KAFIR CORN IN DRY REGIONS 109 
as some soils wash and pack more readily than 
others. Listing, however, in the western and drier 
sections is the favorite method of planting, as it 
takes less work, encourages the roots to go deeper 
into the soil, thus better resisting drought. The 
rows should be about three feet apart, and the 
seed dropped four to eight inches apart in the row 
for the western part of the state. 
For surface planting, fall plowing is very gen- 
erally favored. The disadvantages of fall plowing 
are: The blowing of the loose soil, and the weeds, 
which thrive best on fall plowing. Otherwise, a 
good disking or fall plowing furnishes the ideal 
seed-bed. 
Spring plowing should not be done until time to 
plant. The plowing should not be deeper than is 
necessary to turn the ground well and cover trash. 
A very essential feature in the preparation of the 
seed-bed is to compact the soil as soon as plowed, 
so as to hold the moisture near the surface. The 
plowed soil should not be left as smooth on the 
surface as when a roller is used, nor as fine as 
an ordinary harrow would leave it. The day the 
land is plowed, it should be disked, harrowed, 
then rolled, and harrowed again, to make the 
surface fine and compact. The press drill, with 
all the drills left on, is the best implement for 
planting, if done the same day that the land is 
plowed. 
