190 THE OLIVER PLOW BOOK 



Farmers in those localities where there is deficiency in 

 moisture are forced to farm more acres to grow the same 

 amount of crop. In other words, they must secure their 

 rainfall by spreading out since they cannot depend upon 

 a great depth of precipitation. Here listing as a labor 

 saver is a very material consideration. 



Listing is practiced in two ways. In some sections it is 

 the sole method for putting in corn and in other regions 

 it supplements checking and drilling. The farmer does 

 what early spring plowing he finds to do since fall plow- 

 ing for corn is not generally followed in those sections. 

 When the rainfall is excessive in the planting season it 

 often happens that only a small part of the proposed 

 acreage of corn has been prepared for planting. In such 

 cases the general practice is to list the wheat stubble and 

 corn land with a two-row lister completing planting in a 

 very short time. While listing is not adapted to a wet 

 growing season, it is very useful when the early spring is 

 exceedingly wet and the summer dry. 



In communities where listing is practiced there is 

 always more or less discussion in regard to the effect 

 listing has upon the seed bed. The objection is often 

 heard that listing leaves hard ridges throughout the field 

 which subsequently become baked and leave the soil in 

 bad texture. This is true when listing on clay and clay 

 loam soils. On light, sandy soils this objection is not a 

 serious one. 



A twenty years' observation of fields which have been 

 listed every other year shows that those soils which are 

 adapted to the practice are exceedingly mellow and no 

 bad effects have been found in the ridging of the soil. 

 Here the practice has been to list at right angles to the 

 last listing. 



Another objection to listing often raised is that if the 

 season is wet the soil in the furrow will bake and crust 

 over so that the corn cannot break through. Here the 



