260 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



such thing practicable as maintaining fertility without live stock. Barn- 

 yard manure, when carefully cared for and applied to the fields is the 

 best of fertilizers for the corn grower. The use of commercial fertilizers, 

 the growing of legumes and the turning under of green crops are help- 

 ful but they only delay the inevitable loss of fertility in the fields in 

 which they are used. 



The second important factor in the production of a corn crop is the 

 culture. This includes the preparation of the seed bed, the planting and 

 the cultivation. Conditions of soil and climate vary to such an extent 

 that no fixed rules can be given regarding the depth and time of plowing, 

 discing and harrowing. The preparation of the seed bed, however, 

 should be such as to provide fullest measure, moisture, heat and air 

 which are absolutely essential for the germination and healthy develop- 

 ment of seed corn. A large number of experiments have been made to 

 secure valuable data regarding such important points as the distance 

 apart of the hills, the number of stalks in a hill, and hilling versus 

 drilling. All of these items contribute, in part, to the success or failure 

 of the corn crop, but, here again, so many conditions enter into the 

 problem that we can do little more than call attention, very briefly to 

 three or four facts which may prove valuable as; guide posts to the 

 corn grower who would profit by the accumulated evidence of many 

 investigators. 



Year after year the trend has been to increase the number of hil's 

 per acre and decrease the number of stalks in a hill. There are good 

 reasons for this change from the planters, three feet ten inches wide, 

 or even wider, to those three feet six inchs wide, and less. Two ami 

 three stalks in a hill give a maximum yield and the ears are usually 

 larger and more fully developed. In addition, a three foot six inch 

 planter drops 3,556 hills per acre, or 316 hills more than a three-foot 

 eight inch planter. If each hill produces two well developed ears this 

 represents an increased yield of Six or seven bushels per acre. Drilling 

 is very often practiced on rich, new land quite free from noxious weeds. 

 Under these conditions an increased number of stalks per acre give 

 very satisfactory yields. However, when grass and weeds threaten to 

 seriously interfere with proper cultivation of the drilled corn it always 

 prove best to i\ dopt the hill system. A series of experiments at the 

 Illinois station, repeated with different soils, varieties of corn in seasons, 

 show that the average yield for the two systems is practically the same. 

 In view of the great advantage in favor of the hilled corn during the 

 period of cultivation we must grant that it is the most practical system 

 for nearly all conditions. 



DO MORE THAN KILL THE WEEDS. 



We cultivate the corn to kill the weeds, to improve the physical 

 and chemical conditions of the soil, and to conserve moisture. Careful 

 plowing, dragging and harrowing improve the physical condition of the 



