154 PRACTICAL CORN CULTURE 



soil. If the corn is infested with insects or with fungous disease, I 

 burn the stalks. 



We harrow down after plowing and if the land becomes hard 

 we disc and harrow before planting. This method eliminates clods. 

 If we use barnyard manure we spread late in the winter or early in 

 the spring and plow it under. 



I strongly advise the rotation of crops as the best method of re- 

 turning the fertility and destroying insects and diseases. 



Cultivation: I generally harrow when the corn is up three or four 

 days if the ground is in proper condition. I believe corn should be 

 cultivated as small as possible and frequently. The first cultivation 

 generally is shallow to avoid throwing much dirt on the small corn. 

 For biggest yields, corn should be plowed every five to eight days. I 

 run inside shovels shallow when laying by, but turn outside ones in, 

 thereby throwing dirt strongly to corn. Either class of cultivation is 

 equally good if properly used. Have had better results laying corn 

 by with ten-inch diamond plow, but it leaves the land rough. I disc 

 clover land before plowing and believe all lands should be disced before 

 plowing. We have obtained good results when we cut corn by sowing 

 thickly in wheat or rye and pasture during the winter with horses, 

 cows and pigs, then in the spring disc and plow. Have grown fine 

 crops on small lots treated thus. I sometimes turn hogs in a field in 

 August and believe fertility can be longer maintained by this method 

 than by any other. B. F. STUAET. 



The growing of apples is Mr. Stuart's specialty. 



Eddyville, Iowa, April 10th, 1913. 

 W. T. Ainsworth & Sons, Mason City, Illinois. 



Gentlemen: In answer to your letter of recent date I will give you 

 my methods of growing corn. These methods, I believe, are the best 

 for southern Iowa. 



Our soil is a light, black loam, underlaid with a porous yellow 

 clay subsoil. Being a warm, well drained soil, it is adapted to the 

 growing of varieties as late in maturing as one hundred and ten days. 



We prefer plowing stalk ground in the spring, in order to get the 

 benefit of the stalk pasture, although we consider fall plowing is 

 better, since the ground works up better, which, of course, means 

 better yields. In the spring we get in the fields as soon as it is fit. 

 The ground is disced before plowing. This forms a dust mulch, and 



