158 



CORN 



cure an even depth of planting the land should be free from ridges. 

 In order to facilitate planting and to better see the line of the marker, 

 the field should be harrowed crosswise just previous to planting. In 

 sections of little rainfall during the summer months, and in areas 

 where the soil iS of a fine, silty nature, it will always pay to again 

 harrow fields which have been previously put in good shape, but 

 have been rained upon heavily before the corn was planted. 



The harrow is of especial value as a weed killer. Newly germi- 

 nated weeds have few roots and are easily torn loose. Furthermore, 

 weeds killed when very young do not draw out the moisture in the 

 soil nor render the available plant food insoluble. The harrow not 

 only destroys -^^eeds sprouting in the ground before the corn is 

 planted, but causes the germination of other seeds which have been 

 dormant liecause of lack of heat and moisture 



FIELD NOT READY FOR PLANTING. 

 The surface has been allowed to dry out too much before the harrowing was 

 done. The rounded shape of the clods shows that the jostling of the harrow 

 was ineffective in breaking them up because of their dryness. 



Rolling. The smooth iron or wood roller is used to produce an 

 even surface and to settle the surface soil upon the sub-soil. Corn 

 ground which has been plowed in the fall, or ground of a silty nature 

 which is spring plowed, does not need rolling before planting. It is 

 usually very compact. But in loose soils of a sandy nature, or porous 



