SIXTH ANNUAL TEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 719 



same as anything else. Tame sod fall plowed is the ideal ground for the 

 growth of pop-corn. The ground should be put in the very finest shape 

 possible by using the disc and harrow thoroughly. About May 10 is the 

 proper time to plant. Pop-corn should be drilled about one or two 

 kernels every foot and covered two inches deep. It will sprout and come 

 out of the ground three days quicker than field corn. The silk-like cover- 

 ing of the heart is so much thimner than field corn that it absorbs mois- 

 ture and sprouts quicker. It will require one bushel of shelled corn 

 for ten acres. 



We cultivate it the same as field corn. I find the disc cultivator is 

 the best tool I have ever used for this business, having increased my yield 

 500 pounds per acre by actual weight. Large shovels seem to disturb too 

 many of the feeding roots. A six-shovel plow does the work very nicely, 

 but the disc is my favorite. Be sure, however, and keep the weads down, 

 if you haTe to u»e a hoe. This will apply to any crop. I think any 

 planter with a good drill attachment will do the work satisfactorily. Now 

 if you have followed my advice, you have brought your corn to the time 

 of gathering. We will next turn our attention to final stages of work ou 

 the crop. 



GATHERING POP-CORX. 



The average time to gather the crop with us is September 25. This date 

 is about four weeks ahead of field corn. Before we gather we must have 

 our cribs in proper shape and have a ventilator running through the 

 oribs lengthwise. This should be made by sawing 2x4s 5 feet long and 

 nailing them together at the top, and spreading them to about 16 inches 

 on the bottom, leaving them in the form of a V. with the wide end on the 

 floor; then nail on 4- or 6-inch boards, leaving the cracks 1^2 inches wide. 

 This will give you a free circulation of air clear through the crib, and 

 prevents the corn from molding. Last fall I put up two cribs 100 feet 

 long by 12 feet wide and 10 feet high. I filled one of them the first weak 

 in October, just six days from the time we commenced, and the corn 

 came out in the summer as bright as a dollar. This ventilator was 

 4 feet high, but 12 feet is wider than the average crib, so I think 3 feet 

 high will thoroughly ventilate a crib 8 or 10 feet wide. If the weather is 

 inclined to be damp at huskin^f; nail two 8-inch boards together in the 

 form of a hog trough, leaving a erack on top. This will do, as you get 

 the crib filled up pretty well. Some husk their corn in the field. This 

 is a very good way, tnit my favorite plan is to snap it and then husk 

 it in the crib. By so doing the women and children can husk about as 

 much as a man, and you have an abundance of good feed for the cattle 

 and hogs, as there is always some poor corn that must be sorted out. 

 It always pays to have the com in the best shape poseivle. It is ttis 

 appearance that sell* it; and furthermore, if it is put in the crib with 

 a lot of silks and husks, a blue mold forms and spoils it. 



MABBBTIX6 POP-COBN. 



This is the most important subject of all, "and I suppose it maf^ be 

 a5)plled to any of thg farm cropa, but on poy-corn it means maWs or break. 



