PLANTING CORN 



73 



the soil is gradually thrown in about the plants. This 

 method of planting is not advisable except in very dry 

 locations, for experiments have shown that even in regions 

 of light rainfall corn planted in the usual way has given 

 larger yields than listed corn, except in the very driest 

 seasons. 



81. Method of Planting. There are two common 

 methods of planting corn for the production of grain. The 

 first is in checked rows, with hills 42 or 44 inches apart each 

 way. The second is in drills 42 or 44 inches apart, with the 

 kernels of corn dropped 

 in the drills from 9 to 

 18 inches apart. Some 

 good corn growers follow 

 one method, some the 

 other. Those who advo- 

 cate drilling corn claim 

 that less cultivation is 

 required, and because 

 the corn is better dis- 

 tributed, larger yields 

 are obtained. The facts 

 do not seem to bear 

 out this contention, though on specially clean soil and in 

 years when the rainfall is normal or more than normal, 

 slightly larger yields have been obtained from drilling. In 

 a large number of tests conducted by several experiment 

 stations, however, there has not been sufficient difference in 

 yield to warrant advocating one method above the other. 



One of the objects in growing corn is to clean the land of 

 weeds. This certainly can be more thoroughly accomplished 

 if the corn is planted in checked rows and cultivated both 

 ways than if planted in drills; on this account, it is deemed 



Fig. 24. Planting corn with the check-row 

 planter. Long, straight rows make the work 

 of cultivation easy. 



