233 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



than corn, for first and foremost soil needs air, all neglected soil 

 needs air, it is generally lifeless because there is little or no air 

 in it. Then too there is no sunlight iu it, sunlight is one of the 

 other, place a plant in the cellar in the dark, give it all the air you 

 can, it will soon show that the sun is an element that is needed 

 as well as air. Heat may be kept out of the soil or it may be added 

 and its presence or absence is noticeable. So that what a practical 

 farmer wants is to get all the natural conditions of air, sun and 

 heat right, as well as nourishment, for 96 per cent, of a plant's 

 growth is derived from the air and a farmer must learn to manage 

 these air derived elements by treating the soil. The farmer must 

 so handle his farm that he can bring to pass fertility in the follow- 

 ing manner: If the field is a worn out sod, it should be manured 

 with the best stable manure to be had and then plowed under; it 

 may be manured in the fall; winter or spring, but do not plow it in 

 the fall, do not plow it deeper than the soil at most — 4 to 4| 

 inches deep, harrow it very well, see that all stones, stumps, sticks, 

 tin cans, wire and trash of any and every kind are oft" the field 

 before it is planted as well as fill up all holes and gullies that the 

 plow and harrow have not been able to level, so that the farm 

 starts to hold and to carry as much water as is possible for the good 

 of the plant, providing it is a well drained field. It is a mistake to 

 plow wet ground and a bigger mistake to manure it and a still 

 bigger one to seed it. Wet ground is simply impossible cropping. 

 The corn ground should be very fine and mellow when planted so 

 the weeder can be run over it the third day after planting it. 

 Kill a weed before it is born, should be tacked up on every culti- 

 vated field; keep the weeds out at all hazards; if you think that it 

 will be an advantage to drill in 200 lbs. of high grade fertilizer, 

 it may be money well spent to start things along, but I would not 

 recommend it as business goes on, or fertilizer is an expensive meas- 

 ure, considering the returns derived from it in the long run. After 

 the season is over and the corn cut for ensilage it is better than to 

 truck it, for you want the field clean so as to seed it in the fall to 

 rye by proceeding as follows: On fortieth degree of latitude in 

 a climate about like that of Philadelphia the corn being all taken 

 ofi' the field; hitch a team to the two-horse riding cultivator or 

 spring tooth harrow, but I prefer the riding cultivator as the corn 

 stules catch in the spring tooth harrow more or less and cause it 

 to cultivate unevenly, but the riding harrow works up and down 

 the rows exactly as though it were working the growing corn. 

 This metod of working the soil into a seed bed is very much better 

 than to plow the cornfield and turn up the old soggy roots of 

 corn stalks. These roots are very much better because of their 

 soggy nature not to be disturbed and to remain untouched in the 

 soil for holding moisture and prevent washing. The cultivated soil 

 that also has l^een worked up all summer in the cultivating of the 

 corn, is in that fine dust seed bed condition to receive the rye, 

 much better than to have plowed the corn stalks, then harrowed, 

 seeded and rolled the ground to get it even, as is the general 

 custom of farmers. As soon as the corn-stalk ground has been 

 worked sufficiently to get enough of fine soil to cover the rye, take 

 the grain drill set it to sow two bushels of rye to the acre, pull 



