The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1910-08-05
Why Corn Curls Up

A farmer remarked to us on the
street that some of his neighbors
were complaining of their corn curl
ing up. We asked: elbow is yours?"
He answered: 81 prepared my ground
so thoroughly last spring that it
seems SO far to have an abundance Of
moisture"
1t is worth while to think a little
as to why corn curl up. The curling
is the result of the attempt of the
plant to economic moisture. The
exhaling tubes or pores of the plant
are on the under side of the leaf.
When moisture is abundant, these
are kept wide open. AS the supply
of moisture coming In from the roots
becomes deficient, the plant contracts
these pores and this draws the leaves
together into a roll. The curling is a
protective measure intended to pre-
serve it's existence until moisture in
creases. In other words, the curling
up of the leaves show that the plant
is not having sufficient moisture to
meet its requirements for growth,
which, so to speak, slows down until
moisture is supplied from some source.
OF course this slowing up process is
followed by lack of development, or
in other words, stunning the plant.
Farmers have noticed that this curl
ing up occurs in the heat of the day,
when the evaporation is the greatest
and the largest demands are made
upon the plant. These leaves uncurl
with the slightest shower, or with a
heavy dew, or with the cooler weather
of the evening.
How, then, can this curling up and
consequent stunning or lack of full
development be prevented9 Cured it
cannot be, but it can be prevented to
a very great extent. If our readers
whose corn is curling up will investi-
gate a little, they will find that 1t is
worse at the ends of the rows, where
the blowing has been shallow, or
where the soil has been rendered hard
and compact by the tramping of the
horses feet in turning. They will
find that it occurs where there is a
gravelly subsoil, or where for any
reason there is a thin soil, or where
the hardpan or heavy clay comes too
near the surface. They will not find
it, except in rare and extreme cases,
where the land is well supplied with
humus, has been plowed deep, the
seed bed we'll prepared, and the cult
walton thorough.
The remedy, therefore, lies first in
keeping the soil well supplied with
humus, which will enable it to hold
water; second, in thorough prepare
ton of the seed bed; and third, as
perfect cultivation is possible.
Some weeks ago we suggested to
our readers that there was every in
dlcation Of a season Of abnormally
low rainfall, and therefore that they
had better prepare for this dry season
sy thorough preparation of the seed
bed for corn and by constant and con-
tinuous cultivation, even when the
plant did not seem for the present to
need it. We have nothing to add to
this. If our readers whose corn is
curling up will make a little study of
the conditions, it will be very help
to them in years to come.
Up to the first of July, or ever to
the middle in the latitude of central
Iowa, corn requires but little mois-
ture. Scarcely any season is too dry
for a good corn crop, provided the
soil has been right, the seed bed we'll
prepared and the culture of the very
best. Where corn fires before it tas-
sells, due to neglect of these previous
conditions, only a very heavy rainfall
during tasseling will produce even an
average crop.-Wallace's Farmer.
Oatcake-What be your son Jake
a-goin' ter dew now that he hez left
college?