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PROGRESSIVE FARMER VOL. XX. NO. 4.
TUE COTTON PLANT-VOL. XXII. NO. 8.
RALEIGH, N. C, MARCH 7, 1905.
Weekly $1 a Year.
CORN GROWING TALKS.
I Important Deductions from Field
Tests by the Department of Agricul
ture. v
BY C. B. WILLIAMS AND B. W. KILGORK.
of the N. C. Department of Agriculture.
It will probably not be out of place
to give, at this time, a series of short
articles on corn and cotton growing
from data drawn principally from our
experimental work in the field with
these staple crops.
During the past four years on the
Test Farms of the North Carolina
Department of Agriculture compara
tive field tests have been made with
forty-eight varieties of corn. The
number of varieties in the different
tests have ranged all the way from
eight in 1900 to twenty-nine in 1901.
The different tests of varieties nt the
several farms were grown as nearly
under the same conditions of soil,
fertilization and cultivation a3 it was
possible to provide. To eliminate
all inequalities in the character of
the land, if any, the varieties at the
different farms were planted each in
separate rows, arranged consecutive
ly, and this plan was repeated from
three to five times, varying with the
length of the rows, in order to give
the desired acreage to each variety.
As the soil plays such an important
part in the comparative yields of
different varieties of not only corn,
but all agricultural crops, it is deem
ed not. unwise at this point , to give
a brief description of the soils of the
different Test Farms on which the
variety tests of corn and cotton were
made, as it is thought that this
description will aid farmers in apply
ing the results to their different soils
in a more intelligent manner.
Test Farms of the Department of Agricul
ture. The soil of the Edgecombe farm,
located in Edgecombe County, con
sists principally of sandy loam, with
moderately fine sand, underlaid by a
rather tenaceous sandy clay subsoil
at a depth, generally, of from eight
to twelve inches. The subsoil is a
moderately retentive clay, such as is
found under the larger portion of
the lands of the Eastern part of the
State. Thi3 type of soil responds
very readily in remunerative cror3
to proper fertilization and cultiva
tion and represents a large and im
portant part of the coastal plain re
gion which comprises something like
40 per cent of the total area of the j
State. This farm has some over two 'l
hundred acres in it, most of which
is in cultivation.
The Red Springs farm, located
in Robeson County, has a coarse,
sandy soil with a sandy clay subsoil
from twelve to fifteen inches below
the surface. This type of soil is rep
resentative of a considerable area in
the Eastern and Southeastern part
of the State. This type of soil, as
it dries out readily and warms up
quickly in the spring, is especially
adapted to the growing of truck and
other crops where, early maturity
is an imperative consideration, for
a few days difference in shipment
may mean the difference between sell
ing at a handsome profit and at a
price not sufficient to pav freight. Al
though the soil at the Red Springs
farm is not so strong as that at the
Edgecombe farm, nevertheless it will
produce fairly good yields of corn
and cotton under liberal fertilization
and proper cultivation and rotation
of crops.
The Statesville farm, located r in
Iredell County, has a deep tenaceous
red ch soil and subsoil. This type
of soil is the prevailing one of the
Piedmont plateau region of this and
other South Atlantic States. Gener
ally, the only difference between the
surface and subsoil in this type of
soil is that the former has been brok
en up by cultivation and weathering
and has more organic matter worked
into it.
This soil is naturally strong and
is susceptible of high state of pro
ductivity under judicious fertiliza
tion and proper cultural manage
ment. It is especially adfapted to
the growth of grains and grasses.
This farm, too, embraces some over
two hundred acres, the greater part
of which is under cultivation.
What Is a Variety?
A variety is supposed to represent
a class of plants with one or more
distinguishing characteristics, but
with a cereal like "corn, which mixes
so freely, variety does not mean
much unless proper precautions have
been exercised in its growth.
Take some variety of corn, say
Cocke's Prolific, that has been bred
carefully and intelligently through
a number of years for high yield of
shelled corn per stalk, and grow it
continuously in or adjacent to a field
of inferior corn and in a very short
time, especially if proper seed selec
tion is not practiced, it will give
much smaller yields, when grown un
der the same ' conditions, than the
original pure-bred corn ; this being
due to the fact that you no longer
HOW TO SELECT YOUR SEED CORN.
.tft -
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4k T"r,it kp"11, "
.r- - -
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A B C
(A) Too great distance between grain rows and poorly filled at tip and
butt. (B) too small ear. (O) well shaped ear the best type for seed
corn.
s
have pure Cocke's Prolific, but a mix
ture of "scrub" and Cocke's Prolific
corn. This fact emphasises the im
portance of securing seed from re
liable parties. We have had Cocke's
Prolific seed from different sources
to vary in our tests as much as four
and one-half bushels of shelled corn
per acre when grown under the same
conditions as far as we could pro
vide them.
Buy Seed Corn in the Ear.
Seed that can be nurchased for the
least money are not always the chea p-
est ; but, on the other hand, are usual
ly the most expensive. Poor seed,
which are generally sold cheap, are
expensive at any nrice, even as a gift,
if they are planted. Of course, there
are seed sold at a high price that
nrft worthless, hut if one buvs these
from a reputable firm, they will only
be too glad to replace them.
.The farmer, to safeguard himself
in buying seed corn, should have it
shipped to him on the ear and require
the sender to supply hirri a certificate
as to where the corn was grown. This .
is the only safe way to be reasonably
certain what one is purchasing at
all times, and that the corn will be
suited to the climate and soil of the
purchaser. - '
In our variety tests, we have found
that the best varieties originated
and grown in the Northern and .
Northwestern States, when shipped
to us and incorporated in our tests, .
generally give much smaller yields
than our best local varieties, al
though the seed from the West and
North were secured through the most
reliable sources. . J . ..
Lack of acclimation is, not doubt,
an important factor in depressing
the yields of these Northern and
Western varieties of corn when plant
ed in the South.
In next week's Progressive' Farmer
we shall consider the varieties of
corn best adapted to our section
early, medium and late maturing
sorts.