360 CEREALS. 



shape of large, remunerative crops. Thus, it should be the 

 emulation of every farmer to excel. No one is injured by 

 his success, but he is the recepient of all the bounty result- 

 ing from his labors. 



Any soil in our climate will produce corn, but 

 not all in paying quantities unless specially prepared. The 

 best corn land is the rich, black limestone upland, or the 

 alluvial bottoms. If the land is wet it will be sour and 

 the corn will " french " and no result accrue to the farmer. 

 If possible the land should not be tilled in corn more than 

 one year without rotation, as this is necessary to keep up its 

 fertility. By rotation, the ingredients necessary to produce 

 any crop, will be renewed in the soil by the decomposition 

 of its elements. This matter is treated of more fully 

 under the chapter on manures. 



When the field to be planted is determined on it should, 

 in all cases, where practicable, be broken up in the previous 

 fall. By so doing, the weeds will be, to a great extent, de- 

 stroyed, and the soil will be so mellow and ameliorated, 

 that it will work kindly all the nex year, and there will 

 be little trouble in cultivation. Besides the broods of cut 

 worms, those pestilent insects of the farmer, being exposed 

 to the freezes of winter, will be greatly reduced, so that 

 the farmer can plant as early in the spring as the weather 

 will admit, whereas, if it is stubble land, or especially clover 

 sod, the worms will often so effectually thwart the labor of 

 the farmer, that corn need not be planted until the latter 

 part of April. Every farmer in Tennessee knows 

 the good effects of the frosts of winter upon freshly broken 

 earth. 



Should it unfortunately be out of the power of the planter 

 to break in the fall, the nearer he can come to it the better, 

 as, if even one frost touches it, good effects will arise. 



The soil just before planting should receive all the atten- 

 tion requisite to put it in a thorough state of tilth. Work 

 done at this time is amply repaid in the subsequent culti- 



