12 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



The Cost of a Bushel of Cokn. 



WM. P. BROOKS, DIRECTOR. 



The question is very frequently asked in this State whether 

 the 'farmer can afford to cultivate corn. The belief appears to 

 have been quite general for many years that corn can be pur- 

 chased more cheaply than grown. It is generally admitted 

 that our soils and climate are as a rule well suited to the crop, 

 but all over the State will be found landowners who are pur- 

 chasing corn to feed either to horses, cattle, hogs or poultry. 



The results obtained in one of the fields of the experiment 

 station clearly demonstrate that corn can be produced at a cost 

 per acre considerably below the average purchase price. The 

 following brief account of the experiments will make this clear. 



The Held in question contains 1 acre. This is divided into 

 four equal plots. One of these plots has produced twelve corn 

 crops during the last eighteen years. It has been seeded to 

 mixed timothy, redtop and clovers three times, the seed being 

 sown in the corn. In the years following seeding the plot has 

 been cut twice. The average yield for the six years, two crops 

 per year, has amounted to 4,88G pounds. For a number of 

 years at the outset corn was grown continuously, but the policy 

 followed during the past fourteen years has been to put the land 

 alternately into hay and corn, two years each. 



Nature of ilie Soil. — The soil of this field is a medium 

 loam, consisting largely of very fine sand and silt. Soil of this 

 character extends to a depth of al)out 2 to 3 feet below the sur- 

 face, below which depth the subsoil is gravelly in character. 

 The gravel of the subsoil is of a type containing rather too small 

 a proportion of clay for road building. The subsoil, therefore, 

 permits perfect drainage. The surface soil, on the other hand, 

 is so fine in texture that it has good capacity to retain moisture, 

 and crops seldom suffer in dry weather. Previous to 1889 the 



