Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1912-09-18
Growing Corn In Spite Of The Drouih.

| ne 6um ul6Ib Ol lOl1 ouu 1CAH
ha We been extremely hard en- the
North Carolina farmers, -especi-
ally, those who live in the pied.
mout section. This part of the
state has it's corn crop cut short
by the droath nearly every year
but the last two years have been
especially revere. In this section
of the state there positively must
be some method found by which
corn may be grown in spite OF this
inevitable midsummer drouth.
We feel that this meth.d of
corn growing in spite of the
drouth has Teen discovered and
that it only awaits CAREFUL, dill
geat application in order to bring
success. The method contains
but four fundamental factors.
These are deep blowing, which en.
ables the soil to take up large
amounts of moisture in the winter
AID early spring.
Second, tbs incorporation of OF
ganlo matter In large amount.
This organic matter may be stable
manure or green manure, cut fire
with a disc harrow before beirg
plowed under and thoroughly in
corporatsd with the soil with the
disc afterwards. This addition
of organic matter is q powerfui
aid in retaining the moisture alb
sorbed by the deeply plowed soil,
holding it until the season is we'll
advanced even though the drouth
may set III early.
Third, deep planting. 1t is
very essential that the farmers ID
thls section of the state plant
their corn deep below the sur
face, but, of courss. cov=r it shat.
low Last spring a number of
farmers carried out every essential
detail for the production Ct a good
corn crop with the exception of
planting the corn deeply The
ground was moist until the middle
Of May. This shallow planted
sorn developed its root system OIL
ly on surface where moisture con-
disions were just right. These
moisture conditions remand Just
right until the last Of May or first
of June, when, in many cases. the
corn plant vas booting for tassel.
At this stage of the gr~ wish OF the
plant, the root system has nearly
completed its development and
from this tina Oh little extension
of the ORR roots may be- expected
as it's energies r thonoeforth oc
cupied in producing the ear.
Moisture conditions being Opt
mum up until this period of the
growth of the plant, the great
bulk of the roots we're formed and
remained i'll the first tour inchss
of the soil. Now. the ANIMAL
drouth SGT in. III many cases,
shallow cultivation was paact sed
faithfully and it seelned that
everything was done to offset the
effects of .the droush but IN vain.
The first six inches of the soil
gradually dried up, thus leaving
the ORR plants staudirg high and
dry in 8 bed of dust or dry dirt.
Now. had the corn bean planted
Eve or six or even seven inches
below the surface of the soil and
C overed shallow, tho diieful effects
of the droush would have been, to
a great extent, eliminated. The
root system would have started
dsep i'll the ground and in contact
with mere lasting moisture c)ndI
tions which would have aided i'm.
msnsely in combating the
drouth.
Tc sum up, deep blowing, the
incorpcr. zion of large amounts of
some cheap form of organic mat
TOR, preferably green manure, deeh
planting and cultivation, whlcp
must tie frequent, shallcw and
late, will go far as moisture con-
dltlons ara concerned, produce a
crop of corn in the fa,e of a1y
drouth shat has ever come in
North Carolina.
We do not pretend that the
above or any other method will
entirely Offset the effects of an
Unusually dry season, but we do
know that this is the best method
so far discovered, for growing a
fair crop during the dryest sea-
son, North Carolina has ever,
known.
A complete discussion CT this
subject may be had from bulle.
sin No. 1859 entitled Corn Cal
ture in North Carolina which
may be- had on application to the
State Department OF Agriculture,
Raleigh, N. G.