The Ordway new era., 1915-09-10
CORN ON THE PLAINS.
Comparison Is Made Of Average
Yields and Profits.
Much Importance 10 Attached to Fact
That Corn Leaves Field In Excel.
lent Condition for the Crop
That 10 to Follow.

Experience has shown that corn
grown for fodder or the silo is At
least safe crop. and perhaps as pro.
ductive as any that could be grown
in the great plains area. The response
to the different modes OF culture and
crop sequence. however. is greater in
the southern and central portions Of
the area than In the northern, accord
Inc to the new department bulletin.
No. 219. Some IA field stations are
situated in the great plains area. which
covers ten states. Montana. North Da-
kota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Ne
braska, Colorado. Kansas, Oklahoma.
Texas and New Mexico. The climate
arid, but as the variations in humidity
from season to season are SO great,
some years have a relatively high pre-
cipitation and may be followed by
years Of drought. Thus climate and
the distribution Of rainfall play a very
important part In determining the size
Of the corn crop. Necessarily. In
bulletin dealing with such a wide ex-
panse of territory. deductions when
not applied to specific station must
be very general.
Corn growing possesses merit as a
preparation Of the land for crop of
small grain. When these two factors.
yield Of corn or fodder and the infiu-
ence of the crop on the soil. are COM
bined in one crop. they make its
growth of double importance. Corn
Is the only crop that at present offers
this advantage In the great plains area.
and which at the same time lends It,
self to a large acreage and to a gen
eral farming system. Potatoes as
crop may have the same effect as COM
mon fallow crop, but do not lend them
selves SO well to growth on a large
acreage.
Such crops as spring wheat. oats and
barley in the great plains area. when
following corn. have consistently given
higher yields as compared with other
methods Of preparing seeded for
these crops. Very often these small
grain crops have yielded the highest.
or approximately the highest. yield
when grown on disked corn land. and
when the cost of preparation is con.
sidered, this plan was also found to
be productive OF the greatest profit.
Therefore, in the growing OF corn
much importance is attached to the
fact that 1t leaves the field in excel;
lent condition for the crop following.
A striking point brought out In
the bulletin Is the uniformity in the
amount OF stover or fodder produced
by all methods at the stations in Non
tana and North Dakota.
Corn on summer-tilled land, espe-
cially at the more southern stations. of
Garden City, Kan, Dalhart and Anna
rillo, Tex, showed a marked increase
in stover yield over other methods Of
preparing the soil. The increase. how
ever, was not suficient to make 1t the
most profitable except at scottsbluff.
Neb.
Corn as grain crop has not been
produced at a profit at eight Of the
thirteen stations by any method. But
when a value Of four dollars per ton
is assigned to the stover or fodder.
corn has been profitably grown by
some method at all but one OF the sta
tions.
No one method OF seedbed prepara.
tion stands out as essential to. the corn
production. Thus the prevailing con.
ditions with relation to farm labor.
farm capital. type OF soil and weeds to
be dealt with are the prime factors in
determining differences in practice.