164 FARM SPIES 



"Some harvest the corn, then plow out stalk, root 

 and all, rake it in heaps and burn. Others plow out 

 the stubble, rake them and haul them to the barn- 

 yard. Then again some farmers just plow them up 

 and let them lie on the surface. Mr. Whitney, one 

 of the best farmers living in that section, plows his 

 stubble under with a large disk plow and then sows 

 oats and vetch on the land. He says it is the proper 

 thing to do, not only to prevent windfalls but to 

 destroy many other pests as well. He says that his 

 way of sowing the land for winter keeps the soil in 

 good condition because it holds moisture better, 

 does not wash away, and holds the plant-food. 

 'Always plow your corn and cotton land deep in 

 the fall and sow a cover-crop. If you cannot do 

 the deep plowing, sow the cover anyway, and never 

 let your corn-stubble stay on the field.' 



" Mr. Whitney, says, ' Because they do these 

 things in the Whitney section they have no trouble 

 with windfalls/ The farmers around there work 

 together and Mr. Whitney says ' That is what 

 counts/ ' 



The following year all the farmers in Frank's 

 neighborhood agreed not to leave the stubble on 

 the cornfields over winter, and the next year they 

 had very few windfalls. 



One day when Frank was visiting his uncle Fred, 

 Mr. Whitney came in and he and Frank had a long 



