Progressive Agriculture 43 



THICK OR THIN PLANTING 



The number of stalks per acre is another very 

 vital question to consider in corn growing under 

 semi-humid conditions. With corn checked 3 

 feet and 6 inches each way and two stalks to a 

 hill, there would be 7,112 stalks per acre, which is 

 ample stand for a 30-inch average rainfall. If 

 listed 3 feet 6 inches apart and one grain dropped 

 every 21 inches there would be the same number 

 of stalks to the acre. With one 8-ounce ear per 

 stalk you would have a yield of 63 bushels per 

 acre remember an 8-ounce ear is moderately 

 small, a 12-ounce ear is only modestly fair size 



But this is too many stalks by at least a third 

 for a section with only 16 to 20 inches of annual 

 rainfall. 



It is true that many corn fields in the semi- 

 humid sections may not average more than 4,556 

 stalks to the acre, under conditions of planting 

 as above. But are they evenly distributed well, 

 hardly ever. 



Too thin a stand, however, has its disadvantages 

 the same as too thick; an even stand over the 

 entire field is more important under semi-humid 

 conditions than where ample rains are more 

 dependable, thick spots and thin spots will not 

 deliver. 



That a thinner stand may mean much was 

 evidenced in the recent drouthy years when we 

 had a number of field experiments in western 

 Nebraska and northeastern Colorado with fields 

 of corn where rows were planted 7 feet apart, or 



