Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1911-04-19
LATE CORN CROP.
Preparation of the Soil. Plant.
ing and Cultivation. Sow
Peas at Last Work
ing.

about passed but with many tnere
is still time to give the thorough
Ipulverization to the soil go essential
to success with later planted crops.
If a good condition of the soil can
be obtained by one breaking and
narrowing, well and. good; but if
not, give the soil as many harrow
iHgs and breakings as are necessary.
Get the seed-bed we'll pulverized
and fined to depth of eight or ten
Inches, if possible, before planting,
and you will have the satisfaction
of knowing that more than half of
your cultivation is done, and bet
ter done mp than if you wait upon
the coming of the crop to give it.
The proper time to have COM
menced storing vegetable matter in
your soil for this years crop was
not last month or last fall, but sew
eral years ago. This could then
have been done largely by the grow
ing and plowing under of several
crops Of peas and of winter legumes.
Still much can be done by the free
use Of stable and lot manure, even
at this late date. If this is we'll
rotted or scarce, it can be placed in
drill under the corn at the rate of
four or five loads per acre. In bed
ding upon it, however, do not make
the mistake of burying it too deep
lily. If larger quantities are to be
used, or if the manure is fresh, it
would be best to put only small
quantity in the drill and bury the
balance in the middle; or better
still, apply it broadcast and harrow
it in before planting. No matter
how tits used, with every load ap-
piled to the soil there should be al
so added 100 pounds of high-grade
acid phosphate. Had the manure
been applied in the early winter,
this acid phosphate could have been
$50 pounds of ground rock phos-
phate.
The width of the rows and the
distance in the row are largely con-
trolled by the quality of the land. /
am, rather partial on average land to
A. to 5-foot rows, and a distance of
from s to ls inches, or even feet,
in the drill. The better the land
and the more humus it contains,
the closer the plants can be. This
width of row appeals to me for two
reasons: 1t is the most convenient
for the use of a two-mule team, and
it gives plenty of air TO my plants
and leaves room for the growth of
the peas that 1 always SOW broad
cast at the time of laying-by.
1t is the almost universal practice
to plant corn in the water-furrow,
many trying to get it as deep as pos
sible. Especially with early plant
ings of corn this is a rather risky
business. If the planting is follow
ed by a period of wet weather,
there is grave danger of this deep
planted corn being injured and Of
ten killed by too much moisture.
With the ordinary implements in
common use for cultivation, the
planting in slight depression is
not Objectionable, as 1t makes the
sfter-cultivation easier. But where
| it is desired to use two-horse imple-
ments in cultivation, and this should
certainly be the aim wherever pos
sible on account of the economy of
labor, it is best to plant the corn
nearly level. If this has been done,
most of the after-cultivation can be
done with an ordinary sixty-tooth
smoothing harrow or with weeder
the former on stiff lands and the
latter on sandy. These implements
can be depended upon to do the
cultivation rapidly and better than
any other up to the time that the
corn begins to joint. Run them
diagonally across the rows every
week or ten days, or after each
rain as soon as the ground is dry
enough, and no other cultivation
will be necessary during this
time.
After the corn has grown too big
for the use of the harrow or weeder,
not more than one or two cultiva-
tions will generally be needed and
these should be given with a shall
low-running implement-one that
will stir the whole row at a time
and will work the soil lightly to-
wards the plants. When the corn
begins to bunch to tassel give it a
final shallow working but SOW ahead
of the cultivators 100 pou nds of
nitrate of soda and SOW broadcast
from bushel to a bushel and a half
of some good variety of running
peas. These latter will not only
Improve your soil for next year, but
you can count upon an earlier ben
eft, for corn in which peas are
sown is better, with scarcely an
exception, than that in which the
weeds are allowed to grow. Be
l..l-. e -ooa Ill