TYPES OF PLANTERS 71 



hill, while four stalks are preferable to three. A six-year ex- 

 periment in Nebraska showed that with one plant in a hill, 

 there were 161 ears on 100 plants and a yield of 48.3 bushels 

 per acre, while the maximum yield per acre, 76.7 bushels, 

 was obtained when there were four plants in a hill and when 

 the number of ears per 100 plants was only 82. If the qual- 

 ity of seed is in doubt, four kernels should be planted in 

 each hill instead of two or three. From 4 to 7 quarts of 

 seed are required to plant an acre. In dry sections and on 

 poor land thin planting is desirable. 



A large number of tests to determine the distance apart 

 to plant corn have shown that slightly larger yields are 

 obtained by putting the rows more closely together than is 

 the common practice. A test made by the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station for two years shows a yield 

 of 58.3 bushels to the acre when corn was planted 39)^ inches 

 apart each way with three kernels to the hill, as compared 

 with 53.9 bushels from hills 44 inches apart each way, three 

 kernels to the hill. The increased yield from the closer 

 planting in this case was a little more than sufficient to cover 

 the increased cost of growing corn in hills 393^ inches apart 

 each way over that in 44-inch hills. With some smaller 

 varieties grown in the North, better results can be obtained 

 by planting from 36 to 40 inches apart each way than plant- 

 ing 44 inches each wa}^ In the corn belt, however, it is 

 evident that the practice of planting corn in checked rows 

 44 inches apart, with three to four kernels to the hill, can 

 hardly be improved. On poor land in the South it is not 

 uncommon to plant corn in rows as wide as 5 feet apart. 



83. Types of Planters. Corn is often planted in small 

 patches bj^ hand, using a hoe to open the hills and to cover 

 the kernels after they have been dropped. This method of 

 planting is very slow. Hand planters are sometimes used 

 but they are very inferior to the two-row horse planter which 

 is the implement always used where any considerable acreage 



