CEREALS OR GRAINS 



71 



Corn planter. 



superseded this. Still later came the corn planter with hand lever 

 for dropping the corn, and finally this was followed by the modern 

 check rower, in which 

 the dropping or plant- 

 ing is accomplished by 

 a check wire and check 

 buttons which, by 

 throwing levers alter- 

 nately right and left, 

 plant the corn at regu- 

 lar intervals. If the 

 check wire is kept at 

 the same tension, the 

 rows will be perfectly 

 straight and even. 



Sometimes corn is drilled to good advantage, but this method pre- 

 cludes cross cultivation and admits of plowing in only one direc- 

 tion. In many cases, however, this seems to give a larger yield. 



Yields and Profit. The yield varies in different parts of the 

 country and the profits correspondingly. In the South the 

 yield ranges from twelve to thirty bushels. In the river bottom 

 districts of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers the yield often runs 

 from fifty to ninety bushels to the acre. In other districts it runs 

 from twenty to forty bushels. The average price is usually from 

 40 to 50 or 60 cents per bushel in good seasons. Good corn land 

 rents at from $3 to $4 per acre. On this basis calculate the cost 

 of raising an acre of corn, making due allowance for labor, time, 

 seed, wear and tear on tools, etc., and estimate the profit. In some 

 parts of the country corn is sold by the barrel, and in such cases we 

 have only to bear in mind that five bushels of corn are required 

 to make a barrel. It will be an excellent plan at this point of our 

 work if the pupil will ascertain the different rules farmers have for 

 measuring corn in bulk, whether in ricks or in pens. 



Farmers usually in measuring corn take all the dimensions in 

 feet and divide the product by 12 to ascertain the number of 

 barrels, or by 2.4 to obtain the number of bushels. If all the 

 dimensions are taken in inches, and the product divided by 2150.4 

 (cubic inches), the result will be in bushels, 



