Cooperative Work with Columbia University 471 



Good soil management restores these, and we often find that an 

 application of lime insures a crop of clover, where without it the 

 crop would be an entire failure. Good soil management entails 

 frequent and light, rather than heavy, applications of stable man- 

 ure and supplements it with a careful use of commercial fertili- 

 zers. Good soil management also practices a regular rotation of 

 crops and includes in the rotation some of the nitrogen-gathering 

 plants, properly inoculated. 



The plowing should be deep and thorough, the furrows being set 

 on their edge rather than turned over flat. A gradual increase of 

 the depth of plowing will in many cases improve the crop. The 

 land should be well fitted for the crop by tillage begun as early 

 as possible after plowing and continued at frequent intervals until 

 the crop is planted. Frequent tillage begun early saves moisture, 

 kills weeds, and pulverizes the soil. 



management of the crops 



The variety of the crop should be adapted to the locality where 

 it is grown and to the market for which it is produced. The areas 

 to be planted should be rectang-ular rather than square so as to 

 give the longest rows possible, and thus loss of time may be 

 avoided in turning the team. 



The seed should be true to name, should as a rale be grown in 

 the localit}^ where it is to be planted, and should always be tested 

 for purity and germination. The germination test can easily be 

 made by the farmer at home and should be attended to before the 

 busy season of planting comes on. A shallow box filled with rich, 

 moist soil may be used for the larger seeds. In testing corn each 

 ear should be tested separately, and only the ears that send strong 

 sprouts from nearly every kernel should be saved for seed. The 

 testing box can be divided into squares for testing individual ears 

 by stretching cords across the top of the box two inches apart. 

 Six kernels should be taken from each ear, each kernel from a sep- 

 arate part of the ear, and deposited in its proper check in the test- 

 ing box. 



At the Iowa Experiment Station, it was found that those ears 

 from which all six kernels gave strong sprouts yielded at the rate 

 of 75 bushels an acre; while the vield from ears that had one 



