CORN TILLAGE 161 



151. Level preparation and planting. There are 

 numerous advantages in plowing the land level rather than 

 into ridges. As a rule, the soil is thus more completely 

 turned and a greater variety of improved implements 

 can be used, for example, the disk-plow, the row marker, 

 and the check-rower, or two-horse corn planter. More- 

 over, except on very wet soils, the yield of corn is usually 

 greater from level planting than from ridging. This is 

 due to the greater ability of the level land to retain mois- 

 ture during periods of drought and to the wider range of 

 the roots, and to their more uniform covering with moist 

 soil. Level planting is preferable for corn tilled in checks 

 and for many loamy soils, whether the crop be checked 

 or drilled. 



152. Planting in the water-furrow. On sandy upland 

 soils in most parts of the Gulf States, it is the custom of 

 many farmers to plant corn in the water-furrow formed by 

 first bedding the land, thus placing the seed in a deep 

 depression. It is asserted for this method that by placing 

 the plants deeper it brings their roots into a moist layer 

 of soil and increases resistance to drought. It also makes 

 tillage easier, saving part of the work with the hoe, for 

 the reason that the filling of the furrow by the cultivating 

 implement readily covers and smothers young grass. 



In a comparison of this method with that of planting 

 on beds (doubtless low beds), the Georgia Station found 

 no advantage from planting in a water-furrow on reddish 

 clay-loam a soil which is somewhat stiffer than in the 

 regions where planting in the water-furrow is most cus- 

 tomary. 



At the Alabama Experiment Station (Bui. No. Ill), on 



