192 



CORN 



Corn planters may be operated either by hand, by one animal, 

 or by a two-horse team. Hand planters are very inexpensive. 

 They will plant a single row of corn as quickly as the one-horse 

 planters, but the kernels are left in close bunches and the plants 

 crowd each other while growing. 



The horse planters have advantages over hand planters by 

 drilling the seed better, and carrying fertilizer boxes for the dis- 

 tribution of commercial fertilizer. They open their own trenches 

 and also cover the seed. 



The two-horse planters plant two rows at a time. They may 

 also be provided with chains by which the corn is planted in rows 



Fid. 133. Riding cultivators with small shovels are much used by corn growers in all sec- 

 tions of the country. (Bateman Mfg. Co.) 



both ways like a checker board. This method of planting is called 

 "check rowing." In the greatest corn growing states check-row 

 planters are often used. If the fields be weedy the cross-row 

 system of cultivation gives better results, and less hand work, or 

 none whatever, is required in keeping down the weeds. 



Tillage. Corn is not a tender crop when young. About 

 the only danger in the tillage of the crop is when the plants be- 

 come covered with soil. The root system has a firm hold on the 

 soil before the plants are large enough to mark the rows. This 

 allows the grower to make free use of the harrow and the weeder 

 through the corn field, regardless of the young corn plants, be- 

 fore weeds can be seen, and the work of sprouting and killing weed 



