Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-03-04
How I Raised 154 Bushels Of
Corn On One Acre.
BY JOHN SUNDBERG, WHITING, IOWA..

l lave Dccll dSheu bS uilc CdIllleIS
Tribune to tell its circle of readers.
to which l have belonged for a good
many years, how l managed to raise
1873 bushels and 50 pounds of corn on
one acre of ground. While this yield
was secured last summer, it was the
accumulated results of seven years Of
study, Of intensive farming, and Of
corn breeding and seed selection. l
expect to see still higher yields in the
future yet 1 realize that a yield Of
/ his kind is not a matter Of luck. 1t
Fan be secured only through conScien-
JiOus work and the application of
Icientitic methods of culture and seed
production.
AS the subject of coru production
Ippears to me it naturally divides it.
elf into four principal phases: Soil
ertilily, deep blowing and thorough
u%ltivation, improvement Of the va
. lety grown, and careful testing of
be seed for each crop.
AS to soil fertility let me say that
lring the past seven years | gave
,ecial attention to making my farm
ore productive. Seven years ago
inaugurated the following system
] crop rotation: First year. corn:
cond year. corn: third year, oats:
u.th year, winter wheat seeded to
over in the spring: and fifth year,
Dver. | almost always get a crop
clover the first year, that is in the
after the wheat has been harvest
The second veal | cut two crops
blower and then pillow the ground
corn, either that fall or early the
lowing spring. / manure for the
|Und crop of corn at the rate of s to
loads per acre, and top dress the
tier wheat during the winter
hthS with from six to eight tons
4: manure per acre. | scatter all my
hure with a spreader sc as to get
b even. This, in my opinion, is
important. Manure that is
lad by hand, especially If it is done
hired help. never gets on the
Ind evenly. This results in over
a klization in some spots and under.
tlization in others, which in turn
s an uneven stand of corn or Of
grain.
it'll reference to blowing and Gull
tion l wish to say that L am a
!. bugh believer in deep blowing.
hcre on which l secured this big
had been in pasture for five
it was plowed in the fall of
10 a depth of seven inches and
Slow was followed by the harrow.
the next spring 1 went owe the
I'D once with a disc and stirred 1t
keply as possible. DisciDg was
Red with two strokes of the har-
Just before planting l disced
lmore and narrowed it once.
produced a fine mellow seed bed.
hn planting the corn on the Goth
lril and finished the first of May.
n IS drilled in rows 10 inches apart
the kernels 26 inches apart in
Tvs. Two days after planting l
wed the ground once with a
hg tooth harrow. When the
kas two inches high l cultivated
N a garden c%ultivator and three
later narrowed it once more.
THAT l cultivated it once a
lnti] July 1st. At no time did
4vate to a greater depth than
thes. / don't believe in deep
1tion. When a person raises a
lrop and he gets behind with
TX it sometimes becomes nec-
TO cultivate deeper than two
n in order to destroy the weeds,
E ideal way to cultivate corn
/ in not stirring the soil to
two inches in depth.
Ard the matter Of corn improve
5 Of very great Importance.
bu have secured a variety that
ted to your climatic and soil
- 3ns, stick by that variety.
Tour seed very carefully every
a 4 as to improve its yielding
or at least to maintain 1t.
lis can be done l know from
Ice. Iheard Professor Holden
hlk on the selection of seed
the breeding Of corn for the
1e seven years ago and from
- he dates my work in corn
ment. l heard his talk dur
a winter months and imme-
let to work to arrange for a
plot from which to select
for the crop the following
b begin with l selected II
he very best corn I could find
5O-acre field. l planted one
- 1ch of these IL ears in sepa-
! in this breeding plot. The
K the other half of each ear
on the cobs. Carefully num-
lie ears from to II, they
lin a safe place and kept for
tear to be used in case the
lie breeding plot should fail
~ Each of the IL rows was
from l to II to-correspond
M numbers on the ears. AT
Whine each row was husked
M(nd the corn weighed, and
- weighings acre yields were
AS had been told by
" ~ thn lnNfI 1r0 re-.