50 PRACTICAL CORN CULTURE 
extends over the entire cultivating season, are that it has a 
tendency to pack the soil, and is not as effective as deep 
culture in destroying weeds. The objection to deep culture, 
when it extends over the entire season, is that it cuts the 
corn roots, thereby decreasing the yield. Both of these 
objections are undoubtedly well made. We have tried sur- 
face cultivation (with gopher blades) throughout the three 
or four cultivations, and have compared it with deeper cul- 
ture over a like period. With the deeper culture the corn 
was cleaner and the seed bed was not so packed. Notwith- 
standing this, some roots were cut by the deeper cultivating 
which made the surface cultivated fields show about the 
same yield. 
We are thoroughly convinced that any method of culti- 
vation that destroys a portion of the corn roots is disastrous 
to the corn plant and reduces the yield in proportion to the 
amount of roots destroyed. Deep culture that prunes the 
roots after the corn is three feet high may decrease the yield 
from three to twenty bushels per acre, depending on the 
amount of rainfall following. If a heavy rainfall comes 
just after the cutting of the roots, the injury will be slight, 
but if the pruning process is followed by several weeks of 
hot, dry weather the injury will be severe. In our efforts 
to maintain ‘clean culture without pruning the roots, we use 
shovel plows during the first three cultivations and finish 
with a fourth plowing, using a high arch surface cultivator. 
This plan, of course, is varied somewhat, depending on the 
season and the foulness of the field. 
First CuLtTivavion 
We start plowing the first field as soon as we finish plant- 
ing. If the corn is four or five inches high, six-shovel riding 
cultivators are used; but if it is smaller than this we prefer 
