The Bulletin. 5 



The mountain-side soil consists of a grayish to dark red loam, underlain 

 at from 6 to 12 inches by a stiff clay loam ; it is known as Porter's loam. 

 Both soil and subsoil contain soine rock fragments. This is one of the 

 typical soils of the mountains of western North Carolina. It washes 

 badly if not covered by forest or carefully looked after when cultivated. 

 This soil, when not too steep, is devoted to some extent to general farm- 

 ing and fruit growing. 



Buncombe Farm. — This farm is located near Swannanoa, on the north 

 side of the Swannanoa River, eleven miles east of Asheville, on the 

 Asheville Division of the Southern Railway. The farm embraces both 

 valley and upland soils which are characteristic of the mountain region. 

 The valley soil is a dark gray to black, heavy, silty loam, containing a 

 large amount of organic matter ; it has been classified as Toxaway loam. 

 This is one of the typical alluvial soils occurring in the larger valleys 

 throughout the mountains ; it is naturally very fertile, and with proper 

 attention very large yields can be obtained. The upland soil occurs on 

 the knolls and foothills of the mountains and is a grayish to reddish- 

 brown loam or fine sandy loam, underlain at from 6 to 12 inches by a 

 stiff red clay ; it has been classified as Porter's loam. This is the typical 

 soil of the foothills of the mountains. It is naturally fertile and when 

 properly managed to prevent washing very good yields can be obtained. 



I. Variety, Variety-distance and Distance Tests of Corn. 



Preparation and Cultivation. — The plats were all broken alike with 

 a two-horse turning plow 8 to 10 inches, deep and harrowed. Soon after 

 the rows were run 4 to 5 inches deep and 4 feet apart in variety tests and 

 the several distances in the distance tests. The stalks in the variety 

 tests were reduced to a stand of 2Vo feet in the row. 



The fertilizer materials were applied uniformly in these drills and 

 covered, the application being at the following rate per acre in all tests: 



Three hundred pounds of a mixture of acid phosphate, dried blood 

 and manure salt, 1 which contained 7 per cent available phosphoric acid, 

 1% per cent potash and 3 per cent nitrogen (equal to 3.64 per cent 

 ammonia), costing $3.12, were used. 



The slight ridges formed in covering the fertilizer were opened and 

 the corn planted a little below the level, all tests of the same kind at the 

 same farm being given the same treatment as to time of planting and 

 otherwise. All cultivations were as nearly level as possible and rather 

 deep early in the season, with the small hoes of the Planet Jr. Culti- 

 vator, but became shallower, using the large hoes as the season advanced 

 and the roots extended towards the middle of the rows and nearer the 

 surface. This system of cultivation afforded pretty thorough breaking 

 of the land early in the season and prevented the disturbance of the root 

 systems of the plants later. An effort was made to cultivate every ten 

 or twelve days, as far as the weather would permit, and especially imme- 

 diately after rains, in order to produce a fine dust mulch with the shal- 

 low-running plows, to retard the evaporation of the recently added mois- 

 ture. 



RESULTS OF VARIETY TESTS OF CORN. 



The results of these tests are contained in the following tables : 



'Manure salt is a potash compound containing about 20 per cent potash, principally in the 

 form of muriate. 



