34 PRACTICAL CORN CULTURE 



as in drilled corn, the advocates of this method claim for 

 it all the advantages of drilling and checking without the dis- 

 advantages of either. 



For the farmer who plants three or four grains in one 

 hill, kernel spaced checking would perhaps increase the yield, 

 unless there was more of a tendency to sucker than when the 

 kernels were bunched. Since we never plant more than two 

 and three kernels in a hill, we do not think that the advan- 

 tage to be gained, would justify us in going to the expense 

 of trying out this new method. A government bulletin by C. 

 P. Hartley, entitled "A More Profitable Corn Planting 

 Method," deals with the subject of kernel spaced checking 

 at length. 



The chief advantage of planting in hills is that the check- 

 ing enables the corn to be cross cultivated and kept free 

 from weeds and the entire soil surface kept in good condi- 

 tion without the expensive labor of hoeing. Checking has 

 continued to grow in popularity until today nine-tenths of 

 the corn in the Corn Belt is planted in hills. Experimental 

 work thus far conducted indicates that it makes but little 

 difference, so far as yield is concerned, whether corn is grown 

 in drills or in hills, provided the drilled corn is kept clean. 

 Our own experience has satisfied us that on average corn 

 land checked corn will outyield drilled corn; while on rich 

 blue-grass or alfalfa sod, where as much as three grains would 

 be planted in a hill, if checked, the drilled corn would make 

 a slightly better showing, granting that clean culture be main- 

 tained. 



ADVANTAGES IN PLANTING WITH A CHECK ROWER 



Straight rows and even checking mean better cultivation 

 and larger yields. Crooked rows are usually the result of 

 carelessness or indifference, although the planter is often 



