346 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



kernels do not all germinate. If one does not carp to take the amount 

 of trouble necessary to carry out this system of testing, it is at least 

 worth while to test a sample of the mixed seed which is to be planted 

 in the field. One of the most convenient methods of doing this is to 

 fill the bowl of a soup plate with sand of medium grade, add water 

 until it stands on the top, then incline the plate and let the surplus 

 water flow out. When it ceases dripping, place say 100 kernels of 

 corn on the sand, press them down very slightly into it, but do not 

 cover them, lay a pane of glass over the top of the plate, and then 

 reverse a second soup plate of the same size as the first over the glass. 

 This is for the purpose of excluding the light, which is unfavorable to 

 germination. Such a germinating apparatus will give satisfactory 

 results in any ordinary living-room. A sample of corn in which more 

 than 5 to 10 per cent of the seeds fail to germinate must be regarded 

 as unsatisfactory. 



Soil Adaptation. — In seasons in which the temperature is normal 

 or above normal, fairly satisfactory crops of corn can be produced 

 upon soils of almost any type, if not actually wet. Corn is very im- 

 patient of imperfect drainage. It does best when the temperature of 

 both soil and air is high, provided the soil, while not being wet or 

 holding stagnant water within a distance less than 4 or 5 feet below 

 the surface, is capable of supplying the needed moisture. While 

 the experience of our farmers amply demonstrates the correctness 

 of the above statement, it is nevertheless true that corn in average 

 seasons is most at home and will give best results upon the warm 

 medium loams. Here the crops will not be so early as on soils of 

 coarser texture whose temperature averages higher, but the crops 

 are likely to be larger, especially in seasons when the rainfall is some- 

 what deficient during any part of the period of rapid growth. 



Position in the Rotation. — The necessity for rotating corn is less 

 than in the case of many of our crops. Even when cultivated many 

 years in succession upon the same field, it still as a rule remains ex- 

 ceptionally free from disease or insect enemies, and with fairly liberal 

 applications of manures or fertilizers will still give satisfactory crops. 

 Numerous instances are on record where corn has been grown for 

 twenty or more successive years in the same field, and the crops at 

 the end of the period were equally as good as at the beginning. Not- 

 withstanding these facts, it is not the best farm practice to put corn 

 many years in succession upon the same ground; better economical 

 results can be obtained if it is grown in rotation. On many Massa- 

 chusetts farms where corn is or should be an important crop, the only 

 other crop occupying any considerable area is hay, — mixed grass and 

 clover. Under these conditions, a very satisfactory rotation is mixed 

 hay for either two or three years, according to the quantity desired, 

 corn to be husked for grain one year and ensilage corn one year. 

 Corn does exceptionally well on a mixed grass and clover sod; and, 



