The Bulletin. 7 



finely pulverized soil between the bottom of this furrow and the un- 

 broken sub-soil beneath. In the bottom of this furrow the corn should 

 be planted, but covered shallow. Corn is generally planted too near 

 the surface, especially in the piedmont section, where the midsummer 

 drought is most severe. Here the corn should have its root system 

 develop rather deeply in order to come in contact with better and more 

 lasting moisture conditions. When a large amount of green vegetation 

 has been cut up and incorporated with the soil it is highly necessary 

 that the crop should be planted deep below the surface (but covered 

 shallow) in order to escape the drying effects of the first three to four 

 inches of the surface soil during the first two or three weeks of the sea- 

 son. Then, too, the root system gets thorough hold of the deeper soil and 

 gradually, as the season advances, rises to the upper soil and finally 

 occupies the whole soil stratum, thus utilizing all the available plant 

 food present. Of course, corn must not be planted too deep, but a 

 small amount of careful observation and a little experimentation on a 

 given soil will enable the farmer to judge very closely of the proper 

 depth of planting for best results. The more deeply planted corn does 

 not grow off so rapidly, as a rule, but withstands the midsummer 

 drought better and yields more corn in the fall. 



Thickness of Planting. 



The thickness of planting will vary with the variety and the fertility 

 of the soil. It will be borne in mind that the high individual acre 

 yields that have been made in the South during the past two or three 

 years were not made so much by the increased prolificacy of the indi- 

 vidual stalks as by the increased number of stalks per acre. 



On account of the irregularity of our fields the checking of corn 

 by means of the check-row planter is never likely to become general. 

 The crop is now generally planted in the drill and, so far as we know, 

 there is no economic necessity for changing this time-honored method. 



The drilling of the crop gives the opportunity for proper spacing 

 in the row; the thickness of planting can be regulated to a nicety. 

 Experiments seem to indicate that one stalk in a hill with hills close 

 together give better results than the same number of stalks per acre 

 with, say, two stalks in a hill. That is, it is better to have the stalks 

 twelve inches apart and one in a hill than to have the hills three .feet 

 apart and three stalks in a hill. 



Thinning to a Stand. 



The old corn planting proverb of "one for the jaybird, one for the 

 crow, two for the cut worm, and one to grow" was based on sound 

 philosophy. Enough corn should always be planted to the hill to 

 insure the perfect stand, knowing full well that a number of accidents, 

 such as are suggested in the above adage, are almost sure _ to occur. 



When the plants get up some size and are ready for thinning the field 

 should be thinned to a stand, not all at once, but gradually, say. in two 

 or, possibly three different thinnings, the last one to be made when 

 all probable accidents from depredations of birds, worms, and insects 

 have passed. Having secured the perfect stand, the yield of the prop 

 is then largely under the control of the farmer and will be in direct 

 proportion to the fertility of his soil and the cultivation given the 

 crop. 



