The Bulletin. 65 



II. VARIETIES, CULTURE, AND FERTILIZATION OF CORN ON 

 PIEDMONT RED CLAY LOAM, RED CLAY AND VALLEY SOILS. 



Experiments have been conducted for seven years with the 

 varieties of corn on the red chiy loam soil of the Iredell Test Farm. 

 These results have been civen in detail in this Bulletin. On basi8 

 of these results and other information which Ave have, the suggestions 

 below are given for the culture and fertilization of corn on the red 

 clay loams, red clays, and valley soils of the Piedmont and the 

 varieties of corn which are best suited to them. 



Corn is an exhaustive crop on the soil, especially so when the 

 stover is also removed. On basis of present prices of fertilizer one 

 bushel of corn removes from the soil about 23 cents worth of plant 

 food. It would cost this much to return the plant food in a bushel 

 of corn to the soil in a commercial fertilizer. A fifty-bushel crop 

 of corn has, therefore, removed plant food to the value of between 

 $11.00 and $12.00. By good fertilization we have produced good 

 yields, and increases over unfertilized areas have been obtained and 

 at a cost of 22.4 cents per bushel, which is practically the same as 

 the plant food in a bushel of corn. 



Preparation and Cultivation. — Corn delights in a thoronghly well 

 prepared soil. The land should be broken in the fall or early spring 

 to a depth of 6 or 8 inches and the soil may be gradually deepened 

 beyond this to advantage. Before planting cut up the land with a 

 disk harrow to get rid of clods and to make a good seed bed. 4 

 feet is a good width for rows. The distance the corn is left in the 

 row would depend on the productiveness of the land and should 

 vary, usually, between 15 and 30 inches. The fertilizer on these 

 soils should, as a rule, be put in the drill before planting and the 

 corn planted just below the level. Weeders and light harrows may 

 be run across the rows two or three times before and after the corn 

 is up and before cultivation with cultivators begins. Cultivate with 

 good one or two-horse culti\'ators, which will not require more than 

 two furrows at the greatest to the row, every ten days or two weeks, 

 and as nearly as possible after rains to keep down grass and weeds 

 and to conserve the supply of moisture. The cultivation should be 

 comparatively deep early in the season, becoming shallow as the crop 

 grows larger and its root system develops. It has been found de- 

 sirable to continue the cultivation in this way until the corn is in 

 silk and tassel, making the cultivation very shallow at last and going 

 away some distance from the corn. 



Varieties. — In the seven years' work on the Iredell Farm a very 

 large number of varieties of corn of practically all the types gen- 



