CORN 163 



and soft endosperm seems to be chiefly a physical one, 

 being the difference between ice and snow. When com- 

 pacted, the endosperm is glossy, but when loose it is starchy. 



154. Fertilizers for Corn. Corn is not a poor-land crop. 

 On poor soils there are other crops, such as hay, oats, 

 rye, buckwheat, that will give some thing of a yield when 

 the soil is so poor that corn would produce little or no 

 grain. Barnyard manure is nearly always applied on 

 the corn crop. Some of the farmers in the northern states 

 are coming to apply it with a manure-spreader on the 

 meadows one year preceding the corn crop. This seems 

 to be a good practice. Commercial fertilizers do not 

 usually give so good results with corn as with hay and the 

 small grains. This is probably because these crops are 

 planted earlier, before the soil activities have liberated 

 plant-food, while corn grows at the season when the food 

 of the soil is being prepared most rapidly. 



155. Plowing for Corn. There seems to be no particular 

 difference between fall plowing and early spring plowing on 

 the average. In exceptional cases, one or the other may 

 be best. In regions of deficient rainfall, it is desirable 

 to plow in the summer or early fall, if possible, in order 

 to have the land in condition to absorb and retain mois- 

 ture. If the land washes badly, as in parts of the South, 

 spring plowing is, of course, to be preferred. In most of 

 the country, the labor question is of more importance 

 than the soil differences. It is desirable to do as much 

 of the plowing as possible in the fall, so as to have it out 

 of the way of spring work. 



The earlier spring plowing can be done the better; 

 of course, it should not be done until the soil is fit to work. 



