LISTING 69 



as cultivators' or spring-tooth harrows, should be used rather than 

 the disk harrow. 



It is all-important to kill weeds before planting, as it greatly 

 simplifies the care of the crop. One advantage of early plowing is 

 that weed seeds may be germinated and destroyed before planting. 



PLANTING CORN 



As heretofore stated, corn is planted in furrows on light dry soils ; 

 on the level surface generally, and also on ridges in certain wet 

 lands in the southern States. Corn may be drilled, or check-rowed, 

 i.e., in hills rowing both ways. It is dropped by hand, with various 

 kinds of one-horse drills, and with two-horse planters. 



Hand Planting. In regions where the average planting per 

 farmer is ten acres or less, the planting is quite generally done by 

 hand. Either the prepared land is furrowed out both ways and the 

 seed dropped at the intersecting furrows, or it is planted with a hand 

 jab planter. A man can plant 5 acres a day by hand. The deprecia- 

 tion, repairs, and interest on a $40 machine would amount to five or 

 six dollars per year, so that hand planting on small areas is really 

 cheaper than keeping a two-horse machine. 



Drilling. Many farmers growing small areas of corn use a one- 

 horse drill, partly because it can be bought much cheaper than a 

 two-horse check-row planter. A grain drill can also be easily 

 adapted to drilling corn by stopping up part of the feed holes. This 

 tool is used very generally throughout the North Atlantic States for 

 drilling silage corn. 



Drilling has another advantage on hilly land in following the 

 contour of the hills with rows, thus preventing soil washing. 



Check-row Planting. On level land where large fields are 

 grown, check-row planting is the common method. This is prin- 

 cipally because it is easier to keep free from weeds. Drilling on the 

 surface makes necessary either hand hoeing to keep weeds out of the 

 row, or throwing considerable soil to the corn in cultivating in order 

 to cover the weeds. This latter method develops too much of a ridge. 



Listing. When corn is planted in a furrow, as with the lister 



