224 CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 



of the plow. An increased yield was produced by the fertil- 

 izing effects of the decaying stalks, and by the permeation of 

 the soil by the air, snow, frost, and rain during the Winter. 

 Land plowed in the Fall should in no case be replowed in the 

 Spring ; but the surface should be thoroughly cultivated with 

 an ordinary cultivator, and then cross-harrowed before planting, 

 which can be done with planter having check-row attachments. 

 I would hire extra help, whenever it is required, to hoe the 

 corn, for I am convinced from observation and careful experi- 

 ments that fine results can be thus obtained. 



When circumstances render the plowing of the land in 

 the Fall impossible, I plow in the Spring a very moderate 

 depth, not more than four inches. I am so thoroughly con- 

 vinced that extremely deep plowing in the Spring on our 

 prairie soil is not only a waste of labor but an absolute injury 

 to the crop, that I would not allow it done if any one would 

 furnish the team, work gratis and board himself. But whether 

 plowed in the Fall or in the Spring, check-rowed or drilled, 

 siibcess can not be attained 



WITHOUT GOOD SEED, 



not only as to variety, but also in the manner in which it has 

 been saved. Seed corn should be gathered as soon as the husks 

 on the earliest ears turn yellow, and before frost. Go through 

 the fields and select the choicest ears, then either tie the husks 

 together and hang on poles previously fastened to the barn 

 rafters, or husk carefully and place in a bin with a slat bottom, 

 in the loft of the smoke-house, where the corn can have the 

 benefit of all the smoke during the time the meat is being 

 smoked. I believe that this treatment not only adds to the 

 vitality of the seed, but makes it extremely unpalatable to rats, 

 mice, moles, birds, etc. Planting should be done from the 

 twentieth of April to the tenth of May, depending somewhat 

 on the season. My experience has -all been in favor of early 

 planting, for it gives the corn longer time to mature, and the 

 farmer more time to plow. After the corn is planted and just 

 as it begins to come up, the ground should again be thoroughly 



