The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1918-03-21
HERE are farmers, that
for some reason or other,
never have raised a good
cron of corn in snite of

I'A6EH for some reason or other.
H@kSH never have raised a good
lAAy crop of corn in spite OF
the fact that their land is not yet
worn out. The reasons of such
crop failures, however, rest, per-
haps without their knowing it, on
their own shoulders and not on the
land.
The most important items to be
considered are: seed corn, when to
plow the land, when to plant and
how to plant, and last but not least.
how to cultivate the corn without
injuring it-that is, without ham,
pering its growth.
SEED CoRN.-This is a question
which is considered an important
one by most farmers. If you are
in doubt as to what kind of corn to
use in your locality, write to your
state experiment farm for informa-
tion. The northern states, such as
Minnesota, South Dakota, North
Dakota and Montana need a corn
that will mature between 80 and
100 days. Such seed corn can now
be bought from most any reliable
seed house. You should, however,
make sure that the seed was raised
in northern climate. If you have
a good grade of corn in your bin,
and which has not been bitten by
frost, select only such ears that
have full grown kernels with a
healthy germ inside. The condi-
tion of a germ in a kernel can be
determined easily in biting the
kernel through the center length
wise, thus laying the germ open
for inspection. Never use the ker-
nels from both ends of the ear,
because they are never full grown
and, therefore, have germs that
are not developed to their full
stage. Having selected the re.
quired amount necessary for plant
ing, take few kernels from each
ear and put the same in box for
testing. The box, or boxes, should
be about two feet wide, three feet
long and six inches high, with its
sides made of glass for obvious
reasons explained in subsequent
chapters. Around near the inside
edge of the box, and about four
inches away from the glass, plant
the kernels ten inches apart and
some two, three and four inches
deep respectively. In the remain
ing space plant the rest of the ker-
nels two inches apart and from one
to two inches deep and watch the
results. You will notice two very
important results: one is, that the
shallow planted kernels will sprout
much faster than the deeper ones:
and the other, that the roots of the
corn grow rather horizontal with
the ground than down into the
same. These two results will be
described more clearly under the
heading of Planting and Cult
vating."
WHEN TO PLow.-Most plowina
is done either in early spring, just
before the planting of the crop, OF
late in the fall. The chief factor
that decides this question is that o.
convenience. The best time tx
plow, however, depends upon th'
climate, the soil and the crop. L
is not necessarily the same for ad
iacent farmers. 1t has been prov
en-, however, that fall blowing
when plowed again in the spring
will give the best results. Sprins
nlowinp shOnld he done earlv he
fore the days when hot sun anl
drying wind suck from the un
plowed land much of the water
that the crop could use to grea
advantage. A soil may lose a.
much as twenty tons of water pc
acre weekly by being left unplowet
late in the spring, Early plowinl
warns and drys the surface soil 8,