54 W A L L ' S M A N U A L 



lime, two bushels of ashes, one bushel of plaster, to 

 twenty bushels of mold or muck to the acre, forms 

 a valuable fertilizer for corn, applied at the rate of 

 one pound to the hill of corn. 



The most important point in the cultivation of this 

 crop is the preparation of the land by deep and 

 thorough plowing. Corn roots run deep enough to 

 avail themselves of the benefit of all the soil which 

 the plow can break. The earing season of corn, too, 

 is a period of frequent drouths. Deep and thorough 

 plowing, in the preparation of the land, is the best 

 preventive against drouths. The time of plowing 

 should be determined by the condition of the soil. 

 The winter frosts are of great service in stiff lands. 

 These lands should, if possible, be plowed in the fall 

 or early winter. All gross, or lands with much 

 vegetable matter growing upon them, should be 

 plowed in the autumn, so as to allow the vegetable 

 matter, which is turned under, to decay and become 

 food for plants. Bottom and all loose soils contain- 

 ing much organic matter, need not be broken until 

 near the time for planting. The weed and grass 

 seeds which have sprouted will be killed, and the corn 

 have an opportunity to get in advance of the w T eeds. 

 Soils cannot be made too mellow for corn, nor be kept 

 too mellow during its growth. 



The distance apart at which corn should be planted 

 varies with the richness and physical properties of 

 the soil. A rich soil can, of course, sustain a greater 

 number of stalks than one which does not equal it in 

 strength. But of two soils, both equally fertile, the 

 one of stiff clay and the other of dark loam, the latter 

 will bear closer planting than the former, because it 



