The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1910-08-18
CORN FARMER VS.
WHEAT
practical Opinions of a Farmer
About IL

cultivate it. eve if not an ear was
matured. the benefit being in the
larger crops of small grain raised on
the land for the next two or three
years. An experience of over Is
years raising corn in Dakota has
has taught us that the statement is
correct; not that corn adds fertility
to the soil. but the proper cultiva-
ton of the corn holds more moisture
in the soil than is the case in a field
of small grain, and besides this the
ground Is put in better shape for
raising small grain.
Our earliest experience on this
point was so striking that we could
not help but learn the lesson that it
taught. One year in the eighties,
before we had heard anything about
dry farming methods or of conserv-
ing the moisture in the soil. we had
in so acres of wheat on corn ground
and summer-fallowed ground, most
ly corn ground, and l55 acres on fall
blowing, and when the wheat was
threshed we got considerable more
from the so acres than we did from
the 1856.
The benefit is usually very notice.
able the second year also after the
corn was raised, and quite often the
third year Once in a great while,
under certain conditions of weather.
the straw of small grain planted in
corn stubbIe becomes ''spongy' and
the quality of the grain is not up to
standard. This does not not occur
in dry seasons, however.
Another important benefit derived
from raising cor is the excellent
fodder it makes. Cut when the kerr
nels are glazing it makes a fodder
that all kinds Of stock eat with a
relish during the fall and winter.
When the warm weather comes in
the spring, the stock does not take
to It so readily. Frequently, when
the nay crop is short, the farmer
can have a great abundance of good
fodder for his stock by cutting his
corn. or onlv part of it, when other
wise he would be very short of feed
for them. Our method is to throw
the bundles into the harvard, ears
and fodder both, guaglng the num-
Der of bundles bv the amount of
grain we Wish to feed, aud let the
stock do their own husking. Corn
makes the cheapest fodder that we
have had any experience with.
Properly cu~ltivating the corr con-
serves moisture in the soil, and be-
sides this, when the corn. or only
part of it, is left standing, the stand
ing stalks hold the snow in the win
ter which otherwise might blow off.
It not infrequently happens that
there IS considerably more snow IN a
corn field than has fallen there from
the clouds. the wind having drifted
part of it in from other land. In a
dry season this additional moisture
held in the field by the corr stalks is
a very material benefit. Some far
mers IN cutting corn cut it in strips.
cutting a strip and leaving a strip
standing, SO as to hold more snow in
the field.
Land that is foul with weeds can
be planted to corn, and by proper
cultivation most if not all the weeds
eradicated. The secret of success
in keeping a corn field clean is to
keep ahead of the weeds and never
let them. get the start of you. 1t is
much easier to kill a weed when it is
just started than when it has grown
big and strong, and has husky roots.
This summer, whenever the wealth
er was dry. again showed very dis
tinctly the benefit to the succeeding
crop of small grain that planting
corr is. In driving through the
country it was no trouble at all to
pick out the fields of small grain
that had been planted to corn the
year before. their marked superior
ity being an easy clue.
When a wheat raiser commences
to raise corn and realizes how easy
it is to get an abundance Of fodder
a. very little expense, he is inclined
to raise stock, and the more stock he
raises the better he keeps up the
fertility of the soil. With plenty of
manure it is but a short step to
planting clover and alfalfa, which
take nitrogen from the air and add