The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1920-04-30

many other specialized products 20
which 1t could be well extended.
Herbert Hoover. in Saturday Evening
Post, April 10, 1920.
Farm Notes by the County Agent
Cultivated plants need three con
ditions in the soil in order for them
to thrive. The presence of moisture in
the right amount; the presence of OK
ygen of the air; and the presence of
the proper temperature. If any one
Of these is totally lacking no plant
can grow, and a deficiency of any one
will cause poor growth. To main
tain these conditions for the growing
plant is the primary purpose of all
cultivation If the soil is not stirred
properly and frequently the moisture
escapes, the air is shut. out and the
earth fails to warm up.
duce the conditions in the soil most
favorable to the growth of the crops
titled and not, as is so commonly sup
posed, for the purpose of killing grass.
Gras1-killing is more an incident, or
secondary matter, in cultivation than
an object. Proper tillage will prevent
the growth of grass and the working
of crop simply to destroy grass
should never have to be done. OF
course, in times of continued rains
when the grass gets beyond the use
of harrows and cultivators it may be
necessary to resort to the use Of
Flows in a way to do the most damage
to the grass. But this will not occur
often with the careful and paintaking
farmer
With the right idea as to the pur-
pose of cultivation in mind it will not
be difficult to decide what method
of working the corn corp is best. II
the land was stirred deeply just pre-
vious to planting, shallow cultivation
should be the rule with every working.
But, if the soil was plowed sometime
before planting, or has become packed
by heavy rains since, the first working
should be deep and before the plants
develop much of root system. From
then on tillage should be shallow and
frequent. To go deep will damage
the crop by breaking the roots and by
turning UP the soil to dry oat rapidly.
To work the crop only occasionally
will allow the moisture to escape
by capillary attraction, will premit
grass to grow and will cause the
plants to suffer for lack of air. Those
who have never investigated the root
system of the corn plant can hardly
realize how extensive it is and how
important it is to not work deep after
the crop is up as much as IL inches
high. As rule the roots at all stages
of the plants growth are longer than
the stalk is tall, and near maturity
the whole soil is a complete net work
CT roots and rootlets. The farmer who
uses turn plows in the lnal cultivation
of his corn certainly fails to appre-
ciate these facts. His corn fires"
and he wonders what the. trouble is
and why his crop failed to yield well
after promising so much. To avoid
such disappointment care should be
used to work the crop not to exceed
three inches deep after the first cult
ton and not that deep unless the cul-
tivation can be repeated every eight
to ten days. Where the practice is to
get over the crop every two to three
weeks the shallower depth of two
inches is to be preferred. But for the
final working, when the silks are
showing, one inch is safest. This,
though, but hardly possible with the
ordinary used, but it GER
tainly will pay to go this depth as
nearly as possible.
Right now is the time to think about
the second paintings of vegetables in
the garden. There is no need to let
the weeds have the garden when the
crops now growing have been harvest
ed. Keep up the planting of corn ev-
cry two to three weeks till June and
put in another plantin gof beans, okra,
and peas.
VIM. A. SESSIONS. County Agent.