150 



CORN 



on fall plowed ground, a surface mulch can be established which 

 will prevent this excess evaporation and insure to the farmer a 

 greater amount of moisture in the soil for the following crop than had 

 the land been plowed in the spring. Fall plowed ground properly 

 cared for in the spring may be expected to mature a crop of corn a 

 little earlier than will the spring ploAving, and in case of a dry season 

 there will be much less damage from drought. 



Spring Plowing. Fields which have been in corn the previous 

 year, must, according to the common practice of husking in the field 



DISC PLOW. 

 Used in low wet ground where a mold board plow would not scour, 



and allowing stock to forage among the stalks during the winter, be 

 plowed in the spring. Just how early this can be done depends to a 

 large extent upon, first, the weather during April and May. Exces- 

 sive rainfall and a lack of sunshine will prevent plowing even on well 

 drained fields. As long as the bottom of the furrow slice turns up 

 slick and the particles of soil run together rather than crumble, plow- 

 ing had better be postponed. Such a surface will bake immediately 

 in the sun and the clods thus formed will sometimes remain un- 

 changed during the entire season. Second, the lay of the land. Fields 

 sloping to the north are sometimes 10 to 14 days later in drying out 

 in the spring than are similar areas facing the south. Low areas 

 underlaid with an impervious clay often require the warm winds of 

 May to evaporate the surface moisture sufficiently to admit of plow- 

 ing. Third, the amount of available labor. Where large areas are 

 to be plowed, although the teams are started early in the season it is 



