2o4 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



there is no crop that will more amply repay good and thorough culture* 

 As to manure, any kind of well rotted barnyard manure is good, that from 

 the hog being the best of all. There is no danger of your getting your ground 

 too rich. There is nothing better for the production of a good crop of corn 

 than a good clover sod, although us good a crop of corn as I ever had any- 

 thing to do with was planted on a stiff June grass sod, but the early part of 

 the season was very wet and we could not plant until the first days of June. 

 The corn was very small until about the middle of July when the roots began 

 to draw nourishment from the now well rotted sod. During the remainder of 

 the season I never saw corn grow faster, and the first autumn frosts held off 

 very late and gave it a good chance to mature. Commercial fertilizers, phos- 

 phates, etc., are no doubt good, but where clover can be grown are altogether 

 too expensive. I have applied plaster on the hill many times, and always with 

 little or no perceptible benefit. I do not, however, say that plaster is a worth- 

 less application for corn, for I have many times seen good corn raised on light 

 soils where plaster was applied to the hill. However, for the largest returns 

 from the least labor, a good clover sod excels anything with which I have had 

 any experience. Clover or any other sod for corn should always be pi owed 

 with a jointer. Do not strive to be the first in your neighborhood to pi ant. 

 Although corn should be planted early enough to secure immunity from early 

 autumn frosts, it should not be planted until the ground has been thoroughly 

 warmed by the sun, otherwise it will germinate slowly, while the weeds being 

 much more hardy will get a start that cannot be overcome without much labor. 

 After the ground has been well harrowed it should be marked and planted as 

 soon as possible, thereby giving the corn an even chance with such weed seeds 

 as may be in the ground. Corn planting, however, should not be hurried at 

 the expense of thoroughness. It should be marked with a four row jointed 

 marker of suflBcient weight to make a mark two and one-half or three inches 

 in depth. The rows should be, for the dent varieties, not less than three feet 

 eight inches nor more than four feet apart. If planted at the former distance 

 there should be two, and if at the latter three stalks in a hill. I have never 

 raised corn in drills but I think more could be raised in drills than in hills. 

 It looks reasonable that four stalks one in a place one foot apart would ear 

 better than if crowded in a space four inches square or less. But does the 

 additional yield compensate for the extra labor involved? In clean fields, free 

 from stumps or stones, I think it would, 



SEED. 



You cannot expect a good crop of corn without good seed. It is impossible 

 to keep any crop up to a high standard of excellence without care in the selec- 

 tion of seed, and corn is no exception to the general rule. Indeed, from the 

 readiness with which the different varieties will hybridize, greater care is nec- 

 essary in the selection of seed than is required for any other crop. In the 

 production of corn, us in everything else, it should be the aim of the farmer 

 to produce the largest amount of that which is of the greatest value, less of 

 that which is less desirable, and least of that which is of little cr no value. 

 The first and grand object of "corn raising" is the grain ; the second is the 

 stalks for fodder, while the cob is utterly worthless except for fuel or manure. 

 Therefore it should be the ti'un of the farmer to produce the smallest amount 

 of stalks and cob compatible with the greatest yield of grain. Hence it 

 follows that seed corn should be saved from medium sized stalks. 



When you go into your field to select seed corn, have well fixed in your 



