CULTIVATION 53 



be cut before we get over the corn the third time, it will have 

 to wait or rot down and enrich the land. We have never felt 

 that we could afford the price of weedy corn to take care 

 of hay that is worth at least eight dollars per ton to let lay 

 as a fertilizer. We generally have time to put up enough 

 hay for our own use after the third plowing and before 

 wheat harvest sets in. 



We start plowing the fourth time when the corn is be- 

 tween three and four feet tall. We prefer to plow it when 

 it is five feet tall, since the ground is completely shaded by 

 that time. If this plowing is not immediately followed by 

 a rain, the corn will be as free from weeds at husking time 

 as the day it was plowed. Experience has taught us that 

 corn will usually be weedy in the fall if it is laid by early, 

 even though it is perfectly clean when it is laid by. This 

 fact alone should convince any doubtful reader that there is 

 an additional profit to be gained by surface cultivation after 

 the ground is shaded. 



To facilitate the plowing of tall corn without breaking 

 it down, we have had several cultivators (gopher plows) 

 built up so as to have a clearance of four feet. We plow the 

 same way with these plows as we do the third time with the 

 shovel plows. (See illustrations.) 



These surface cultivators are set so as to plow very shal- 

 low. The back of the inside blades are above the surface and 

 serve merely to pull the dirt up to the hill. We have arched 

 neckyokes on the tongues. They are made out of eveners 

 off of old walking cultivators. We have tried crossing the 

 corn a second time for the fourth cultivation, but it was not 

 as satisfactory, since in pulling through the small ridges 

 made by the third plowing, some of the corn roots would be 

 cut. Again, in crossing tall corn a careless driver will some- 

 times cut off a stalk when they are strung out. 



