Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1914-09-03
Care in Harvesting Corn

III having iidu q law dUle season lOI
the production of corn. The dry hot
July experienced this summer, al
though seriously damaging Eother
crops, was almost ideal for corn and
has fastened the maturity even beyond
that of last year, a year which wa
considered much above the average
for ripening corn. In spite of the
protests that this county is out of the
region of profitable corn growing, the
fact remains that each year sees an
increase in the acreage of the crop
grown for practical, not experimental
purposes, and by farmers who are in
the business for what there is in it,
and not for recreation. AS | have
repeatedly stated before, l confidently
believe that with acclimated seed. and
given thorough cultivation through
the season, flint corr for fall hog
pasture and northwestern dent corn for
fodder will prove a very profitable
crop for the farmers of this county.
The raising of corn with the idea of
completely ripening it, husking it,
will at the present time prove a great
disappointment in any part OF the
county, except possibly a small strip
Of rather sandy land lying below the
mountain, along the extreme eastern
edge.
That the raising of corn is almost a
necessity to the further development
of this county is beyond contradiction.
1--WE need it as a cultivated crop with
which to clean up our land, to utilize
our manure to the best advantage,
and to provide work for men and
teams during the black season. But
more than anything, it is needed to
furnish a sure ource Of coarse feed
for the increasing number of livestock
being kept. The instance is not on
record where land in a country which
would only allow of raising but small
grains eve increased in value over
$40 to $50 an acre. 1t is, of course,
out of the question to entirely substi-
tute the raising of corn for summer
fallow under existing conditions.
Resident farmers are handling land in
too large tracts to permit of such
substitution and there is not at pres
ent the live stock to utilize the fod-
der. 1t is hoped, however, the de-
m%onstration that diversified crops can
be raised, and stock raising and inten-
sive farming demonstrated to be a
paying proposition to such an extent,
that it will draw more settlers to the
county and will diminish the size of
the farm unit. With the farms re-
duced in size, and we'll stocked, with
more of the land seeded to grass, the
raising of corn should entirely do
away with the wasteful process of
summer fallow.
The bringing about of such conditions
would seem to be sufficient reason WHY
those directly Or indirectly interested
in farming in this county should exert
every effort to give the production of
corn a permanent place in the agri-
culture of the county.
Briefly stated, corr is coming to
the front in this county for two rea-
sons. Constant agitation of the cues
ton of northern grown seed has
brought US to a place this year, where
practically all the corn planted in the
county was raised north Of Grand
Forks and much of it raised in the
county. This has resulted before
and will again show up this year in
more mature corn before freeze-up.
Through the press, in institute meet
lngs and gatherings of farmers clubs,
the rudiments of corn growing thorough
preparation of seed bed, early seeding
and good cultivation has brought about
more and more ideal conditions for
corn, resulting in a better stand. with
a better growth of more mature corn
than in former years. Besides these
two factors, which have had so much
to do with making corn a more prac-
tical crop, the accommodating confidence
in the minds of farmers that corn is
not an experimental crop and that it
will grow and do we'll if given a
chance, although something hard to
estimate, is not without its beneficial
effect.
What we are trying to get at is
this: We need crop up here, we must
have 1t, or potatoes or mangels to
give our land a rest and a change and
to thin out the weeds. A mighty i'm
portant factor is northern grown seed,
perhaps we may say the most import
ant factor, home grown seed is better
yet. There is going to be lots of ripe
corn in many fields this year, if you
don't believe it go and look. The
light frost of last week did not affect
it and granting no further frosts for
two or three weeks, as seems reason