6 BULLETIN 320, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



1 -horse plows of the South Atlantic States do with four or six fur- 

 rows. A combined lister and planter is often used, which breaks the 

 land and plants the corn all at one operation. Where this imple- 

 ment is used, often no other preparation is given the land before the 

 corn is planted. 



In the northeastern division corn is a minor crop and the tillage 

 methods employed are those which are best suited to the principal 

 crops grown in the region. In the New Jersey area the principal 

 crop is potatoes, and in this region corn is cultivated with the same 

 implements which are used for the potato crop. In Connecticut, 

 where tobacco is the leading crop, the tillage methods for corn are 

 those best suited for cultivating tobacco. 



TILLAGE GENERALIZATIONS. 



Subsoiling is not extensively practiced and is usually employed 

 only in regions having soils low in organic matter. 



The depth of breaking land is governed largely by the type of soil 

 and time of plowing. Sandy or loamy soils, unless underlain with a 

 stiff subsoil, are usually plowed deeper than the heavy clay soils. 

 When land is plowed in the fall it is usually broken deeper than 

 when plowed in the spring. 



Listing is extensively practiced in those regions where hot, dry 

 weather prevails during the growing season. 



Whether corn is planted in checks or drills depends largely on the 

 extent to which corn is grown, on the size and shape of the fields, 

 and on the topography of the land. Where the land is level and corn 

 is extensively grown it is usually planted in checks, unless listing is 

 practiced. Where corn is not extensively grown and where conse- 

 quently the fields are small, or where the land is rolling, drill plant- 

 ing is practiced. 



The thickness of planting corn varies with the fertility of the soil. 

 It is planted thickest on the most productive soils. 



On the most productive farms slightly more cultivation is given 

 corn, both before and after planting, than on the less fertile soils. 

 With tillage after plowing and before planting, the increased work 

 for the higher yielding regions is significant. For instance, for the 

 10 best regions (Table II) the average number of cultivations after 

 plowing and before planting is 3, while for the 10 poorest regions 

 the average is only 1.6. This, however, may be due to the fact that 

 the character of the heavy clay soils of the Central West, the region 

 where high normal yields most often occur, is such as to require 

 more preparation than the lighter soils of other regions. Further, 

 it may be that with the more fertile soils the increased yield in 

 response to extra good preparation fully warrants such expenditure 

 of labor. With the inherently poorer soils this may not be the case. 

 To illustrate this point, we might assume that a certain percentage 



