Norwich bulletin., 1921-07-22
The Old Fashioned Scheme of Growing Corn

tented myself with going over the blow 1 ridges just enough so the marker-teeth would make a visible scratch. That was in accordance with the old custom, though highly reprehensible in the view of modern experts, who persistently preach that we can't harrow too much
 Then I marked it both ways, to pro vide for check hills three feet apart. Af- ter which I cleaned out my hen-roosts and laboriously struggled over the patch. dropping a good handful of hen-manure where each hIn vas to be. Then I planted 1t by hand. dropping never less than four nor more than five kernels at a time. As the surface dirt was pretty dry. before dropping the seed, I picked a little holej win the corner of my hoe down to moist soil, and always below the poultry manure. The seed was dropped into this hole, more moist earth hoed up from one side to cover it as nearly an inch deep as could reckon, sedulous czre being taken to see that all the hot hen-manure was either above or little to one side of the seed. remember how the old farmers used to say that a corn stalk would grow up through the manure without being harmed but, if the tender root struck directly into it, that
 root was promptly burned off and the
 plant killed. Lastly, surrounded the criss-crossed the patch with a crow l soaring net of white grocers' twine on old bean-pole4
 An of this was done early-so early
 that those who saw me puttering away at it forewarned me I'd lose my whole crop by some May frost. But I knew
 the old veterans used to plant at that
 time, and I refused to be delayed. I had determined to revert to old-fashioned and old-fogyish methods and might as
 well go the whole hog as only part. | We'll, the corn came up, promptly and | very evenly. I have found but one hill i missing. Practically all the seed gerrni- mated. The crows avoided it as a trap
 which no wise bird would think of risk 1 ing. The frost came, as predicted, and 'nippeG" some of the leaves but not
 only did no real damage but actually
 seemed to me to serve as a. stimulant.
 At any rate two or three new leaves
 promptly took the place of each one vel
 lowed by Jack Frost and no trace of his fingers was visible week later.
 l The old farmers had no modern culti- vators. They used to "plow out" their
 corn with a light one-ho7se blow. and l then ''hill it up" by hand. I hadn't the light blow, and felt physically unequal to the task of hand-hoeing. But set the blades on my horse-hoe as nearly as l could to initiate the work done by a blow and made that serve. Father and grandfather never, dreamed of cultivat- ing more than twice. Modern theory calls for anywhere from four to nine cultivations. stuck to the old rule 1 Perhaps these late cultivetfons do
 more harm 10 the everywhere-spread- ing eorn-roots, than they do to the l weeds" was my thought, Anyway ]
 stuck to my text and gave my patch only two goings-over.
 Of course. It's too early yet to speal
 for the crop. There are various thing!
 possible to happen, even yet. Hail, fol
 Instance. Or an irruption of grasshop
 pers. Or an invasioh of 'coons ant
 woodchucks.
 But that corn stands today, two fee above my head all over the piece th stalks are profusely silked out the tass els are already shedding showers of poll
 en-dust every time the breeze shakes them. And 1t has very few weeds in 1t ] The corn has grown so vigorously ant r iuxuriantly that the weeds haven't beel l able to get or keep a foothold. Wha chance does a six-inch weed stand in $ dense forest of eight-feet high corn? ] Altogether, it Is mighty fine patch o l field-corn, one which I am proud t ] show and one which not single visito ] has yet failed to adjudge the best h
 has seen this year.
 3 Now we come to the question, Wha f made 1t so? It can hardly be the soi : for know of twenty fields planted O T as good if not better land. It can't b the season for that would affect al 5 fields in the vicinity alike. It can't b : due to any special form of commercis . fertilizer, for there wasn't a spoonful c ] the stuff used. It can't have been du ! to the labor spent in cultivation. for 0 have spent less than half as much a . that as most of my neighbors.
 Do you s'pose it can possibly be du to my fairly complete abandonment ( 0 modern methods" and my proportion l. ately complete reversion to those of th 0 "old fossils' of 1S25-1s5o?
 7 A lot of my younger readers will fin