12 FOR BETTER CROPS IN THE SOUTH 



due to heavy rains. Deep plowing, as a rule, should be done 

 when the land is first broken and shallow cultivation afterwards. 

 Corn should be cultivated every ten days, during the rapid grow- 

 ing season. 



The Use of the Harrow and Weeder — The harrow and 

 weeder are very effective weed killers and their frequent use in 

 the early stages of the corn's growth greatly reduces the cost of 

 subsequent tillage. The harrow can, and should be, used from 

 the time the corn is planted, until the crop is three or four 

 inches high, and the weeder until the crop is six or eight inches 

 high. This is the cheapest method of cultivating young corn, 

 as ten to twelve acres can be gone over in a day. 



One-Horse Cultivator — The greater portion of the South 's 

 corn crop is cultivated with one-horse implements. These, as 



Harvesting corn 



generally known, are small-pointed cultivators, sweeps, heel 

 scrapers, and spring-tooth cultivators. These implements do 

 very satisfactory work when properly used, but are not so eco- 

 nomical of labor as the two-horse cultivators. If used when 

 the corn is very small, they should have fenders attached to 

 prevent covering the plants with soil. 



Two-Horse Cultivator — This type of cultivator should be 

 more commonly used in Southern corn culture than it is at 

 present. Twice as much acreage can be cultivated in a day as 

 with the one-horse cultivator, and the labor of one man is saved. 

 With the present cost of farm labor, this means a considerable 

 saving. There are two general types in use: the disk cultivators 

 and those with shovels or small points. In using the disk culti- 

 vator, one must be careful to see that it does not cultivate too 

 deeply, thus injuring the roots. If the corn gets so high as to 

 be injured by the two-horse cultivator, which must straddle the 



