The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-03-23

- AHI#MNN $500
+. p. PARKER,
Demonstrators.
Preparation Of the Son and Produc.
ton OF Corn.
"a CANNON.9
The essential points Of corn produc-
/ ton are the thorough preparation OF
the soil, cultivation and proper selec-
ton Of seed. All lands should have
plenty Of humus or vegetable matter
when planted IN corn, and that humua
should be from barnyard manure and
lIeguminous crops, such as clover, peas
vetch and soy beans, these furnishing
a large amount of nitrogen from the
the air, saving the farmer to aglarge
extent from buying the most costly
ingredients of all fertilizers. While
the leguminous plants are greet aids
in bringing up the soil and holding its
fertility, there is nothing that will
excel the old stable manure, which
supplies the humus and the other fer
tilizer ingredients andslasts longer
BY using the stable manure o n the in
tensiVe system, and using the 1egumin-
Gus crops as q cover crop during the
winter, sowing them when the corn
crop is laid by, we can double and
TRIBE the crops. and by proper rotation
keep the land in a high state OF pro-
| ductiYeness. In a personal expert
ment made upon my own farm in 1897
upon the above plan / had six acres
Of upland. i planted in corn in 1896
and only made IL bushels per acre.
In 1897 / planted the land ten TO eley
en inches deep, then b~Foadcasted
twenty tWo-horse wagon loads OF
manure pei acre in April and
narrowed thoroughly with q disk
harrow. sand at gathering slime
harvested ~sixty-four bushels per acre
Eof fine merchantable corn. That land
to-day is In fine condition and will
yield from seventy to eeventy-hVe
1 bushels Of corn per acre, with a very
small amount of manure applied since
the first application. After the soil
has a good supply of humus it should
be plowed as deep as possible, not less
than ten inches. and if possible If
teen inches, in late winter or early
lspring. All lands should have a cover
crop during the winter for the cas-
that the nitrogen escapes from the
soil and the soil deteriorates in pro-
ductiveness. BY deep blowing the top
soil is mixed with the subsoil, and you
Increase the productiveness by deeper
soil from year to year, and increase
continually the yield Of the land. The
rains which follow the deep blowing
will be retained TO q large extent, pro-
tecting the land from washing and
also supplying moisture in a dry sea-
son. AS soon as possible after land is
plowed it should be thoroughly fhar-
owed with aSgood harrow, suchaas a
disk. so as to prevent drying out and
leaving the land cloddY. The best on
red clay soil would be to harrow In
thel evening the land broken in the
Fart of the day. The farm lands Of
North Carolina in their virgin state
were well supplied with humus and
potash and produced fine crops. The
farmer now must supply what nature
originally supplied. Our grandfathers
received the cream and left as the
whey.
The.cultvation of corn should receive
the undivided attention from planting
to laying by. After planting a weeder.
- small drag harrow should be rr.D
aver the land-keepipg the land in a
2ose, ~Dulye-ized state. Iris pla7
old he carried out With TIE weedeS
tex tie young corn is from FIVE t..
q t incl es high. killing all the Yong
9ss and weeds and Keeping TIE top
soil in a pulverize1 condition. After
the corn has gown higher use the
pillow by shallow blowing. No pillow
should be allowed to go over 4 inches
deep during the cultivation Of corn,
for the reason that the young roots
running out from the stalk HAYES
depth Of from fve to six inches and x
tend across the row. If these roots
are broken 1t Injuries the growth. All
the main leading roots have a large
number OF small fbers or feeders abb
sorbing the fertilizer ingredients from
the soil. This plan of cultivation ]
have adopted for years, and the results
have proven to me the wise to use
in coTn cultivation. If you expect to
reap a full harvest all corn should be
cultivated level.
The selection OF seed is an impor-i
tant matter that all formers should
consider, He should have his mind
made up as to the kind Of corn he
wants, whether large, medium or small
cob, grain deep with large heart Of
the Dent variety, or large glazed grain
with medium heart, a red or white cob
then take the most perfect ear that
you can find.
Go through the field and make
your selection to correspond to the
one selected when you find one that
corresponds to the tpye chosen tie a
string around it or mark it in some
way SO o will not loose the ear. Do.
not pull any fodder from the chosen
stalk as you want as well-matured
seed as possible. II you are mo sat
isfed with your selection when husk-
ing time comes, make another selec-
ton for the same type as you did in
the field. selecting twice the amount
you expect to plant, and from that
select your seed for the coming CROP