GARDEN CORN. 263 



five or six kernels in the hill, to be thinned to the three 

 or four strongest plants, four inches apart in the row, to 

 be thinned to eight or ten inches, according to size and 

 variety. 



For laying off hills in straight lines after plowing and 

 harrowing, a marker should be used both ways and the 

 corn planted at the intersections of the lines either with 

 the hoe or the hand corn planter. For planting in rows 

 the drill attachment or hand dropping in the furrow is 

 used, followed by the harrow. 



Depth of planting depends upon the soil and the situa- 

 tion for the reasons given in the chapter on propagation. 

 On very light soils in a dry region very deep covering is 

 admissible because the few inches at the surface count for 

 nothing, but on heavier soils in good moisture, and espe- 

 cially early in the season, shallow covering is preferable. 



For succession there should be planting done in the 

 garden every two weeks during the local season. 



Cultivation. If deep working of the soil is the founda- 

 tion of a corn crop, as stated, frequent summer cultivation 

 is the building itself. If the ground is well laid off, the 

 cultivator can be used to advantage even before the corn 

 shows up to destroy weeds and loosen the surface. After- 

 ward the cultivator should be run at very short intervals, 

 for the hot dry season is always right at the heels of the 

 corn planter and should never be allowed to catch up 

 with it. Some of the finest corn we ever saw was grown 

 in Orange county in this way : The land was plowed four 

 times, irrigated twice, hoed twice, and cultivated and 

 worked in a most thorough manner. In the whole process 

 of raising the corn the grower went over the land no less 

 than sixteen times. It is hardly to be expected that such 

 diligence will be general* but it has to be recognized as 

 the price of the best results. 



Garden Corn. Every one wants early corn, and the 

 early varieties are about the only kinds that can be grown 

 on some uplands without irrigation. They are small in 

 growth, rapid in ear and best wherever the season is 



