74 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



average of 60 bushels to the acre for the entire three years. I haul all 

 of my manure on to the land I intend to plow for corn ; then I put in 

 the corn, and follow the corn with oats, and as soon as I thresh the 

 oats I start to plow for wheat ; and after the wheat I put in clover and 

 timothy; and I am satisfied that it is a practical plan, and that all my 

 crops are getting better. Last year I had ten acres in corn, and it made 

 over 60 bushels to the acre. This year I threshed even 250 sacks of 

 oats from the same ten acres. It is now in wheat and looks very fa- 

 vorable. I have used commercial fertilizers on wheat alone — never on 

 corn or oats ; have used it on wheat alone for five years, and I know 

 that in that five years I have saved enough grass seed — that is, I have 

 had a stand of grass, clover and timothy, every year for the last five 

 years ; and before that time I lost enough grass seed during the same 

 number. of years to pay for all the fertilizers I have ever used, and I 

 have made an average of 25 bushels of wheat for every acre grown 

 since using fertilizers. 



I always try to plant my corn as soon as the ground gets right 

 and the weather gets right. This year I knew the ground was right 

 and thought the weather was right, but I was mistaken. I never 

 planted corn any nicer than I did that. I fall-plowed the sod, worked 

 it up loose, disked it, harrowed it, and planted the corn in good shape ; 

 well, for three weeks it stayed in just the condition I planted it; but 

 after a while it began to come up and got a very fair start. I thought 

 then that I was all right. But one day I went out and thought that 

 there was something working on that corn, but did not think much 

 about it then. I went out the next day and knew there was something 

 working on that corn. I had 45 acres of it, and before I got over that 

 45 acres I was getting excited. I soon saw that worms were working 

 on that corn; I sent some of them to Professor Miller and he turned 

 them over to Professor Stedman and he wrote me he did not think 

 there was much cause for anxiety. The next day I started after the 

 worms ; started after them hard ; and in a few days after I got his letter 

 the worms were all gone. So you see what that letter did. However, 

 I think there is a little moral to that. 



I have made it a rule in growing corn never to wait until the condi- 

 tions get just right; if you do, something is going to happen. There 

 is an old man down in our county who says the conditions are never 

 just right except when he is gone to dinner — too wet in the forenoon 

 and too dry in the afternoon. The best thing to do is to do the best you 

 can and get everything as near right as you can. Why, here is the 

 ground, the soil and the weather and a whole outfit of signs ; and then 

 the moon and the sun, and, of course, the farmer, to get ready; and if 



