FARM PRACTICE IN THE CULTIVATION OF CORN. 
43 
4-horse gang plow (fig. 33) or a sulky disk plow (fig. 34) and the 
land is gone over immediately with a spike-tooth harrow. Then 
before planting, it is harrowed with the disk and again with the 
spike-tooth harrow. 
Practically all the planting is done with a 2-horse 2-row planter, 
and the corn is planted level in checks 3J feet apart each way, alter- 
nating the hills with two 
and three grains. After 
the corn is up, it is har- 
rowed once or twice with 
a spike-tooth harrow and 
then cultivated three or 
four times in alternate 
directions with a 2-horse 
6-shovel cultivator. 
No cover crops are 
grown. The stable ma- 
nure is largely applied to 
wheat, and no commercial 
fertilizer is used for corn. 
Both the white and yel- 
low dent varieties of corn are grown. The most prevalent weeds are 
foxtail, bindweed, smartweed, and pigweed. 
Fig. 33. — A gang plow for four or five horses, exten- 
sively used in the Central West for breaking land. 
SURVEYS IN ROCKWALL AND GRAYSON COUNTIES, TEX. 
The tillage records for Texas (Table XXI) were taken in Grayson 
County around Sherman and in Rockwall County near Fate. The 
soil in these regions is of the black clay-loam type and very fertile. 
The land is rolling and no tile 
drains are necessary. Only a few 
surface ditches are required. 
A few of the roads have been 
macadamized and others are be- 
ing improved. The farms have 
exceptionally good houses and 
outbuildings, and fair schools are 
maintained. A considerable por- 
tion of the land is worked by ten- 
ants, but usually under the super- 
vision of the owner. The fields are large, and 4 or 5 horse teams are 
commonly used. A few farmers find the traction engine economical. 
The seasons are rather uncertain, and crop yields depend largely 
on the amount of rainfall. No general rotation is practiced, but 
usually corn and cotton follow small grain. Frequently cotton is 
grown on the same land two years in succession and then is followed 
Fig. 34. — A sulky disk plow. 
