62 The Bulletin. 



PREPARATION OF THE SOIL AND PRODUCTION OF CORN. 



A. CANNON. 



The essential points of corn production are the thorough preparation of the 

 soil, cultivation and proper selection of seed. All lands should have plenty of 

 humus or vegetable matter when planted in corn, and that humus should be 

 from barnvard manure and leguminous crops, such as clover, peas, vetch and 

 soy beans,' these furnishing a large amount of nitrogen from the air, saving 

 the farmer to a large extent from buying the most costly ingredients of all 

 fertilizers. While the leguminous plants are great aids in bringing up the soil 

 and holding its fertility, there is nothing that will excel the old stable manure, 

 which supplies the humus and the other fertilizer ingredients and lasts longer. 

 By using the stable manure on the intensive system, and using the leguminous 

 crops as a cover crop during the winter, sowing them when the corn crop is laid 

 by, we can double and triple the crops, and by proper rotation keep the land 

 in a high state of productiveness. In a personal experiment made upon my 

 own farm in 1897 upon the above plan I had six acres of upland I planted in 

 corn in 1895, and only made twelve bushels per acre. In 1897 I plowed the land 

 ten to eleven inches deep, tlien broadcasted twenty two-horse wagon loads of 

 manure per acre in April and harrowed thoroughly with a disk harrow, and at 

 gathering time harvested sixty-four bushels per acre of fine merchantable corn. 

 That lan^d to-day is in fine condition and will yield from seventy to seventy-five 

 bushels of corn per acre, with a very small amount of manure applied since the 

 first application. After the soil has a good supply of humus it should be plowed 

 as deep as possible, not less than ten inches, and if possible fifteen inches, in 

 late winter or early spring. All lands should have a cover crop during the 

 winter for the reason that the nitrogen escapes from the soil and the soil deterio- 

 rates in productiveness. By deep plowing the top soil is mixed with the subsoil, 

 and you increase the productiveness by deeper soil from year to year, and increase 

 contfnually the yield of the land. The rains which follow the deep plowing will 

 be retained to a large extent, protecting the land from washing and also supplying 

 moisture in a dry season.- As soon as possible after land is plowed it should be 

 thoroughly harrowed with a good harrow, such as a disk, so as to prevent drying 

 out and leaving the land cloddy. The best on red clay soil would be to harrow 

 in the evening the land broken in the early part of the day. The farm lands of 

 North Carolina in their virgin state were well supplied with humus and potash 

 and produced fine crops. The farmer now must supply what nature originally 

 supplied. Our grandfathers received the cream and left us the whej'. 



The cultivation of corn should receive the undivided attention from planting 

 to laying by. After planting a weeder or small drag harrow should be run over 

 the land — keeping the land in a loose, pulverized state. This plan should be 

 carried out with the weeder after the young corn is from five to eight inches 

 high, killing all the young grass and weeds and keeping the top soil in a pulver- 

 ized condition. After the corn has grown higher use the plow by shallow plowing. 

 No plow should be allowed to go over four inches deep during the cultivation 

 of corn, for the reason that the young roots running out from the stalk have a 

 depth of from five to six inches and extend across the row. If these roots are 

 broken it injures the growth. All the main leading roots have a large number 

 of small fibers or feeders absorbing the fertilizer ingredients from the soil. This 

 plan of cultivation I have adopted for years, and the results have proven to me 

 the wise one to use in corn cultivation. If you expect to reap a full harvest all 

 corn should be cultivated level. 



The selection of seed is an important matter that all farmers should consider. 

 He should have his mind made up as to the kind of corn he wants, whether large, 

 medium or small cob, grain deep with large heart of the Dent variety, or large 

 glazed grain with medium heart, a red or white cob, then take the most perfect 

 ear that you can find. Go through the field and make your selection to corre- 

 spond to the one selected; when you find one that corresponds to the type chosen 



