l88 MAKING HORTICULTURE PAY 



Ohio. " I have grown this crop for home use and 

 in a small way for local markets for years, and the 

 methods employed may be suggestive, and, per- 

 haps, profitably followed by others. 



" While sweet corn will grow well on almost any 

 type of soil containing a fair amount of fertility, I 

 prefer some elevation and a southern exposure, with 

 soil somewhat sandy or slightly gravelly for the 

 first crop. Such a soil will dry out and warm up 

 early, and can be broken and thoroughly prepared 

 before planting time. 



" I usually make the first planting of Early Cory 

 during the first warm spell after the middle of April, 

 and use plenty of seed. If the crop escapes the 

 late frosts, I will secure corn for home use or for 

 market from ten days to two weeks earlier than 

 my neighbors. If the frost catches it I have lost 

 only a little seed and some labor. The patch is 

 immediately replanted and I still have corn as early 

 as my neighbors, and usually before. A liberal ap- 

 plication of a complete fertilizer on rather thin 

 land, high in nitrogen in some quickly available 

 form, will usually give good returns in size, quality, 

 and earliness of ears. 



" On good soil an application of nitrate of soda 

 along the rows and worked into the soil just after 

 the corn is well up has given better and larger ears 

 from four days to a week earlier than was secured 

 without its use. With this first planting I usually 

 plant pumpkins, which generally prove decidedy 

 profitable in themselves. All early sorts can be 

 planted close together. I prefer rows about 30 

 inches apart and two or three stalks in hills from 

 18 to 24 inches apart in the rows. The later sorts 

 are planted the usual distance. 



