1863. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMEK. 



77 



which all know is an advantage and will always 

 insure a better stand, more especially if the land 

 is rolled after planting, as it should always be. 

 \?^e will suppose that the planting is completed 

 by the 20th of May, as it ought to be when the 

 first fifteen acres are ready for working; thus no 

 time is lost, nor will the weeds have got the start 

 of the corn. The land having been rolled the 

 corn can be worked Pome days sooner than other- 

 wise, nor is there so much danger of covering it 

 with the cultivator, as most of the clods are 

 crushed by the roller, and of course in the con- 

 dition of good friable soil. 



Corn planted in freshly plowed land is not so 

 liable to destruction by the cut-worm, the wire- 

 worm and other in'ects as when planted in soil 

 that has become settled and given time for the 

 breeding of these pests of the farmer. Land 

 thus fresh y plowed s warmer, as its dark color 

 when first turned up to the sun, absorbs its rays, 

 and the seeds deposited at that time sprout sooner 

 and grow with more vigor. Gardeners under- 

 stand this, and are very careful to so arrange 

 their work so as to deposite the seeds in the 

 freshly stirred eanh, and so important do they 

 deem this that the ^Isinting is followed close on 

 the preparation of the soil. It would be all the 

 better to have each day's plowing planted the 

 same day. and with the drill system we see noth- 

 ing in the way of doing it. When the land is in 

 good order harrowing is not always necessary 

 before planting, if it is, as it always should be, 

 followed with the roller. A couple of hours each 

 day with the planter and roller will complete the 

 work, going over a lets surfs ce, of course, but 

 having the entire work completed beyond the 

 contingency of heavy rains. It often occurs af- 

 ter a week's plowing of good weather that heavy 

 rains fall that delays the planting for some days ; 

 in the meantime the weeds are busy sending up 

 their shoots and filling the surface with their un- 

 pleasant presence, and on the return of good 

 weather the field must be thoroughly harrowed to 

 check their growth so as to allow of the safe 

 planting of the seed. In all such cases much 

 time is lost, for if the planting had been attended 

 to daily, as the plowing progressed, the corn 

 would be up ahead of the weeds, and the thor- 

 ough harrowing needed to refit the ground would 

 have answered for the first working of the crop, 

 which would he so much gained. Last year we 

 pursued this course with our corn crop, planting 

 as fast as the ground was made ready, using a 

 roller and planting very shallow. The result was 

 one of the best possible stands of corn, by far 

 the best that we have ever had under any circum- 



stances. From necessity we used a common check 

 row planter, dropping in hills, but by taking out 

 the double drop the seed was considerably scat- 

 tered in the row, and the hill of four to five 

 plants usually occupied a foot of space. This 

 year we shall use one of " Prindle's Drill Plant- 

 ers," that needs no other guide than the team- 

 drops, covers and rolls the earth over the seed. 

 It is also an admirable bean planter, pro! ably 

 the best. This is a cheap machine, as all single- 

 dropping, non-check row machines should be, 

 thus saving more than half in the cost of a planter. 

 Farmers who put in large crops of corn will find 

 it as much to their advantage to use this kind of 

 planter as the small farmer. On the check row 

 planter two persons must be hauled, making it 

 hard work for a good span of horses, while with 

 the drill a light team and boy can do the plant- 

 ing ; we have known a boy to plant three hun- 

 dred acres of brocm corn in a season, which is 

 equivalent to planting fve hundred of corn. — 

 Eight trains will do the plowing for one planter, 

 to be followed with one team with the roller; the 

 rolling is more than four times as valuable as the 

 harrowing and cheaper done, with the exception 

 of outlay for the roller, which will cost about $50. 

 Another advantage in drilling is in the facility 

 of working ; the rows are much more straight, 

 and will admit of wt rking close up to them. In 

 working with Turner's cultivator we found that 

 the apparatus or guide for the Lills was of no 

 practical value, and made it fast to the machine 

 as useless ; this will tend to lessen the cost of aU 

 such implements. 



To sum up the advantages of planting rows 

 our way, we have — 



1st. A saving of harrowing, marking oflF and 

 the time of one man to to do the check-rowing; 

 the use of a lighter, cheaper and less complicated 

 machine ; less labor for the team, shallower 

 planting; and added to this we see no objection 

 to attaching it at once to the section iron field- 

 roller, and thus at one operation plant and roll. 



2nd. Planting the seed in the freshly plowed 

 ground, thus insuring a better stand, a more vig- 

 orous growth, lees danger from insects ; no risk 

 of delay from heavy rains after fitting the land, 

 having the first planting ready for working on 

 the completing of the planting, and the whole is 

 ready in succession, enabling the farmer to take 

 advantage of the woik from the turning of the 

 first furrow until the crop is laid by. 



We hope the manufacturers of corn planters 

 will be wise and keep up witfi the requirements of 

 the age. The West can beat the world with cheap 

 corn; buttodoit we must have the most approved 

 implements, and the best modes of culture will 

 follow. 



