416 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



There are some soils already so filled with decaying vegetation that 

 they are not benefited by this treatment, but such soils are limited in 

 area as compared with the extent of heavy tenacious yellow, red, and 

 black clay soils that respond with increased, corn production wherever 

 legumes are grown and plowed under. Almost everyone who has 

 farmed such soils has observed through a cornfield a distinct line of 

 variation in vigor, marking the limitation of last year's clover or 

 alfalfa sod. 



Soils that have become so completely exhausted that they will 

 not produce a leguminous crop should be inoculated with the proper 

 nitrogen-gathering bacteria, and should receive manure or commer- 

 cial fertilizers sufficient to produce a crop of some legume. Cowpeas 

 and soy beans are good crops for very poor land. After one such 

 crop has been grown and returned to the soil fertility can be re- 

 stored by the continued growing and turning under of soiling crops 

 in rotation with other crops. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN METHODS OF CULTIVATION. 



Methods that produce the best results in some States have failed 

 to produce good results in others. Some sections having fertile soils 

 and good rainfall require for best yields thick planting, while other 

 sections having poor soils or scanty rainfall require thin planting. 

 In some sections with deep soils and subject to prolonged dry weather 

 the best results are obtained by planting in a furrow; while in sec- 

 tions where the land is low and wet, or where the rainfall is excessive, 

 the best results follow when the corn is planted on a ridge. Often 

 adjacent farms possess soils and drainage facilities so different as to 

 demand entirely different methods of cultivation. Rather than at- 

 tempt to give directions concerning methods best adapted to many 

 various latitudes, conditions of climate and soil, and varieties of corn, 

 some fundamental principles of good corn cultivation, as determined 

 by both practical and experimental corn growers, will be given, leav- 

 ing it to the judgment of each individual to decide as to which of 

 the principles mentioned can best be adopted in increasing the yield 

 per acre under his particular circumstances. The methods of culti- 

 vation in general use in one section of the country differ greatly 

 from those in another section. The implements and methods em- 

 ployed in Iowa are as different from those of Connecticut as these in 

 turn are different from those of Georgia ; and while these differences 

 are to some extent due to the nature of the farm land or to the class 

 of labor employed, they are to a still greater extent due to the con- 

 servatism of the farmers themselves. That certain kinds of cultiva- 

 tors or plows or methods of planting have been in use in Georgia or 

 Iowa for many years does not prove that implements or methods 

 found successful in other States might not be used there to advantage. 

 It is much too common for the majority of growers in a locality to 

 adhere to methods accepted as best simply because they have been 

 followed for years. They often purchase a particular kind of plow, 

 corn planter, or cultivator because it is the one in general use or the 

 only kind for sale by the local implement dealer, without considering 

 whether some other kind might not be better suited to their farms. 



