ARRANGEMENT OF THE HILLS. 101 



careful ploughing in the first place. There can be no 

 successful cultivation of this crop without it. 



527. The land having been fully prepared by repeated 

 ploughing, manuring and harrowing, the next step will 

 be to plant the seed. This may be done by hand or by a 

 machine. If the grains are to be dropped and covered 

 by hand, the rows are marked out by furrows made with 

 a light one-horse plough or some similar implement. 



528. The hills should be three or four feet apart in 

 each direction, the distance between them varying accord 

 ing to the kind of com which is to be planted ; the smaller 

 varieties require less space than the larger. If the corn 

 planter, (Fig. 24,) is used, the labor 



of furrowing is avoided, but with 



most machines it is difficult to 



make the rows straight and set the . \ u-^i 



hills at equal distances apart in Fio . 24 



each direction, so as to be able to 



run the cultivator or horse-hoc both ways, an important 



means of saving expensive maimal labor. 



529. If the soil has been properly prepared and is in 

 good condition, it is best to have the plants stand as 

 closely as they can without interfering with their perfect 

 development, for it is better that the soil should be well 

 shaded. The spaces between the hills should, therefore, 

 be only just enough to allow the necessary cultivation and 

 the free access of air, light and heat. On poor lands only 

 a smaller number of plants should be suffered to grow, 

 but it is better to put fewer in each hill than to increase 

 the distance between the hills. 



530. Many farmers soak the seed some hours before 

 planting, as a means of preventing the depredations of 

 insects, squirrels, or birds. There may be cases where it is 



