CORN 



125 



growth is not seriously injured by comparatively 

 deep cultivation the first time. At subsequent cul- 

 tivations it is desirable to cultivate more shallow 

 and keep the shovels. 7 or 8 inches from the plant. 

 The deep cultivation should come early, so that the 

 upper surface of the seed bed will be loose and 

 mellow, thus preventing rapid evaporation of mois- 

 ture. Later this deep stirring is not so necessary. 

 Cultivate Corn Thoroughly. The corn plant will 

 not thrive among weeds, nor in a hard packed, dry 

 soil. The object of cultivation is to keep the soil 

 in proper con- 

 dition for the 

 growth of the 

 corn. The weeds 

 will all be rooted 

 up in properly 

 cultivating the 

 corn. It is not 

 essential as to 

 how deep or how 

 shallow or how 

 often the corn 

 is cultivated, as 

 it is that it is 

 cultivated when 

 it needs it. Es- 



CORN CULTIVATOR 

 A necessary implement for the corn- 

 field. The many fine cultivating teeth 

 are quite a contrast to the old methods 

 peciaily alter of corn culture of many decades ago. 



, . U~ ~:~ Then it used to be that farmers plowed 



every neavy rain cor n; now they cultivate it to keep the 



thp> cr^il ic nartrprl weeds out, to mellow the earth, and to 



paCKCd conserve the moisture. 



and should be 



stirred as soon as dry enough. Cultivation must 

 continue during the whole growing season and not 

 stop with the third or fourth time over. The larger 

 varieties, especially, must be cultivated with one- 



