The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1913-07-09
How to Grow
Corn
Essay That Won Gold Medal
AT Lebanon State School
Commencement.

is being done tho land ia being
improved from five to ten dol
lars on the acre per year.
These seven important steps
in the growing of corn | shall
state briefly and to the point.
|. All the stalks, and barn
yard manure available, should
be put on the land. Such as
this will make humus and plant
food.
.. The blowing should b g
done in the fall; il gives the
manure and stalks time to rot.
and then these are ready for
the plant to take up as food.
Barnyard manure is the beat
fertilizer that can be obtained
and without such organic mat
ter, corn can not be grown sue
cessfully.
3 When the time comes to
prepare the seed bed the ground
should be disked twice at the
least, and more if necessary
BY doing this humus liz we'll
mixed w I h the soil. The
ground should BIO narrowed
until it is perfectly smooth. If
this ls done in preparing the
seed bed the ground will be in
such condition before planting
The crop that it will hold the
moisture. IL will be IN n G Ii
easier to cultivate, than that
which is prepared and planted
IN a haphnzard way The farm
er should never get in II hurry
to plant; it in far better to be
ten or fifteen days later and
plant it right BY doing this
the cultivation will not be SO
difficult as would otherwise
{, Having finished preparing
the seed bed the best corn
should be planted that can be
gotten, and in order to have
good seed corn Ii e farmer
should select good variety of
corn and grow it, care for 1t MS
he would HIS stock. He should
plant it where it will not mix
with the other corn. When it
liz matured gather il and store
1T away in IA dry place where it
will not freeze. Freezing may
Kill the germ. Then before
planting Il test should be made
to see if the germ is alive and
strong enough to grow. A good
way of making this test is to
take 100 grains from the sack
or box; put them in u box OF
warm moist soil, and if the soil
is not warm enough to cause
the corn to sprout set tho box
in a warm place in the house,
and the proportion that germi.
nate will be about the average
stand that comes from such
seed.
8. AS to planting, the check
row planter should b e used
whenever possible, for the fol
lowing reasons.
1t plants faster, better, and in
n way that the corn may be
plowed both ways, then thus
saving time and expense of cut
ting the weeds ont from be
tween the hills with a hoe.
And if it be- planted with the
check row planter this is all
that is necessary III the cult
walton of a crop.
6. just after planting a har
row should be run over the
ground. This smoothes h t
ground and kills the weeds that
might have started. After the
corn is up, "A weeder should be
run over the ground. This ia
equal to a blowing. When the
corn il large enough TO pillow, it
should be plowed from two TO
three inches deep, and after
this it should not be plowed SO
deep, as deep blowing is inju-
rious to the corn. Tearing the
roots out with the pillow decreas-
es the yield from five to ten
bushels per acre. Some farm.
ers think that three plowinge
are sufficient to make good
crop. ltis not, it is just. as i'm.
portant to pillow late to keep the
ground moist as it is to pillow
early to kill the weeds. The
second blowing is the time te
cross plow it. Then ali weeds
I n Al e