lOG ItEPOKT OF Farmers' Institutes 



with tlie 2-stalk hills following closely and the -i-stalk and 1-stalk 

 hills ranking third and fourth with distinctly smaller yields. 



The amount of stover was lowest with the 2-stalk hills and in- 

 creased with the number of stalks in the hill, but the 1-stalk hills 

 in drilled rows produced practically the same amount as those 

 with 3 stalks iii check-row hills. 



Corn cultivation and yields. (Minn. 149.) In tests extending 

 over three years, one plat for the growth of corn received no cul- 

 tivation after planting, the weeds being allowed to grow undis- 

 turbed ; the remaining five plats were harrowed once after plants 

 ing and one was hoed enough to keep the weeds down, while the 

 others were cultivated two, three, four or six times, respectively. 

 The weed plat produced only 9 bushels of corn and a ton of stover 

 per acre; the plats cultivated two or three times, 46 and 48 bushels 

 of corn and 3,200 and 3,750 pounds of stover, respectively; those 

 cultivated 4 or G times gave 59 and G3 bushels of corn, re- 

 spectively, and practically 2 tons of stover apiece ; while the hoed 

 plat yielded 64 bushels of corn and 2"^^ tons of stover. 



Although the hoed plat gave the largest yield, the author would 

 not recommend such practice because of its cost, though he does 

 not give figures. He maintains that the four hoeings were equiva- 

 lent to so many shallow cultivations. He, therefore, holds that, 

 except in years of great drouth when additional cultivations to 

 maintain a dust mulch may be advisable, four cultivations (twice 

 each way) as shallow^ as possible, will give the best results on 

 comparatively heavy loam. 



Soil moisture aiul tillage for corn. (111. 181.) The authors 

 specifically state that they are not recommending hand for ma- 

 chine labor in corn cultivation, yet their results show that removal 

 of weeds with slight soil disturbance — that is, scraping with a 

 hoe — on bro^vTL silt loam gave an average increase in yield, for 16 

 tests in eight years, of 17.1 per cent over ordinary cultivation; 

 while on gray silt loam on tight clay subsoil the hoeing gave a very 

 slight increase over ordinary cultivation. The principal advan- 

 tage in any cultivation for corn is removal of the w^eeds, which 

 rob the corn of plant food and light. The question of moisture 

 is of less importance, since when the corn is well established the 

 roots so fill tlie soil that little moisture can escape. Cultivation, 



