The Buj-i.etix\. 69 



things according to our soiienie of farming, according to the crops that have pre- 

 ceded" and the crops whicli are to follow. But wliere we can have some choice 

 in the matter it will pay us to remember that lowlands are always worse in- 

 fested vAth cut-icorms, hud-ioorms and bill-bugs than are high lands. 



3. Early Breaking and Thorough Preparation. — If we break our land late 

 in spring, waiting as late as possible before planting time, we do not have 

 time to give as good preparation as is desirable, the land does not have enough 

 time to become aired and weathered, and whatever vegetable matter (humus) is 

 turned in does not have sufficient time to decompose. Hence in all these things 

 we will benefit by breaking the land early, in winter or very early spring, and 

 by so doing ice at the same time starve and drive away innumerable eut-worm,s, 

 which would otherwise do damage. 



If the land be broken early we can give it extra good preparation for the crop, 

 working it into fine, mellow condition so that there will be a fine seed-bed. And 

 all the extra working tliat we give it in preparation for the crop helps to drive 

 away the cut-worms and other pests lohich may already be in the soil. 



4. Time of Planting. — The exact time of planting of corn has much to do 

 with injury by bud-worm. In the cooler parts of the State, and especially in the 

 clay bottom lands of Piedmont North Carolina, early planted corn suffers most, 

 and in those sections the best way of avoiding bud-worm is to plant the corn 

 moderately late, and all through the early season be giving the land as thorough 

 preparation as possible, so that when it is planted it will have every chance to 

 sprout quickly and grow rapidly. On the other hand, in the warmest sections, 

 in extreme eastern and soiitheastern parts of the State, the best chance seems 

 to be to plant a little early and thus get the crop started ahead of bud-worm. 

 These are points worth considering, for bud-worms destroy a great deal of young 

 corn in the State every year. 



5. Amount of Seed. — Replanting of corn or cotton is always unsatisfactory. 

 Even if it enable.s us to get a stand (which it does not always do) it gives us a 

 spotted and uneven crop at best, which is liable to serious injury by the earliest 

 frost in fall. Therefore it is well to remember at planting time that cut-worms, 

 wire-worms, bill-bugs, bud- worms, root-lice and other pests are apt to destroy 

 a certain number of the young plants anyway (especially on low lands), and 

 remember that it is always more economical to plant an excess of seed, and thin 

 the crop to a proper stand after these pests have done their part, than it is to 

 replant in order to get a stand. Hence it may be the very best of policy, when 

 planting in a field which we know to be infested, to plant an excess of seed so 

 as to have a stand, left in spite of all that these pests can do. 



6. Fertilization.^ — -Most of us realize that some knowledge of fertilizers, their 

 composition, action and effects is necessary in order to use them to best ad- 

 vantage. Fertilizers may also be used in such a way as to lessen the destruction 

 by insects. Kainit used in fertilizer helps considerably as a protection against 

 cut-worms. Nitrate of soda, on account of its quick action, will often enable 

 young cotton to outgrow the attack of root-louse. All that we can do to stimu- 

 late the cotton to mature its crop early not onlj^ saves the crop from frost, but 

 also helps to protect it from the ravages of boll-worm, which is always most de- 

 structive on the late-maturing cotton. In the States where boll-weevil is now 

 present the cotton growers find that they must study the problem of fertilizing 

 so as to force the crop to early maturity so as to make it safe before the fall 

 broods of weevil, which are the most destructive broods of the season. It is a 

 question of "early cotton or none"' wdiere boll-weevil gets hold, and, as we will 

 in all probability have boll-weevil in North Carolina in the course of a few more 

 years, we need to study the means of forcing the cotton crop to early maturity. 

 Fertilizers can help us in this. Aside from the question of forcing a crop to 

 early maturity, it stands to reason that any system of fertilization which enables 

 our crop to grow strongly and healthily will enable it to recover from any slight 

 injury which insects might inflict. 



7. Early, Rapid Cultivation. — Within the last few years we have come to 

 appreciate the value of rapid cultivation of corn and cotton early in the season, 

 so as to give the crops a clean start ahead of weeds and grass, and to work them 

 clean quickly after rains. For this purpose weeders or section harrows are used, 

 going diagonally across the rows of the young corn or cotton. Although it tears 

 out a few stalks (and often looks as if it would do more harm than good) yet 



