June, 1911 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



297 



While looking over thousands of farms 

 in the Northeastern States in the course 

 of a soil examination for the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, I have asked 

 hundreds and hundreds of farmers what 

 plan of crop rotation they follow. The 

 standard answer is the usual rotation, 

 but some omit the oats and sow "corn- 

 stalk" wheat, while others sow grass 

 seed with the oats because wheat "does 

 not pay." A minority vary the rotation 

 by introducing some money crop such 

 as potatoes. 



In nearly all cases corn and hay are 

 said to pay, but outside some special soil 

 districts, such as the limestone valleys 

 of Pennsylvania, the farmers are few 

 who will say that any money is made in 

 growing either wheat or oats. Then 

 in reply to the direct questions as to why 

 he grows them the average farmer almost 

 unfailingly answers, "Why I have to in 

 order to get my land back into grass," 

 or "I have got to grow something." 

 There is, to his mind, no other practical 

 way to get corn ground back into sod. 



I grew up on a farm where neither oats 

 nor wheat paid, and none has been 

 grown there for at least forty years. I 

 now own another farm on which conditions 

 are the same. So when I meet a farmer 

 whose only reason for growing oats or 

 wheat is to use them as the easiest stepping- 

 stone to get land back into sod, it is not 

 unnatural to ask such a man why he does 

 not sow grass seed in the corn at the last 

 working. The time that was required to 

 convince him of the practicability of the 

 plan finally led me to suggest it only in 

 rare instances, but here it is: 



In cultivating corn level culture must 

 be practised, because hilling leaves the 

 ground too uneven to run a mower over 

 smoothly. This, however, is the best 

 practice in all events, as it conserves 

 the moisture to the best advantage. For 

 this purpose any of the cultivators of the 

 Planet Jr. or Iron Age type, either riding 

 or walking, are very satisfactory. The 

 cultivations should be sufficiently frequent 

 to keep the corn, at least, fairly clean. 

 It is desirable to have the field free enough 

 from weeds so that it may be worked 

 the last time when the corn is only waist 

 high and a hand-seeder worked over the 



Type of harrow used for working the seed, 

 about five dollars 



Costs 



tops of the corn. For those of the older 

 generation who have the skill to sow 

 the seed evenly by hand the corn should 

 be just so high that the hand can be swung 

 back and forth comfortably above it. In 

 actual farm practice, however, work is 

 sometimes so pressing that the cultivation 

 is delayed until the corn has grown above 

 this height. Even then the seed can be 

 sown uniformly by hand if only one inter- 

 row space is covered on each side of that 

 in which the sower is walking. 



Two objections to this method of seed- 

 ing are commonly made by those who 

 have not tried it. The first is that some 

 seed is wasted by falling in the roll of the 

 corn leaves, and the second that the seed 

 can not be uniformly sown. After the 

 seed is sown the field should be gone over 

 again in check rows with a spike-toothed 

 cultivator. This shakes practically all the 

 seed off the corn plants, levels the ground, 

 and covers the seed to the right depth. 



The type of harrow used for working 

 the seed in is shown in the accompanying 

 illustration to the left, costing about $5 at 

 retail. An implement just as effective is 

 shown in the other illustration, and can be 

 made in odd hours by a handy farmer for 

 about fifty cents paid the blacksmith. If the 

 farmer has a small forge so that he can 

 do the iron work himself, the cost is prac- 

 tically nothing. A set of teeth from a 

 "worn-out" spike tooth harrow set in 

 three pieces of planed z\ x 4 in. scant- 

 ling; a cross-piece of similar dimensions 

 in which several holes have been drilled 

 that the spread of the implement for rows 

 different distances apart may be adjusted 

 from the back; a shorter piece of strap 

 iron to serve as a clamp and allow for the 

 spread at the front; a straight green 

 hickory pole about one inch in diameter 

 and bent to a f*l -shape and ends sawed 

 off so as to give the right height of bow 

 for easy holding, and fitted into two holes 

 in the cross piece at the rear and tightly 

 wedged; a short piece of strap iron for 

 bolting the front ends together; a piece 

 of iron bent into a whiffletree hook with 

 two bolts for attaching the trees; one 

 long bolt to hold the three pieces of wood 

 in the form of a letter A; and the imple- 

 ment is complete. Worn-down teeth are 

 better than new ones, because being not 

 so long they cover the seed to a more 

 desirable depth. 



The next bugbear objection is that 

 the cornstalk stubs will interfere with 

 the cutterbar of the mower the following 

 year. But by spring the stubs are so 

 decayed that a light roller will break them 

 down so low that the cutterbar will pass 

 over them for the most part and the knives 

 escape being clogged or dulled. This 

 rolling should be done just as soon as the 

 ground is settled in the spring. If done at 

 that time the hoof prints work no injury. 



There is nothing new or original about 

 this method of cropping. It has been 

 practised for nearly a half century on 

 the expensive lands of the Connecticut 

 Valley in the states of Connecticut and 



An effective home-made harrow which costs a mere 

 nothing to make 



Massachusetts, and the reason for present- 

 ing it here is simply to suggest an alter- 

 native to the large number of farmers who 

 think it necessary to grow small grains 

 merely as crops to seed with, even though 

 they do not find such crops profitable. 



A very desirable feature of this method 

 is the insurance of a good stand of grass 

 in a dry year. The occurrence of a severe 

 dry spell just after the wheat or oats is 

 gathered leaves the tender grass plants 

 exposed to the hot sun of midsummer, 

 with roots insufficiently developed to 

 reach any moist earth, and the stand is 

 much injured or even completely lost. 



The same year the moisture in a corn 

 field, if it has been conserved as it should 

 have been by frequent cultivation and the 

 maintenance of a dust mulch, is sufficient 

 to sprout the seed and maintain its growth. 

 This is aided, of course, to some extent 

 by the partial shade which the corn crop 

 affords throughout the season. 



With so many factors in its favor, and 

 supported, as it is, by the results of long 

 experience on high-priced land, it seems 

 passing strange that this plan is seldom 

 practised in all that part of the North- 

 eastern United States where oats and 

 wheat do not yield a direct profit. 



Prepare for Pests 



HPHE rose bug. Spray, about June 7th, 

 -*- roses, grapes, asters, and all plants 

 with large, juicy buds or blossoms, with 

 arsenate of lead, one pound n ten gallons 

 of water (or Bordeaux mixture). Repeat 

 about June 14th. Meanwhile pick off every 

 bug you see. 



Potato beetle. Don't look, at first, for 

 a hard shelled bug, but for a soft, repul- 

 sive, red and black worm. Spray arsenate 

 of lead on potatoes, eggplant, and toma- 

 toes as soon as he appears. 



Aphis, thrips, and leaf-hoppers will 

 bother the flowers, roses especially. Use 

 whale oil soap or kerosene emulsion, May 

 21st and June 20th. 



Mildew and all other fungi:. Bordeaux 

 mixture every two weeks will prevent, 

 and should cure. Potassium sulphide will 

 do on roses, and copper sulphate may be 

 substituted for vines, etc., where there 

 is danger of staining. 



