66 FIELD CROPS 



face of meadow or pasture land are liable to separate the 

 furrow slice quite effectively from the subsoil, thus greatly 

 retarding the movement of moisture. 



Cultivation can be done more cheaply and more com- 

 pletely before the corn is planted than afterwards, because 

 more horses and larger machines can be used and all of the 

 soil can be cultivated to better advantage. 



71. Preparation of Stubble Land. The methods out- 

 lined for the preparation of sod land for corn will produce 

 equally good results when applied to ordinary stubble fields. 

 The only difference is that such lands are usually more easily 

 prepared than sod lands. 



PREPARATION OF SEED CORN FOR PLANTING 



72. Good Seed is equally as important as a well-pre- 

 pared seed bed. Good seed corn is seed from a variety 

 adapted to one's needs and conditions, of strong germina- 

 tion, and sufficiently uniform to insure even planting. For 

 the selection of seed corn see Sections 141-152. 



73. Grading. The first step necessary in the spring to 

 obtain good seed is to select ears of corn from the supply at 

 hand that are as nearly uniform in type of ear and kernel 

 as it is possible to get. Corn is very largely planted by 

 machines. These machines can plant uniformly only when 

 kernels of uniform size are used. Two ears of corn may be 

 good individual ears, but if the type of kernel is different, 

 when they are shelled together they will make an uneven 

 sample of corn which can not be planted uniformly. Like- 

 wise, kernels of corn from the tip and butt of the ear, if 

 shelled with the more uniform kernels in the middle, make 

 up an uneven mixture which no machine planter can plant 

 uniformly. If a corn grader is at hand through which corn 

 may be run and the small, large, and irregular kernels 



