The Southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1895-1909, 1909-07-31

underlying principles OF good farming:
Il wish to tell the farmers the value OF
their corn stalks as a manure and how 10
use them
Before tho stalk IS cut. run OF your rows
with two or three deep burrows. Then chop
or pull up. and pack them down in this fur
row. Ridge and plant over them. and YOU
viii nud that the dr. corn stalk Is the best
manure You can get c&ccp; green pine
bouRhs.
Sow. why is there manure IN the dry corn
stalk and green pine hongh? Because the
stalk vii take up water and a!r for the
plants and IN the dry.at Of weather. q
mains wet Md ro'fius and gives the roots air
AMI twoat In time 81 need. G. =. T."
or course tho nuryiue Of corn stalks or any
vcKctabl" matter to decay IN the coil will In this
decay contribute to tho retention of moisture In
the soil and viii add i,e mite towards the accu-
mutation OF hnmns in the soil. hut our friend
atarts With the assumption that tho corn has been
stripped and topped aad the stalks left in tho
acld. and that instead ~ having something more
on the land than stalks tho farmer SIS going 10
plant that same land ia corn or pomc other hood
crop In the fire, place. stripping and topping
corn IS bad practice. for II has been proved time
and again that tho man who pulls thc blades and
tops his corn hab loa. juei about corn enough to
pay for au tho foldcr h. gets and thus has his
labor wasted
The way 80 handle The corn crop is TO cut Il .,
tho ground and cure e 80 ehochs and then feed
he bfovcr. ard all that tho cattle d not eat wili
b" acting M absorbent lu taking up fho UQul1s
Then II he goes further and rHus tho whole
through y shrodirr ho ~IN hav" eitl more of u
eaten and w!ll have the refuse IN the beet shape
Tor absorbing -" manure Then N that manure
"a spread evenly on tho laad he nll got more
benefit than tram dry corn htaAh. and vii not be
Obliged 10 bed over &. bat can plan, ley"l ant
Sort level and keep tho 'urnlns plow ont Of the
ncld after the crop la planted
And more than thie. n" thoughtful farmer Will
have poaH and clover in nftcr hir corn crop and
wtll have - uaaa 10 turn IN the spring that viii
be worth n hundred times a# much AS a fow stalks
buried in the row Uur>ins corn stalks green
pine lonrha in the turruw g. simply au acknowl.
,drmcut that the rou needs organic decay. and
placing those thiuEH IN the furrow a AMPLY doing
Il great deal ~ needless work to accomplish what
might be- done ON broader tcRlo over the whole
land ia cheaper way. ~ growing l"Eumes and
feeding Thorn mad having good manure all over
the land instead ~ n fcw stalks IN furrow. II
cotton were 10 follow ,hln hury!ug OF the stalks
In the bed the chances nro That before tho stalks
could decay YOU would have the beds 80 dry that
you would have poor stand OF cotton. II. In
stend OF a few htallth in the burrows. YOU had the
whole land nllcd with vegetable matter. the case
would hc vastly better
The turning pillow should mower go into the corn
Geld after II s. planted but the smoothing har-
row and tho wccdcr should hc used from the
time the ia planted TN Il Re- tall enough 10
use the riding cultyntor and cultivate both sides
~ tho roW ~ once and save the greater part OF
the labor. / rod" not long since from Whining
ton Delaware. down through that beautifully cul-
tlyatcd section. and did not nee field In which
n man WAS going two times in "a row. but In every
rcid | saw men riding on n cultivator with two
horses and working the land level aud doing the
work better and faster than two men with single
horses could have done g. And saw there III"
cicancat of nrlds and no clnmpa OF bushes her"
and there In the nclda no patches OF broomsedgc.
hut wide fields Of corn and clean broad fields of
wheat then nearly ready for the harvest. And !
thought ms my train whIrlcd along through these