The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-05-24

to gladden. the heart of any farmer.
lhe crop stood at that time an aver
age OF fifteen inches in height, and
was thick on the ground and no
missed places were to be seen. Given
proper conditions of soil, which are
not d1fhcuit to secure on much of
our land, this crop can be made
complete success in Virginia and be
the means oft epins thousands of
dollars at ho. III now go West
for hay We wou~ ~ly urge every
farmer to make an <k. to fit at
least one acre for the ~ ton Of
alfalfa and to seed same &A, gust
next We have SO frequently p y ed
the requirements of the crop ths. we
do not now repeat them
In our last issue we wrote very
fully on the preparation Of the land
for the corn crop and of the fertiliza-
tfon Of the same. We do not know
that we can usefuffy add anything to
what we then said, and we therefore
refer our readers to that issue. We
"outu only tuphdSiGe again Que
point. and that is the perfect prepara-
ton of the land before seed is plant
ed. The old practice of plowing two
or three burrows just where the crop
is to be planted and running a culti-
vator once or twice in these burrows
and then planting, and after the corn
Is up and ready for cultivation then
TO plow out the balks between the
rows and run the cuitfvator or too
often, plow, in these again when
the cultivation Of the crop is being
done, is all wrong and WIFI never re-
sat in making full crop. The whole
field should be deeply and thorough
~ plowed and then be narrowed,
rolled. cultivated and reharrowed.
rolled and cultivated until the whole
CT the soil Is thoroughly mixed, aerated
and fined like a garden bed, The root
system Of the corn crops is g wide
spreading one and also deep grow
ing one, and only when the whole Of
the soil Of the field in which the seed
is planted is so finely broken as to
be permeable by the finest rootlets in
all directions can the best results be
looked for This work should have
been completed ere this and now the
work requiring attention Is the plant
ing OF the corn. II you are going TO
use fertilizer on the crop do not SOW
it in the rows at the same time as
YOU plant the seed. If you do you will
almost certainly injure the germs Of
the seed and have poor stand LIZ
YOU are using as much as $50 pounds
of fertilizer to the acre, and you
ought not to use less. SOW this broad
cast or with d grain dTlll week be-
fore planting the corn. If you only
apply 100 pounds or $50 pounds to
the acre this may be drilled in the
rows, but should be thoroughly mixed
with the soil before the seed is plant
ed Use a good planter to plant the
seed-one that will drop the seed at
regular intervals and at a uniform
depth, 80 that it may be expected to
come up all at one time and the
stand be regular one. Where the
stand is an irregular one il Is far
better to rework the land and plant
all over again rather than replant
hill here and there. This replanted
corn rarely amounts to anything but
some fodder The stalk silks and taSs-
sells after the bulk Of the crop IS
pollenized and fails to be pollenized
and produces only fodder or a nub-
bin Plant only the best acclimated
seed you can get If you want to try
a new variety, do this in a small plot
by itself and never plant your whole
crop with seed that is not known TO
do well in your section. Corn is prob /
bly, more susceptible to climatic
changes than any other crop We grow !