CORN growers' association. tit 



is seldom any advantage in plowing- more than six inches deep either 

 in spring or fall. If ground is to be plowed deeper than formerly it 

 should be done in the fall. On heavy soils the bad effects of too deep 

 plowing are often apparent for several years. 



TOO DEEP PLANTING. 



Too deep planting is especially bad when the seed is weak, and the 

 spring cold and backward. When the ground is not well prepared or is 

 very mellow there is danger of putting the seed down four or five inches, 

 when two inches would be better. Especial care should be taken in case 

 of early planting when the ground is still cold. 



I know of several cases last spring where the same seed was planted 

 in two different fields, giving a good stand in one case and a very poor 

 stand in the other. Investigation showed that the poor stands were due 

 to deep planting. Corn is generally planted deeper than we think. The 

 planter wheels frequently sink into the ground two or more inches and 

 the corn is covered another two inches. The planter tracks are then 

 filled by harrowing and the corn is often more than four inches deep. 

 We often watch the planter carefully for a few rounds when we start 

 the planter and then pay no more attention to the depth of the planting. 

 The soil is generally mellower as we get away from the head land and 

 consequently the corn is planted deeper than we supposed. 



STRAIGHT ROWS AND EVEN CHECKING. 



The yield of corn is often reduced and the work of cultivation made 

 difficult and slow, because of carelessness in handling the planter. Un- 

 even checking may be due to several causes. In the case of short fields 

 we generally draw the wire too tight and the planter checks too quick 

 both ways. On long fields we are apt to check ahead owing to the 

 slack of the wire, and this is especially true where the tongue of the 

 planter is raised too high and the team fast. 



In the case of irregular shaped fields, the checking is frequently bad. 

 This is especially true where the ends of the field are not at right angles 

 v/ith the rows. In this case there will be a jog every four rows, de- 

 pending on how much the field is out of square. 



Carelessness in setting the anchor is the cause of much poor check- 

 ing. It is a common practice to draw the wire to about a certain tight- 

 ness at both ends of the field. It is a much better plan to always set 

 the anchor on line at one end of the field, while at the other end the 

 ajichor should be drawn to a certain tightness. 



