton, and
one season, from one of my farms where had
no livestock, I sold it at slipper ton. mention
this to show its value, not to encourage its sale
for believe that as rule all 'roughness' should
be fed on the farm and go back on the land in
manure.m