56 CLIMATE AND SOIL REQUIRED FOR CORN 



of the Mississippi River basin. There is no better place to plant 

 corn than on a heavy clover or alfalfa sod, or after a crop of cow 

 peas has been plowed under. 



A heavy clay soil, such as would produce good timothy, is not the 

 best soil for corn, and, on the other hand, a sandy potato soil is too 

 light for best results with corn, unless heavily manured. A medium 

 loam, well drained, is considered as ideal land for corn. The land 

 must be comparatively easy to prepare and cultivate for profitable 

 corn culture, as corn is an extensive crop rather than an intensive 

 crop, and culture must be relatively cheap. 



Length of Growing Season. Corn varies in the time required 

 to ripen from 200 days down to 90 days for the earliest varieties. 

 The length of growing season is defined as the average time between 

 killing frosts from spring to fall. However, as some seasons have 

 very late spring and very early fall frosts, the farmer usually selects 

 a variety of corn that will mature in the shortest season likely to 

 occur. 



It will take about 150 days to mature the large, most productive 

 types of corn, which is about the season available in the latitude of 

 Central Missouri or the lower Ohio River. North of this the shorter 

 growing season is a limiting factor in the yield of corn. 



Rainfall. A heavy crop of corn requires a very large amount of 

 water during a comparatively short time. This short period is 

 about six weeks in July and August. From 18 to 20 tons of water 

 are required to pass through the plants to produce one bushel of corn. 

 Also considerable water is lost by runoff when heavy rains come and 

 by evaporation from the soil. 



It is very important that plenty of rain falls during the growing 

 season of June, July, and August. Records show that the average 

 yield of corn in the corn belt varies from year to year with the aver- 

 age rainfall for these three months. The crop is good with 12 to 14 

 inches of rain for the period, and poor when the rain amounts to 

 only 8 or 10 inches. 



Importance of Adaptation. While there is a certain ideal kind 

 of corn climate and soil, yet corn has been adapted to a wide range 

 of conditions, as high elevations, dry climates, humid climates, clay, 

 and sandy soils. 



