325 



Preparation of soil. — The land nsed is a sandy loam, with a sub- 

 soil of clay, and slopes slifjhtly to the northwest. It was plowed the 

 jjrevious August to a depth of (> inches, and thoroughly harrowed in 

 the spring just before planting. It had produced two crops of small 

 grain, and luul never been manured. 



FlantiiKj. — The rows were made with a marker 8 feet inches each 

 way. Part of the corn was droi)})ed by hand and covered with the 

 hoe, the rest being put in with hand planters. Of the Dent corn, 

 the hills contained 8 and 4 grains; of the Plint, 4 and 5. 



The stand. — The early part of the season was not favorable for 

 corn growing, being cold and wet. The coming up W'as quite irregu- 

 lar, from six to ten days frequently elapsing between the appearance 

 of the first and last hills in a row. This was especially true of the 

 iirst fifteen days' planting. 



The stand in general was poor, resulting in part from unfavorable 

 weather and bad seed, but principally from the w^ork of ground 

 squirrels. This latter evil Avas the most persistent and damaging one 

 with which the corn experiment had to contend. The per cent taken 

 depended upon location of the variety, whether more or less remote 

 from the unbroken j:)rairie. Notwithstanding all efforts to destroy 

 the squirrels, the damage done was very great. For several succes- 

 sive days previous to })lanting poisoned corn was placed in every 

 squirrel hole that could be found. This was done not only on the 

 experiment ground, but also on the whole 80 acres and on the edges 

 of the land immediatel}^ surrounding it. This work, reenforced with 

 the trap and shotgun, was continued throughout the whole plant- 

 ing season. 



Cultivation. — All the plats were given four different cultivations, 

 a six-shovel corn \Ao\t and a double spring-tooth cultivator being 

 used for the purpose. In addition to this they were twice hoed. 

 Cultivation began on the 11th day of June and ended on the ITth 

 day of July. 



General remarks. — It was observed in all the plats that the earlier 

 plantings grew larger and stronger than the after ones and that the 

 silks and tassels made their appearance more regularly. 



The ears of nearly, all varieties of the Flint corn were infested 

 with a species of worm. These did but little damage beyond mar- 

 ring the appearance of the ears. The Dents were not disturbed by 

 the worms. 



Immediately after the killing frost on the night of September 11 

 the corn on all the plats was cut and shocked. It was allowed to 

 ^tand a few weeks before husking. 



The results of a single season's work are only entitled to the pub- 

 lic attention as showing the scope of the experiment undertaken. 



Definite results of any practical value to the farmer can only be 

 obtained by a continuance of the same experiment under a system 

 of careful observations extending through a number of years. Of 

 this a beginning has been made. 



Tahuhited statement. — In the following table that date of plant- 

 ing is taken which shows the least number of days from time of 

 })lanting to maturity. The first seven to ten days planting came up 

 and matured at the same time, while the coming up of the rest varied 

 quite regularly with the time of jdanting. 



The items in the columns headed " Up," " In tassel," " In silk," 



