The Brinkley argus., 1918-07-19
MUST CULTIVATE
 YOUR CORN F|E
Good Cultivation Depends Una,
 Principle For It's Effective.
By L. W. Osborn, Agronomis, c,1

yielu or corn is nc tafned unless the corn field is ly cultivated. Cultivation n.. vary in different localities dsn.s upon the character of the soil of weeds to combat. and uno, conditions. However, good cult,,' depends upon the same genor., ciples for its effectiveness p fence of farmers everywho,a shown the value of cultivatio. making corn crops.
 The most important object x tivatiOn is to get rid of weeds u' compete with the corn plant fo, plant food and moisture and nr,u, ly no grain will be obtained fl are not removed. Experiment tions have shown that the elimi,. of weeds is the biggest reason cultivation. Aside from this cuM tion is important to conserve ma, and to aerate the soil and make food available.
 When young corn plants are gs started, cultivation is nscessar loosen up the surface on tightly ed soils and to pulverize the su, on clayey soils, which tend to (, This reduces the amount of slr evaporation and therefore copsr moisture. At the same time vated soil is warn and more favo to early growth of the young plants.
 Depth of Cultivation Impotah!
 The depth of cultivation will nj, ally depend upon the character Of root system of the corn plant roots of the corn plant extend d ward and laterally and within month are estimated to have a lat expansion of two feet and ia months the spread has a radiu about four feet. The depth of roots below the surface depends the moisture conditions. In a season and late in the season the ground is shaded the roots as most at the surface, but ordinarig the growing season they are estiI ed to be at about three to inches below the surface in the dle of the row and somewhat closA the surface nearer the corn Shallow or surface cultivations or three inches in depth, may be n effective in keeping down weeds do no appreciable harm to the root the corn plant. Deep cultlvatla practicable only when the weeds h made such a start that no course is possible to get rid of then
 How and When To Cultivah
 The best time to begin cultiVaa is before the crop is planted. can be done by carefully dfsking narrowing a we'll broken seed tsd the surface does not become too A packed weeder or harrow can ! used to excellent advantage just l fore the corn comes up and agaln ter the first two leaves are a' ground. Such cultivation is ecoD cal since one covers the ground ~ ly. The regular cultivations with corn cultivatOr should begin when plant Is about six inches Msi earlier when the use of harrow been impracticabls. When the sl9 is packed it is practicable to culu'3 the young plants fairly deeply out harm, but this IS unnece'' unless the seed bed has not been prepared. All later cultiyatlons Sa be shallow. The corn field shou's| cultivated frequently enough 10 ' certain that weeds do not get ss It is a good plan to figure on cula| ing once every ten days unul corn is waist high, or once aste' N packing rain.
 There are many types of cuiu'a5 which can be used to good aasaA'] l -.ft II properly adjusted CultlVa'o'' three or four small shovels v gang are to be preferred to shovel cultivators which have dency to go too deeply swesr the buzzard wing type, gopher v. n correctly set, or spring-tooth @ ments are very satisfactory "n,., iusted so as to cut the weeas v to one and half inches pei'' surface. ,...l
 After the corn gets too n'sa the two-horse cultivator the on, Gee Whiz" of the spring-too'a is excellent. Care should De lsAs. <.
 
 make certain that none or lne ,s \ are penetrating too deepiy' e'p' near the corn plants.
 When To Lay-Sy. ,.,
 The question of when to ig'., a.s is always important and VII, .ss, ss upon the character of soil anu '. son. On good soils where vsy'I ", i, kept fairly we'll under conllU, .,s. questionable whether eul'Naps eul,s-s i, en after the corn is waistnis ,,s :, much value. On ordinary 'o"s ..r,ls the moisture supply is ue's .o,tI factor it is ordinarily best 'o .s .sslI cultivation until the corn IS 'a' RAISE SUBSTITUTES FOX F'os vi"
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