Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-07-23
Deep Cultivation
Harmful to Corn
Top Three Inches of Soil
Contain Largest Amount
of Plant Food.
prepared by the United States Department
ARriculturol

The ka-l1ck, ka-l1ck, OF the corn
planter has ceased its musical tattoo
for the season and has been backed
into the shed. If there were no weed
reeds just under the surface Of the
minating conditions, the farmers work
in the cornfield would be done for the
summer. If there were no weeds there
would be no need to tune up the old
cultivator or cut a forked stick. The
crop would not again need his atten-
ton until completing time in the fall.
He could turn his attention to other
work about the farm, or he could cut
himself q pole and go fishin', which
ever was according to his individual
bent-and his cornfield would still
yield as many bushels of corn as 1t
would have had he given it the tradi-
tional three times over with corn plow.
Cultivation Controls Weeds.
At least some such conclusion might
be arrived at from study Of the re-
lists to determine the real reason for
cultivating corn. Cultivation, they
agree, is chiefly for the purpose of
controlling the weeds. In fact, weed
eradication may he the only beneficial
result from cultivation after planting.
Nevertheless, there is that big little
word "if'' to reckon with We do have
weed seeds and we will have weeds.
Soon the broad clean spaces between
the rows Of young corn will be covered
with a mass of green weeds OF every
description. The cultivators will be
numbered in feverish haste to attack
the weeds and hold them in check
while king corn gets the jump on them.
But that is where the similarity of
the operation ceases. One farmer will
set his shovels to pillow as deeply as
possible. He will hurry across the
the cross rows-the main idea appar-
emily being simply to get ovel the field
three times before the corn is knee
high and ready to lay by. He be-
lieves that the formation of dust
mulch to retain moisture is also a
LuluS 10 dCCOLupllSu.
Must Keep Weeds Down.
AS long as there are weeds, some
sort of method will have to be used to
keep them down. Rotating crops,
preventing weeds going to seed, and
sowing seed that is free from weed
seed, are some of the other principles
that will help to keep down weeds.
An understanding of the fact that Gull
tivation is principally for the purpose
of killing the weeds and not to stir the
soil or provide dust mulch, however.
will modify methods of cultivation.
Thirty-six years ago the Illinois ex-
pertinent station made some tests in
which it was shown that if weeds were
kept down by scraping with hoe
without any attempt at forming dirt
mulch, the yield was the same as with
ordinary deep cultivation, and only
slightly less than with ordinary shall
low cultivation.
Twenty years ago the United States
Department of Agriculture made sim
liar tests at number of stations over
the country and obtained similar re-
suits.
Now the Illinois station has secured
some more figures which further sub
stantiate the former tests. AS an av-
erage of "a years of experiments at
that station it was found that a field
of corn in which the weeds were re-
moved by scraping them off with hoe
gave yield almost exactly the same
as a field cultivated with a SURFACE
cultiyator. Deep cultivation gave
yield of one to two bushels less on
the average than either shallow culti-
walton or scraping with a hoe. Many
deep civilizations decreased the yield
further.
Deep Cultivation Harmful.
These experiments indicate clearly
that the deep cultivation is harmful
Cultivation should be as shallow as
possible, although deep stirring is less
Injurious at the first cultivation than
later. The feeder roots of the corn
plant leave the stalk about two inches
below the surface of the soil no mat
planted Flowing close to the stalk
and deeper than these roots Injuries
many of these roots and results in de-
creased yields.
1t appears, says the United States
Department of Agriculture, that the
top three inches of soil contains more
available plant food than that further
down and that 1t is of more value as
a feeding ground for corn roots than
as mulch
Cultivation that mutilates this mass
Of roots in the top soil not only re-
moves the connection Of the corn
plant with this rich source of plant
food hut destroys its natural water
gathering system.
From the great number of expert
mental studies that have been made
If would seem that the cultivation
problem in the corn belt is to kill
weeds as economically and as easily
as possible without blowing so deep as
to do harm to the plant in any way
and without making the surface soil
unavailable to the roots for feeding
purposes. Some of our present imple-
ments for cultivation are designed
primarily to produce a mulch and stir
the ground. There are many, how
ever, that have been designed with
special reference to weed control, such
as the weeder. the spring-tooth har-