1G13. 
THE RURAL NEW-VORKEK 
813 
THE CORN CULTURE QUESTION. 
IIow much shall we cultivate the corn! 
This question is coming up now more 
than ever before. In former years most 
people went on the theory that constant 
cultivation was absolutely needed in or¬ 
der to mature the corn crop. Formerly 
deep culture, gouging down to the limit 
of the cultivator, was attempted. Then 
came the advocates of shallow tillage and 
level culture. Then it was found that 
neither extreme could be recommended 
for all situations. The character of the 
soil, the condition of the corn crop, and 
the character of the season, whether wet 
or dry, must be considered. The latest 
development has been the so-called “dust 
much,” which means a very light scratch¬ 
ing cultivation over the top of the sur¬ 
face. The picture, Fig. 340, gives a 
good idea of the way this is accom¬ 
plished. Instead of a deep-running cul¬ 
tivator a light harrow with 14 small 
teeth has been fitted so as to extend the 
full width between the rows of corn. 
With a careful horse, and the wheel set 
so as to run lightly, this scratching til¬ 
lage does excellent work, leaving a true 
dust mulch over the ground. This might 
be called almost ideal culture where the 
TREATMENT OF BLACKBERRIES. 
My blackberry crop is immense, both 
in quality and quantity. What shall I 
do for best results after the crop is over? 
Should all old canes be removed? IIow 
shall I treat new canes? Is it best to 
cultivate between rows this Fall? J. L. 
Lancaster, Pa. 
Some growers of this fruit do not re¬ 
move the old fruit canes until the fol¬ 
lowing early Spring, not because they 
believe it to be good practice, as a rule, 
but because they have more time to do 
the work then than in the Summer when 
the pressure of other work is upon them. 
All the old wood should be cut out and 
removed as soon after the crop is har¬ 
vested as it can be done. This will give 
the new canes a better chance to grow 
and develop into strong fruiting wood 
for the next year's crop. About four or 
five of the most healthy and vigorous 
should be allowed to grow to each 
hill, and all superfluous suckers should 
be treated as weeds and be cut out with 
the hoe. The tips of the young canes 
should be pinched out at some stage of 
their growth, but it is a matter of opin¬ 
ion among the best growers, at just what 
height they should be allowed to grow 
before being cheeked. Some contend they 
IIORSE CULTURE FOR THE CORN CROP. Fig. 340. 
conditions are right. Of late years, how¬ 
ever, there has been developed a group 
of farmers who believe that practically 
the only real service rendered by the 
cultivator is to rip out weeds. These 
people believe if the weeds are kept 
down, the corn will, under ordinary con¬ 
ditions, take care of itself. The experts 
of the Department of Agriculture have 
tried 125 experiments conducted in 2S 
different States, to test this theory. In 
one case what is known as thorough cul¬ 
ture was given as long as the cultivator 
could run through the rows. In the 
other case no cultivation whatever was 
given. The weeds and grass were cut 
off with a sharp hoe, stirring the ground 
as little as possible. Accurate measure¬ 
ment of the crop, both grain and fodder, 
taking the average of all these experi¬ 
ments, showed practically no difference 
whatever in yield. In other words there 
was no gain through cultivation when 
the weeds were kept down, and the De¬ 
partment concluded that under these 
conditions cultivation to preserve mois¬ 
ture did not pay. There must be a the¬ 
ory to sustain such experiments, and the 
question arises why, if the upper surface 
is not stirred, and the dust mulch main¬ 
tained, moisture does not leave the soil. 
All previous experience has gone to show 
that unless something is done to hold 
hack this moisture, there will be heavy 
>»ss through evaporation, for otherwise 
the moisture will be drawn by capillary 
attraciton to the surface, and then evapo¬ 
rated. The experimenters in the Depart¬ 
ment suggest that after the corn gets a 
fair start, it fills the entire upper sur¬ 
face of the soil with a mass of roots. 
Everyone knows that who has ever run a 
cultivator in the rows, and cleaned off 
the cultivator teeth when he got through 
the corn. It is thought that this mass 
ef roots right under the surface acts 
somewhat like the dust mulch to hold the 
moisture back, and thus prevent evapo¬ 
ration. At any rate, corn handled in this 
way gave a good yield, and we know of 
several farmers who have tried the ex¬ 
periment, and as a result of their inves¬ 
tigation have given up practically all 
culture except the early work with the 
weeder. When the weeds are kept down, 
these men obtain a good yield. 
get the best results when the canes are 
stopped at IS to 24 inches, while others 
think better crops can be obtained if the 
canes are ,-’lowed to grow to a height of 
four or five feet before they are stopped. 
When this latter method is practiced the 
canes will have to be tied up to stakes 
or wire to prevent their bending over and 
perhaps breaking off. Personally, I pre¬ 
fer to stop the canes at about 30 iuches 
in height. Either the minimum or me¬ 
dium height is much to be preferred, as 
in either case this early pinching back 
will induce the canes to make a heavy, 
stocky growth which will in most cases 
enable them to carry their crop of fruit 
without support of any kind. This, of 
course, is quite an advantage, as it is 
not always that the grower can spare the 
time nor find it convenient to stake and 
tie up the canes, to say nothing of the 
time and expense of procuring the 
stakes. 
Cultivation should commence imme¬ 
diately after the plantation has been put 
in order, and continued every 10 days or 
two weeks, or oftener if heavy rains oc¬ 
cur, until near the end of the growing 
season. Cultivated blackberries will not 
long remain in a civilized and cultured 
state. If cultivation is not religiously 
attended to they will soon go back to the 
aboriginal state, taking entire possession 
of the ground between the rows and hills 
in a short time, forming one of the best 
covers for rabbits and quail to be found 
anywhere, but making a mighty poor 
showing as a blackberry patch, as com¬ 
pared to what they are when kept in 
hills under good cultivation. k. 
Cultivation of Tarragon. 
Will you let me know how the tarragon 
plant is propagated and whether it is 
an annual, biennial or what? b. k. 
Tarragon, botanically Artemisia Dra- 
cunculus, is a perennial herb closely re¬ 
lated to wormwood. In cultivation it 
very rarely produces viable seed, and is 
propagated by cuttings or by divisions of 
the roots, which are best secured early 
in the Spring, when the plants are just 
starting to grow. Tarragon demands a 
very light loam and sunny situation; it 
may be planted one foot apart, in rows, 
and cultivated like sage or mint. When 
flower spikes show they should be cut 
off, to induce greater growth of leaves. 
The herb is used both green and dried. 
THE BOOK SHELF. 
The Call of the Land, by E. Benja¬ 
min Andrews, Chancellor Emeritus of 
the University of Nebraska. This book 
touches upon many varied topics in 
which the farmer is interested. Indus¬ 
trial education, farmers’ vacations, beau¬ 
tiful farmsteads, etc., are freely dis¬ 
cussed with much knowledge and sym¬ 
pathy for farm problems. Published by 
Orange Judd Company, New York; 3S5 
pages; price, $1.50 net. 
Farm Manures, by Charles E. Thorne, 
Director Ohio Experiment Station. A 
great deal of test and practical experi¬ 
ment has gone to the making of this 
book, which discusses the farm’s sources 
of fertility very thoroughly. Manage¬ 
ment of manure re-enforcement with 
chemicals and feeding for fertility are 
fully treated on. Published by the 
Orange Judd Company, New York; 242 
pages; price, $1.50 net. 
A Catechism of Agriculture, by 
Thomas Clark Atkeson, professor of ani¬ 
mal husbandry, West Virginia Univer¬ 
sity. This useful little book gives, in 
question and answer form, a very wide 
range of information on all sorts of farm 
topics. The simplicity of its arrange¬ 
ment, and the fact that it is based on 
actual questions asked by individual 
farmers, makes it especially practical. 
Published by Orange Judd Company, 
New York; 06 pages; price, 50 cents. 
Animal Husbandry for Schools, by 
Merritt W. Harper.—This is another of 
the useful rural text-books which, while 
especially designed for the use of schools, 
will be found so useful by any student of 
agriculture. All ordinary classes of 
farm animals and poultry are discussed, 
and copious illustrations add to the value 
of the work. Published by the Macmil¬ 
lan Company, New York; 409 pages; 
152 illustrations; price $1.40, postage ad¬ 
ditional. 
The Country Church, by C. O. Gill 
and Gifford Pinchot.—This book, pub¬ 
lished under the authority of the Fed¬ 
eral Council of the Churches of Christ 
in America, gives a careful but necessar¬ 
ily restricted study of religious life in 
Windsor County, Vermont, and Tomp¬ 
kins Co., N. Y. It gives figures of at¬ 
tendance and contribution, carefully tab¬ 
ulated, in the various religious bodies 
in the localities named. Published by 
the'Macmillan Company, New York; 222 
pages; price $1.25 net.* 
Roman Farm Management : The 
Treatises of Cato and Yarro, done into 
English, with Notes of Modern Instances, 
by a Virginia Farmer.—This beautiful 
book, sumptuous in binding and typo¬ 
graphy, gives the old-world wisdom of 
the Latin authors in clear and lucid Eng¬ 
lish. The wisdom of the Romans is sur¬ 
prisingly accurate as regards agriculture, 
in spite of our changing wisdom since, 
and there is real pleasure and profit in 
this book to those who know little of the 
Latin classics, as well as to those of 
more literary tastes. Published by the 
Macmillan Company, New York ; 365 
pages; price $2. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
n. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick reply and a. 
“square deal." See guarantee, editorial page. 
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