FARM PEACTICE IN THE CULTIVATION OF COKN. 49 
the cultivating is done with sweeps covering all the middle with three 
furrows, and by the last cultivation the land is comparatively level. 
As shown in Table XXII, often two or more implements are used 
for the same cultivation. Fertilizer is frequently applied to corn at 
the second or third cultivation, in which case the fertilizer distributor 
(fig. 35) is run close to the corn row and the middle plowed out with 
the sweep or 1 -horse turning plow. 
Very little stable manure is produced. Practically no cover crops 
are grown, but at the last cultivation cowpeas are often sown broad- 
cast between the corn rows. Frequently peanuts are planted in drills 
between the corn rows at the last 
cultivation, and after the corn is 
gathered the field is pastured 
with hogs. Most of the corn is 
of the white dent varieties. 
The most prevalent weeds are 
crab-grass, cocklebur, and Smart- 
Weed. FlG - 35- — A fertilizer distributor. 
SURVEYS IN AUGUSTA COUNTY, VA. 
Augusta County is located in the Shenandoah Valley, Va., and the 
soil is of the Hagerstown series. This region is extremely rolling 
and in some places rocky, but the farms are divided into large fields, 
and improved machinery is generally used. (Table XXIII.) The 
work is mostly done with 2 and 3 horse teams. Except for a few 
bottoms none of the land is tile drained, but practically all the land 
is drained by surface ditches to prevent erosion. 
Most of the leading roads have been macadamized and are operated 
under the toll system. The farms are usually operated by the owners 
with hired labor instead of tenants. The farms are large, and the 
people generally are in comfortable circumstances. 
On most farms a rotation of corn one year, wheat two years, and 
hay two years is maintained. A large percentage of the land is in 
pasture, and apples are extensively grown. The farm income is prin- 
cipally from apples and grain, supplemented by hay and cattle. 
The corn is grown on pasture or hay sod, and most farmers prefer 
to plow this land in the spring. Usually the breaking is done level 
with a 2-horse or 3-horse plow. After breaking, the land is har- 
rowed once or twice with a spring-tooth or disk harrow, and before 
planting it is gone over with a spike-tooth harrow or roller. The 
planting is largety done with 2-horse 2-row planters. Corn is usually 
planted level and in drills 3J feet apart, with one stalk every 18 
inches in the drill. Where the land is not too rolling, the corn is 
planted in checks 3^ feet apart each way, with two stalks to the hill. 
