66 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



The laud intended for corn should be tho- 

 roughly broken during winter, where the land 

 is suited to winter plowing, as is the case with 

 the red lands of Piedmont Virginia. Some 

 lauds " run together " when plowed in winter, 

 and these, of course, should be broken im- 

 mediately before planting; but, in any case, 

 too much pains cannot be taken in thoroughly 

 breaking the sod. Subsoiling may pay upon 

 some lands, but no experiment I have ever 

 made or witnessed, showed any improvement 

 in crop from this process. I am inclined to 

 think more depends upon having the surface 

 soil in thorough tilth, than on deep plowing. 

 *On my own and similar lands, srven inches of 

 anellow and thoroughly pulverized soil, is all 

 the corn crop wants, and my aim in cultivation 

 is to get and keep this. Where, however, the 

 farmer finds his land underlaid with a subsoil 

 impervious to water, he must resort to some 

 process of draining. Such a condition is 

 destructive to the crop, not so much by 

 checking the corn roots in their penetration to 

 their (natural depth, as in preventing the cir- 

 culation of air and moisture through the soil. 

 Few of us have formed any idea of the force 

 exerted in* growth of vegetation. 



Corn roots could easily penetrate such a 

 subsoil as I have ■■mentioned, but instinct 

 teaches them that it would be a " fool's errand " 

 they were going- on. The free circulation of! 

 moisture and air, seem to be necessary to pre-j 

 pare, the elements of soil, as food for plants.! 

 The chief object of cultivation is to keep the j 

 soil in the condition in .which this circulation 

 most readily goes on. Every farmer has ob- 

 served the effect of " baking " upon the growth I 

 of vegetation.; Let a crust be formed -over the I 

 surface, which will exclude the air, and veg- 

 etable growth is at once checked. This eir-! 

 dilation seems to be the vital principle of 

 soil. The galls , which so disfigure the face! 

 of our country, arc but spots in which this vi- ! 

 tal principle is destroyed. No amount of fer- j 

 tilizing matter applied to them, is sufficient to I 

 make them productive, until some change is ! 

 wrought in their mechanical condition, which J 

 restores this principle. To [keep the surface | 

 soil in that healthy condition which admits ofi; 

 a free . circulation of air and moisture, and to \ 

 throw into the cultivated plant; all 'the strength- j 

 of the soil (by keeping down all .other vegeta- j 

 ble growth,). is man's only agency in making m 

 crop. ..vHc who sends the ".early -and tire latter ; 

 rains must do, -the test. ' . \, . ■„ 1 



The proper distance at which to plant c.ojt: j, 

 bas given rise , to much difference of oph .:' .01 

 amongst farmers. No fixed rules can; be \m& 

 down, but the matter must be settled by the' 



test of experiment. In nine cases in ten, ac- 

 cording to my observation, corn is planted too 

 thin. The nearest approach to a rale I can 

 give is this : Let the farmer form bis opinion 

 of the productive capacity of bis land, and by 

 calculation or reference to his tables, acertain 

 how many stalks he must leave per acre to 

 give bim, at one ear to the stalk, the product 

 fixed upon. When the season is favorable, 

 the double-bearing stalks give bim bis increase 

 of crop. Upon good low grounds, four feet or 

 four and a half feet by one foot, will give, ac- 

 cording to this rule, from fifteen to eighteen 

 barrels per acre, which is about the productive 

 capacity of such land. On high land, four-foet 

 to four and a half feet by two feet is as great 

 distance as should be given If land will not, 

 with this distance, bring one good ear to the 

 stalk, it is unfit for corn without manure. An 

 application of guano, ashes and plaster in the 

 hill, or even rolling the seed in guano and 

 plaster, I have found very beneficial to my 

 crop in forcing the young plants out of the 

 way of insect pests, and insuring a good stand 

 of corn, and this I would do without regard 

 to the fertility of the land. 



The furrow for planting should be opened 

 with a two horse plow, and, if the land be not 

 thoroughly broken or has become hard after 

 being so broken, a coulter should be run in the 

 furrow. Care should be taken to lay off the 

 rows as nearly horizontal upon hilly land as 

 possible. The corn is then dropped, or rather 

 drilled along the furrow, putting lour or five 

 times as many grains as you wish stalks, and 

 covered with a corn coverer. This implement 

 is of easy construction, consisting of two pieces 

 about three feec long, not parallel, but rather 

 wider behind than before, each piece having 

 three teeth, two harrow teeth and one culti- 

 vator tooth, the latter being behind. The 

 harrow teeth run just within the edges of the 

 furrow, pulverizing the soil and throwing out 

 any clods or stones that may be therein, while 

 the cultivator tooth, being turned slightly in- 

 ward, follow on and completely cover the corn 

 and so i ridge the row as to prevent baking. 

 When the corn is high enough to thin, run a 

 one-horse mould-board-: plow, one furrow on 

 each side, throwing the dint from the corn, then 

 thin to -the distance desired and chop out with 

 hoes. This constitutes the first working, un- 

 iB previously become hard, in 

 thorough coultering should 

 kingi The ridging up of the 

 & by the niordd-hoaifd plow, 

 ■ ; lid.- free from grass, 

 ... : - necessary. ■ -This 

 same plow, throwing 



less the land 

 in which< case 



