CORN TILLAGE 179 



cultivation of a row of cowpeas halfway between each pair of 

 corp rows. 



While the spacing best for any particular field must be 

 decided by the farmer's judgment, the following distances 

 are widely apphcable in the cotton-belt : (1) for poor land, 

 rows 5 feet apart and plants 2J to 3 feet; (2) for good 

 upland, rows 4 to 5 and plants 2 feet apart, or checks 3|- 

 feet apart each way; (3) for good bottom land, rows 4 

 feet apart and plants at intervals of 1 to 2 feet. With 

 improvement in preparation and in fertilization and in 

 prize patches, corn may be planted considerably closer. 



168a. " Laying by " the corn crop. — " Laying by" is the 

 name given to the last cultivation or tilling. Most farmers 

 cease tilling corn just before the first tassels appear. Ex- 

 periments indicate that a later tilling, if quite shallow, is 

 often profitable. On the other hand, if the last cultivation 

 must be deep, or even moderately deep, it should not be 

 late. Deep tillage doubtless explains the prejudice against 

 late tillage. 



In giving the final cultivation, care should be taken to 

 leave the surface as nearly level as practicable. In this 

 condition, there is a larger and more equally distributed 

 supply of moisture for the plant roots than would be the 

 case if the earth were heaped in ridges along the line of 

 plants. Among suitable implements for the last cultiva- 

 tion of corn are scrapes and one-horse spring-tooth cul- 

 tivators (Fig. 87). 



169. Planting other crops with corn. — In the southern 

 garts of Alabama and Georgia and elsewhere, corn and 

 peanuts are often grown together by the following 

 method : — 



