140 PRODUCTIVE FARMING 



spread over it a layer of wet sawdust. Keep the box in a 

 warm room for two weeks or less, keeping it damp all the time. 



Fig. 76. — Germination test of com, sho-wing healthy and weak germination. (Agri- 

 cultural Education.) 



The Results. — Raise the top cloth and thus remove the 

 upper layer of sawdust. Look over the germination cloth 

 and see what ears fail to give a perfect result. These should 

 be removed and not used for seed (Fig. 76). 



CORN CULTURE. 



Preparing the Soil. — The best corn growers insist on the 

 early plowing of the ground for corn, unless it was fall plowed. 

 It should be plowed a month or six weeks before the date of 

 planting. If the ground was in sod, the disc harrow may be 

 used soon after the plow. During the balance of the time the 

 smoothing harrow should be used every ten days or soon 

 after each heavy rain. This is to prevent the crusting of 

 the ground and the loss of moisture. Each harrowing of the 

 ground helps to keep the moisture in the soil where it will 

 be ready for the roots of the corn next summer when the dry 

 weather sets in. 



In regions where the soil is heavy the field should be well 

 stirred up again just before planting, using a spring-tooth 

 harrow, disc harrow or a pulverizer set very deep. 



