PREPARING THE LAND FOR CORN 63 



Sod land is best prepared for corn if it can be plowed in 

 the fall, so that there is some opportunity for it to decompose 

 before the crop is planted. There is also time for the part 

 turned by the plow to settle sufficiently to establish connec- 

 tion with the subsoil, so that in case of a shortage of moisture 

 the supply in the lower layers of soil may be drawn up to 

 the plants growing in the furrow slice. 



Land plowed in the fall should be disked or harrowed 

 early in the spring to check the evaporation of moisture 

 from the surface. Harrowing aids in warming the soil by 

 checking the evaporation. It also causes many weed seeds 

 to germinate; the young plants can then be killed by later 

 harro wings before the crop is planted. A great deal of the 

 advantage in plowing corn land in the fall may be lost by 

 neglecting to harrow early in the spring. If the land is left 

 rough and has settled clear to the surface, as is usually the 

 case in the spring with fall-plowed land, evaporation goes 

 on very rapidly; and, since corn is not usually planted for 

 several weeks after the ground thaws ouf in the spring, there 

 is opportunity for the loss of a great deal of moisture. It 

 is desirable to disk or harrow this land at least once every 

 week till planting time. In preparing a seed bed for corn 

 the object should be to have the lower part of the furrow 

 slice thoroughly pulverized but compact enough to permit 

 the free movement of water by capillarity, while the upper 

 part should be loose enough to retard the evaporation of 

 moisture somewhat by preventing its easy rise to the surface, 

 where it will be quickly drawn out by the sun and wind. 



An additional advantage of fall plowing, especially in the 

 case of sod land, is that many insects are destroyed which 

 might otherwise cause considerable injury to the crop. 



70. Preparation of Spring-Plowed Sod Land. A great 

 deal of the land that is planted to corn must, for various 



