348 CiftTLE. 



much cheaper than by feeding it such corn. It is about ninety per cent. 

 water, and we can't afford to raise water when it is so plenty. No, 

 never, whether for ensilage, fodder corn or field corn, put in more than 

 ten quarts per acre. After the corn is planted, put on about three hun- 

 dred pounds of commercial fertilizer made after a general formula, con- 

 taining the fertilizing ingredients in the proportion needed for the corn 

 plant, which is approximately one part of phosporic acid, two parts 

 nitrogen and three parts potash. Put the commercial fertilizer on 

 broadcast rather than dropping it in the hill. I believe that the most 

 critical time in the plant's life is just at the germination period, and 

 when the little rootlets are sent out there is a great deal more plant-food 

 then than is needed, and as the roots grow and extend further out into 

 the soil there is not enough to continue the rapid growth that has started 

 at first, as the roots all feed from the ends and spread out all through 

 the ground. Dropping fertilizer on a hill of corn and expecting the 

 plant to be benefited is a little like a boy expecting to get his dinner 

 while sitting on his dinner pail. As soon as the fertilizer is applied, put 

 on a smoothing harrow and go over the piece. Do this before the com 

 comes up. After the corn is up, go over it again with a smoothing har- 

 row the opposite way from the first time over. Every five or six days 

 go over the corn until the corn is six inches high; then use a weeder, 

 which will accomplish the same result until the corn is fifteen inches 

 high. This method of cultivating is very important, as it kills the 

 weeds just as they are starting and hoes the field better than it could be 

 done by hand. 



The time has gone by when you can afford to hoe any cultivated crops 

 by hand. With horses and efficient machinery so cheap the hand-hoe 

 must be relegated to the rear. This surface cultivation not only kills 

 the weeds when it can be done the easiest, but no treatment of the land 

 will conserve the moisture in the soil as will this shallow cultivation. 

 The surface soil acts as a mulch. During a dought there are fields 

 which have become so hard and baked that one could run a hand into 

 the cracks on the crust that has formed, while in the garden the soil 

 was moist and in good shape. What was the difference ? One had the 

 same amount of rain as the other. The garden was stirred frequently 

 by repeated hoeing, while the field was not touched during the drought, 

 so the lesson taught is to stir the soil often in all cultivated fields. An 

 experiment conducted at the Cornell station shows that an acre of land 

 with surface cultivation evaporates two tons less moisture every twenty- 



