24 



BULLETIN 320, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Fig. 21. — A sulky plow (for either two or three 

 horses) used in the Central West. 



is planted in checks 3J feet apart each way, alternating the hills 



with two and three kernels. 

 After planting, the field is usually gone over with the spike-tooth 



harrow or roller, first before and again after the corn is up. After 



this most of the cultivating is done with the 2-horse 6-shovel culti- 

 vator (fig. 22). The customary 

 practice is to give four cultiva- 

 tions in alternate directions. 



Few cover crops are grown and 

 the corn land is usually either 

 seeded to wheat in the fall or 

 oats the following spring. Very 

 little commercial fertilizer is 

 used, but stable manure is fre- 

 quently applied broadcast to the 

 land before breaking for corn. 

 The corn is mostly of the yellow 

 dent varieties, hut some white 

 dent is grown. 

 The most prevalent weeds for this section are foxtail, quack-grass, 



smartweed, plantain, ragweed, cocklebur, whitetop, and bull nettle. 



SURVEYS IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OHIO. 



The tillage records for Montgomery County, Ohio, were taken in 

 the section around Brookville, in the northwestern part of the county. 

 (Table XL) The soil is of a silty clay-loam character with a clay 

 subsoil. The land is rolling 

 enough to allow good drainage, 

 but not steep enough to inter- 

 fere with the use of improved 

 machinery, and the fields are of 

 uniform size and convenient 

 shape. Most of this land is tile 

 drained and only a few surface 

 ditches are necessary. 



The leading roads have been 

 macadamized. Good country 

 schools are maintained. Most of the farms are rather small and are 

 operated by the owners. They have exceptionally good farmhouses 

 and outbuildings, and the country has a very prosperous appearance. 



A very uniform system of farming is practiced in this section. 

 On most farms a rotation of corn or tobacco one year, wheat or oats 

 one year, and hay or pasture one or two years is maintained. Some 

 alfalfa is grown with good results. Considerable red and alsike 

 clover seed is produced. Little or no fruit is grown for market and 



Fig. 22. — A 2-horse 6-shovel corn cultivator. 



