1710 



HepORT of IPaRMERS^ lNSTITU'rt:S 



grass and other grains. It is especially adapted to sod, and by 

 common consent iu Xcw \'()rk Stntc, corn is grown mi the old 

 meadows and is followed usually by oats — sometimes by wheat. 

 There is no doubt that this method is sound practice. 



The importance of good seed 

 is a matter that in the past has 

 often been neglected. System- 

 atic seed selection of ears of the 

 desired type is the ideal, but at 

 any rate, there is no work ever 

 done on the farm that will give 

 as big returns as to gather the 

 seed corn early in the autumn 

 before severe frosts, and 

 promptly dry — preferably with 

 artificial heat, — then keeping 

 in a dry and frostless place. 

 The matter of the quality of the 

 seed is not infrequently the dif- 

 ference between success and 

 failure. 



In the West, corn is almost 

 always planted in check-rows 

 and worked both ways. Since 

 the cominff of the silo to N^ew 

 York State, it has become the 

 almost universal custom to plant in drills about three and one- 

 half feet apart and work only one way. It is not a vital matter 

 if corn is in hills or drills. The real question is in securing 

 clean culture and a good surface dnst mulch, and this can best be 

 done by check-rowing it when weeds or quack grass are bad. 



Cultivation can not be overdone, the three main reasons being 

 to kill weedi^, to prevent the evaporation of water and to liberate 

 plant food. Still, root pruning is to be avoided and the safe rule 

 is to run tlie cultivator close to the plant and deep early in the 

 season and very shallow hitcr on. Cultivation may profitably be 

 kept up as long as it is possible to get a horse through the rows. 



Fig. 122. Selection of Seed 

 Corn from Standing Corn 



