FS LESSONS ON CORN. 5 
Exercises —Show the effect of plowing under cloddy soil, or a 
large cover crop, on the rise of capillary water. Also the effect of 
disking a cover crop or heavy coating of manure into the surface soil 
_ before turning under. Use four lamp chimneys, numbered 1, 2, 3, 
and 4, Fill all to a depth of 5 inches witl) a sandy soil. Finish filling 
No. 1, using good loam soil. On top of the sand in No. 2 put 1 inch 
of wheat or oat chaff well packed down. In No. 3 put 2 inches of 
fine clods. Finish filling Nos. 2 and 3 with loam soil. Complete the 
filling of No. 4 by using a mixture of loam and the same amount of 
chaff used in No. 2. Set all chimneys in about 1 inch of water. Ob- 
serve and explain results. 
A field is 80 rods long and 60 rods wide. How many acres? How 
' many days will it take to plow it, allowing 24 acres a day as fair 
work for man and team? What would be the cost, charging local 
prices? | 
_ References.—Farmers’ Bulletins 414, pp. 6, 7, 18, 17, 18; 537, pp. 
12, 13, 14; 729, pp. 1, 2,3. Farmers’ Bulletin 773 gives on pp. 10-12 
instructions on preparing land for planting corn under droughty 
_ conditions. 
_ . 
Sp Fee: et > 
7 
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4 
LESSON VII. 
Subject—Fertilizers and how to apply them. 
Topics for study —What are the indispensable requirements for a 
, good corn yield? What is one of the surest fertilizers for producing 
a large corn crop? Why? How many tons of well-decomposed and 
moist barnyard manure may you safely apply? Manure containing 
A stalks or undecomposed straw may reduce the corn yield. Explain. 
~ When should the manure be applied? What element of plant food is 
needed most by the soils for profitable corn production in your dis- 
“trict! What necessary elements of plant food do commercial ferti- 
lizers supply? When are such fertilizers likely to be profitable and 
how should they be applhed? Show the relation between profitable 
‘corn production and the use of lime, ground phosphate rock, and 
legumes on different kinds of soils.) Name the steps necessary in 
building up the soil permanently on a run-down farm in your district. 
_ References—Farmers’ Bulletins 44 *; 192," p. 5; 326,* p. 10; 398 *; 
414, pps lass! ppsl0, 11; 729, pp: 3, 4, 5,.6,.7,/8. 
LESSON VIII. 
Subject.— When and how to plant field corn. 
Topics for study.—At what time do the best farmers in your school 
district plant their cornfields? What is the old Indian rule? Why 
do the farmers not plant earlier?’ Why do they wish to plant corn 
as early as it is safe? Do most of them plant in continuous drills or 
