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It is intended by this bulletin to make known the results ob¬ 
served in the general cultivation of farm crops at this Station and 
for the locality. What follows is by no means claimed to be 
exhaustive, since it is offered only in the line of progress towards 
better methods than are in general practice. 
CORN CULTURE. 
Corn is one of the principal farm crops in the Valley, and in no 
other section of Colorado are natural conditions found as favorable 
to its production. Experiments and observations have shown the 
average yield to be very much below the possibilities, and there is 
a general demand for better methods and more thorough tillage. 
The preparation of the soil before planting has, no doubt, more to 
do with the outcome of the crop than any other operation. It 
should be borne in mind that our subsoil, though sandy, has a most 
compact structure. Corn roots have the habit of growing down¬ 
ward as well as branching. They are deep and broad feeders, in 
consequence of which the soil must be made loose and mellow to a 
considerable depth to secure full development. Land for corn 
should be plowed to an average depth of ten inches or more for 
this and another very important reason. Those familiar with the 
conditions of irrigation know with what rapidity a compact soil 
loses moisture. A well-tilled, porous soil collects and retains moist¬ 
ure by a natural law known as capillary attraction. Compact soils 
have that power to only a very limited extent. A comparative test 
of deep and shallow plowing was illustrated here in the case of a 
field of Colorado White field corn. One portion of the field was 
plowed to an average depth of four and five inches, while an adja¬ 
cent portion received double the depth of cultivation. The whole 
planting received uniformly the same culture, including irrigation. 
A comparison of the yields in measurement upon deep and shallow 
plowing showed a little over thirty per cent, gain on the greater 
depth of plowing with grain of superior quality. 
Land should always be well irrigated before plowing if not 
sufficiently moist to leave the work in the best possible condition 
for after cultivation. Fall plowing, as compared with that done in 
the spring, has the advantage of exposing the greatest possible 
amount of surface to the action of prolonged weather changes, which 
greatly facilitate the breaking up and putting in available form the 
fertilizing properties of the soil for the food of plants. If done 
thoroughly it also aids in retaining moisture which comes from 
natural causes. As irrigation restores the soil to its former com¬ 
pactness, it should never be done upon soils freshly plowed and 
prepared for planting, unless required to germinate the seed. 
There are advantages claimed for spring plowing. It enables the 
farmer to control moisture in making the operations of irrigating, 
plowing, and planting continuous. Irrigating to germinate seed 
