METHOD OF PLANTING 



69 



80. Depth of Planting. As com thrives best in a warm, 

 moist soil, it is obvious that rather shallow planting will be 

 most likely to furnish the best conditions at the season of the 

 year that corn is usually planted. The depth must neces- 

 sarily be varied with the condition of the soil. The seed 

 must be planted deep enough so that it can get sufficient 

 moisture to germinate, 

 but it is not necessary or 

 desirable to plant it deep- 

 er. On light or very loose 

 soils, it should be planted* 

 deeper than on heavy 

 soils. On soil that has 

 been well prepared, it 

 should not be necessary 

 to plant deeper than 2 

 inches to get sufficient 

 moisture, and 1 inch is to 

 be preferred, if there is 

 enough moisture present. 



In some of the drier sections of the corn belt, hsting is 

 practiced. Listing is planting corn in the bottom of a fur- 

 row from 3 to 5 inches deep and covering it with only 1 or 2 

 inches of s(nl. As the corn grows and the field is cultivated, 

 the soil is gradually thrown in about the plants. This 

 method is not advisable except in veiy dry locations, for 

 experiments have shown that even in regions of hght rainfall 

 corn planted in the usual way has given larger yields than 

 listed corn, except in the very driest seasons. 



81. Method of Planting. There are two common meth- 

 ods of planting corn for the production of grain. The first is 

 in checked rows, with hills 42 or 44 inches apart each way. 

 The second is in drills 42 or 44 inches apart, with the kernels 

 of corn dropped in the drills from 9 to 18 inches apart. Some 

 good com growers follow one method, some the other. Those 



Figure 26. — Planting corn with the check-row 

 planter. Long, straight rows make the 

 work of cultivation ea.sv. 



