8
PROGKESSIVE FARMER AND COTTON PLANT.
Tuesday, March 28, 1905,
- r
The Progressive Farmer
AND THE COTTON PLANT.
(Consolidated September 27, lWi.) . .
Entered at Raleigh, N. C as second class mall matter.
CLARENCE H. POE,
B, W. KIU30RB, "I
C. W. BURKBTT. J
C. G. LANE, Traveling Agent.
Editor and Manager.
Agricultural Editors.
T. B. PARKER. Sec-Treas.
IN THE CORN FIELD.
There is no subject that is riper for attention
by the thinking farmer of the Middle South than
that" pertaining to the Imperial Agriculture
plant of America, corn. The raising of this crop
is particularly important to our Southern agri
culture because,, under the present system, the
fanners are obliged to bring into our section of
the country large quantities each year from the
West. It is all right to benefit one section if it
is not at the expense of another, but under our
present system our own' agriculture is not bene
fited. Without further discussion let us go at
once into the corn field and see what is necessary
for the most economic production of this impor
tant plant.
Soil, Its Tillage and Preparation.
If a tomato is. put into a can and carefully
sealed so as to keep out the air it will be pre
served for a long time. If, on the other hand,
the lid of the tomato can is removed or a punc
ture is made so as to admit the air, decay and de
composition at once take place. This is an
analogous case to our corn lands. A compact
light soil infrequently plowed, and shallow
at that, which means but little access of air, pre
vent decay and decomposition of the soil parti
cles. "Where the soil is stirred up so that the air
has easy access into the soil, decay and decompo
sition follow and change the unassimable plant
food into forms that plants can use. You see,
then, that plant food exists in the soil in two
forms: available and unavailable. We have plow
ed our Southern soils and cropped them in such
a manner that they have become hard and dead
and lifeless, simply because there is so little cir
culation of air and so little humus in them the
unavailable plant food is too slowly changed into
available forms.
Our Southern soils do contain plant food, and
considerable quantities of it. It is principally
there in the unavailable form which will be re
leased only by frequent and thorough tillage. In
this connection it is only necessary to say that a
good plow that maTces a good cut so as to turn
the soil in a way that will pulverize it when it -is
dropped in the furrow, is necessary. A good
plowman should be behind the plow to make the
furrow regular and even. When the plow strikes
a stone or root it should be pulled back and put
in again sj)-as to make thorough work the rule
not the exception. This feature is . the
most galling of all to the enthusiast and practi
cal believer in tillage the seeing of so much
slip-shod, careless plowing. In a way good plow
ing has almost become a lost art with us. Our
forefathers, with poorer implements, did better
work than the majority that hold the handles of
the plow to-day.
Judicious Plowing and Harrowing.
The most of our Southern soils especially
those of clayey formation can be handled better
in the winter thLn in the spring. It gives the air
and frost a longer time to work on the particles;
in other words, there is a longer time for unavail
able plant food to be changed into the available
form. Sandy soils and those that easily leach
by the spring and winter rains, perhaps can bet
ter be plowed in the spring. They readily dry off
in the spring and planting is never materially
delayed. When spring comes, and the frost has
gone and the soil is dry, then comes the use of the
disc and spring tooth harrows. But do not hurry.
It will take another frost to remedy the evil done
by plowing or harrowing a wet soil. A crop is
often materially lessened by this injudicious rush
to plow or to cultivate. A soil that has been plowed
during the winter is usualy compacted and hard
ened by spring time. In this case a replowing in
the spring is advisable. We have increased the
yield as much as 25 per cent by an extra spring
plowing. But when this intensive plowing is
neither necessary nor advisable, the disc or spring
tooth hairrow, or both, will not only cut up and
level and fine, but put the soil in thorough prepa
ration for planting. When a dry spring comes,
and the soil is dry and hard, let the roller be
used in connection with the above-mentioned tools
so as to thoroughly prepare the soil. The clods
and lumps must be gotten rid of. If they must
exist, have them at the top of the soil, but not in
the soil. Here is where diligent tillage comes in.
and here is where cultivation of corn has its
greatest value before the corn is planted.
Test Your Seed Corn.
As a rule, the Southern farmer is not sufficient
ly careful with the selection of his seed for the
next crop. A test for germination should be
made; ordinarily, there is scarcely a farmer in a
hundred that tests his seed corn so as to know
what per cent will germinate. Half crops and
failures are often from this one trouble alone.
Let me suggest that the reader try a little dif
ferent method this year. Get a sample, say a
hundred grains of seed corn, and then plant in a
tomato can or box or even fold the grains in a
cloth and lay the same in a shallow pan where
it will be kept warm and moist some where in the
living room of the house, and in a few days' time
the experimenter can see for himself how many
of tho grains have germinated. This will give
full information in reference to the quantity of
seed to plant on each acre.
Planting the Corn.
Corn is ordinarily planted now with the Jiorse
planter. The seed i3 not only better distributed
by this method, but what is quite as important,
labor is saved. Hand labor, through necessity, is
being displaced with horse power.
The two important methods of planting is by
checking the corn into two sets of rows so as
to plant in hills and by the drills so as to distribute
the corn in single rows. The yield, in total dry
matter, is p'ractically the same, with an advantage
perhaps in favor of the drill. In soils badly in
fested with weeds, the check system is better be
cause it enables the cultivator to cultivate both
ways, and practically all weeds and grass can be
destroyed in this way.
Why We Cultivate ?
First, because tillage is manure; secondly, to
kill the weeds, and thirdly, to stir the soil to
make a mulch so as to conserve the moisture. We
have already -discussed the first point, and going
to the second, we must say that one of the great
objections to weeds is that they consume plant
food and water. Professor Hunt has estimated
that a ton of pig-weed contains as much phos
pjhoric acid, twice as much nitrogen and five
times as much potash as a ton of ordinary barn
yard manure.
We see by this that weeds consume a great
deal of plant food, and proportionally take great
quantities of water that should be in the soil for
the use of the corn plant. This water feature
is very important, especially during dry seasons,
and the farmer should take every opportunity
to counteract the influences that consume the
moisture of the soil, which should be conserved
to be appropriated by the growing plant.
How Mulching Pays. -. '
Again, weeds shade the ground. The soil is
jnade cooler because sunlight is kept out. In an
experiment which the writer conducted during the
summer of 1899, but two-thirds of the average
yield" was obtained where corn was -mulched. The
experiment decidedly showed that sunlight and
warmth to the soil are necessary for the best
growth of corn. The above are'the main reasons
why. weeds should be kept out of growing corn.
The table following shows the results and fuuy
, illustrates the above facts:
Kind of Culture. Lbs Stover. Bus. ShTd
Corn peracre.
' No culture 4,420 17.1
Mulch soil' shaded 11,028 56.4
Ordinary -11,406 79.9
The above table explains itself. Where no cul
ture was given, and weeds and grass allowed to
grow, a small yield resulted. On the other band,
where good culture was given so as to control the
growth of weeds, a maximum yield was obtained,
and where the weeds were controlled by a mulch,
a fair yield resulted which would have been in
creased had the soil been warmed and nourished
by tillage and sunlight.
Shallow or Deep Cultivation.
A soil is improved by growing corn because it
permits during a period of several months the use
of the cultivator so as to stir the soil. This in a
way comes in close connection with what was said
in the beginning of this article. Stirring the soil
increases the available plant food by causing a
freer circulation of air and by bringing the soil
particles into different relations with each other.
It also loosens up the soil So that the roots may
penetrate more readily. The. point now conies
up : Since the weeds must be killed and the soil
stirred up, how deep shall we cultivate?
Investigation by our Experiment Stations has
not been lacking in ' regard to this. Fifty-six
tests have been made with positive results in
favor of shallow cultivation. The question hitches
on the running of the roots. "Professor Hunt, at
the Illinois Station during three years' trial,
found that nearly three-fourths of the roots of
corn grew between two and four inches below the
surface of the ground. It is evident what effect
deep cultivation would have on the roots and the
root system if corn were cultivated more than
four inches below the surface of the soil. The
following experiment by the writer throws fur
ther light on this question:
Kind of Culture. Lbs. StOTer. Bus. ShTd
Corn per acre.
Shallow 14 limes 12,016 80.6
Shallow 5 times. 11,496 79.1
Deep 5 times 9,874 69.7
From the above we see that deep cultivation wa3
less productive than shallow, and also that ordi
nary or five shallow cultivations were as ef
fective as frequent, the difference in nowise
meeting the extra expense of labor.
Practical Deductions.
1. Plow, the soil as deep as its character will
permit. A shallow impoverished soil cannot be
plowed as deep as a deep fertile one. A good
seed-bed is necessary, and the deeper the plowing,
when the soil permits, the better the preparation
for planting. If the soil is shallow, gradually
deepen it by subsequent plowings. By going" an
inch deeper, for instance, each plowing the soil
can be deepened, improved and enriched. If the
whole of the deepening process is attempted at
one time in a shallow soil it will be ruined for
some time and the crop lessened for the first sea
son at least. After a depth for plowing has
once been established, vary it slightly from time
to time; otherwise a layer at the bottom of the
furrow will be formed of compacted and hard
soil, due to steps of horse and man.
2. Destroy the weeds. This necessitates cul
tivation which should be done as often as neces
sary to keep out the "weeds. The harrow, if used
a fewdays after planting time and again after the
corn is up, will do much to keep back the weeds,
when the weeder and cultivator can follow to
destroy the grass and weeds. Where a soil is
badly infested with weeds, plant corn in hills and
rows so as to be able to cultivate both ways.
3. Cultivate the soil. This is done not only to
kill weeds, but also because tillage is manure.
The stirring of the soil is one of the means of
changing unavailable plant food into the avail
able form. .Cultivation also makes a mulch of the
fine and dry soil that contributes in a degree to
conserve the moisture in the soil.
O. W. BTJKKETT.
'i