178 SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



168. Distances between rows and between plants. — ■ 



With com, the general rule as to distance between rows 

 is the following : the poorer the land, the farther apart 

 must he the rows and the individual plants; while the 

 richer the land, the more closely may both rows and plants 

 be crowded together. This rulfe is exactly the opposite of 

 that for spacing cotton. 



Varieties with small or medium-sized stalks maj^ be 

 planted more thickly than those with large stalks. On 

 poor upland, where the j'ield is expected to lie about 25 

 bushels per acre, it is l^est to allow not less than 15 square 

 feet for each plant. This is equivalent to rows 5 feet apart 

 and plants 3 feet, or to rows G feet apart and plants 21 

 feet apart. ' )u richer uplands, fairlj- retentive of moisture 

 and where the yield is ordinarily from 25 to 40 bushels per 

 acre, the Georgia Experiment Station found advantageous 

 distances to be 4j feet hj 32 inches, which gives 3630 

 plants per acre in a perfect stand. Other distances that 

 give practicalljr the same number of plants per acre are 4 

 feet between rows and 3 feet Ijetwcen plants, or checks 

 Zw feet apart both waj's. 



E.xi^erimenls at the Georgia and Alabama Stations indicate 

 a slight advantage from so dividing the space allotted to each 

 plant as to give practically the same distance between plants 

 as between rows, that is, making the plants forni a square. 

 However, economy of eulti^'ation requires that this slight increase 

 be sacrificed in order that the rows may be made as wide as practi- 

 cable. Wide rows and closer planting in the drills saA'e hoeing. 

 For example, one laborer can hoe 5 acres of corn planted in 

 5-foot rows in about the same time that he can hoe four acres 

 if the rows are 4 feet wide. Hor.se culti\ation is also econo- 

 mized liy wider rows. Wide rows also permit the sowing and 



