38 PRACTICAL CORN CULTURE 



LISTING 



The process of "Listing" is peculiarly "Western, practiced 

 on the big cornfields of Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, and other 

 corn-growing states west of the Mississippi. In the western 

 part of the Corn Belt, where there is generally a deficiency 

 in rainfall, listing is undoubtedly the best method of plant- 

 ing corn. 



From what listing we have seen we must say that we 

 prefer the check rower planter with furrow openers attached 

 for the more humid parts of the Corn Belt, since we believe 

 the seed bed can be better prepared than is possible with 

 listing. 



In the April 1st issue (1913) of the Twentieth Century 

 Farmer, there appeared an article by M. A. Coverdell, 

 entitled "Listing, Best Method of Planting Corn." This 

 article is so clear in explaining the process and after culture 

 that it is inserted here in its entirety : 



"By listing the land once, letting it stand a week or two, then split- 

 ting the ridges and listing again, practically the same porosity of soil will 

 have been established as with stirring and planting by planter, while 

 the crop of weeds that springs up between the two operations will 

 be easier to keep free of these pests through the whole season. 



"Lister ridges will dry off and permit of cultivation much quicker 

 than will the flat surface of land planted to corn with a planter. At the 

 same time, the drilled corn in listing, being deposited at a greater depth 

 from the surface than that planted with a planter, it will have a greater 

 supply of available moisture at hand, and thus will resist a drouth better 

 than the shallower planted corn. 



"Listed corn is much easier to tend than even check-row corn. A 

 good harrowing should be given just as soon after drilling as possible 

 before the plants are through the ground if convenient. This enables 

 us to do the job quicker than after the corn is up and has to be 

 watched to prevent covering, and destroys all weed growth, leaving the 

 corn a fair chance to grow, with no weeds to smother it back or sap the 

 moisture from the soil. 



"We follow the harrow with a land roller, which crowds con- 

 siderable fine dirt into the furrow, crushes the clods and leaves the 

 soil in fine condition for future cultivation. While we have secured 



