The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1913-11-27
NORTH DAKOTA As A CORN
STATE.

CeILdlu NOILu DStkOLd ueluS duu TIC
specimens exhibited at our corn shows
will indicate that North Dakota is in
the running as a corn state.
The yields in Barnes county have
ranged from twenty-five to seventy
bushels Of mature corn. A large num-
Der Of the boys in the corn eonte.t
produced between fifty and sixty bush
els per acre. Forty-eight bushels was
the average yield obtained by the
boys in the contest. The demonstra-
tions which have been operated in CO.
operation with the Better Farming AS
sociation have yielded from thirty
FIVE to fifty bushels Of mature corn
Pef acre.
In the production OF corn what the
farmer wants is yield and maturity.
In order that this combination can be
obtained. certain fundamental princi-
pies must be adhered to.
Maturity: In order to obtain ma
ture corn under average conditions
the seed from which It is raised must
be home grown. when raising seed
corn from imported seed the farmer
will lose in two ways. First as a rule,
such seed corn is not Of very strong
termination. Second, such corn will
hardly ever mature unless we have an
exceptionally long season. The pro-
duction Of mature corn is the only way
to obtain maximum feeding value.
Corn will increase in feeding value
from the milk stage to the glazed
stage, about seventy-five per cent.
2Testing: There is no one fac
tor which will influence yield to a
greater extent than the stand. A
good stand Is only secured through
systematic testing Of every ear of
corn, which will give the opportunity
to discard the poor ears, or such az
are very weak in termination. The
average soils Of North Dakota are fer
tile enough to produce three plants of
corn per hill. From the fact that un-
der our conditions the corn plant does
not attain the size that it does in some
Of the more southern states. II per-
feet stand Of three plants per hill could
be obtained, with the ears such
as we can produce here, it would give
a yield of about sixty-five bushels per
acre.
3-Planting: Corn should be plant
ed early under our conditions. The
tenth of May being about the right
time although it will have to be modi-
fed to some extent according to
weather conditions. There should be
only one method Of planting corn and
that is the check row method, or what
is some times known as the hill sys.
tenn. Under this system the corn can
be cultivated to much better advan.
tage, from the fact that when the cul-
tivator can be run both ways the field
can be kept in much cleaner condi-
ton. Where corn Is drilled in in rows
It is impossible to get the weeds in
the rows which invariably tends to re.
duce the size of the corn plant and
leaves the ground In a much weedier
condition for the following year.
Cultivation: A field of corn
should be cultivated at least four
times after the corn is up. The first
cultivation should be fairly deep with
the shovels set close to the rows. At
this time the tenders should be at
tached to the cultivation so as to pre-
vent the shovels from carrying the
dirt against the plants and covering
them. When the corn is about eight
inches high, and every time thereafter,
the cultivation should be more shall
low, and not quite so close to the
rows. This will prevent cutting of Of
the roots. It is impossible to obtain
the maximum yield Of corn unless the
ground Is properly manured. Care
should be taken in the application Of
manure. II large quantities Of it is
plowed under, it will do more harm
than good, because Of the fact that
the moisture supply is cut of. A bet
ter plan is to apply the manure on top
Of the plowing and disc it in.
One thing that is very encouraging
in the progress Of corn raising In
Barnes county, is the fact that the ma
jority Of farmers are at present In pos.
session Of some seed corn raised on
their own farms. Some Of them have
- much ~ one hundred bushels. A