74 FIELD CROP PRODUCTION 



In the results of the Ohio and Nebraska experiments there 

 was a noticeable difference in the size of the ear, and 

 the per cent of barren stalks from the thick and thin 

 planting. This is due in a great measure to the ability of 

 the corn plant to adapt itself to existing conditions. If 

 planted too thinly, the plants in order to produce as much 

 as possible under existing conditions, produce large ears, 

 more plants bear two ears, and there are fewer barren stalks. 

 If planted too thickly, the ears are smaller, the percentage 

 of two-eared plants is lower, and the percentage of barren 

 stalks is greater. Many growers prefer a high percentage 

 of large ears rather than a larger number of small ears and 

 a few more bushels per acre, although if the com is to be 

 used for feeding live stock, there is no objection to the small 

 ears. Many growers of show or seed corn plant thinly in 

 order to produce a large number of big ears. For good soil 

 conditions of the corn belt a rate of 3 grains per hill and 

 hills 36 by 42 inches should produce a high yield of grain. 

 In less fertile soils, 2 grains per hill may be a better 

 rate at which to plant. 



The Ohio Station, in comparing hilling with drilling of 

 corn, found that one grain every 12 inches or 2 grains 

 every 24 inches gave better results than 3 grains per hill 36 

 inches apart, or 4 grains per hill 48 inches apart. One ob- 

 jection to drilling corn is that of not being able to cultivate 

 it both ways, thus requiring in weedy fields considerable 

 hand work with a hoe. In the rolling sections of the country 

 drilling is the general practice, since if the rows are run 

 at right angles to the slope, the soil does not wash so 

 badly as when the stalks are grouped in a hill quite a 

 distance apart. While drilling may give three or four 

 bushels more per acre than the same number of grains 

 planted in hills, it is often a question whether the increase 



