34 PRACTICAL CORN CULTURE 
as in drilled corn, the advocates of this method claim for 
it all the advantages of drilling and checking without the dis- 
advantages of either. 
For the farmer who plants three or four grains in one 
hill, kernel spaced checking would perhaps increase the yield, 
unless there was more of a tendency to sucker than when the 
kernels were bunched. Since we never plant more than two 
and three kernels in a hill, we do not think that the advan- 
tage to be gained, would justify us in going to the expense 
of trying out this new method. A government bulletin by C. 
P. Hartley, entitled ‘‘A More Profitable Corn Planting 
Method,’’ deals with the subject of kernel spaced checking 
at length. 
The chief advantage of planting in hills is that the check- 
ing enables the corn to be cross cultivated and kept free 
from weeds and the entire soil surface kept in good condi- 
tion without the expensive labor of hoeing. Checking has 
continued to grow in popularity until today nine-tenths of 
the corn in the Corn Belt is planted in hills. Experimental 
work thus far conducted indicates that it makes but little 
difference, so far as yield is concerned, whether corn is grown 
in drills or in hills, provided the drilled corn is kept clean. 
Our own experience has satisfied us that on average corn 
land checked corn will outyield drilled corn; while on rich 
blue-grass or alfalfa sod, where as much as three grains would 
be planted in a hill, if checked, the drilled corn would make 
a slightly better showing, granting that clean culture be main- 
tained. 
ADVANTAGES IN PLANTING witlt A CHECK ROWER 
Straight rows and even checking mean better cultivation 
and larger yields. Crooked rows are usually the result of 
carelessness or indifference, although the planter is often 
