90 THE BOOK OF CORN 



amount of plant food available for the growth of the 

 crop. If a heavy crop of stalks or manure is to be 

 turned under it should be done in the fall or early win- 

 ter and deeply enough to cover the crop completely. If 

 done in the fall the manure or crop of stalks will be 

 decomposed by spring so that a disking will firm the 

 soil, readjust capillarity and put the seedbed in admi- 

 rable form for plant growth. 



FALL OR SPRING PLOWING 



Whether to plow in the fall or the spring will 

 depend largely upon : i, the condition of the soil ; 2, the 

 lay of the land ; and 3, the kind of previous crop. If 

 the soil is subject to washing and the climate is such 

 that the fields are exposed during a large part of the 

 winter unprotected by snow, fall plowing is apt to be 

 detrimental. If the land is level, and particularly if 

 infested with insect enemies such as the grub worm, 

 corn-root worm, noxious weed seeds, fall plowing is 

 usually very beneficial, if properly handled in the 

 spring. Of course, if a manure crop is grown on the 

 land, or if any trash or straw remains in the soil, it 

 should be plowed under in the late fall. 



Many of the harmful insects which infest the corn 

 fields live over the winter safely housed in the soil. By 

 fall plowing their homes are broken up, the insect 

 forms are thrown upon the surface of the soil, where 

 they are subject to the winter weather, and most of 

 them are thus destroyed. So in the case of noxious 

 weed seeds which are brought to the surface by fall 

 plowing. The vitality is weakened or lost by the freez- 

 ing and thawing, and if the vitality is not impaired by 

 such means the weeds are placed where they germinate 

 the first thing in the spring, to be destroyed by the 

 early disking and cultivating of the seedbed. 



