Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1910-05-25
EARLY CULTIVATION OF CORN.
Every Farmer Should Own a Harrow
and Weeder.
6. +. Duggar, Ala. EXP. Station.

oioI III lhS VI INe IOIIlld-
ton Of a crust from the time the seed
Is planted, or even before. However,
there are various methods Of attain
ing this end, some of them wasteful
Of labor, and others rapid and eco
nomical OF labor.
Broadcast cultivation, effected by
the use Of either spike-tooth har-
row or Of weeder, Is the cheapest
method Of cultivation for any crop.
Corn lends itself especially well to
this economical method of cultiva-
ton, for the young corn plants are
not easily uprooted, and, moreover,
there are usually in the South more
plants in a hill than will finally be
left, a condition that Is generally
wise, in view Of the danger that the
stand may be greatly thinned by the
ravages Of bud worms during the
first few weeks Of the plants life.
The use Of the harrow should be
begun before the corn Is planted, so
that when the seed is put into the
oiouhu IL Will iluu dll Ol
moisture retained in the SOIL as the
result Of thorough preparation and
the presence Of a soil mulch, or loose
layer Of surface soil, made by the
harrow. If rain follows planting,
another narrowing before the plants
appear is usually advantageous.
After corn comes up the weeder is
somewhat preferable to the harrow
of mellow nature, but an observing
farmer can usually make excellent
use Of either implement.
Where the stand is thin or where
there are few if any more plants per
| hill than the number intended to be
| left, some farmers prefer to omit the
use Of the harrow for a week or two
after corn comes up, this being the
time when the young plants are most
brittle and most easily uprooted.
Yet when corn Is planted as usual.
| two to four grains in a hill, l have
| found that narrowing at this time
| seldom destroys an entire hill, and
that the use Of this implement, and
still more Of the weeder, is thorough
| ly practicable at this time provided
| some Judgment be used in giving the
proer slant to the teeth, in prevent
| ing the clOgging Of teeth with trash,
and in the direction in which the
team IS driven.
AS general rule applicable to
corn planted either on ridges, on the
level, or in a deep furrow, the best
direction in which to drive the har-
row or wecdcr is obliquely across
the rows. Crossing the rows at
right angles may be just as good
except on land thrown into high beds
on which, in this direction, the draft
and depth OF cutting are more irreg-
ular than when the harrow Is driven
obliquely to the rows.
Precautions to be taken to secure
the best work and the least possible
uprooting OF plants by the harrow,
consist chiefly in setting the teeth
! with a decided backward slant in
| preventing their becoming choked,
| for If this occurs the tooth and the
accumulated trash may gougs out
some hills OF corn. or course, the
| use OF the harrow Is not advised
where the soil Is extremely rocky or
where there are many large pieces of
stalks which might be dragged over
the young plants.
For land in excellent mechanical
condition the weedcr is slightly pref
cradle, partly because Of the fact that
the wecdcrS In most common use are
drawn by one mule while two see
| ton harrow requires two mules. For
| land with much clay or that has be-
come rather hard, the harrow will
usually do better work than the
| wccdcr In fact, clay and clay loan
soil does not usually stay long in
the best condition for effective work
| by the wccdcr. If too hard, the tcct h
OF the light wccder merely make a
scratch without breaking the crust.
On the other hand, If the teeth OF
| the wccdcr simply leave cuts through
the soil, one may be sure that not
only is the soil too wet, but that an
attempt at cultivation with the weed
er results in harm, since evaporation
Is moro rapid from a surface thus
SCARED than from one not cultivated.
With brisk team one may expect
10 cover about twice as many acres
per day as the width in feet Of the
| wccdcr or harrow. This assumes