Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1914-07-01
SPECIMENS OF SEED CORN.

can and still cover all. Even if occa-
sional hills be left uncovered believe
that it is much better to follow up
with hoe and cover the occasional
hill by hand than to set the planter I'M
necessarily deep just to catch the firm
spots of ground. The man who has
done much corn planting on fields in
which the soil varies in texture will
have learned to keep constant watch
and change his governing lever as the
planter moves from one kind Of ground
to another more firm or less firm. In
field Of this kind 1t is out of the ques-
ton to set the planter for a definite
depth and maintain 1t from end to end
of row, and row after row, and at the
same time do an accurate job Of plac-
ing the corn at the right depth.
1t is impossible to forecast the
weather; therefore trying to plant in
anticipation Of wet or dry weather is
out of the question as well. The best
way to do is to anticipate wet spell
and plant the corn shallow. We have
had such corn lie in the ground for sew
eral days before receiving sufficient
moisture to admit of termination, but
this corn subsequently came up well
and made q usual crop. But planting
deep for fear of being left uncovered,
for fear of dry weather, simply out OF
carelessness, etc, locates the corn so
deep sometimes that in case of wet
weather it rots badly before it can get
sufficient air to make termination pos
sible. Much complaint has often been
made of corn rotting in wet spots,
whereas it would have terminated well
had it not been planted so deep Better
a great deal leave an occasional hill
uncovered than to regulate the planter
for such an unusual depth as to render
termination of the other hundreds OF
hills quite doubtful.
The first thing to do is to have the
planter working right; if it is out of
order, if the marker is so loosely hung
that constant watch has to be exer
cised for fear of losing it, etc, no man
can give thorough attention to the
necessary details of the machine and
to shifting the lever to proper depths
when necessary. The man who has
given careful attention to those things
seldom allows his planter to run toe
deep and almost never leaves a hill
uncovered, and if he leaves one uncov
cred his attention to the job causes
him to see it and cover before passing
on. The farmer who is learning tt
plant corn should take advice in the
beginning that uniform depth of plant
ing is under his control quite absolute
ly by means of careful attention tt
same every minute.
Especially In case of late springs it
often becomes desirable to give the soil
the last narrowing directly in front of
the corn planter. Many thus find 1t
difficult to keep over the mark in driv-
ing the planter because Of the confus-
ing array of marks left by the harrow
teeth. Consequently many farmers
have resorted to the use of the plank
drag instead. We have found this I'M
desirable because in case of rain the
surface gets much harder.
For leaving a fine, even surface
ahead of the planter without firming
the ground in an undesirable way we
have found that an old steel hay rake
axle dragged Immediately after the
harrow. fastened by means of wires
two feet long to the harrow, does the
work admirably.