CHAPTER IV 



CORN OR MAIZE (Continued) 



There remain to be discussed, in the treatment of 

 maize, the practical questions of cultivation, the harvesting 

 and storing and marketing, the improvement of the types 

 and varieties, and the insects and diseases. 



METHODS OF CULTURE 



Numerous experiments, as well as the experience of 

 many growers, have demonstrated that higher yields can 

 be secured when com is grown in a rotation than when 

 grown in the same field year after year. Continuous 

 cropping of corn has been practiced in many parts of the 

 corn belt for a few years, but after a time decreased jdelds 

 have resulted. A ten year average at the Ohio Experi- 

 ment Station for corn grown under continuous culture 

 gave a yield of 9.64 bushels per acre, while that grown in 

 five-year rotation gave 38.85 bushels per acre. The place 

 taken by corn in most well-managed rotations is after 

 grass and clover. Corn can use sod better than does wheat 

 or oats, while wheat and oats do well after com. A ro- 

 tation based on this fact will usually consist of com, wheat 

 and clover, or corn, oats, wheat, clover and timothy. In 

 either case the grass is plowed under and the land put 

 into corn. The organic matter added by this practice 

 produces a beneficial effect, by increasing the water-hold- 



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