Improved methods of corn growing and intense cultivation

IMPROVED METHODS

Gorn Growing and Intense Cultivation

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“Some qualities Nature carefully fixes and
transmits but some, and those the finer, she ex-
hales with the breath of the individual as too
costly to perpetuate. But Inotice also that they
may become fixed and permanent in any stock, by
painting and repainting them on every individ-
ual, until at last Nature adopts them and
bakes them into her porcelain.’ —EKMERSON.

Improved Methods Of

Corn Growing and
Intense Cultivation

By J. B. ARMSTRONG.

- Two Copies Received
MAR 6 1906

— Copyright Entry

‘LIBRARY of CONGRESS

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TO THE FARMER, THE FEEDER AND THE BREEDER

For the past sixty years it has been my lot to be a farmer and connected
intimately and very much interested in farm life. Ihave lived to see the
sickle, the cradle and the scythe, the only tools, for gathering grain and hay
in our New England Home give way to modern machinery. Ihave watched
with interest the strides made by agriculture in its progress to the West. I
have seen the great changes from the simple methods and simple life with
its few wants that were easily supplied by new and cheap land and few if any
taxes. Ihave farmed on the hilly clay and stone covered hills of New Eng-
land. Ihave made farms of many thousand acres of the virgin soil of the
prairies of Illinois, lowa and Nebraska, therefore think Iam competent to
give advice on Farming. But those days have passed, farm life has changed,
there are no more cheap lands and the farmers of the past must awaken to
the fact that he must have more knowledge in regard to new methods and
new uses, that he may be better prepared to grow such crops as will pay in-
terest on higher priced land and give him a fair margin. The masses are
waking up new problems, confront them and allother vocations of life. They
must and will be met and [ trust the farmer will be the last one who will get
discouraged. Forhimthe government has at great expense established
agricultural schools with teachers who are learned in all that pertains to
crops, soils and adaptability and each individual state has her schools work-
ing along the same lines and on the same subjects and the farm paper isa
welcome visitor at your door each week, bringing you all the latest items in
regard to the farmer or his family and finally we come down to the farmers
institutes, being held for the farmer and by the farmer. Ought there be
anything discouraging to the farmer or to farm life? Wesee no reason for
discouragement in the new problem that confronts him. There are no other
callings so promising as farm life and especially have the farmers of the
great corn belt region of our country good reason to take new courage and
stay by the farm. But, never before has it been necessary for the farmer to
study farming in all its bearings from a practical standpoint, so carefully as
at the present day and at no time has he been so much interested in the sub-
ject of farming as he is today.

In casting around for a practical treatise on the subject I have been un-
able to find a book that seemed to the point and so condensed that it would
seem to be just what the farmer wanted. Ihave for several years issueda
small paper, The Farmers’ Guide anda book on corn growing that have met
with great favor amongst the farming people. I have been urged for several
years to give to my firmer brothers the benefit of my experience, I have in
my business connection been brought in contact with farmers in all parts of
the United States and for their beaefit and the farming worldat large I have
consented to write this volume, giving them my best thoughts and the best
teachings of those who are high in the agricultural learning and if as I wish
I may help give light on the subject I will be satisfied and my object will
have been accomplished. I trust those who may read this book will criticize
the same in the spirit and thought that prompted me to bring it before the
people.

8 BOOK OR CORN GROWING

Do Not Sell the Farm

One can hardly read the above heading without a feeling of sadness
With the American people there seems to be born an unrest; a longing to do
something or go to some place which if they wished they could not describe
and too often we find the farmer whoin his younger days, by hard toil or in
substance left from his father’s estate has gotten together money enough to
make the first payment on an unimproved farm, on which himself and his
young wife are starting out together to meet the pleasures and sorrows of
life, and in their efforts to improve their new home and care for the little
ones, years have past, great changes have come of which they took little
notice, being mostly interested in clearing away the farm mortgage. Years
roll on, a season of depression is at hand, the wife is over taxed with care
and nearly ready to give out, then is it any wonder that the farmer is blue?
He sees his neighbor in his fine carriage, with his family seemingly enjoying
life ane luxuries. It is no wonder then that when the city real estate man
proposes to sell his farm at a great advance that his first conclusion shall be,
we will sell the farm and get out of debt and try to live a more easy life.
The above experiences comes yearly to thousands of farmers of our nation.
How many object lessons they may find each day in any townorcity. The
poor day laborer, trying by hard work for any wages he may be able to get to
clothe and feed his family of little ones. His wife washing or doing such
work as she may have to help along. Many such wrecks may be found at all
times. The farmer that did not stop to think has sold the farm. Today
that same family mourned the loss of their once happy home. That same farm
today is worth many times the value of which it was sold. The owner is to-
day enjoying the improvements they had made, ana fruit from the trees that
they had planted, all of woich was lost to them through the lack of stopping
to consider the question of selling the farm. A farm, depend 02 it, is a gift
frcm the gods and the time is fast approaching when the farmer will see it.
He should not be discontented, he should be cheerfully patient, conditions
are most assuredly going to change and he will then discover what wealth he
had right before his eyes and in his own possession a claim, staked and
fenced, whose gold is not only inexhaustable but sure, a claim, better by far
than one of the Klondike or India. There is an old saying derived from the
experience of amanin dealing with the ups and downs of life, during thou-

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 9

ERE SSIES TS a SED A OP oe
sands of years which says that allthings comes to him who waits. If the
farmer doubts the truth of the old proverb, let him cut it out and put it into
his pocketbook The time is coming when he will find it to be true, and the
truth will lie beside it in great big bank bills. God’s greatest blessing to the
average farmer isafarm. Let us entreat of you that you do not forget the
advice we give. If youhavethe farm, be it ever so small, keep it. The
time will come when most needed that the farm will keep you and yours in
happiness and comfort. Therefore, do not sell the farm.

In support of our assertion that the great change is coming, we may
state the fact that $500 per acre has been paid for farm lands in England and
the land has paid the interest of that country on the investment. Today
when we note the fact of the great rate at which our naition is multiplying
and the hunger manifested by her people for land, take the ‘“‘Rosebud”’ land
as an object lesson, where thousands were turned away who could not get a
farm in that reservation. Then stop to consider the fact that our agricul-
tural land cannot be enlarged, that the increase of population will double in
say, ten to twenty years. Can we not reasonably be sure that by giving our
farms the same care and attention that they will bring even more than that
of England, or any other land on the face of the globe, and especially is this
true of the great surplus growing states. Absolutely every acre of it is
growing corn, the acreage cannot be enlarged, the consumption of corn is
doubling fast. Is it then any wonder that the man with the corn farm is
master of the situation? Corn is king, lucky the man who owns and controls
a few acres, he and his family are honorable members for life for his kingdom.
Then our advice and your judgment would lead you to secure land, treat it
fairly, reap the rewards, which says come to him who waits.

The Farmers’ Sons and Daughters

To the coming generation of farmers and to the agricultural world and
to the prosperity of our nation is the great question of what shall be the life
work of the farmers’ sons and daughters. Upon their choice depends in a
great measure the welfare and prosperity of our American people and in
this article I wish to bring to their attention, the opportunities that today are
offered to them by our great schools of Agriculture which are being so fully
supported by the great government of the United States and each individual
state where all the practical knowledge and experiments are being taught
and demonstrated so vividly and truly and where the student is brought so
close to nature and its possibilities tnat' at once he becomes thoroughly im-
bued with his work and the possilities that he turns the fiction and dross of
the world down for farm life and pleasures of agriculture, forgetting the per-
plexing turmoil of the professional life of those in town and city and takes
for himself the highest and most pleasant profession offered to man—Agri-
culture. The first question therefore to settle in your mind is, does farming
and things pertaining to the farm appeal to you? Do you enjoy the freedom
and independence of the farm life? If you can answer these inquiries in the
affirmative then I think I have something to say to you about your life’s work
and determining your profession, which is a question every young man has
to settle for himself sooner or later. The successful solution of this impor-
tant and often intricate problem will largely determine your future useful-
ness. You have grownup onthe farm, and, I venture there are not many
things which come in the ordinary routine of farm work but what you pride

10 BOOK ON CORN GROWING
ea EIS PW Spee De R Ceruse tires Ee ON Sat Rr aa ee ee

yourself on being able todo. Therefore, why are you not better fitted to
take up the study of a business you already know something about rather

than jumping into something you know practically nothing about, but simply —

think you would like when you once got onto it. One surely makesa mistake
in going into something for which they are not fitted. There is no question
but that farming is a paying proposition, if run on business principles.

The average farmer is not raising anything like the crops he should.
The average corn yield for United States, per acre, does not reach the 35-
bushel mark. Wheat has been condemned as a non-paying crop and dropped
from the rotation by many, if rotation is practiced atall. Thesilo and green
crops for soiling are given practically little consideration and scrubby mon-
grel animals make up the live stock outlay on only too many farms. Would
you like to do your part in putting farming on a better basis in yourcom-
munity?

There is always a market for the best. But without good training how
can you expect to produce the best? You simply cannot, and you will find
you have to “lay down’”’ to the fellow wh» does known now. If you are hunt-

ing a profession that offers you an opening and a chance to “make good” .

then look into agriculture. There is no course now offered to young men
which can compare with it in advantages and earning capacity of its gradu-
ates. For example, take this year’s graduating class at one of our leading
Agriculture Colleges, nine in number (there should have been fifty-nine).
Four of these agricultural graduates went-back to the farm, the best place
to apply their education The other five have good positions elsewhere; one
is in the government experiment station; another has a responsible position
in thedairy department at the World’s Fair; another is assistant farm man-
ager for a millionaire farmer in New York; another is dairy foreman for the
Same man, and the other is a partner with his father in the fertilizing busi-
ness. Remember, this is just one year’s class from one school. _

Prof. H. C. Price, dean of the Ohio college of agriculture in an article in
the North American Farmer on the ‘Opportunities of the agriculturally
trained man,’’ says that ‘‘among the graduates of the college of agriculture
of the Ohio state university who have graduated in the last eight years are
five men who are holding full professorships in leading colleges at a salary
of $2,000 or more per anum; in the United States department of agriculture
there are between fifteen and twenty of our recent graduates who are hold-
ing positions with salaries ranging from $1000 to $1500 per year.’’ Now, if
you think your preferences do not lead you back to the farm, how can you
in the face of the above examples, and numerous others equally convincing,
plunge into the ordinary professions, which are now already overcrowded with
their burden of novices, and ignore a field which more than any other offers
to the ambitious young man acareer of honor and usefulness? Wake up,
fellows, toa good thing! People are coming to realize that there is some-

thing really worth while in scientific agriculture and you can see for your- ©

self, when it comes to the ‘‘show down”’ that the agriculturally trained man
has hold of a mighty good string.

The farmers’ son, of all young men, have the qualitities first of being a
strong,healthy mind, clear judgment, the early thought and training from his
parents who are in full sympathy of this line of life work—this combined with
the teachings of the Great Bureau of Agriculture at Washington D. C. and

BY J. .B. ARMSTRONG 11

and the state Experimental stations and the great awaking interest of the
people who will, at no distant day demand that the teachers of our public
schools shall be competent to teach the same at our public schools when in
a crude way they shall be a testing garden, that shall be of great interest to
all our boys and girls, then will their minds be stored with such knowledge as
will make farming and the farm home the highest ambition and make their
lives useful and happy.

Thoughts for the Father and Mother on the Farm—tntelligence and
: Profitable Farm Knowledge

As individuals our knowledge is very limited, but when we think that
every progressive farmer, feeder and breeder is a student in that greatest of
all schools ‘‘the school of experience’? and that, to many of these students
there comes some special task that puts him, or her, as it may be; upon their
metal and they successfully work out the problem and wr te out the facts for
one of the journals, the concentration of the indivual information reaching
millions of eager readers searching for this very knowledge, that will be
found in this volume. Much of the correspendence is from the level-headed,
close observing men who guide the plow, put out the feed and mate breeding
stock. Thus these journals become bulletin boards describing facts that may
be relied upon.

The greatest experiment station in the world is the Department of Agri-
culture of Washington D.C. It has behind it the richest and most progress-
ive nation in the world.

Then the several state experiment stations that study soils and condition
pertaining to each state. In this work is an army of the b-st trained special-
ists and not a weekly issue that does not have a record of some triumph ‘“‘of
mind, over matter’’ how to destroy moulds, rusts, scab fungi and insect pests;
they show us lessons in better breeding. Tne students that guide the plow
and work in the feed lots and manage the breeding are of the primary class.
The experiment station experts are the intermediate. The wizards of the
magnifying glass, the microscope and the chemical laboratory are of the
‘high schoo..’’ They tellusof protoplasm; a name not one farmer in ten
thousand ever heard pronounced or saw in print, yet it stands for a quality in
every living thing and if it were to be destroyed in vegetable life every living
creature would soon perish by starvation.

They tell us how in protoplasm is developed the cell that later becomes
_ impregnated with the vital spark we call life, and in the vegetable or plant
world there is born from and of this protoplasm countless myriads of a vege-
table growth so small that millions of separate organisms can exist in an
‘inch of soil. This growth called bacteria affects for good or bad every bite
of our food, every swallow of liquid; without the work of bacteria in our soil
our fields would become barren. These deeply learned men prove to us that
in or that as part of the atmosphere over every acre of soil there is fertiliz-
ing material that our soils are in most need of, nitrogen to the amount of 36,-
000 tons (nitrogen, pure, is worth $300 per ton) or over each acre the nitrogen
is worth $11,000,000 yet our crops starve for nitrogen. These things are but
as drops of water to the ocean of what these wise men tell us every week.

In 1890 a young man bought one of these supposed run down farms at the
moderate price of $10 per acre ina pleasant county and near a good town

12 BOOK ON CORN GROWING .
ese nthe eSeminar OS
and shipping station. It was called the poorest farm inthe county. Inten
years or in 1902 the condition of the soil had been:so changed and without a
dollar being spent for commercial fertiltzers, and in ways any farmer, no
matter how poor, can follow that it is now a first-class farm. This better-
ment of soil and conditions give this farm rank as one of the bestin the
country and an offer of $40 per acre was refused. He made no substantial
headway until he became an earnest student of soils and soil conditions, To
help in his studies he bought the best books on farm subjects, he subscribed
for a number of leading farm journals and became a zealous student of farm
problems and their solution as taught in their columns. He found in every
issue something worth many times the cost of the paper or book.

When he got so as to raise more than the work stock consumed, he found
colts, calves, pigs and poultry would pay him sometimes double, often three
times what shippers would pay. Then feeding journals were added; the need —
of better stock as a means of better results and breedtng journals were next
added.

Without the wise counsel from the able editorials and light and encour-
agement from the correspondence in these books and journals he would have
no doubt but that today he would belong tothe army who believe farming
doesnot pay. I know it does pay if you know how.

Now I want to teach a million farmers how to tap the great reservoir of
riches—the air—and the inexhaustable mine of mineral wealth—the earth—
and combine this vast store of richness in the surface soil in the form of
available plant food, why they are failing as I failed until I found out how
to propagate and bring into existence the thousands of millions of bacteria
and iavisible organism that worked incessantly to help me.

I assume the right to. teach in this great school, for I have caused three
bushels of great big golden ears of corn to grow where was one before and
more than two bushels of heavy wheat on the same land that used to bring
but one bushel of lizht chaffy, shriveled wheat. I want to go with the vast
army of farmers, feeders and breeders boldly up to the door of the temple of
agricultural wisdom. A knock will admit us tothe inhaustable store house
of knowledge and each one of us, according to his zeal and intelligence, can
take all he can use.

The civil laws and public sentiment now requires the lawyer, doctor and
professional man to acquire an education in his work. The law of necessity
is forcing the farmer and breeder to become a student. The failures upon
the farm today are the result of ignorance. Success can only come of en-
lightenment; the shiftless drones in the hives of agricultural activities are
being driven out. The experiment station bulletins and the farmers’ insti-
tutes are schools of instruction brought to our doors every week. We have
no excuse but indolence if we remain ignorant in the future; if we fail the
fault is our own. We especially plead with the fathers and mothers upon the
farms that they place these educational advantages within the reach of their
children to the end that they may fit themselves to hold their own in the
fiercer struggles of competition and crowded industries. In the days nearer
to us than we think the educated, skilful food producers will have a decided
advantage over any class of workers inthe world. Failing to fit your sons
and daughters for first place you must see them become servants, ‘“‘hewers of
wood and drawers of water’’ forthe educated who will dignify farming asa

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 13

profession. They will do their work with the brain, while your boys and girls
toil with the hands.

The Farmer and the Elements

The farmer of all our workers is at the mercy of uncontrollable elements
to a greater extent than any other of the great industries of our nation; the
controlling element in his harvest is the physical condition of the soil. If the
soil is not in condition to produce a good crop, no amount of labor can pro-
duce it. The farmer is at the mercy of the weather. An excess of deficiency
of rainfull, an excess or deficiency of heat, determine more than anything
else the yield of all kinds of grain. Given weather that will enable the
farmer to put his land in proper physical condition and retain it, and there
will be a great harvest. Given weather that will forbid this and the harvest
will be small. In other words’ the yield of the crops will depend not so much
on the actual fertility of the soil, its content of potassium, phosphorus or
nitrogen, as upon a physical condition that will enable the crops to use the
amount of fertility therein contained.

Where lands are soggy, the weather cold, a good stand of corn can not be
obtained, no matter how good the seed. Where the same conditions prevail
neither wheat nor oats can yield a full crop, because weeds can grow in soil
in a bad physical condition while grains can not. We mention this because
we wish to impress upon the farmer that what he needs to be thinking about
is not so much the chemistry of the soil as soil physics. He needs to study
the best methods by which he can get all there is in the weather, so that he
can utilize to the fullest extent what nature gives him in the way of heat
and light and moisture. These are his raw materials. He can use them to
the fullest extent to which they are supplied or he can waste them. If he
gets his soil in the best physical condition, in the best tilth possible, where
he can make the fullest use possible of the raw material which nature gives
him, he will make a success; otherwise, failure is inevitable.

We do not like to see farmers paying too much attention to soil chemis-
try and spending too much of their money in buying commercial fertilizers.
The chemist has his place and can be and is at times of great service. Com-
mercial fertilizers have their place and can sometimes be used to advantage.
But the ordinary father had better turn his attention to the best methods of
keeping the soil in the very best physical condition, which can be done by ro-
tation of crops, by the careful use of manure, by the use of the best imple-
ments available, by using his best knowledge and his best skill. Spend such
spare time as he may have in reading some of the many farm papers in which
he will find many new ideas, a rich food for sound thinking; again such read-
ing being upon subjects that interest the wife, the sons and daughters, will
greatly tend to fix their minds and attentionin the right direction;'will make
them men and women of sound judgment, contented with home and nature in
all its purity and comfort, satisfied with himself, his lot and the world; his
life will be a happy one and his children a joy in his old age.

A Tiodel Farm

No one would be so presumptuous as to estimate what willbe the ulti-
mate population of the United States. This is a subject for{much interest-
ing speculation. Some fear iseven now felt that the limit of productivity
in this country will soon be reached by reason of the rapid settlement of_our

14 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

waste and public lands. Nothing better shows how causeless this fear is and
what great possibilities of further growth and development still remain to
us, than alittle pamphlet just issued by the department of agriculture,
styled ‘‘A Model Farm.”’

This model farm is situted ina very old settled district in Southeastern
Pennsylvania, near a large city and contaias only fifteen acres. Thirteen
acres are under cultivation and the remaining two acres are occupied by
buildings and surrounding yards. This little tract of land came to its pres-
ent possessor in 188] with a mortgage of $7200 upon it. The first year the
farm lacked $46 of paying expenses. By careful management the owner
within the next six years paid off the entire mortgage and interest. That
is, he made $1,200 a year off his fifteen acres, and this sum is the tia net
profit he has been setting aside ever since the debt was paid.

The methods which this farmer employed to bring about such successful
results are worth the consideration of the whole agricultural world. The
natural soil of this little farm is very poor, reddish gravelly clay. It wasso
run-down in 1881 that it did not support the two cows and one horse kept up-
onit. Now it raises the roughness for thirty head of stock, seventeen of
which are milch cows. The present remarkable state of fertility was
brought about solely by the use of stable manure applied directly from the
barn as it was produced. The method of handling the manure was such that
none was lost, either liquid or solid. No commercial fertilizers were pur-
chased, and no manure was hauled from the city or from other places. The
waste from the farm its-lf, judiciously preserved and distributed, was used to
bring the farm up to its present high state of productivity.

On assuming management of the farm, the owner read Quincy’s book on
the soiling of cattle, published in 1859. ‘‘Soiling’’ consists. in cutting and
feeding green feed instead of allowing the animals to run on pasture. This
practice the farmer adopted and carefully preserved all waste. The next
year he read Stewart’s book on feeding animals and 'earaed his first lesson in
‘‘balanced rations’? He also learned to feed some dry hay with the soiling
crops, thus giving the manure a proper consistency Th.nce forward the
management of the constantly growing herd of cuws was a simple matter,
and the farm began not only to pay a profit, but toiacrease in fertility. One
man and a boy do the labor of the farm, except in hay harvest aad during the
cutting of silage. The owner does only such portions of the ordinary labor
as he cannot safely trust to hired hands, but he pians all the work and sees
that his plans are strictly followed. So systematic is the work that he often
goes away for weeks at a time without notice to his laborers, or interruption
of the regular routine. He has plenty of time for rest and recreation. He
pays no regard to rotation of creps. His remarkable success depends solely
upon plantiaog the right kind of crops, feeding his animals a balanced ration,
preserving all manure and waste and protecting the farm from pene washed
out by the the torrential rains.

The lesson gained by this one man’s success is that inferior lands can be
made to yield twice or three times as much as the present average by care-
ful and intelligent husbandry. Such husbandry is not yet generally practiced
by American farmers but eventually it will be practiced, andthen there
needs be no fear that the product of the farms will not keep pace with the
growing population.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 15

From the above it is very evident that the population of our great Agri-
cultural country may be increased to any number and yet the necessity of the
people will be fully met by the more intense methods of farming and the bet-
ter knowledge that we will have obtained in the methods of preserving and
feeding what our farms will produce no nation or people ever had so many
bright minds in such earnest work digging deeply into all hidden mysteries
of nature which hold the combinations that will unlock the golden treasurers
and double and thribble our yield and bring such plants and fruits from their
hidden homes in far distant lands to be di-tributed by our Agricultural Asso-
ciations to those parts of our great domain where they may be most at home
or most needed and best adapted. Buta few years ago it was thought that
winter wheat could not be grown farther north than north Missouri and yet
today it may be found growing luxuriously in Minnesota and South Dakota,
the same being true with corn while undoubtedly in a tropical plant by the
careful selection and breeding is being grown as far north as North Dakota
fruits the apple, peach, plum and cherry are fast making their home in the
north, we have only to turn the attention of the thinking man or scientist to
anything that will be for the good of the people and he will find the means to
obtain it while it is impossible for each farmer to keep pace with all these
improvements as yet by occupying bis spare time in reading Agricultural
Papers and Bulletins issued by different State Experimental Stations of the
different states, he will be well informed on all those subj2cts and be able to
select such things as shall seem best for himself or his vicinity; the amount
of our avalabol farm lands is a fixed fact but our possibilities can not be es-
timated. Strive then to make your farm a model farm in your own way and
with your own mind and means and by so doing you will be satisfied with your-
self and the great world at large.

A Twenty Acre Farm

Reading an article on Page 902 on the subject of ‘‘Land Hunger’ prompts
me to give the readers of the Farmer my experience on a twenty-acre farm.
Icame to this county fifteen years ago at the age of eighteen, having worked
from twelve years of age uatil eighteen to save enough money to bay a tick-
- et from Switzerland to Kansas. I worked out on a farm by the month at from
$15 to $20 and went to school a little while in Lincoln. Then I started back
to Switzerland with $610 which I had saved to visit my pirents and help them
secure ahome. Istayed in Switzerland seven months, and went back to Kan-
sas again with only $52. Irenteda farm of 120 acres, married in the spring
of 1897, started at the bottom, bought everything on time, and gave half of
- the crops forrent. The first year’s work piid my debts. The second year I
came out $270 ahead, which’gave me money enough to rent an eighty-acre
farm and pay cash rent. ButIdid not do this. Iwas raised on a six-acre
farm in my native couatry and I thought twenty acres would do in this
country, sol found arough piece of land in Pawnee county, Nebraska, for

-which I paid $12.50 per acre. The land next to it soldat from $40 to $50, but this
twenty was rough hill land, covered with brush, springs and rocks. The neigh-
bors there wondered what I was going to do with a piece of land like that,
but the more they talked the more I determined to show them what could be
done. Today many of them say ‘‘He makes as much on his:'twenty acres as
we do on our large farm.” :

‘What dolIraise? Well, potatoes are my money making crop, and small

16 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

fruit. I have about five acres of potatoes every year and from eight to ten
acres of corn. I grow corn between the pot atoes and small fruit in the young
orchard. I put out an orchard of 950 pears, 500 peaches, 100 plums, cherries,
apples, quinces and every kind of small fruit that will grow here. There isal-
ways something ripe from the 20thof May until October. Always have some-
thing to sell which brings ready cash, and there is always something to do.

About the pears: I put out thirty-six the first year of the different stand-
ard varieties. I put them on the north slope where thetimber growth was
hickory, oak and walnut. Those trees all have tap roots andI pulled some of
them out from six to ten feet inlength. Itisa loamy soil, twenty-two feet
_ deep, and after a rain the land is dried first, therefore I can cultivate it first
and let the air in and hold the moisture. On the south slope I let the timber
stand. Here I have aspring and nice pasture for two cows and a good pro-
tection against heavy winds. That is the true place fora pearorchard. We
must study the location, the soil, the tree and its wants if we succeed in pros-
pering in growing it. I have places on my farm where I could not grow trees.
Above the pear orchard is about an acre that is wet, which is not fit for corn
nor potatoes nor grain nor the small fruit. Sometimes it is not fit for pas-
ture. [made two ditches and filled them with rocks to drain the land and
made a reservoir of twelve hundred barrels to save the water. Isowed this
piece of ground in English blue grass and red top and it makes a lot of feed
and good pasture. The water Luse for irrigation in dry weather.

But I have found something better than watering my crops. Wealways
get enough rain if we take proper care of it. This is my experience the last
six years in working a small farm. Cultivation will doit. Not simply culti-
vation to kill the weeds. but cultivation so that weeds won’t grow. Cultivate
the potatoes as long as the vines are green, butdo not cut the roots. Culti-
vate the corn as long as it grows. Do not quit when the tassels appear, but
keep on with five or eight shovel-cultivator. That is the time to add bushels
to the acre, and these extra bushels make you money which will help you pay
off debts and have better homes and be better satisfied. It is not the acres
we plant but what we take proper care of, and this can be done ona small
farm, and there is where the money lies, having everything under control no
matter what the season. Iwouldrather wait on the train than have the
train wait on me, and the same stands good with thecrops. We must wait
on them and not have them wait onus. From five to eight hours after the
rain we can make a goodsoil mulch and get the best results and save the farm
most effectively. If aman has fifty or sixty acres of corn how can he expect
that the corn plowed at once after it when the best mulch can be made?
Where the plowing has been delayed a crust forms: on top and the air will be
shut out and the moisture will evaporate rapidly. The roots will grow and
the root system will come close to the surface. This is true in any cultivated
crop. It is hard on the young orchard to let the crust form, especially hard
on pears.

The pear is one of the most thrifty growing trees we have. In 1901, that
dry year, I planted 350 and lost only three trees out of 312 where the ground
was continuously cultivated, and thirty-six trees which were plantedina
clover field and could not be cultivated. We kept a good soil mulch around
these latter trees, put hay around them and watered them, but I lost half of
them after the clover was taken off the ground. WhereI cultivated I hada

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG Wy

mulch allover the ground and some of the trees bloomed and fruited the same
year and have fruited right along ever since. The leaves of the trees in the
clover field began to look yellow, then black, and soon the limbs and stems
died They could not withstand the heat of the day because of lack of air
and moisture for the roots. In 19021 put out 450 more. Pear trees planted
in 1898 have from one-half to one bushel of fruit to the tree. When I com-
menced to plant the pears the folks here said that they were not good—that
they blighted. They said I would never see any fruit from them, that my
mon: y was lost. Now they see different. Everybody makes some failures,
but failures are worth doilars and cents to us in our future work. They teach
us how to become masters of a thing instead of slaves. Most of our young
men today need a better education and need to get it as they go along in
practical work. Five young men went from our township to Dakot: for land.
We have plenty of land here for them if they wanted towork. I havea
twenty acre farm, and it is enough for any man who will work it right.

The above is from the pen of one of our adopted brothers, from a foreign
land, so different from ours where in the crowded condition of population of
necessity their farms must be small and the farming done in an intensive
manner and such care taken as to seed selection and cultivation and every
foot growing something, their holdings of course being small the farmer is
able to, each day, inspect every rod, his habits of care and industry make a
good living on those very few acres and when such a farmer brought to our
nation and on to our rich prairie where it seems to him one has only to scratch
the soil and it brings forth sucn crops of golden produce that twenty ecres
seems to him animmense farm. He puts the same methods, the same care
and attention as he did in his own country and the results are most wonder-
ful We have in mindan Englishman farmer who many years ago sett'ed
near Galesburg, [llinois. At that time land was very cheap, he possessed
some means but only bought forty acres, that being twice the amount he had
had to work in England and to him the forty acres was a large tract. His
methods were very much like those stated above, although he had turned
his attention more tocattle and hogs For many years his only land was
that forty where all bis time and attention were spent and until he had
accumulated money that he could not let for a good interest he did not buy or
own any other land, b_t finally for the purpose of employing his money safely
he bought more. He oftensaid to the writer, ‘‘The forty is all I can attend
to asl ought ’’ The small farm well attended brings wealth, happiness and
comfort and the great respect of all our friends. We may learn many valu-
able lessons by observation of these foreign brothers, who have been forced
by circumstances to conform to such rules and such economy as shall bring
the greatest results to any nation or people. J. B. ARMSTRONG.

The Farmer of the Past And the Farmer of Today

A few years ago [ visited my old Michigan home ona beautiful August
morning when I took a stroll out from our native town down past the old
cemetery where so often in our boyhood days we were called to sympathize
with our dear friends as their loved ones were being taken to their last rest-
ing place and where later in life we laid our dear parents. This was one of
those days so bright, so still, so quiet that nature could talk to us ina lan-
guage none but ourselves could understand and as I passed along and around
the old farm where so many of my happy days were spent, all of those bygone

18 BOOK ON CORN GROWING
SEE Ren eennnene rene a eer mB URS Ngo Ee SLs LLL NA ON snk

frienIs, in uur m nd, came trooping up to give usa hearty cheer. Can you
wond:r that I began to meditate upon the past and as I seated myself upon
the trunk of one of those mig hty monarchs of the forest under whose
branch s ve had often played and chatted with our young friends in days
long past? A feeling of sadness came over us, the birds were singing just as
merrily, th? sun was shining just as brightly, all nature was in its beauty,
but the companions of our youth were not there, the bright faces, the laugh-
ing eyes and friendly greeting could not be, alas where are they and the farm
so chanyed? In those days much of it was heavy timber, sixty years ago and
{ could only think of the toil and labor that our friend had done to fell those
mighty trees and put in cultivation those beautifullands. We were with him
in his days of strength and toil, his pleasures and sorrows and years ago he
passed on tne other side. Today it is all.highly improved, nothing being left
but occasionaily an old stump or decaying body to showi s past condition, all
making a huge reminder of the past; as I sat there nosound reached my ears
and [ could only realize that as its being typical of the past. Did it ever oc-
cur tu you that noise and the kind of noise was a sure index of our advance-
ment and progress in farming as well as in manufacturing? About the only
noise on the farm in those days was the spinning wheel and loom or the
happy laugh of the maid as she went out and harkened for the tinkle of the
bell on old brindle who was peacefully feeding far away amongst the mighty
trees and beautiful pasture. There were no movers, thrashers or engines
upon the farm, no modern sewing macbines inthe house, no typewriters in
the offic:. Werealize that many many years have past since those days;
no other diys can b2 ashapp, but with their passing most of our young com-
panions have gone. The days of pioneering are mostly past. Our grand-
fathers have subdued the mighty forest and made them to blossom as the
rose and provided for us, beautiful homes. They too have gone to their eter-
nal reward and we are left to carry on and improve upon the work left for us.
Theirs was a life of hardship, labor and toil; they accepted it cheerfully and
did it faithfully and well and the man must indeed be an ingrate who does not
feel and recognize the fact that they madeall far more pleasant forus. They
laid the foundation and well too and we have entered upon the building prop-
er. Perhaps only upon the first story but I realize that we must so build on
their foundation that our children shall not be ashamed of cur part of the’
building wen the great structure shall kave been finished and let us not for-
get that we each and allare workers and upon us depends the solidity and
character of this mighty structure. We realize today as never before that
the farmer is the foundation of all our greatness and yet with all our think-
ing, writing anjd experimenting, we still find many that are achip of the old
block instead of being as they ought, the grand old block with the addition of
anewch p; we trust that every young man who realizes his present oppor-
tunities aud advantages will try and bea greater and if possible a better ~
min thaa his father inall respects. The farmer of today ought to be more
liberally -ducated along the line of his special work, that includes more than
bock-learniuy. It requires brain-power more than physical, which will be in
demand in the future. He should not be worked so hard that his mental and
moral faculties may grow and enlarge and be the dominant character of his
being. He should be familiar with botany that he may intelligently observe
the habits of the plants, trees and shrubs and be able to classify annuals, bi-
enoial aad p2rennial. He should know enough of zoology to be able to judge

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 19

SEE

correctly of the use and injures of birds, worms and insects; he should know
enough of geology and solid chemistry to distinguish the effect of intense
farming and soil robbing; he should be, above all, a Christian gentleman at
home, in the field, the garden, the orchard, or lawn as well as well as the li-
brary. ‘Does it pay financially?’ has been the great question of the past;
the same questions are before us today; ‘‘Does it pay to be like.our fathers;
does it pay to b2 a fine and cultured Christian gentleman; do2s it pay to be
at home at all time, in tae field or with the cultured gentleman you meet
from other parts of our great land?’’ These questions are being answered
every day by the great progress of our mighty nation. Today, you may ob-
serve on every hill top magnificently grand edifices of learning, where the
poor have the same rights and privileges as the rich, where the lowly street
Arab may prepare himself if he choose, for the highest honors in the gift of
our people. We have now arrived at the point that we must havea better
grade of live-stock, a more productive variety of grains, a better quality of
fruits and vegetables, more perfect machinery, better appliances in all di-
rections, for all will be in great demand. The old methods cannot supply;
they will not do. All products the farmer has to sell must come to market in
an attractive package or form, put up by clean hands and honest weight to
receive the highest price. Again I wish to say a few words, that it has been
our observation in traveling over our country that where we find the best
clothed and fed people, the best land, the greatest number of churches we
find the most contented and happy people. Can you imagine what the
bearing upon life may be inthe beautifying of our homes and grounds; will
they not appeal to our preceptive faculties, to our artistic nature? If so, do
not build a house so large that you cannot afford to paint and adorn it; never
have so large a farm that you cannot have a finely cared forlawn. Such are
great object lessons for the good of all. How many of your neighbors will
follow your example, how soon will your street be beautiful if your efforts
are in the right direction? I trust this tidiness will soon sweep over Iowa
and that we soon shall see ease, comfort and happiness in alldirections. The
farmer of all thesé should have a clear power of observation so that he may
readily appreciate and apply nature’s laws. Upon his shoulders rest all our
prosperity and until the farmers of our natian are progressive to the highest
degree our country cannot attain that eminence we so much desire.

Let each farmer devote all spare time in stuying nature in all its forms
and follow our suggestions as nearly as possible and he will be able to observe
and comprehend many things connected with nature laws which otherwise
he would have passed by unobserved. Therefore, let us be thoughtful, indus-
trious and earnest so that those wh) are to take our places willsay, ‘‘Peace

be to our fathers, their examples will be hard to excell, their task was well
and faithfully done.”

The Plant Breeder

The plant breeder before making combination should with great care se-
lect the individual plant which seems best adapted for its purpose as by this
course many years of experiment and much needless expense will be avoided.
The difference in the individuals which the plant breeder has to work upon are
sometimes extremely slight. The ordinary unpracticed person cannot by any
possibility discover the exceedingly minute variations in form, size, color,
fragrance, precisity anda thousand other characters which the practical

20 BOOK OR CORN GROWING

breeder perceives by lightning like glance. The work is not easy, requiring
an exceedingly keen perception of minute differences. Great practice and
extreme care entreating the organism operated upon and even with all the
naturally required variation added to those secured by scientific crossing and
numerous other means the careful accumulation of slight individual differ-
ences through many generations, is imperative after which several genera-
tions are often but not always not necessary to thoroughly fix the desired
type for all practical purposes. The above applies to annual or those plants
generally produced by seed. The breeder of plants which can be reproduced
by division has great advantage for any valuable individual variation. Can
be multiplied to any extent desired without the extreme care necessary in
fixing linear breeding, the one which must be reproduced by seed, but even
in breeding perenials the first deviation from the original form are often un-
appreciable to the perception but by accumulating the differences through
many generations the deviation from the original form is often astonishing,
but by careful and intelligent breeding any peculiarity may be made perma-
nent and valid. New species are at times produced by the art of the breeder
and there is no known limit to the improvement of plants through the educa-
tion of breeding and selection. How soon do the lowly native plants, fruit or
grasses disappear from the face of the earth? When once the plant breeder
has by his asit were magical touch brought forth the wonderfully improved
fruit, flour gains, etc. What great changes have been brought forth in our
day; for example, the little nubbeny eight rowed squaw corn of New England,
which we grew in our younger days compared with the Mammoth White and
Yellow ears of today. The plant breeder is an explorer into the infinite, he
will have no time to make money and his castle and brain must be clear and
alert in throwing aside possible ideas and rapidly replacing them with living
throbbing thoughts followed by action; then and not until then they shall cre-
ate marvels of beauty and value in new expression of materialized force for
everything of value must be produced by application of the forces of nature
which are always awaiting hisdemand. The vast possibilities of plant breed-
ing can hardly be estimated. It would not be difficult for one man to breed a
new life, wheat, barley, oats or rice which would produce one grain more to
each head or acorn which should produce anextra kernel to each ear, a potato
to each plant or an apple, plum, orange or nut to each tree. What would be
the result in five staples only in the United States alone the inexhaustable
force of nature would produce annually without effort or cost five million two
hundred thousand extra bushels of corn, fifteen million extra bushels of
wheat, twenty millions extra bushels of oats, two millions extra bushels of
barley, twenty-five millions extra bushels of potatoes? But these vast possi-
bilities are not alone for one year or for our own time or race but are bene-
ficient legacies for every man, woman or child who shall ever inhabit the
earth and who can estimate the elevating and refining influence and moral
value of flours with all their graceful forms and bewitching shades and com-
binations of colors and exquisitely varied perfumes. Those silent influences
are unconsciously felt even by those who do not appreciate them consciously
and thus with better and still better fruits, nuts, grains and flours will the
earth be transformed, man’s thoughts be turned from the base destructive
forces into the nobler productive ones which lift them to higher plains of
action towards that happy day when man shall offer his brother man not bul-
lets and bayonets but richer grain, better fruit and fair flowers and beauti~

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 21

ful homes undoubtedly the great Creator placed all plants upon the earth in
their primitive state, as it were, at the start, at thesame time giving to man
the ability by hard work and study to bring to our notice the grand work of
perfection and how nobly is this task being carried out. We see it each day
most notably in the great variety and beautiful colors of flowers the great
variety and better quality of grain and vegetables science,sees better grains,
nuts and vegetables, in all new forms, color and flavor with more nutrients
and less waste and with every injurious and poisonous qualities eliminated
and with power to resist sun, wind, rain, frost and destructive fungus and in-
sect pests and fruit without stones, seeds or spines, better fibre, coffee, tea,
spice, rubber, oil, paper and timber trees, starch, color, perfume, plants, every
one of these and ten thousand more are within the reach of the ordinary skill
in plant breeding. This is the work of the plant breeder. On you now rests
one of the next world movements; the guidance of the Creative force are in
your hands. Manis slowly learning that he too may guide the forces which
through all the ages performing this ‘beneficent work which he sees every-
where, above, beneath and around him in the vast teeming animal and plant
life of the world. These lines were brought to our mind when wondering
amongst the higher peaks of the Rocky mountains, and while standing onthe
original maturial from which this planet was made thousands of ages
have jassed and still it remains unchanged. In it no fossils or any trace of
passed organic life are ever found nor could any exist for the world’s creative
heat was too intense among those heights of rock, ice, cleft, glacier, cloud and
water worn; we stand face to face with the first and last pages of world crea-
tion for now we see also tender and beautiful flowers adding grace and form
of colur to the grizzly walls and far away down the slopes stand the giant ;
trees, oldest of all living things, embracing all history but even their lives
are but as a watch stick since the stars first shone on these barren rocks, be-
fore the evolutive forces had so gloriously transfigured the face of our planet
home.

The ripe fruit is dropped at last without violence, but the lightning
flashed and the storm raged, and strata was deposited and up torn and bent
back and chaos moved from beneath to create and flavor the fruit and color
the flower on your table today.

Some qualities nature carefully fixes, and transmits but some and those
the finer exhales with the breath of the individual as too costly to perpet-
uate but I notice also that they may become fixed and permanent in any
stalk by painting and repainting them on every individual until at last nature
adopts thenfand bakes them into her porcelain.

Soil, Air And Plant
[BY PROF. F. B. MUNFORD]

The roots of farm crops must be continually supplied with fresh supplies
of air, or they will turn yellow, appear sickly anddie. Seeds will not ger-
minate in any position where they cannot receive the oxygen of the air.
This explains why heavy, watersoaked soils are rich in plant food, but their
saturated condition excludes the air, and the roots cannot grow healthy.
This supply of air must be continually renewed, and there must be, therefore,
a kind of soil breathing to supply fresh air to plant roots.

One of the most important processes in soil is the change of organic mat-

22 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

ter to available plant food. This process cannot go forward in the absence
ofair. The most important available elements of plant food in the soil are
the nitrates, and these are formed only in the presence of soil air.

The air must penetrate tothe extreme length of the root growth of
plants. Thus, in the case of clover and alfalfa air must penetrate on certain
soils from five to twenty feet indepth. One chief result of growing clover
on land is the deep holes made in the soil by the roots of the clover. When
the roots decay these are left open for a time. The air thus penetrates
easily to the roots of succeeding crops.

SOIL VENTILATION

In nature the air in the soil is daily renewed by changes in temperature,
and by winds sweeping over the surface. Asthe soil warms up during the
day, the air expands, and a portion of it is forced out. As it coolsdown again
at night, the soil air contracts, and new fresh air from the atmosphere flows
in. Every rain which falls upon the surface carries with it air, and the per-
colation of this water downward forces the air from the deeper layers into
the natural drainage outlets, and new air rushes in.

INCREASING AIR IN SOILS

Tillage of whatever kind is one method of supplying air to soils. Plow-
ing, harrowing, cultivating with soil working tools are all efficient for this
purpose. In wet, retentive soils, under-dainage is a very efficient method of
bringing about soil ventilation.

The rotation of crops helps to aerate the soil. The deeply growing roots
_of clover, alfalfa and similar crops, leave air passages in the soil, and these
become efficient channels for the introduction of the life-giving air.

SOIL, TEMPERATURE AND PLANT GROWTH. SOILS MUST BE WARM

The importance ofa certain degree of heat in the soils fur germination
and for plant growth has already been considered, There are certain limits
between which seeds will germinate and plants grow. Neither the maximum
nor minimum temperature is most favorable. The soil may be too warm and
it may be toocold. Iu the Temperature Zone it may be said that with most
of the spring crops the average temperature during the growing season is too
cold to produce the largest crops. The processes which combine tc bring
about plant growth are mechanical processes, processes of solution, and
physical processes like osmosis all of which are carried on more efficiently
and rapidly in warm temperature The lowest temperature at which growth
starts in most crops is from 45 to 48 degrees fahrenheit, but the best results
are not reached until the soil has reached a temperature of nearly 70 degrees.
The average soil temperatures in the northern half of the United States are
considerable colder than theabove. At the Pennsylvania Experiment Station
it was found that only during two months were temperature warm enough to
produce the best growth of farmcrops. It is, therefore, true that the aver-
age temperature of soils is too cold. Insome practical experiments with
farm crops it was found that the germination of wheat, rye, oats and flax
does forward most rapidly at 77 degrees to 87 degrees while corn and pump-
kins germinate best at 92 to 101 degrees. Haberlandt found that corn would
germinate in three days at 65 degrees, but required eleven days to germinate
when the temperature was only 51 degrees. At 65 degrees oats germinate in
two days, but the same seeds required seven days to germinate when the tem-

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 23

perature was 41 degrees. This explains why corn rots in the ground if corn
planting is followed by cold wet weater. The question is, Can we influence
favorably soil temperature by practical methods?

CONDITIONS GOVERNING SOIL WARMTH

The conditions which determine the degree of heat in soils are: (1) the

amount of water in the soil; (2) the incline or slope of the soils; (3) the color
of soils. The most important of these conditions is the amount of water. A
soil that is saturated with moisture isacold soil. It is cold because of the
large amounts of water evaporating continually from thesurface. The evap-
oration of water isacooling process. We bathe our hands and forehead
when heated, and the evaporation of this water from the surface of the body
results in cooling the system. A drop of ether or alcohol upon tbe hand
leaves a cold sensation, due to rapid evaporation. The physicist tells us that
it requires 966 heat units to evaporate one pound of water. This amount
evaporated from a cubic foot of soil would lower its temperature more than
10 degrees.
‘ King states that 100 units of heat will raise 100 pounds of’water from 32
to 33 degrees. It requires only 19 of the same units to raise the sim’ weight
of dry sand one degree of temperature. A dry soil then is a warm svil anda
wet soil ever acold one. Any method of cultivation which prevents « vapora-
_ tion of moisture from the surface of the soil will increase the soil tempera-
ture and indirectly increase the yield of crops. The under drainage of wet
soils results in increasing the warmth of the soilsdrained. Cultivation of the
surface, which destroys the capillary condition of the soil, and prevents rapid
evaporation, warms the soil and thus promotes directly the better growth of
plants.

Soils which slope to the south are warmer than when sloping in any other
direction, because they receive the direct rays of the sun. A black soil is al-
ways warmer than alight-colored soil, because black colors absorb the heat
rays of the sun, and light colors reflect them. This interesting physical fact
can easily be demonstrated by placing a white handerchief and abla k cloth
of equal size on the snow on a bright sunshiny day. Thesniwunder the black
cloth will melt away while under the white clothit will remain unchanged.
In general it may be said that one of the most important effects of good cul-
tivation of the soil which is always afactor in good farming in the warming
of the soil.

Prof. F. B Mumford bears out in full all that we have said in regard to
warning for the soil. [Iam anxious that each reader shall thoroughly read
and think «n what hesays. It is interesting reading and such as will do good
to those who follow the thoughts given.

The Abandoned Farms

We have all seen or read of the abandoned farms in the New England
States, and other parts of our great country and such reports are stubborn
facts. And yet the writer, who was brought up in that section, well remem-
bers when those same farms were the gardenspots of our nation. Thy were,
in fact, fertile, large producing lands, that grew a great abundance of grains,
grasses and vegetables but their owners knew nothing of the methods of pre-
serving the fertility of hislands. Hedidnot, infact, dream that in each
bushel of grain that he had sold was selling just so much of the best of of his

24 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

soil and that the day would come when his land could not respond from lack
of humus which isthe vegetable matter inthe soil. Now to determine the
quantity present on your farm you have only to dry the soil thoroughly then
weigh a suitable quantity of the dried soil, place it in an iron vessel and set
it over the fire, bring the contents to a low red heat and stir for a suitable
length of time, say for twenty-five or thirty minutes; when cold weigh again;
the difference between the weight before and after heating is the humus that
was in that amount of soil; this has been consumed by fire, but heat is not the
only thing that destroys humus. Injudicious cropping will remove humus
from the soil. As illustration, if commercial fertilizers, even of high grade,
be employed for a sufficient number of consecutive years no means in the
meantime being employed to make the necessary humus, the soil will become
dead and compact having more the appearance of ashes, the humus has been
extracted as effectively asif done by heat. In this condition of the soil no
commercial fertilizer however good or large, will produce a profitable crop.
The necessary quantity of humus must be restored to the soil, before there
can be any more profitable farming. To maintain a supply of humus a heavy
green crop should occasionally be turned under. When the vegetable mat-
ter rots it willsupply the needed humus. Inselecting plants for humus pur-
poses preference is given to those of le ume family for the reason that in ad-
dition to supplying humus a bountiful supply of nitrogen is drawn from the
air. A good crop of clover or cow peas or of other legumes easily will ma-
ture $15 worth of nitrogen per acre which, when turned under will serve the
next crop. Rye is nearly as good for humus purposes but the nitrogen, ex-
cept which has been drawn from the soil, is wholly lacking, none having been
drawn by this plant fromthe air. Forthe northern section of our country
red clover, alfalfa, cow peas, eic., are the best but in the south the hirry-
vetch or crimson clover may be growa during the fall and winter and cow peas
soy beans, etc , during the summer, Theranker the growth of these plants
the greater will be the quantity of nitrogen drawn from air. Hence it usual-
ly pays well to liberally fertilize said legume crops. Here isa good fertiliz:r
for cow peas, red clover, etc., etc., which shou'd be liberally used on light or
thin soil..M x 400 lbs of muriate of potash with 1000 lbs of acid phospeate and
apply 400 to 6000 lbs per acre, preferab y a few weeks before seeding. If
cow peas are used they should be planted in three feet drills, fertilizer ap-
plied in the drills and the plant thoroughly cultivated from start to finish.
One peck of seed per acre will be ample for forage or imp-ovemeat purposes
with proper cultivation the fertilizer will act far better thin when broad-
casted without further cultivation. Ifthe improvement of the land is the
object sought the entire crop at maturity should be turned uader. Whenthe
quantity of vegetable matter is large several months will b2 necessary for it
to properly be composed before seeding thereon. Inthe meantime the soil
should be plowed several times and tne rotted vegetable matter properly
mixed therewith; thea and notuntil then will the soil b2 in a proper condition
toyielditsstrength Some prominent writers advocate feeding the hay and re-
turning the mature tothe land I f this plan be adopted twelve mus. may eiapse
before it is returned to the land and by reason of the manure having been
scattered here and there much of it will never be returned. The action of
the vegetable matter on the soil is such that Iam emphatic in turning under
such portions of the green crop as can well be spared trom the barn.
Another important feature in legumes is the high feeding value. Cow

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG " 95

pea hay contains about the same nutritive value pound for pound as wheat
brand and can therefore be substituted for wheat brand The hay contains
ten and eight-tenths per cent of protein and thirty-six and six-tenths per
cent of carbohy3rates. Ina well balanced ration there should be one part of
protein to five or seven parts carbohydrates. Timothy hay contains two and
eight-tenths per cent of protein and forty and four-tenths of carbohydrates;
hence if a a ton of timothy or some similar hay, corn fodder, shredded corn,
etc., be mixed with a ton of pea vines, the mixture will contain one par of
protein to nearly six parts carbohydrate. Thisisa fairly well balanced ra-
tion and will give far better results than the two hays will if fed separately;
alfalfa, crimson clover, etc., may be submitted for pea vine hay. The far-
mer who wishes quick results may use propared fertilizer. It has taken many
years to reduce fertility of our lands. It willtake time to restore it but so
surely as the above systems are followed so surely will your farm be brought
up to its natural standard. The laws of nature may not be broken except we
must most assuredly pay the penalty. The man who reads and thinks will
most assuredly learn the lesson, so that we may escape the hardships of our
fathers and there will be no more abandoned farms.

The Possibilities of Farm Education

That the farmers of our great Agricultural country are fast waking up
to the fact that they must be better prepared to meet the great competition
that the introduction of quick and cheap transportation to all parts of the
universe. The railroad andsteamboat today make it possible and at the.
same time profitable to ship products thousands of miles and from many
foreign nations where land is cheap and labor at such figures that our far-
mers could not sustain life with it, tosay nothing of comfort and luxuries—
hence you will at once observe the great necessity of devising some methods
by which our American farmers may be able to compete successfully with
those conditions and at the same time sustain the beautiful homes and the
dignity of the American Agricultural wor!d. If so, their first thought must
be a better education along the lines of Agriculture and the management of
of theirfarms. The kinj and quality of grass, grain, fruits and vegetables,
stock and other products. All must be of the best and to do this, knowledge
must be had. If so, to whom must they look? Our government recognizes
that the advantages of more and better knowledge have formed the Agri-
cultural Bureau of the United States. The best minds to be found are study-
ing the latest methods and appliances to be found in all parts of the world,
together with the best plants, truits, vegetables and seeds. Full reports are
made to the government who in turn through th-ir bulletins send it out to
the people. Thisis a great and good work but in our vastness cannot reach
but comparatively few. Next in importance are the state Agricultural col-
leges and schools. They are nearer our homes and the peop'e. They have
attracted to themselves our sons and daughters who have first got the spirit
at home of the beauty and benefit of better understanding of the methods of
practical farming. At those schools they may be brought to as nearly per-
fection as it may be possible but this does not reach the masses although it
does create a thirst for more and better knowl. dge amongst the great masses
of farming people. The next and greatest educator of all that meets fully
the requirements necessary and scattered broadcast each week ata very

26 BOOK ON CORN GROWING ,

nominal price are the Agricultural papers which are being delivered each
week to those that they most assist. A farm paper from, as it were, a
farmer to his brother farmer. No new methods, appliances, fruits, flowers,
seeds or plants, tnat may be brought to notice escape their observation and
criticism along this line.

No state has so many bright minds and forceful writers as Iowa. For
many years it has been our pleasure to read such papers as Zhe Farmers Trib
une, The Homestead, Wallace's Farmer, papers that have won and hold the con-
fidence of the thinking and up-to-date farmers of our land. Other states are
fast following-their example. A mighty giant although but a few years old
the Twentieth Century Farmer of Nebrasbra has taken its place at the head in
that state ard is surely rolling along the noble work and we trust that the
time is not very distant when the good people will demand that agriculture
shall be taught in our public schools; that there shall, at least, be a training
farm in a small way where the little ones shall be taught the first rudiments
of plant and flower growing and a thirst developed amongst our children for
nature’s purity and beauty instead of yellow covered literature, cigarettes
and fiction. When that'time shall have arrived the city student will com-
pete with his country cousin for the substantial homes of farm /ife and pros-
perity that only comes from higher knowledge of nature in all its beauty.

Why cannot we as farmer's family read, observe and learn the new and
improved things as they come along aud keep on alevel with the city family?
We must read more, observe more and put into practice what education and
advantages we have, and do our best to keep abreast with the times. Then
we can feel ourselves just as intelligent, just as polished and just as much ad-
mired as our city cousins, and need not harbor the feeling that we are being
laughed at or snubbed because we toil in God’s subiime instead of the dark,
glocmy city office or store and when someone refers to us as ‘‘farmer’’ we will
feel as much pride in the name as others do to hear ‘banker,’ ‘‘merchant,”’
“lawyer,” etc.

The Twentieth Century Farmer Seen by the Eyes of an Iowa Citizen

The twentieth century farmer is the best specimen of a well developed,
all round man the world has everseen. He holds a unique position of power
and responsibility among mez.

He is the sheet anchor that keeps the nation from drifting upon the
shoals of political experiments. the ballast that holds the ship of state steady
through a political storm every four years, He is the nation’s time lock that
prevents the nation’s wealth from all being squandered in senseless specula-
tion. He is the fountain of life that sends a new stream of new life blood
into the dissipated and exhausted cities, preventing mental collapse and
moral degration. He is the steward that guards well the bread-box of the
world, keeping monopol sts from controlling the necessities of life.

No man is s) at the mercy of commercial life, yet no man can be so inde-
pendent of commercial life as the intelligent farmer. When he buys the
farmer pays the other man’s price—when hesells the other man sets the
price on what he sells. But offsetting this apparent condition of slavery
stands the fact that the farmer raises what he needs to eat and feed, and he
does not have to buy much from anyone if prices are not right, and if he is
out of debt he can get along without selling until the price is right.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 277
So we find this man the most independent man on earth if he owns a small
farm free from debt.

The world’s rulers, be they called this or that, are slaves to an exacting
public. They must serve the people that they rule over; they must serve
custom, fashion and foolishness. If one sneezes, the world knows ina few
minutes that he has caught cold, how he caught it, who attends him, how his
temperature and pulse is, what his prospects of recovery are and who will be
the ruler if he sneezes again.

Assassins track the rulers as the hunting dog tracks the fox. Covetous
politicians seek their downfall. Cartoonists insult and degrade them daily.
Verily, rulership is slavery, not freedom. °

The merchant is successful in proportion to the way that he pleases his
customers. He must be pleasant whether he feels Jike it or not. He must
flatter the women and kiss the babies, or they go elsewhere.

So it is with every line of business. Men must bow and scrape, flatter
and applaud, throw out bait to catch trade and _ work till they sweat blood to
hold their trade. The world is fickle. No man can say he does not care what
people think of him or his goods. No man cansay, “I don’t care for you.”

Every business, every trade, is at the mercy of atyrant called unions.
No man may think he can do as he please as long as these exist. The inde-
pendent working man is dependent. He finds that life, liberty and the pur-
suit of happiness is but a Fourth of July dream.

An effort has been made time and again to organize the farmers into a
union or trust. Thank God, it nas never succeeded. Let us have one avoca-
tion that is free from tyranny within our own ranks. Let us be free to sell
when and where we please.

The twentieth century farmer, owner of a small farm that is free from
debt, stand. distinctly as the most independent manonearth. When hired
help organize against him he can pasture his farm and do without help till
men come around and ask fora job. _Whenrailroads and grain dealers con-
spire against him he can quit raising grain to sell until corporation come to
their senses. When strikesstop the wheels of commerce he can sit in the
shade and wait for the return of common sense and brotherly love.

The twentieth century farmer is the best fed manon earth. Think not?
Ask the parson who eats at the table of city and country people. In town he
goes for a call about dinner time and is spi: d by the little girl, ‘‘Mama, the
preacher is coming.’ Mama must get upa fine dinner and ‘phones to the
market for a chicken—the preachers always like chicken. Soon the delivery
boy brings the chicken. Itis a dead one, been dead a long time. It has hung
in the shop to “‘cure’’ until it is blue and cadaverous looking, too skinny to
make a decent gravy. Poor parson, their troubles are many. ‘‘Won’t you
have some more strawberries? They aresonice.’’ Berries; they were what
the farmer did not want, were jolted in a wagon till more or less mashed, set
in the sun in front of a store, gathered enough dust to make them gritty, set
in the ice box till chilled, picked over and served with skimmed milk. ‘‘No,
thank you; berries do not agree with me.’,

The reverend goes driving inté the country, isspied bya good farmer’s
wife, who calls him in to stay for dinner. Never refuses. Soon anice, plump,
yellow-legged chicken is shot and in the pot. Gravy? I guessyes. And big,
lucious strawberries that were just picked from the garden. No little sauce

28 , "BOOK ON CORN GROWING
OT
dish, but a big saucer full, heaped up like acushion pyramid. Cap it with
sugar and baptize it with cream, realcream, and see if the parson will refuse
a second dish.

This isno dream. This is real life in the homes of all progressive farmers
today. They havea variety of garden stuff, always fresh, always ready,
with all kinds of meats and fruits at command, that would bankrupt a city
banker if he were to buy them for his table. Eat from the hands of a $150
chef if you will, but give the bill of fare gotten up by the farmer’s wife for
themselves.

The twentieth century farmer is the most broadly and practically edu-
cated man on earth.

Book learning is not education. Education is a combination of common
sense and practical experience. Common sense is not learned from books,
nor Can experience be so obtained. Books have their place. They serve as
references for a while and as ancient history in a year or so after they are
published. Experience is ever changing.

The farmer lives a life of constantly changing experience. He is a stu-
dent of things as well as of books. He learns to see, hear, feelanddo. He
studies the book of nature with the Creator as his master—-a master who con-
stantly turns news pages and forces the student into new condition, severely
punishing ignorance and liberally rewarding the faithful learner.

No man has to change work so constantly and study such a variety of
subjects as does the present day farmer.

The trend of education is towards specialization. The workman learns
but one thing, the professional man makes a speciality of one branch of his
profession. Competition narrows education.

The farmer is independent because he is sort of Jack-of-all-trades and a
fair master of all. He can lay brick or stone, plaster, paint, do carpentering,
blacksmithing, surveying; he is a machinist, engineer, road boss and school
director. He must know somewhat of the sciences, of business, law, medi-
cine and even theology. He has something to do with ornithology, entomol-
ogy, horticulture, floriculture and landscape architecture. Study the curric-
ulum of an agriculture college and you will see what the young farmer of to-
day has to know before he even begins to farm for himself.

The farmer trains his eyes to see, his ears to hear, his taste to differenti-
ate, his nose to judge, his hands to feel, his feet to keep under him, his heart
or sound to sympathize, his brain to tbink, his judgment to act, his conscience
to discern.

He works with both hands, both feet, head and heart. Surely our twentieth
century farmer is a well developed man. None with him will compare.

Let us compare the independent farmer with other callings. Lest some
farmer should be contemplating sending his boys to the city to learn a pro-
fession and thus become ‘‘respectable,’’ I want to remind him that farming is
not what the carto nist pleases to picture it incomparison with other business.

Would you have him study law? Law is honorable and respectable when
practiced by a respectable man—so is any business. But the law does not
offer opportunities for independent thinking and judgment. The judge looks
wise and is so considered, but his position depends upon his adherance to past
decisioas. The attorney presents his ca-e based upon precedent and not up-
on any new thought he may have or any new theory he may present. He

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 29
ae OTT EN SS TE SUE SE ARERR BS 20S SY en
quotes authority like an encyclopedia but he never stands as an authority on
anything himself. He calls the expert witness—a farmer perhaps—to be
authority.

The law isa goodstepping stone to political position, but every step
from the farm and the White House isastep toward dependence and away
from independence.

Going to try medicine? Noble work, useful profession. But it is narrow
and very binding. The conscientious physician must be on duty day and
night. He has little or no time for broad research or personal pleasure.

Make hima minister? The ministers has opportunities fora broad ex-
perience. He is listened to patiently f»r what he represents more than for
what heisasaman. Heisamanwithouta permanent home. His life is
one of constraint and not of freedom. His troubles are many—his pleasures
few.

Compare the life of a prosperous farmer with that of any other and it is
easily seen that it is safe to go slow when pushing the boys out into the world
to win happiness, fortune and honor.

Do not think I advocate keeping the boys on the farm. Those who donot
- fit into farm life should get out of it. All Iam trying to do is to change the
minds of those parents who think farming is beneath their sons and who
dream of city life as one of ease and prosperity.—Twentieth Century Farmer.

The Farmer With Brains and Thought

Our readers will remember that we have heretofore referred to the fif-
teen-acre farm owned by J. D. Detrich of Flowertown, Pennsylvania. Twen-
ty years ago Mr. Detrich purchased this small farm, which was not considered
in his neighborhood as a piece of land which would contribute much to a
man’sincome. This Mr. Detrich also found out afrer the first year’s opera-
tions had been concluded, as he had a bard time to make the first payment on
the mortgage, to meet the interest ‘payments and to pay for the labor em-
ployed. The reason for this Mr. Detrich says was due to the fact that dur-
ing the first year he ranthe farm according to the old methods of farming
generally in use. A goodly portion of the farm was in grass, but the whole
fifteen acres could not support more than two cows and a horse, as the land
was run out and apparently depleted of its fertility. At the end of the first
year, it was decided that something had to be done, either the farm had to be
disposed of, or else more improved methods of farming had to be employed.
Mr. Detrich chose the latter. Being a well educated man, he turned his at-
tention to books that gave information on agricultural matters. Hestudied
the experiments carried on by the experiment station, read a large number
of agricultural papers, and put into practice what he learned from them.
After reading some Mr. Detrich came across a book on soiling and finally de-
cided that pasturing land under his condi'ions was not a paying proposition,
but that he must raise soiling crops, and produce more feed per acre, so as
to support more cattle on his small farm He never bought a dollar’s
worth of commercial fertilizers nor did he purchase any barnyard manure,
but relied upon what was made on his own farm. The farm gradually in-
creased in fertility until now it produces enough roughage in the way of green
feed, silage and hay to support thirty head of cattle the year around, or
in other words, it feeds two head of cattle per acre and last year one and
one-half tons of hay were even sold off from the place.

30 BOOK ON CORN GROWING
SPST SPA ee EE AAEM NE MES ISLE SS CARAT St 5 het ru

In regard to his farming, Mr. Detrich recently said before the Penn-
sylvania Board of Agriculture:

“The plan of soiling the dairy cattle was adopted over against the ex-
travagant method of pasture. It was conducted carefully and observingly
but not with the good results that were claimed for it. The production of
milk from cows grown and fed io the stall was not equal to the same animal’s
yield when on pasture. But the saving of manure by the soiling system was
a marked advantage. Someone has said that no one owns deeper than he

plows, and the eighteen years experience in soiling suggest that no one plows
wider than the land is manured.

“It was about this time that the balanced ration of Wolf was being dis-
cussed in the journals and agricultural magazines and gave the writer agreat
deal of information that was entirely new on the feeding of a diary animal
for profit. The adopting of the balanced ration by Wolf, asa guide, and not
as an absolutely me-hanical rule, made the soiling system a real success.

‘To carry on the soiling system many changes were iatroduced into the
dairy barn for the comfort of the dairy animals. Cement floors, additional
windows, ventilators, platform stalls, well-made water-tight gutters, with
cement bottoms, so as to retain all the manure po sible, bedding cut one-
quarter inch, water introduced direct into the dairy birn, convenient feed
spouts and all green and dry forage run through a cutter and dropped down
into the feeding passageway.

“Convenience and cleanliness are watchwords of the dairy man. Clean
cattle, clean milkers, clean dairy barn and clean vessels stand for clean milk.
For no strainer will strain dirt out of milk. The soiling of the dairy animal
means Cleanliness. She must be curried for the sake of health as well as
cleanliness. And strict attention must be given to all sanitary regulations
in caring for milk according to our modern civilization.

‘After all these years of experience insviling, nothing would induce a
return of the old system of rota ion and pasture. By soiling the acreage of
the fifteen-acre farm is increased at least four times. The product of the
dairy is coveted, because there is never any flavor of grass, weeds, garlic or
any foreign taint imparted to the product of the dairy.

“The cows have a longer period of lactation, largely accounted for on
account of a regular supply of water, food and attention There are now in
vogue two systems of soiling. The one isthe growing of the green crops in
the field and having them come in succession, so that there is an abundance
of green food at least for seven months in the year in the climate around
Philadelphia. The other, and the one mist like1y to be adopt d, and which
is a real boon to the large farms as w. llas the small ones, tor it is entirely
practical for both, is the soiling of the green crops for summer as well as
winter use. Thesilo has been the indispensable factor on the fifteen-acre
farm since 1882. An abandoned chicken house on the little farm was con-:
verted into a primitive silo tostore the succulent food of summer for the
Jerseys. It wasa venture to risk movey, time and machinery twenty years
ago. Today the earnest inquiry iz, how can Igetone? There are now two
60-tons silos on the same little farm.

‘‘The advantages in soiling are so numerous in the experience of the
writer that he has concluded that no man but arich man can atford to pasture
a cow.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 31
ee AE i Ras BI SR BR a Tae

‘Pasture is wasteful; soiling economic. Pasture is like killing an ox for
his liver; soiling is the saving and using of the entire animal.

‘The animal in pasture has one mouth to eat ana four feet totramp. In
dry weather the grass is pulled out by the root; in wet weather is tramped in-
to mud, This farm last year wintered sixteen cows in milk, one Jersey bull
4 years old, four heifers 2 years old and ten head of young stock ranging
from 15 months down to three weeks, and two horses. All hay, bedding and ,
silage were last year grown on the fifteen acres, and none purchased at allin
the market. We attribute this wondrous yield tothe soilipg system. It
lifted the mortgage, paid the taxes and labor and finds its owner not com-
plaining that farming doesn’t pay.”

The above is-a good example of what may be done by intensive methods
of farming. It should be understood that Mr. Detrich did not do any garden-
ing beyond what was needed for his own family, but he kept good dairy cows
to convert the raw material of the farm into money and manure. While his
plan may not be adapted to our western conditions, yet itis a fact that in
many instances we are depending entirely too much upon pasture and are
not paying enough attention to the production of soiling crops. Hspecially
is this true with reference tothe silo. Every man who milkes ten cows or
more should by all.means own a silo and store away a large amount of green
feed for winter use. Tne time has come when we must get more out of the
land per acre than we have been getting in years gone by andthesiloisa
structure that will help solve this problem.

The United States government has recently reorganized the great value
of Mr. Detrich’s farm and has purchased the same at a cost of $1000 per acre.

The farm will be used as an object lesson of what can be done by inten-
sive farming methods. Scientific soil and other experiments will also be con-
ducted on the farm. Mr. Detrich has now gone to manage a 340 acre farm in
Chester county, Pa., which will from now on be conducted on the same plan
on which h's own at Flowertown has been conducted forthe past twenty
years.—Farmers Tribune.

Agriculture at the Head

There is no need in wasting words to show that the agriculture of this
country should be developed extensively and rapidly. The whole country
and its people in every profession are experiencing a development such as
has never been known or even dreamed of before in any period of human
history since time began.

The prosperity of other industries and all of the people affords an oppor-
tunity for this development of our agriculture, we as farmers can profit by
it, and what is of more consequence the country as a whole needs it.

The population of our country is doubling very fast, emigration from
foreign countries where never so large and all our customers and the de-
mand from foreign countries are fast doubling up for all products and today
in the corn growing part of our U. S. nearly every acre that can be success-
fally grown to corn is under cultivation. There are developing many new
uses to which it is being applied, a great expansion in the uses to which it is
adapted and the only way that we can supply these demands will be to im-
prove the seed and manner of cultivation, the methods of sustaining the
fertility of the soil in such a manner that we may grow doubly and threbly
the amounts we formerly did under the methods of the past. Go back twenty

32 BOOK ON CORN GROWING
i IE aL
years. Corn was but corn, of course it was a little better than the same
was fifty years ago. Though the improvements have been made by selection,
without any thought of what the bearing would be in the future, but when
the time did arrive and when man did begin to think and talk and when the
fact was thoroughly demonstrated that great improvements were possible
then came the awakening and tcday through the influence of thinking
farmer, through the agency of the agricultural press the great work is going
on, all realizing the fact that we must grow larger yields of better product
and at less expense.

We need to raise larger yields. We know enoughalready to believe that
with better bred varieties and with better methods the same expense we
now bestow upon an acre should bring us better yields and at no higher cost.
As to the world that is to consume it, I never knew it to be too well fed, for
the sun has never shone upon the earth a single day without shining upon
Starving people. We talk of our greatness, and we are inclined to ignore
agriculture as an occupation fit only for the inferior people, and to think
that the business of food production will somehow take care of itself. But
the stubborn fact is that mankind asa whole has never yet learned how to
get enough to eat.

Here we come in contact with one of the great vital problems of our suc-
cess. One of the imperitive laws of nature. We must heed it. Today we
are hearing much said in regard to the eastern states. It is said that much
of those sections have been so run down they cannot be made to grow enough
to support the wants of the most simple people, yet many of us fully remem-
ber when that portion of our U. S. was the great producing and feeding por-
tion of our nation. Why is this? In our judgment but one thing was thought
of at that time. The cultivation was simple, the only object being, to get
all that were possible today, no heed being given of tomorrow. The lJand
was robbed and nature outraged, the books were closed until such usages as
would pay the old score and put some capital in the bank when business will
be resumed and good interest paid. These lessons are imperitive and must
be learned.

Those who have possessed themselves of good land and have made the
most of it have in some way prospered and have gradually possessed them-
selves of a large share of the earth aud the fullness thereof, laying all others
tribute to their energy, ability and foresight. This is now the opportunity
of this country, and therefore we should make our lands produce to the
utmost.

With new and improved seeds of all kinds our thinking toilers all along
the line, our great government expending many thousands of; dollars in the
search in all parts of the world for seeds plants grasses, fruits, etc., that
may be adapted to our vast and varied climate and soil and while of course
some selections brought forth will be worthless the better will be obtained.
Our farmers are today the ones at the head. They are blazing the way to
prosperity with better varieties and their adaptibility while the manufac-
ture of implements are filling every want bringing out the implements that
seemingly have the mind of the builder. All seemingly having caught the
spirit of progress and are proudiy marching on to capture the world.

Again, if we are to get the most out of our lands we must learn to produce
the highest quality. There is more money in it to the farmer and more sat-

~;. BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 333

isfaction tothe buyer. For oblivious reasons there is generally an abundance
of the ordinary, but American agriculture js not to be satisfied untilit pro-
duces food of the highest. grade for the markets of the world. Nowhere else
on earth is the land occupied by a people so intelligent, so educated, and
therefore so able as ours, and if we live up to our opportunities we shall never
rest satisfied until we are not only the best fed people on earth, as we are to-
day, but until we have attained commercial supremacy in the agricultural
markets of the world. It is quality with lessoned cost of production that
will do this, and we are, therefore, in the markets for new ideas and better
methods in agriculture.

Did it ever occur to you that the old Indian corn of our grandfathers’ day
with the people who cultivated it have passed from the earth forever, and
that part of the world lacking in the art of up today agriculture are only
half fed. are far behind in intellect, morals, and religion and it has often oc-
curred to me that in sending our missionaries to foreign lands to teach, as it
is often said, the heathen, the great requirements ought to be the ability of
teaching agriculture and all of its improyements.

Must Maintain Soil Fertility.

Nor is this all of our problem. We must not only raise larger yields of
higher quality and produce them cheaper, but we must learn to do it with-
out running down the fertility of our lands. If we cannot do this then our
success and our greatness are but temporary, for we are selling out, giving
away Or wasting the very possibilities of the next generations unless we pre-
serve unimpaired the fertility of our lands.

Our children and our children’s children will need good foo], and an abun-
dance of it. They will have their troubles to meet and their supremacy to
maintain as well as we, and altogether likely it will be under conditions more
complex than ours, certainly not simpler.

Here are deep and far reaching questions of public policy regarding the
treatment of our lands, which in the last analysis are of public and not pri-
vate concern. These are matters which, if well looked after, will make our
future as well as our present greatness and happiness possible, but which, if
neglected or wrongly administered, will make them impossible, no matter
what the form of government, no matter what thesocial or the religious
standard may be.

Nothing can be clearer than this, that if the agriculture of this country
is to keep pace with other internal development and if itis to accomplish
most for itself and for the country now and for all time, then it must take on
and sustain a pronounced developement; and the problems and the details of
this developement must be the special charge and care of the agricultural
people themselves.

It is not that menof othercallings or professions would by design either
arrest or impede the developement. of American agriculture All men of
even average intelligence see its importance and would have it developed:
besides they are primarily interested in other things, just as we who are farm-
ers believe in the necessity of great and prosperous manufacturing plants or
lines of transportation, and yet if their prosperity depended upon our exer-
tions, our active influence, our opinions, our judgements and our advice, I
fear their prosperity would appreciably suffer, if notcome to anend alto-
gether.

34 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

It is now and always will be afact that agricultural people themselves
must look after all matters touching agriculture. They know the details in-
volved; It is the means whereby they live and by which the little ones are
fed and fitted for life; it is life and love and opportunity and everything to
them. They may be prejudiced but their prejudice will get rubbed
away: they may be often wrong, but their judgements will be corrected; they
may not be equal to the task, but they will come up toit. Right or wrong,
equal or unequal to the task but they as we may be, it is both the privilege
and the duty of the farmers themselves to study the possibilities and needs
of agriculture and to work in season and out of season for its most perfect
development. We owe it to our profession; we oweit to our country; we owe
it to our children and to our our land to accept this responsibility and do this
thing.

If, then this is to be our work, how shall it proceed? How shall the de-
tails be worked out? And who shall take the lead and blaze the road and be
the special champion of the cause?

Each division of our great nation must be educated along the line in
which they are to work or to which they are best adapted. The workman
must be earnest, honest and intelligent. In this way we may pass down to
our children in better condition than we took them, not only improvements
in all lines and all directions. It cannot be denied that the nearer we work
to nature and perfection the more we appreciate the great ruling power.

How Legumes Improve the Soil

In one of the year books of the department of agriculture, Washington,
considerable space is given to a discussion of leguminous crops. Itis pointed
out that modern agricultural chemists have discovered that leguminous crops
are not only consumers of available plant foods, but they actually manufac-
ture the mst valuable and most essential nitrogenous compounds using the
free gaseous nitrogent of the air. The transformation of an inert gas takes
place throuzh the agency of minute almost infinitesimal bacteria which live
within the tissues of the roots of plants of this order, producing knot-like
swellings or galls upon them. Each variety of legume has its own peculiar
bacterium, comes in contact with and infests the roots; the plant cannot get
m re nitrogen than could be secured by the roots of a grass or tobacco plant.
It can then only take up such nitrogen asis already present in the soil in
available or soluble form. If these bacteria are entirely absent from the soil,
the clover or bean will not fully develop unless an abundance of soluble ni-
trates are present.

This wonderful dependence of plants of the clover family upon the minute
bacteria which live within the root tissues offers an explanation of the fail-
ure of suc 1 crops when tried upon soils not previously devoted to their culti-
vation. [t has been found by experiment in this country and abroad that such
new leguminous crops may be successfully cultivated by inoculating the land
either witn ar ifisial preparations or culture, containing these germs or with
soil from a fieid where this crop has b2en previously grown. Good results are
also sometimes secured by treating the seeds preliminary to sowing, by such
an inocutation the yield of total dry matter has been increased sometimes
from ten fold to thirty fold. Moreover it is found that there are no gall
tubercles furmed on the roots of leguminous crops when these nitrogen bac-

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 35

teria are not present in a soil and hence there can then be no utilization of
gaseous atmospheric nitrogen by them.

Nitrogen is the most important plant food; it is the most extensive fertil-
izer when purchased in artificial mature. It is also the most necessary ele-
ment of animal food. For when it is entirely absent or present in insufficient
quantities, there can be neither growth nor complete repair of worn out
tissues, hence it can readily be understood why the abundant cultivation of
leguminous crops is so necessary. The leguminous crops are the only crops
which will, when plowed under, increase the total fertilizing materials of the
soils. The farmer who thoroughly studies the above gets each point firmly

fixed in his mind, and carries out the principles as near as possible will most
assuredly reach a rich reward.

Bacteria And the Nitrogen Problem
[BY GEORGE T. MOORE]
Physiologist in Charge of Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Bureau of Plant Industry.
INTRODUCTION

There is probably no fact in plant physiology which has been more firmly
established than all plants must have nitrogen in order to thrive, and that
under normal conditions this nitrogen must be obtained through the roots in
some highly organized form. It is not necessary to discuss this point, for
practical experience demonstrates its truth every time a soilis exhausted by
any crop, and the farmer testifies to his belief in this fact when he tries to
reestablish the fertility of his ground by adding some fertilizer rich in nitro-
geneous matter. While there are certain other substances, such as the
phosphoric acid, potash, iron, etc., which plants must have and can only ob-
tain through the soil, the demand for nitrogen is so much greater and in one
sense so much more important, that the question of the available nitrogen
supply in the world has come to be looked upon as lying at the very founda-
tion of agriculture and demanding the most careful consideration. Since the
conditions of life in the civilized quarters of the globe are such as to cause a
constant loss of nitrogen, there have been some who have predicted what has
been termed a ‘“‘nitrogen famine,’’ which is to occur within the next forty or
fifty years, and the possibility of such a catastrophe has been very graphi-
cally portrayed. On the other hand, there are investigators who feel that
the possibility of such a condition has been much exaggerated and that the
amount of nitrogen in the soil can never be exhausted to such an extent as to
affect the crop-producing power of the earth. In order that we may be able
to form a more definite opinion upon the subject, it may be well to look at

some of the ways in which nitrogen is lost, and then see how it may be re-
claimed.
HOW NITROGEN IS LOST

In the first place, the conditions of life on the ordinary farm are such as
to cause the constant loss of this valuabie element through the removal of
the crops taken from the soil. If every crop that grew on the land could be
returned to it, nature has made provision for getting it back in suitable form
for plant food. In the case of nitrogen, neither plants nor animals are able
to produce this substance directly in an available form. It is necessary that
certain bacteria take hold of plant and animal products, and by means of pe-

36 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

culiar changes produce nitrates from fats, sugars, starches, etc. Without
these bacteria everything would have to come to a standstill long ago, for un-
less decay takes place and the decomposed elements are rearranged into
definite nitrogenous salts no plant is able to use them. Thus, it will be seen
that certain bacteria in the soil play as important a part in the food supply
of the earth as do the animals and larger plants upon which we think we are
so dependent.

It is hardly necessary to refer to the vast waste of nitrogenous material
that is involved in modern sewage methods.» Millions of dollars’ worth of ni-
trogen which would naturally return to the soil under action of nitrifying
bacteria is every year carried off in various waterways and ultimately reaches
the ocean, where, of course, it is of no benefit to man. More than fifty years
ago Liebig said on the subject:

Nothing will more certainly consummate the ruin of England than the
scarcity of fertilizers. It means the scarcity of food. It is impossible that
such a sinful violation of the divine laws of nature should forever remain un-
punished, and the time will probably come for England, sooner than any other
country, when with all of her wealth in gold, iron, and coal she will be unable
to buy the one-thousandth part of food which she has during hundred of years
thrownrecklessly away.

A third great source of nitrogen loss is through the action of a group of
bacteria which have the power of breaking down nitrates, depriving them of
oxygen, and reducing them to ammonia or nitrogen gas, when they are, of
course, unavailable for plant food. This process of denitrification, while very
useful in the septic tank, which is the most sanitary method of sewage dis-
posal, is the source of considerable loss to the farmer, and manures may
often be rendered practically worthless by the action of these bacteria.

Other means by which nitrogen is lost so far as plant foods are concerned,
are the washing out of nitrogen salts from the soil and the burning of ex-
plosives which are largely composed of{some nitric salt that would be directly
valuable to the vegetable kingdom. The action of nitrate of soda, or salt-
peter, has been studied experimentaily, and it is known that up to a certain
maximum about 23 pounds of nitrate of soda will yield to an increase of one
bu.of wheat peracre. Thus,when bundred of thousands of tons of explosives are
used in waging war, every battle liberating nitrogen which, if applied to the
soil, would increase the yield of wheat by thousands of bushels, the actual
cost of war shouid be estimated at considerably more than is usually calcu
lated; and if there is soon to be a nitrogen famine, war becomes more serious
than ever before.

With all these destructive forces at work and nitrogen being liberated
on every hand, it is no wonder that thinking men have become alarmed at
the prospect, and have endeavored in every way possible to discover some
means of increasing the world’s supply of this necessary element.

HOW NITROGEN IS GAINED

The most valuable compound containing sufficient fixed nitrogen to be
used in any quantity as a nitrogenous fertilizer is the nitrate of soda, already
referred to as the basis of so many explosives. This salt occurs naturaily in
certain regions of Chile and Peru, where for countless centuries the continu-
ous fixation of atmospheric nitrogen has been carried on by bacteria. Un-
fortunately, however, like any other mineral supply in the earth, the quan-
tity is limited, and although it is difficult to get accurate estimates of the

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG By

amount of nitrate remaining in the beds, authorities seem to agree that at
the present rate of export the raw material will all be exhausted within
from forty to fifty years. To show how much more rapidly this supply is be-
ing exhausted than it was possible forty years ago, it is only necessary to
state that in 1860 all estimates showed that the amount of nitrate of soda
then known would last for nearly fifteen hundred years. The demand has
rapidly increased, however, and although the output is controlled, there is
annually consumed in the world’s markets nearly one anda half million tons of
nitrate of soda,representing a value of about $100,000,000. Of this amount the
United States requires about 15 per cent, and it is by far the most expensive
fertilizer that is in use by the farmer.

In addition to the nitrate of soda beds there have also been large deposits
of guano, which have served as one of the principal sources of nitrogen. The
greater part of the guano beds are now completely exhausted, however, and
although new deposits are occasionally discovered, they are of such limited
area, or of such a low percentage of nitrogen, as to have practically no ef-
fect upon the avilable nitrate supply.

There are certain other chemical salts which furnished a limited amount
of nitrogen, such as the product which remains from the distillation of coal
in the process of gas making, but all of them are obtained in such compara-
tively small quantities that they are not worth taking into consideration when
one realizes the enormous amount of nitrogenous fertilizer necessary to re-
place the combined nitrogen which is annually removed from the soil in one
way or another.

Ever since the importance of increasing the combined nitrogen supply
has been realized, men of science have naturally turned to the atmosphere
as being the most promising field for experiment andthe one most likely
to eventually solve the whole problem. When it is remembered that nearly
eight-tenths of the air about us is nitrog°>n, and that plants are able to ob-
tain their entire source of carbon from agas, whichis present in the com-
paratively small proportion of one-tenth of one per cent, it seems almost in-
creditable that there should be any more difficulty about a plant’s nitroge-
nous food than about its supply of carbon dioxid. Since it seemed so well
settled, however, that plants could not use nitrogen as a gas, the chemists
and physicists have made every effort to devise some mechanical means of
making this element available in a combined form. It has been known that
discharges of lightning passing through the air are able to fix free nitrogen,
and, beginning with this as a basis, some very satisfactory results have been
obtained by the use of electricity. With a power sufficiently cneap and with
perfect machinery, there seems good reason to believe that in the near fut-
ure it will be possible to place uponthe market a manufantured nitrate of
soda or nitrate of potash that will be superior quality to the deposits found
in South America, and that will also be reasonable enough in price to com-
pete with the natural product.

NITROGEN-FIXING BACTERIA

Fortunately, there are still other means by which nitrogen gas may be
made available for plant food, and that, too, without requiring the intro-
duction of a commercial product, which must always be rather expensive,
whatever degree of perfection may be reached in the mechanical operation of
the process. Ever since the earliest days of agricultural science it has been

38 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

noticed that certain land, if allowed to stand fallow for a considerable length
of time, would gain in nitrates without any visible addition having been made.
It is now known that one of the principal means of this iucrease in nitrogen
content is due to a few forms of soil bacteria which have the power of fixing
the free nitrogen from the air and rendering it available for plant food.
These organisms have been isolated and cultivated artificially, and great
hopes were held at one time that it would be possible to inoculate land with
these cultures and thus bring about a large increase in the nitrogenous salts
without the aid of any manure or mineral fertilizer. Under certain condi-
tions these bacteria seemed able to do a large amount of work, and there are
experiments on record where the crops raised from plots inoculated with ni-
trogen-fixing organisms were much greater than crops from uninoculated
land. Unfortunately, these results were not always constant, and sucha
large percentage of failures had to be reported that from a practical stand-
point the use of such cultures is now considered worthless. A matter of such
vast importance to agriculture, however, should not be neglected simply be-
cause of first failures. Itis quite possible that as we become better ac-
quainted with the habits of these bacteria and learn the conditions which are
most favorable to fixing nitrogen and the causes which prevent this operation
from going on at all times, we shall be able to discover some means of using
these nitrogen gatherers in practical farming.

ROOT TUBERCLE BACTERIA

In the meantime there is still one other means at hand which can be used
and has been used for countless centuries as a most efficient method of con-
serving the world’s nitrogen supply. Ever since the time of Pliny and other
early writers upon agricultural topics, it has been known that certain legumi-
nous crops, such as clover, beans, peas, etc., did not require the same amount
of fertilizer as other plants, and indeed it seemed as though they actually
benefited the soil instead of being a detriment. Various theories have been
advanced to account for this effect, perhaps the most widespread opinion be-
ing that members of this family, owing to the unusual length and strength of
their root system, were able to draw upon a store of food that was not avail-
able to wheat and corn and other crops not belonging to the pod-bearing
group. It is only withina comparatively recent time that the real cause of the
beneficial effect of these legumes has been fully understood, and it seems
that here again the bacteria are responsible for the nitrogen-gathering power;
for it is because these plants are able to fix and use the free nitrogen of the
air that fhey are of such benefit in rotation and in reviving poor and ex-
hausted land. The immense yield of wheat following alfalfa or clover are
easily understood when it is realized that there has actually been added to
the soil a certain definite amount of nitrogen in such form that the wheat
can be benefited by it. Such efficient users of the atmospheric nitrogen are
clover and peas and similar crops that they can actually live and thrive ina
soil that has not the first trace of combined nitrogen withinit. If quartz
sand be ignited to red heat, thus burning out all the nitrates, and then be
planted with peas or beans, it is possible to bring these plants to full matur-
ity without in any way allowing a particle of fixed nitrogen to find its way
into the soil. Onthe other hand, wheat or potatoes, or crops not legumes,
will die as soon as the small amount of nitrogen available from the seed is

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 39

exhausted. What isthe reason for this? It cannot be merely a difference
in the length or extent of the root system, because plants{flourish where it is
certain there are no available nitrates whatever. For a long time the pres-
ence of certain peculiar nodules or tubercles upon the legum:s has been
noted and speculated upon. These formations are always present upon the
roots of leguminous plants grown under proper conditions, and may vary in
size from that of the smallest pin head, in some clovers, to a cluster as large
asa potato. They have been thought to be due to the bites of worms and
insects, or to be caused by conditions of the soiland various abnormal climatic
effects, and only within very recent years has it been learned that these forma-
tions are due to the presence of the innumerable bacteria, and that unless
these tubercle-producing bacteria exist the plant is no more able to use the
nitrogen from the air than wheat or any of the other crops which do not have
such nodules on their roots.

MICROSCOPIC APPEARANCE OF TUBERCLES .

If a thin cross section of one of these tubercles be}examined under the
microscope it will be seen that the cells are very much larger than in a nor-
mal root, and that almost the entire contents have been replaced by masses
ot minute bacteria. These bacteria gain an entrance into the plant through
the root hairs, and may assume shapes very different from the ordinary rods
and spheres that are usually found in this group. The appearance of branch-
ing has led some observers to consider that these tuberclejformers were not
true bacteria, but belonged to some group intermediate between the bacteria
and fungi. This is not probable, however, for there is abundant evidence to
prove their relationship to the true bacteria, and while the peculiar shapes
are somewhat characteristic of the group, they are not exclusively of this
form, many tubercles having nothing but the short rods.

Just where the nitrogen is fixed and how it is used by the_plant have been
debated questions. Some have supposed that the presence of the bacteria
in the roots simply acted as a stimulus, and that the leaves of the plant were
thus able to take in nitrogen asa gas andto elaborate nitrates from it in
some such way as carbon is formed from carbon dioxid. It seems much more
probable, however, that the bacteria themselves fix the nitrogen in the roots
of the plant and that it is then used as nitrates would be used from the soil.
It is certain that these tubercle organisms can fix free nitrogen in cultures,
and there is no reason to suppose that this power is lost when within the
roots of alegume. Furthermore, it seems as though the plant actually uses
the contents of these tubercles, for at the end of the season the tubercles
are found to be much softer and shrunken, and are practically emptied of
their mass of bacteria.

; EFFECT OF TUBERCLES

It is a weil-established fact, and has been shown bya number of inde-
pendent investigators in various parts of the country, that the leguminous
crop which bears tubercles will exceed a similar crop without tubercles by
from 100 to 1000 per cent; that is, a field of clover grown on such poor soil
that it would only yield 200 pounds to the acre would be so invigorated by the
presence of tubercle-forming bacteria that on exactly similar soil it would
produce from 400 to 2000 pounds to the acre, and this without any cost what-
ever for fertilizers and.with very little more labor. In ad ition t» the in-
crease of the actual weight of the crop, tubercles also cause the plants to

40 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

flower and fruit earlier, and the number of seed produced is very much greater.

Thus it will be seen that it is worse than useless to attempt to grow any
leguminous crop without being certain of the presence of the bacteria which
enable the plant to fix free nitrogen. It would be much better to fertilize
heavily and attempt to raise some more profitable crop than to introduce
clover or beans or some other legume for the purpose of enriching the soil. It
cannot be too strongly emphasized that unless the tubercles are present the
leguminous crop is of absolutely no more benefit toa soil than wheat or po-
tatoes. 5

While these organisms are pretty generally distributed throughout the
earth, and it is quite possible in many parts of the country to grow almost
any leguminous crop and secure these tubercles, it is also true that certain
regions are practically devoid of the right kind of bacteria, and that unless
some artificial means of introducing the germs be resorted tothe crop will be
a failure.

ARTIFICIAL INOCULATION OF THE SOIL

In the past there have been two methods used in attempting to bring
about artificial inoculation. Naturally where a certain leguminous crop has
been grown successfnlly for a number of years the soil will become filled with
tubercle organisms, and by transporting this earth to new fields the organ-
isms will thus become available for forming the nodules in localities where
they previously had not existed. This was the means by which the soy-bean
organisms were brought from Japan, and there are very few places in this
country where soy is now grown that did not receive their inoculation, indi-
rectly at least, from the Japanese soil.

There two serious objections to soil inoculations, however. One is the
expense, for it requires anywhere from 500 to 1500 pounds of earth per acre
to produce a satisfactory growth of tubercles, and if this has to be trans-
ported for a large farm, the cost is almost prohibitive. There is still an-
other and more serious objection, however, and that is the danger of trans-
mitting plant diseases by thismethod. Several of the more serious diseases
which attack crops are readily conveyed in the soil, and there are numerous
cases on record where.diseases of leguminous and other crops have been in-
troduced into regions previously entirely free from them through an effort
to bring about a soil inoculation of the tubercle-forming organism. Conse-
quently, if any safer and cheaper method could be devised for making these
germs available, it would be most desirable.

A few years ago certain German iavestigators put upon the marketa
product known as uitragin, which purported to be a pure culture of the root-
tubercle organism. ‘hese cultures were oaly adapted to specific crops, for
it has been held that eaca kind of leguminous plant had a special germ bet-
ter adapted to produce tubercles upon it than any other form, and for this
reason it was necessary to use one organism for clover, another for peas, and
sooa. Tais preparation, nitragin, has been used with varying success abroad.
Some experiments seemed to show that it was of the greatest value, while
others are complete failures in demoastrating its worth. The failures so far
outnumbered the successes, however, that its manufacture has been aban-
doned, and it can no longer be obtained. A few attempts have been made to
use these cultures in this country, and while some very satisfactory results
were obtained, the number of failures was even greater than abroad, the

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 41

————S

varying condition involved in transportation and the length of time which
elapsed before the germs could be used being fatal to about 80 per cent of
the material imported.

IMPROVED METHOD OF INOCULATION

A little more than a year ago the investigation of these nitrozen-fixing
bacteria was begun in the laboratory of plant phys‘ology of the Bureau of
Plant Industry, with the hope of discovering some method of artificially in-
oculating soils which were devoid of the proper organisms, and iasuring their
producing the desired result. It was soon found that the method in use
by the German investigators was not adapted to the life of the organism;
that is to say, the use of rich nitrogenous food material, such as decoctions
of the host plant, were not calculated to produce an organism which would
fix free nitrogen from the air. It was found that while the bacteria grew
luxuriantly upon such media, they became less and le-s active, until event-
ually they lost completely this nitrogen-fixing power. Itseemed as though
the large amount of nitrates in the media upon which they were grown made
it no longer necessary to draw nitrogen from the air, and consequently they
deteriorated until they became of no more value than the common soil forms.
It has been found, however, that by gradually reducing the amount of nitro-
gen in the culture medium it is possible to greatly increase the nitroyven-fix-
ing power of thése germs, and that by proper manipulation their activity
may be increased from five to ten times that which usualiy occurs in nature.
Practical field experiments have shown that of two cultures, one grown on
nitrogen-free media and and the other on a medium rich in nitrates, the first
will produce abundant tubercles, while the latter will be absolutely worthless
and fail to produce a single nodule.

DISTRIBUTION AND METHODS OF USE OF CULTURES

Having secured an organism which was able to fix such a large amount
of nitrogen, it was necessary to devise some means of preventing this proper-
ty from being lost, as well as to enable the cultures to be distributed in
sufficient quantity to be of some practical use. It is now known that the
bacteria, when grown upoa nitrogen-free media, will retain their higa activ-
ity if they are carefully dried out and then revived ia a liquid medium at the
end of varying lengths of time. By using some absorbent which will soak up
millions of the tubercle-forming organisms and then by allowing these cul-
tures to become dry the bacteri1 can bes-nt toany pairtof the United States,
or the world for that matter, and yet arrive in pertect condition. Of course,
it is necessary to revive the dry germs by immersion in water, and with the
addition of certain nutrient salts the original number of bacteria is greatly
increased if allowed to stand for ashort time. Frequent'y twenty-four hours
are sufficient to cause the waterin a pail toturn milky white with the num-
ber of organisms formed inthat time. Thus, bys nding outa dry culture,
similar to a yeast cake and no larger in size, the original number of nitrogen-
fixing bacteria may be multiplied sufficiently to inoculate at least an acre of
land. The amount of material thus obtained is limited only by the quantity
of the nutient water solution used in increasing the germs. It is evident»
therefore, that the cost of inoculating landis very small. The principal cost
is in obtaining the organisms, but the methods perfected by the Department
of Agriculture now make it possible to produce these at a comparatively

42 BOOK OR CORN GROWING
er ee ee Vee A NRL ORY iy RA NE
small cost. Special facilities for i increasing the culture_on a large scale are
being provided.

The way in which this liquid culture may be introduced into the soil
varies somewhat with the character of the seed tobe; used and the area of
the field to be treated. With large seed it is often more convenient tolsimply
soak them in fluid and then after they are sufficiently dry}to sow them inthe
ordinary way. In other cases it is frequently more feasible to introduce the
liquid culture directly into the soil. This may be done*by spraying, or per-
haps a simpler method is to mix the culture thoroughly:with a wagonload of

earth and then to distribute and harrow this in just gas ai fertilizer would be
handled. Inoculations of this character have been tried on a large scale in
practical field experiments, and the results have been sofsatisfactory that
the Department of Agriculture will probably soon be able to begin the intro
duction of cultures into such localities as are now deficient in tubercle-form-
ing germs. It should be born in mind that such inoculations are usually not
necessary in soil that is already producing tubercles. While the introduction
of fresh organisms will generally considerably increase the snumber of nodules,
the effect upon the crop is not appreciable, and it: isfhardly worth the ex-
penditure of time and labor necessary to make the inoculation. Wherever
legumes that fail to produce tubrcles are being grown, however, or in those
localities where the soil is so poor that legumes will not grow and:because of
the lack of the proper organisms they cannot make a start,“every effort
should be made to get the bacteria into the soil.

Corn Improvement and Selection

We are now just in the wake of the wave of awakened interest in corn
improvement which has swept over the country the past three or four years.
During that time many new theories have been advanced and abandoned,and
even those which have stood the test of time have been constantly modified
as we have learned new facts.

Corn men now generally agree that yield is the most important consid-
eration, even though the high yielding corn may have few,{or none of the
fancy points catalogued as essential to the “‘ideal ear.”

The first thing for a farmer to do, who intends taking up practical corn
breeding, or selection is to find the variety that is best adapted and gives best
yield under his conditions. There are hundreds of varieties, and that they
vary greatly in yield when grown under the same conditions is easily seen by
taking up the report of any variety test of corn conducted by the experiment
stations.

It is today. an established fact that the selection, say 100 ears of corn
from the very best seed obtainable, that by close observation and examina-
tion, that but very few of such ears will have all the good qualities desirable
in such a variety, hence the necessity of a test by one who is thoroughly
learned first in what constitutes a desirable corn for the general farmer, but
the tests that may be of mcst value to the farmer are first, heft of ear,
second, legnth of cob; third, length and size of kernel; fourth, the amount of
life and oil or fat bearing portions in comparison to the whole, lastly, the
shape of the kernel. The surest test of value being weight of grain in com-
parison to cob. Pick first your best ear, having the most of the above
points in your judgment, shell it carefully, weigh the cob and the grain care-

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 43

2S Ee ee ee
fully making a note the comparative weight of each, shell as many such ears
as you may wish, making careful notes of each ear, have a plat of ground
thoroughly fitted, in which remember first, the finely prepared seed bed—long
enough so that the corn from one ear may plant one row, have this trial plat
as far removed from other corn as possible, that there may be no mixing of
pollen, give this plat rich attention, allowiug no weeds or barren stalks to
grow. Assoon as the tassels begin to show and the ears begin to set or form,
keep close watch and if from any cause there are stalks that do not set an
ear or more cut it out, do not in all your plat allow even one stalk of this
barren yariety to have a chance to shed its pollen amongst the fertile grow-
ing stalks. In this manner you will have laid the foundation for your coming
crops of corn. At gathering time pick in good season allowing it to stand as
late as possible without being caught by killing frosts, being very careful to
put each row by itself giving it some number or mark by which you will know
the row in which it was grown _ Be very careful that you do not store it at
any place where it may come in contact with other corn and be very sure
that it does not freeze, at least until thoroughly dried and remember one
fact that all corn for seed will keep better until such time as it is wanted on
the cob. When it is ready to shell'for planting first, take each ear care-
fully, weigh it before shelling and the same after, this will give you the cor-
rect amount of cob andcorn. Showing which are the best, as to the heft of
corn compared to heft of cob, which decides the worth or desirability. By
following this method for a few years, you will have brought out a variety of
corn to your own liking and one that will surprise you as I think that no
other grain will show the great improvement in so short space of time as
corn, nor pay as well for the work and trouble that will have been laid out in
this direction. Weare positive in our opinion that the above named rules
thoroughly carried out year after year, will be one of the greatest invest-
ments and one of the most pleasant occupations that any farmer can enter
into, upon his farm.

Seed Corn

Illinois’ annual corn corp, about 240,000,000 bushels, is raised on near-
ly 8,000,000 acres of land. It required almost 1,000,000 bushels of seed corn to
plant the corn fields of this state.

If the character of the seed has any considerable influence upon the crop
produced, then the production and use of the best possible seed corn becomes
a matter of tremendous importance.

What is the quality of the seed corn planted by the lllinois farmers? To
this question it will be necessary to study the character of seed corn under

several different heads.
UNIFORMITY

As a rule little attention has been given to the character of the seed
corn; little examination has been made of the proportion of the corn to cob,
of the purity of color, the space between the rows, the filling out of ends,
the length, circumference, or shape, or of any of the imp )rtant points which
goto make up a good ear of corn.

It has been found by seed corn growers that the length, circumference
or shape of the ear can be varied at will by selection, and there is every rea-
son to believe that these characteristics can be so fixed that practically ail

44 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

of the ears in a field grown from pedigreed, uniform seed will be of approxi-
mately uniform size and shape. Further it has been found that the number
of rows of kernels on the cob, the filling out of the ends or other character-
istics, can be improved by planting from seed having these characteristics.

It has bee demonstrated that it is not good practice to plant small ker-
nels of grain of any sort. Therefore, it is not good policy to plant the tip
kernels. As the butt kernels usually vary greatly in size from the kernels on
the rest of the ear, it is a good plan to shell off and discard both the tips and
butts of the ears selected for seed. Again, asthe butts of the ears mature
first and the tips last, it is probable that the parts have been fertilized by
pollen of an early or late variety from some neighboriug field; so by shelling
off the butts and tips, part of the danger of mixed seed can be avoided. In
general, shell off the small and the extremely large kernels, so that the por-
tion of the ear remaining for seed has kernels of approximately uniform size.
With most varieties of corn, about one-half inch of butt kernels and one inch
of tip kernels should usually be shelled off.

VITALITY

Owing to a late spring or early frosts, it frequently happens that the
seed corn does not fully mature. In this condition the ear is likely to mould
and decay, thus destroying the vitality of the grain. As the majority of
farmers in Illinois allow the seed corn to remain in the general crib during
the winter exposed to the sudden and violent changes in temperature, such
corn, full of moisture, will freeze, and consequently the life of the germ may
be weakened or destroyed. The seed corn in central Illinois, selected from
the crop of 1898, was so much injured inthis way that the university tests of
the vitality of seed corn sent in by farmers from this section of the State
gave an average of only 76 percent germination. Such seed was not fit to
plant, but as no provision had been made by the farmers for drying and prop-
erly preserving seed corn, and as this was the only seed available it was
planted with a resultant poor stand, light crop, and a loss of profits.

Immature seed should not be planted for several reasons: First, such ker-
nels do not contain as much plant food as those which are fully developed,
and thus do not provide as much nourishment for the young plants which con-
sequently, do not get so vigorous and healthy a start as those from mature
seeds. Second, the excessive moisture in the immature seeds renders them
liable to begin to germinate in the fallin the crib, and thus use up a part of
their strength; or a sudden drop in temperature may freeze the corn and de-
stroy the life of the seed.

Seed corn should test 95 per cent vitality; i. e., of the seed planted in the
seed bed 95 per cent should grow. If the seed does not give this test of vital-
ity a poor stand will be the result. Norisit wise tor the farmers to try to
make up for poor seed by planting a greater number of grains, because of
seeds which give a test of vitality many of those which do grow lack strength
and vigor and will consequently produce weak plants. Furthermore, an un-
even stand will sure result, some hills being over-crowded (frequently with
weak plants), and other hills being left with perhaps uo plants at all because
of the unequal distribution of the seed that will germinate. Seed of low vi-
tality will inevitably tend to the production of a poor crop. It is important,
therefore, that the farmer make atest of the vitality in order that he may
know the quality of his seed. A most simple, effective, and practical method

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 45

of testing the vitality of seed corn is as follows: Fill common dinner plates
nearly level full of fine sand, pour water over the sand until it is more than
saturated, shake gently to level the sand, allow it to settle, and then drain
off the surplus water. Push 50 kernels into the sand in each plate, turna
smaller plate over the sand to prevent toorapid evaporation of moisture,
and set both ina warm place. Keep the sand moist and in seven days all of
the healthy kernels should sprout. By counting the kernels sprouted the per
cent of good seed can easily be computed.

PEDIGREE

As awatter of fact the history of the development of most of the strains
of corn now grown in the State, is very brief With few exceptions no record
has been kept of the various crosses, and but few varieties have been se-
lected toward a particular type for a special purpose for any considerable
length of time. There have been but few systematic or practical attempts
at improvement, and the result is that we are, asa rule, growing mongrel or
scrub varieties. A few varieties however, have been carefully selected, in
accordance with definite ideas as to improvements, for about a quarterofa
century and have developed certain characteristics, distinguishing them from
other varieties. In such instances it has been found that, if the corn has
been selected toward a uniform standard type, the yield has been. increased
because of the production of uniformly better ears. The yields of varieties
tested at this experiment station from 1888 to 1900 inclusive, show the same
result. Also enough has been accomplished to prove that almost any char-
acteristic desired in a variety can be fixed by persistent selection, and that
these characteristics can be continually improved by further selection.

The development of the per ecnt of sugar in sugar beet furnishes asplen-
did illustration of the possibilities of plant breeding. Starting with ordinary
beets with about 4 per cent of sugar, the French and German seed growers
by selection have increased the sugar content to an average of 12 to 16 per
cent, making it possible to manufacture profitably sugar from this source.
There is little doubt that there are as great or greater possibilities in the corn
plant, and that these possibilities can be as easily developed as the increased
sugar content of the beet. The development of our present breeds of cattie
and other live stock plainly shows how careful, systematic, and intelligent
selection and breeding have improved those breeds. We have developed the
dairy type and the beef type from the same source; the light and drafthorse
from the same typecf breeding and selection.

Corn responds to selection as readily as do beetsand cattle, and there is
no longer any doubt but that varieties of corn can be further improved by
similar methods.

it has been found that the chemical composition of the corn kernel varies,
and the experiments conductedlby this station have conclusively shown that
the proportion of the constituents of chemical composition can be varied at
tne will of the Breeder, ‘‘Improvement in the Chemical Composition of the
Corn Kernel.” In other words, it has been found possible to increase or de-
crease the proportion of oil, or of starch, or of protein, by seed selection.
When seed high in protein is planted, a product high in protein is the result
and vice versa. The same thing holds true with seed high in starch, or oil.

What is true of the chemical composition, is eminently true of the physi-
cal characteristics of the ear; for instance, the shape of the Leamiug kernel

46 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

ARTA OMANI Le NRIOL RGU RNC Hs Fe Sa aH aA i
has been changed by twenty-five years of selection from the original shoe-
peg shaped kernel to a broader, deeper: grain with adeep ident. Along
with this variation in shape of kernel has gone an increase in
length of ear, and a slight increase in circumference. Again,
in the case of the Boone County White variety, the tips of the origi-
nal corn were poorly filled. This fact was due principally to the reason that
the Boone County white ears are very long. As an ear matures from the
butt, towards the tip, the tip maturing last, it frequently happened that the
pollen was all gone before the tips of some of these ears which were well
filled, in other words, the ears all parts of which matured in time for the
pollen to fertilize tnem, the best samples of this variety have become well
filled at the tips.

Yellow Rose corn was originally a medium to shallow grained corn but by
constant selection toward deeper kernels and deeper dent, the variety has
developed a very deep kernel with an unusually deepindentation. It has been
found at the university through five years of experimentation, that the
amount of husks, length of shank, size of stalk, position of the ear on the
stalk, the number of leaves, in fact every physical characteristic can be
varied by the simple selection in a short space of time.

At present our meager records show only the incomplete history of the
parentage of the varieties of corn. It is just as important that we know the
character of every part of the corn plant, as that we know every character-
istic of the stalk strongly influence the development of the ear; and it is
probable also that we shall need to know the nature of the root development
in order to breed intelligently.

HOW TO GROW SEED CORN

The farmer who is especially interested in corn can well afford to grow
his own stock seed. He can select for those qualities he particularly desires,
adapt the corn to his peculiar conditions of soil and climate, and continue to
produce a constantly improving grade of corn.

The first essentia’ in growing seed corn is, that one obtain from some re-
liable corn breeder 30 or 40 ears of highly bred seed of the variety desired.
Corn suitable for growing seed is difficult to obtain. It does not exist in
large quantities, because of the high standard of perfection which must be
maintained in its selection, and so it must be very expensive, but the farmer
can well afford to pay a high price in order to get it for breeding purposes.
It is absolutely necessary that the farmer obtain this seed cornin the
ear, because it is impossible to judge accurately the quality of seed corn after
it is shelled.

An acre or more of good land should be selected which is located at a dis-
tance of about 40 rods from any other corn field (unless thick groves or hedges
are between), and, if possible, further, especially in the direction of the most
prevalent summer winds, in order that the corn may not be mixed by the poll-
eo from other varieties or from low grade corn of the same variety. After
the seed bed is well prepared and the field marked both ways, plant the corn
from each ear by itself, either in plots about 9 or 10 hilis square, or in rows
lengthwise of the field. The planting is best done by hand, and must be so
done if the plot system is adopted. A square field of 36 square plots of 100
hills each is a little more than 1 acre; or 28 rows of 127 hills each make pract-
ically an exact acre, if the hills are 3 feet 6 inches apart each way.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 47

Discard all tips and butts and any other abnormal or mixed kernels and
plant each plot or each row with corn from a single ear. What is left of the
ears may be mixed together and used to plant a border around the acre field
to futher protect it from foreign pollen. This border is, of course, cultivat-
ed with the rest of the field. Keep each year a carefully selected typical
ear for purposes of comparison and to show the changes effected year by
year.

As soon as the ears begin to set and the character of the stalks can be
determined, go through the field and cut out all of the poor, dwarfed, or barr-
en stalks, and also any volunteer or accidental stalks which may appear in
the field, so that the pollen from these inferior stalks cannot fertilize the
future seed. The same object may be accomplished by detasseling these im-
perfect stalks just as the tassels begin to peep through the leaves.

Husk each plot or row grown from a single ear separately. Examine the
ears closely and select ears for the next year’s seed acre from those plots or
rows having the greatest proportion of ears true to type. The ears which
produce this large proportion of ears true to type must have a prepotency
for the production of ears of this uniform type, and by planting ears from
such a crop, which has inherited this prepotency, and by following this meth
od of selection for a series of years, a rapid improvement will take place.

After the required number of the very best ears has been taken as de-
scribed for the next year’s seed acre, a considerable quantity of highly bred
seed can be selected for common planting or for planting in a separate field
to produce larger quantities ot stock seed. This stock seed being but one or
two generations removed from the highest type of seed, will naturally retain
qualities and preserve characteristics of the highly bred corn.

Two systems of planting, which may be termed the “plot system’”’ and the
‘row system,” are both used and both will doubtless give good results. It is
thought that the plot system may effect a closer in-breeding, but whether
this is true, it is desirable or advantageous, is not yet determined. For sim-
plicity the row system is recommended. It has been used for several years
at this experiment station in the above mentioned corn breeding experiments
by which marked improvement has been effected in the chemical composition
of corn, and it has been adopted by several breeders who are taking up simi-
lar lines of corn breeding.—J. Shanul, Ill. College of Agriculture.

48 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

Acclimation of Corn and How to Get Good Seed

We are hearing a great deal
said in regard to acclimated seed
corn and of thoroughly breeded
seed corn and seed corn that will
resist both drought, wet and cold,
and many other points that to the
practical thinking man seems very
strange. There are leading men
who are talking upon this subject
and who are saying to their farmer
friends, do not send away for your
seed corn, but buy from your neigh-
bor if you have not got it on your
own farm and at the same time
they are saying, plant thoroughly
breeded blooded seed corn such as
has been planted with the view
that first, there shali be no barren
stalks, second, a uniform color,
size of ears, and with straight rows
fully covering both tip and butt
with deep grains finely set on the
cob, and so full of fat producing
substances that the struck half
bushels will weigh from 32 to 33
pounds. Do you for one moment
think, that you can find a farming
community where the ordinary
farmer is growing corn with all or
any great number of these quali-
ties? The thinking man will at
once say no, the ordinary farmer
has not the time for all this, many
of them are good judges of good

-corn, but how many know how to
grow it to secure the above results,
and how many of them have the
time to spare in such tests even if
they did understand the process
fully? The next question then is, what is meant by thoroughly bred seed
corn? If we get the right idea, it would mean simply that a man must plant
but one kind and that grown at or near some particular farm or locality, for
years, selection being made each year of those ears which show a strongly
defined type. If this be done corn must be different from all other grain,
in breeding vegetable or animal life.
We know from experience that breeding along these lines while it may
give a smooth symetrical body it does not give strength, life or solidity.
What in your estimation gives the best, strongest and heartiest cattle and

ee pen prvener fae? PrnrttD, SELON,

1
:
:

3

sqrpeeeeetes

FP ere

y

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 49

hogs? Most assuredly not in breeding. Now the thinking practical man will
choose first from the same strain to be of no kin from the mostzrugged. We
all know of the results of inbreeding bringing weak constitution unprofitable
sickly stock. Then why not withcorn? There seems to be a point in corn
breeding which have not been brought to the attention of the people and to
it we attach great importance. Our business for many years has been the
breeding and selecting of corn, for seed. Not the fancy kind for show, but
that which the practical farmer wants, strong prolific and full of oil and life.
What does the ordinary farmer care for straight rows or samencss of ears,
so long as he gets a large yield, of well matured and sound corn, such as will
meet the demands of commerce, give the greatest number of pouads of
shelled corn per acre, fat his hogs and cattle make a big return on his in-
vestment, pay off the mortgage and allow him a fine carriage, in which to
visit his friends or make his journey to town. The reputation of my corn
has been universal for years, and it has been the wonder of many who have
thought along this line, how it could be that my corn received the same
recommendations from north to south and f1om east to west, and yet to us
_there is no secret upon this subject. For years it has been my habit of
sending to those who have grown our corn in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas,
Nebraska, Minnesota and the Dakotas, to obtain from those states the best
that have been grown, bringing it back and planting the same upcn thie
pleasant valley seed corn farm. This being the same strain of corn having
been sent to these various different sections, and having become acclimated
to their climate, being brought back here and grown upon our farm, gives it
new life, new blood with strong vitality and prolific tendency, which it must
in our soil and climate, and which makes it truly adapted to the growth of
the best and strongest corn ever grown upon the face of the globe, ready for
planting at all different points of the compass. This operation ard from the
testimonials which we have received from all those states mentioned fully
convince me, that this is the true method of acclimating corn, that shall be
a success from north to south and from east to west.

There is no man today but will admit that. corn grown in our valley far
out ranks any corn grown in any other part of the world. We have grown
corn for the past thirty years, in this valley. We were many years ago
convinced that the svil and climate wou!ld produce corn, better matured,
stronger vitality, more prolific than any other section that we have ever
seen. Today our most sanguine expectations are more than realized. There
are now hundreds of thousands of bushels of seed corn being shipped from
our city, to all parts of the U. S, Canada and Mexico and other. foreign
countries. It has required thirty years to demonstrate the fact of our
theory along this line, but today, I assure you that no other section is as
widely known for seed corn as the city of Shenandoah. What has thus firmly
established this reputation and built up this immense trade? It must most
assuredly be something substantial. Truth will prevail, if so our theory of
acclimation, cultivation and selection must be right.

A large number of our readers, men as well as boys, are managing corn
breeding plats, and tothese we have a word of advice, two of them in fact:
In most cases they will find where they have planted rows with one ear each
that many of the rows are very much inferior to those adjoining. This means
that the ear from which the row was planted was poor, perhaps low in ger-

50 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

minating power, resulting in a thin stand, but more likely low in vitality.
Its stalks at this time of the year probably from three to six inches shorter
than the adjoining row.

These poor rows should not be allowed to produce pollen. Therefore as
soon as the tassels appear go through and pull them out. That is, the tassels.
You will need to do this about three times during the week or ten days in
which the tassels are appearing. The stalks in this row will be fertilized by
the pollen from the stronger rows adjoining or within arod. This, however,
is not the main object in detasseling. The main object is to prevent the
pollen from these rows of low vitality decreasing the vitality of the better
rows and thus reducing their value as seed for next year. Take your seed
from the stronger rows and prevent their vitality from being reduced by
pollen from the weaker rows. This is a matter of a very great importance.

Where our readers have not planted ears in separate rows, but have
mixed the seed, go through and detassel all the poor stalks in the entire plat.
We have always advised planting in rows because the differences between
the rows of low and great vitality are plainly to be seen, and also because it
is easier to detassel a whole row than it is to detassel a stalk here and there
in the hill.

Another very important point must be borne in mind. The corn plant
differs from almost every other plant in this: that it must have considerable
of a stock before it will produce an ear of any value. Any stalk too small to
produce an ear becomes a weed. The stalk is the factory in which the plant
food is converted into grain, and must therefore be considerable of a factory
that is, a pretty well developed stalk, before it will even attempt to produce
anear. You don’t get a big ear on a small stalk, nor do you get a large pro-
duct of anything from asmall factory. It is different with grass. You may
have an inferior growth of grass, but the grass that you have will be quite as
valuable per ton as the grass taken froma larger crop. It may be better
because it don’t have so much moisture. The main object in growing corn
is to produce the ear, and unless you have a considerable development of
stalk you can’t produce an ear of any size. In other words when the stalk is
formed and the tassel and silks are dead, the plant is just beginning to do
effective work. Heretofore it has simply been getting ready, and if it did
not get a good ready then you can’t have a good ear. For this reason, there-
fore, the corn breeder should cut out all stalks that have not sufficient devel-
opment to enable them to start a good ear.

This is not practical in a field where corn is grown simply for commercial
purposes. There is not time todo that. The way to avoid weak stalks in
that field is to look after your seed plant and get seed of such vitality that it
will produce big stalks the next year. The weak stalks will have some value
for fo.der, if not for corn. Better let the weak stalks go inthe field. In
fact yu can’t do anything else, but avoid them by getting seed corn of your
own of such high vitality that unless some unavoidable accident happens to
it it will grow a great big strong stalk and be ready to develop big ears in the
field another season.

We hope our readers who are engaged in corn breeding will not forget
these two points. They are very important when you come to think of the
next year’s crop. Good, vigorous seed and the adoption of our suggestion

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG ; 51

ee ________________

will help very much in the near future, not merely next year but for many
years to come.
Do Not Plow Too Deep.

Last fall in order to demonstrate the advisability and importance of
shallow cultivation in the latter part of the corn growing season, two corn
plants were taken from tne field and mounted just as they had grown in the
soil. All who have seen the specimens are convinced their previous beliefs
notwithstanding that shallow cultivation is the only system after the second
cultivation. The specimens taken,for this purpose were selected from hills
having but one stalk and growing under the most natural and ordinary con-
ditions, such as are found in any average field of corn. One was taken up at
the time that the corn was about three and one half feet high, the other
when the shoots were coming out of the stalks. For convenience corn roots
may be classified in two kinds, lateral ard vertical roots or the feeders, and
brace roots the lateral roots were found to be very numerous and from five to
eight inches below the ground. They gradually took a lateral oblique course
downward to about twenty to thirty inches in every direction and then went
straight down.

The roots were found to have many fibers a rootlets penetrating the
soil in every direction. It is these root hairs that get the food from the soil
for the plants,these characters indicating the'r usefulness in gathering plant
food from the surface soil.

GROWTH OF BRANCH ROOTS

The varieties of brace roots come out at the lower nodes about the time
it begins to tassle, growing very rapidly and nearly vertical, with aslight
outward curve. They are inclined to be very straight with few if any root
fibers, terminating in a translucent delicate tip in the moist sub-soil. The
character and form of these roots indicate that they serve two purposes,
namely, to aid the stalk in holding the weight of the ear, and to get moisture
from below. Their lack of fibers indicate that they are of little value in se-
curing food. In thespecimens that we took up these roots descended over
five feet, into the sub-soil, thus showing their great penetrating power.

The lessons taught from these specimens are of great importance. In
the ordinary method of cultivating especially the third time, the shovels are
set deep and the soil ridged up against the hills of corn; this is often done to
kill weeds, and because a farmer thinks he is helping the plants by such vig-
orous stirring of the ground. Now, what he actually does is to cut off three-
fourths of the length of those laterals or feeding roots, just at a time when
the plant is exerting all its energy in stirring up food, in the ear and stalk,
the roots in the center of the row are exposed or left with so little covering
that they are injured by the sun and air. Evidences of this work are shown
by the numerous white roots that accumulate on the cultivator shank. How
many of the farmers who may read these lines, remember how after such a
cultivation the leaves of their corn rolled up, they innocently believing that
the heat and the drought were the cause, while most assuredly it was the cut-
ting of the sustaining and feeding roots of the stalks.

LOSS BY DEEP TILLAGE

Just think what this means. Statistics tell us that the average yield of
corn in the most favored states are only about 23 bushels per acre. Ninety-

52 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

four millions of acres considered. N»w if there were only one good. ear of
corn to each hill, three feet six inches each way, we would average over fifty
bushels per acre admitting that other factors effect the yield Yet with from
only two-fifths to one-half of its normal roo: system left the other three-
fifths to one-half being destroyed by deep cultivating to do the work at the
time the plant is at the climax of its growth it is litt'e wonder that our corn
does not mature and y'eld as much aswe expect or by one-half of what it
mignot. The writer has in mind two large f1rms one on which seven to eight
thousand acres of corn were grown the: last season. In both cases with the
exception of a few acres, the corn was cultivated «s deeply as possible, the
last time over with a re-ult that two-thirds of the crop d'd not mature. The
few acres giyen shailow cultivation produced well matured corn witha far
greater yield per acre although under the same c-ndition as prevailed with
the above named exceptions. Is further illustration n:cessary? To kill the
weeds, cultivate deep and early, to conserve moisture and aid maturity culti-
vate shallow and late. Today we have’so many illustra'ions from reliable
sources that we cannot help believe that the experience and results given in
the above are wonderfully true. Most assuredly it is a great object lesson
and one that should rot be forgotten by the thinking up-to date farmer.

The following cut w ll give a fine illustration of the roots described so
vividly in the above communication.—Zy 4. L. Cotrell, Iowa Agricultural Colleye.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG BS

The Tillage Problem

The tillage problem is one that confronts the farmer at the beginning of
spring’s work and stays by him until the frost stops operation on the farm in
the fali, in fact it stays with him all the year to be most successfully carried
out, he must know the land thoroughly and be ready at all times to give it
such crops and tillage as is best adapted to each particular lot, each crop so
planted that it will be in the very best condition for the one to follow, so that
when one plants for the crop of the pres nt year he also bas in mind the one
to follow then if proper cultivation is not offered any kind of lawd it becomes
cloddy, hard and unproductive. A clod yields no nourishment to plants until
it is crushed, therefore. the physical condition of the soil has much to do with
the size of the crop. The soil may be fi'led with an abundance of plant food,
yet if it be hard and lumpy, it will not prodec2 maximum crops

The object of tillage is two-fold. First, to improve the mechanical con-
dition of the soil, by breaking up and fining it, so that the roots of the plants
may easily and freely find their way downward and through the soil; second,
by giving warm‘h early in the spring, by coatrolling a uniform condition of
moisture aud temperature throughout the growing season, affording the soil
mulch, and making available plant food, which is acted upon by air, water
and fermentation, bringing it into a state of utility.

The tools used in tillage may be divided into three general ciasses—deep,
surface and compact. The ordinary p!ow belongs to the tools of the first
class, and it may be truly said tlrat good plowing lies at the basis of all suc-
cessful agriculture.

True economy in farming is where large crops are produced on small areas,
ard when cultivated soil is deepened, th: root pasturage is correspondingly
increased. By deep plowing we break up the hard pan, if too near the sur-
face, and distribute food e'ements found inthe sub-soil. Deep plowing should
be done graduaily; and it may not be always best to plow deep. . Certain con-
ditions must be taken into consideration; sand soils for instance and natural-
ly mellow soils require lessdepth ia plowing. The furrow slice turned in plow-
ing however, should not be inverted, ut rather broken and pulverized in the
turning. Clay land shou'd be plowed with julgme2at and never whea it is too
WEG. S
The time for plowing willd2pend upon tie season,the co rdition of the soil
and crops desired. Heavy soils, asarule are benefitted by fall plowing and
in many sections of our country such soils are often benefitted by being
plowed several times. For most crops. it is better to do this some little time
before the seed is planted as a moder :tely c mpact soil is better than one of
extreme looseness By employ’ng the subsoil p'ow the advantages of deep
tillage may be obtained. Especiaily is this true in preparing ground for
orchards and root plants Subsoil plows are of many designs, and they are
_ really plows without the moldboard and followinthe furrow made by the
ordinary p'ow, thus stirring the lower soil and Jeaving it in the same position.

Surface tillage is usually confined to the uppermest three inches of the
soil and may be carried oa by the use of cultivators, harrows, we :ders, rakes,
etc. It has for its object first, the making of amellow seed bed where seeds
maybe properly covered or plants set; secon’,the conservation of moisture by
the producing of a soil mulch; third, it serves a means for the destruction of
weeds and adds to the general improvements of soil conditions,

54 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

COMPACTING SOILS.

Tbe implements employed in the compacting of soils, are rollers, plank-
ers or floats and their value depends largely upon the nature ofjthe soilYand
local conditions attending the seasons and the crops that are planted. With
the light, loose, sandy or gravelly soils, where it is desirous to pack the par-
ticles of soil together,these compacting implements have an important place:

Where land is seeded during a dry season the soil should be rolled in order
to bring the moisture to the surface to hasten germination. Where -possible
such a rolling should be followed by a light harrowing, thus restoring the
surface mulch in order to prevent evaporation. C

However beneticial this may be on some soils, yet all lands do:not?respond
to such treatment with equally good results. Clay land, for instance, may be
injured by rolling, especially if followed by rain. If, however, land is plowed
during a dryspell, it is a goodidea to immediately follow the®plowed land
with a roller to crush clods, and to ho!d moisture in the soil andZprevent dry-
ing out of the land. A good method with many crops is toroll before the
seed is sown; then harrow, makiig a good seed bed; afterwards drill in the
grain.

Rolling serves a good purpose on many pasture lands in the spring, by
pressing into the soil the roots of grasses that have been heaved:up by frosts
during the winter. We have often followed this practice on meadows and
pasture lands with excellent results. Wherever rolling is employed, the aim
should be to restore the soil mulch by tillage just as soon as possible, whichis
shown in the accompanying cuts.

Preparing the Ground.

So much has been said in recent years in the agricultural press on the
above topic that it is difficult to add anything new. On account of the differ-
ent circumstances and conditions, it is impossible to lay down any one rule by
which the farmer can safely be guided in the use of the harrow or the imple-
ments. His own past experience, if he has had any inthis direction, will
probably be his safest guide. Nevertheless, it is worth while to point out the
object which the farmer may have in view or rather the conditions in the
corn field which he should desire and which are essential to his greatest suc-
cess, and then he can determine whether these conditions can be better se-
cured by the use of the harrow or by some other implement.

A finely pulverized seed bed we find is very essential ard must be had.
There is no doubt today that one cannot secure a too finely pulverized seed
bed. Infact one may do the greater amount of their corn cultivation before
the corn is planted by thoroughly working in this direction. One secures
first, perfect assurance of a full stand of corn from the fact that each kernel
is brought fully in contact with the soil in that condition that insures each
grain the proper surrounding for producing a quick germination; second, in
securing an even stand while if not so prepared and clods and trash are left
and are brought in contact with the planting the seed will from lack of
moisture,too much air and heat be entirely killed or weakened and the gro*th
retarded until such times as the rain has decomposed the clods and brought
the soil fully in contact with the corn giving your corn from the same culti-
vation at least from one to two weeks variation in maturing, the latter often

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 55

being caught by tke frost, the damage being charged to poor seed when in
fact it was due to the cultivation. :

A satisfactory seed bed having been prepared and planted in due time
with good seed, what next does the farmer desire? He wishes the corn to
have the free use of every square inch of that field; he wishes freedom from
weeds; he wishes to utilize the moisture held in reserve in the subsoil for the
best pessible growth of the crop for the next ninety days.

When conditions are all right and the sun warm and the ground dry we
would as soon as possible follow such cultivation with a corn plow or cultivat-
or running deep and as near the row as possible without disturbing the corn,
which will thoroughly kill all weeds that have been germinated and giving
the ground between the rows deep cultivation crossing the same witha har-
row, or better still the modern weed killer, a tool that we have found very
efficient, but in its place with a grand effect one can use their harrow which
gives a thorough cultivation until your corn may be from four to eight inches
high when we use mostly the Eagle Claw or better still the Tower Surface
cultivator. In crossing this with the weeder or harrow in this manuer the
work is done most effectively, quickly and easily.

If the weeds are allowed to become deep rooted, then deep cultivation
must be adopted, and this necessarily involves root pruning which, however
advisable in certain climates and under certain conditions is certainly not
advisable in the Mississippi valley. See cut of roots.

Once more we call the attention of our readers to the fact thata dust
mulch of two or three inches shuts off toa great extent the evaporation of
the water and utilize the main bulk of the stored water in growing acrop of
corn. This must be done if we are to get the very best results. It is not pos-
sible for any man to growa good crop of corn with the average rainfall,
alone, of the Mississippi Valley. A good crop of corncan be grown only by
utilizing the water stored in the subsoil, and to utilize this we must have re-
source to the mulch of dry dirt formed wherever you have surface, cultiva-
tion following a well prepared seed bed and shallow cultivation {cannot be
adopted unless the soil is thoroughly prepared before planting. If planting
is done amidst acrop of weeds, these in all probability will be so firmly es-
tablished as not to be disturbed by the shallow shovel. Under such circum-
stances it is our practice to use deep shovels to destroy the first crop of weeds
before the root system of the corn is developed to an extent that will render
them liable to injury. Indeed, I would advise the complete destruction of
weeds at all hazards, although it is much better to do this when they are
young and tender.

There is another factor that should receive some attention, that is the
leaving of the surface soil as smvoth aud level as possible after every plow-
ing. A ridged surface exposes more soil to the drying action of the sun than
a smooth one, whic1 is another argumentin fav.r of shallow plows. This
may seem a small matter and yet the difference between success and failure
in any business is often due to the attention paid to details and to “small
things.”’

Maintaining Fertility of the Soil

To the farmer who has very rich land, as is the case in many parts of the
west, the maintaining of the soil fertility may not seem of much importance,
but in the course of time he will come to know how very important it is just

56 BOOK OR CORN GROWING

as the New England farmer has long since learned. Many farmersin the
western states are already noticing the decrease in the yield of crops from
older lands, and if better methods of farming are not resorted to, it will not
be many years before the application of commercial fertilizers will be neces-
sary.

"The fertility of the soil is one of the great corner stones of prosperity to
the people and the wealth of the nation is dependent upon it. Weshould be
careful to use better methods of cultivation and return as much plant food to
the soilas we take from it. The term fertile, as it is generally used, means
the ability of a soil to produce crops. Although a soil may be rich in plant
food it is not really fertile unless the elements that constitute this food are
in available form.

The fertility of the soil may be maintained in many ways. First, let us
investigate different methods of tillage as to the effect of each upon soil fer-
tility. Many farmers harvest their crops early enough to let the land be fall
plowed while others do not work the land in the fall at all. The man who cul-
tivates his land in the fall is the man who raises the largest cropfrom a given
area. Fail tillage loosens up the land so that the water from the melting
snow soaks into the ground, the land freezesand thaws toa greater
depth, which is very beneficial to soil that has a scarcity for available plant
food. Fall plowing, also, turns up tke subsoil to the action of the elements,
and not only brings this soil with the dormant plant food to the top, but pul-
verizes it and breaks up the soil granulés, so as to exposé much new surface.
of the soil grains to the action of the elements. Thus tillage helps greatly
in maintaining the fertility of the soil.

The rotation of crops has b2en given muchattention in the last few years
by the leading farmers. Taere are several practical systems of crop rotation
and of course the one to use is the one that best fits your condition and local-.
ity. Soil will not stand continual croppiag without deterioration to some
extent. Every rotation should have some pasturage or meadow grass in it..
Change the meadow or pasture from field to field as often as it can be profit-
ably done. More than two grain crops should not be raised in succession
from the same fi:ld if it be possible to raise some cultivated crop or some
legume crop A catch crop or cover crop can easily be worked in between .
grain crops and with great advantage in most cases. If necessary, plow
catch crops under for green manure. If. possible, use a legume crop, either
to harvest or for green manure, such as soy beans or cow peas, since these.
crops add considerable nitrogen to the soil. Legume crops of ene kind or an-
other shou'd enter into all rotations, for nitrogen is one of the chief constitu-
ents which most soils are deticient in.

Barayard manure is a source of fertility which is sadly neglected by many
farmers. If the crops«f the farm are fed to stock and tae manure returned
to the land in good condition, the problem of maintaining the soil fertility
becomes much simpler. Quite often the manure is piled up where the rain
will percolate through it and take out the nitrates and other valuable con-
stituents, carrying them down the ditches and into the creek orriver. If
manure canno: be hauled directly upon the land as it is made, it should be
stored under coverorinacemeut basinso that the liquid manure may be
saved. The cheapest and best way to handle it, however, is to haul it out
just as often as possible and if there is no cultivated land to receive it,spread

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 57

it on the pasture and make two blades of grass grow where one grew before.
Manure adds humus to the soil and humus is what much of the worn out land
needs.

Commercial fertilizers are very expensive and farmers in general cannot
afford to use them where they have to compete with the farmer who has kept
up the fertility of his soil by cheaper means and methods. Chemical fertiliz-
ers, however, are used a great deal in truck farming and market gardening
to good advantage. Since so much depends upon the products of the soil let
all of us who are interested in agriculture, strive to keep up the fertility of
the soil and thus help to increase the wealth of the nation, and in addition
reap our own large harvests.

Select And Care For Seed Corn.

It is chosen before being injured by frost and kept in artifically heated
rooms.

Mr. Cownie tells how the matteris handled on the farms ofthe state of
Iowa.

Over in one of the state board of control offices, there are 30 or 40 cigar
boxes full of earth, out of which are growing great lusty corn stalks. It is
from the seed selected last fall for our farms. We did not wait to select our
corn until after the frost had frozen the life out of it. There were selected
from the corn of the same farms twice as many bushels of corn’ as would be
needed for seed, the spring following, and this work was done in the first week
of October. The result is that we have out of the kernels planted in those
trial boxes a stand of 94 to 95 per cent, and when the ears which are slightly
molded are thrown out and the time comes to plant we will most assuredly
have astand of 100 percent We are careful not to plant on the state farm
corn which is not perfect the way to get perfect corn is to select it in the fall
before the freezing frost comes, then keep the seedjin artificially heated and
constantly warm quarters; in this way you will have 100 per cent grain from
grain so treated. I want seed corn that has been kept in the artificial heat
all winter, it isthe best. Wehad corn selected at Cherokee, kept in the
cellar there at a temperature of a 120 degrees. Every grain of it sprouted
and came u» with sturdy stalks ingood season. It is impossible to go to the
corn crib and pick good seed, itcannot be done. The time to pick seed is in
the fall, as I have stated. The boa d of control is competent to discuss the
seed corn proposition. The state grows something like 1000 acres The
products are all chopped into fodder. The instructions about selecting seei
corn, have been issued annually to the superintendents of the different insti-
tutions. Last year all but one inst tution followed the instructions, it bought
twelve bushels of seed but 75 per cent ofacrop. The other institutions grew
a magnificent crop.

The danger of delay in selecting the corn in the fall, is that when the
frost comes it will killthe germ In 1901 it wasdry, warm weather without
frost. Corn pi ked at any time in the fall of the year would germinate and
grow, healthy stalks. In 1902 frost killed the grain, and last fall it did the
same thins. Had the board waited until November or December
to select seed corn, it would have gone without. As it is by selecting it early
before the frost, preserving it in hot quarters all winter and testing it, in

the earth in the spring it hasa prospect fora perfect yield and a bountiful
crop.

58 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

Each farmer who reads these lines, ought to be more interested in the
selection and care for the seed that is to make his crop for the coming year.
As the man who is employed by the state of Iowa to look after those matters,
on the one hand there is but the interest and honor to prompt correct ac-
tion. While onthe other, the full conditions in fact all the dependence
of living in comfort and welfare of the family, would prompt the right effort
at the right time. I trust my farmer friends will take a lesson from the ex-
perience and warning given by the director of the farms of the great state
of Iowa.

Again we give you the experience of one in high authority,"upon plant
making in a Dutch garden, published ina recent number of Everybody’s
Magazine, which greatly strengthens the writer in an Opinion which he long
since formed that farmers pay too little attention to the improvement and
care of their seeds they are to use in making their crops. The article des-
cribes very conclusively how a Dutch professor of the Universtty of Amster-
dam developed anew variety of clover, bearing four, five and even seven
leaves. What this will avail tothe farmer whose substance comes from
broad acres of clover land, is not difficult to determine. Asa fodder and en-
richer of the soil, the value of the crop wi.l be increas. d toa very appreci-
able extent. Good luck certainly will come to those who substitute this new
variety for the oldthree leaf clover. Yet the painstaking professor did
nothing which the farmer had he the time and inclination could not have
done. He simply assisted nature who is always trying to improve, carefully
nourishing a few plants which bore four leaves. He saved and sowed the
seed of the new crop; only those that bore four or more leaves were allowed
to go to seed and so the process went on. Soon five leaves became abundant
and after years of patient culling out, stalks with even seven leaves appear-
ed, but none were developed with leaves above this number. It has long
been taught that like produces like, even in plants and the wise farmer has
already learned that if he saves his seed corn from stalks that bore three
ears, in his new crop will be a much larger percentage of stalks of the same
kind, and some with even four. Should thz culling process be carried on a
few years, he will arrive very closely toa permanency of the three eared
kind. If the farmer plants small potatoes year by year in order to save the
large ones for the market, nature will at last give up and reward him largely
with the same kind, a just punishment for his greenness. Care and labor in
the selection of farm seeds are always more thin recompensed. While the
market is full of that which is good there is always a demand ata higher
price for something better. A farmer of our acquaintance procured at some
trouble and expense a variety of oats which yielded much better than that
grown by his neighbor; although the market was dull he found no difficulty in
disposing of his crop at a figure 25 per cent higher than the current prices.
What he did, anyone of intelligence and of good judgment cando. Every
farmer should at least make a specialty of one thing: it will not only lessen
the monotony and relieve the drudgery of farm work but will also provea
diversion and put money inthe pocket of him who undertakes it.

We trust that each farmer will have hada lesson upon the desirability
of preserving his seeds with their full strength and vitality so that he may
raise such cropsas shall be sure of giving a large yield and desirable grain.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 59

Planting Corn

‘Planting corn is a very particular part of corn growing and should be
carefully done by an experienced hand.”

During a recent trip through four of the greatest corn states the writer
estimated the loss from this cause alone, at fully $100,000 to each county.
From many personal visits to numerous localities throughout the corn states,
during the past few years I have concluded that the average annual loss
occasioned by having the stand of corn too thick, or too thin, at a very con-
servative estimate, is fully fifteen bushels per acre. This would average
about seventy million bushels that are annually lost in the total yield of our
corn crop, owing to poor standsof corn. Too thick a stand ofcorn is just
as poor a stand as too thina stand. Many farmers not realizing the impor-
tance of seed corn of the highest possible germinating power, almost annual-
lyjuse seed corn not of the best vitality. They usually delay the selecting, if
‘selecting it can be called, until they are almost ready to plant, when they
pick the foundation of their corn crop hurriedly, and in many instances
carelessly depending on ‘luck’ for a good stand. There is no mistake so
often made by the great masses of our farmers asthe putting in of too much
seed in the ground. It seems to me many are trying to grow two or three
crops on the same ground at one time. This mistake is often made by old
farmers who seem to forget the sad results of former years and in my estima-
tion there is more loss occasioned by over seeding than from floods, droughts
and storms combined. I have in mind one of our farmers,who the past year
left to his hired man the planting of his large crop and he put in at least
twice the amount required. This mistake was to hima dear experience. It
would seem that any man who had farmed for years would do better than to
trust the planting of their corn to inexperienced hands. They had far better
take the management of the planting of the corn. The result of hiring in-
experienced men in this direction was that at least twice the seed was plant-
ed that should have been put upon this piece of grouad. Every kernel grew;
the season was wet and a wonderful growth of foliage was made anda vast
number of ears were set by the thick foliage, and the wet and cold weather
prevented so much from maturing. The result wasa large number of nub-
bins and soft corn. Had this corn been planted with three to four kernels to
the hill this one farmer would have had $1,000 to $1,500 more for his crop than
he actually received from the same. This is but one of the many thousands
we might mention and while many may not have as poor results as this
farmer did, there are but few who have not suffered from the same cause,
making it sure that if the farmer cannot attend to this matter personally he
ought to hire one who cannot only drive so as to planta straight row, but
be sure that his planter is at all times doing such work as is wanted, asthe
right amount of seed placed at the right depth even dropping by the check
row, Or even distances apart with the drill. Thisin a great degree governs
the returns that the farmer is to receive.

Very often again we have to face the problem of replanting; poor seed,
cut worms and moles are what have todo with our stand so that very often
we have a corn field that seems tothe ordinary observer, as you will often
hear said, it just amounts to nostand. What is to be done? In our opinion
itis this: do not try to fill in or replant, but if you have what seems to be a
half a crop give this good care and it will surprise you with great big fine

60 x BOOK ON CORN GROWING

ears of corn at gathering time, but if in your opinion it must be replanted
put in the corn plow and the drag and plant it over with an earlier seed. In
this way you may make it, but I always take:the first planting if there is any
show.

The careful farmer will first thoroughly test his seed corn before plant-
ing time, that he may know from the first what to expect from it, then he
will be sure to so test his planter that he knows to a_ certainty the amount it
will drop, then knowing his ground he is fully prepared to get such a stand as
he wishes, The next thing to consider is, what is a stand of corn?

Three to four stalks ina hill, when check-rowed, and the same amount
when listed or drilled, makes a good stand. That means one stalk where the
rows.cross and one stalk in the middle if drilled or listed. This is all I want
on any soilor in any year. This amount, if ofa large sized variety, planted
in soil sufficiently fertilized to produce a full crop, will give a yield from 75
to 100 bushels per acre in all seasons that are favorable. -

I often pass fields of corn with from four to seven stalks in a hill, whether
check-rowed or drilled. No field can produce a good crop under such cir-
cumstances. _When you observe this state of affairs you will see a lot of slim
half starved stalks of corn, with two and maybe three, half starved, chaffy
ears toa hill, the rest will be entirely barren. If the season be a dry one,
very many of the hills will be without an increase.

On two fields, both having the same appearance as to amount, one was re-
planted the other not, and the one not replanted, had - by far the better and
more corn. The cases are very rare indeed, when it really pays to replant:
We find m iny teday who advocate cutting and saving all the corn fodder but
I contend that the farmer is only entitled to his share, the ground being en-
titled to enough to keep up fertility and manure acrop. I am of course
growing corn for seed, I want all the vitality and strength left in the corn,as-
only a strong yigorous corn produced by astrong soil, will make such seed as
can be depended upon, for the best results.

I find after land has been so treated for a few years, corn will stand a six
weeks’ drouth and never faze it, and it seems to grow better each year it is
thus treated. The reason I assign for it is, that turning under the stalks
each year before they are fairly dried they soon rot which adds such qualities
of fertilizing matter to the soil that the growing plants are so vigorous that
they send their roots deep into the subsoil and gather moisture, while plants
growing on enfeebled soil have a weak set of roots, not penetrating to any
great depth, and when drought strikes them they fire up and produce no crop.
The best results are what weall wish—try my plan and see what it will do
for you.

Early and Late Planting

An old farmer named S»lomon, who must have run an experiment station
on his own account, laid down some rules for planting for the guidance of his
tenants: ‘‘In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine
hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or
whether they both shall b2 alike good.’”’? It issimply another way of saying
plant your corn when you are ready and do not try to guess whether the early
planting or the late planting will be the best.

In 1901 late planted cornyielded the best crop, while the eariy planted
corn was largely a failure. The late planted escaped the extreme heat which

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 61
CS tg IP TE SEL I 006 ot SA ESR SO ar cena ec
killed the tassels of the early and got some benefit of the later showers.
From this many farmers jumped at the conclusion that late planted corn
would be best and planted their corn in 1902 a week or ten days later than
was necessary. The result was corn caught by the frost, or, if not, soft and
chafty.

No living man can tell whenhe plants his corn whether the early or late
will be best. There is a limit before which he cannot plant successfully be-
cause there is not heat enough for germination; there isa limit after which
it is useless to plant corn for a grain crop, for we know that except in years
of abnormally great heat there will not be enongh heat units to mature its
Corn may be planted in central Iowa from the ‘first of May to the first of
June, preference being given by most farmers tothe middle teh days in May,
beginning withthe 10th on stalk ground ‘and ending with the 20th on sod.
These periods will vary with latitudes either north or south, but in our opin.
ion fully as much or more in nearby or adjoining farms, from the fact of the
great difference in the lay of the land, the advantages of drainage, the
methods of cultivation, etc. Each farmer to be successful and who makes
his farm pay must thoroughly study his land and use good judgment as to
what crop wi'l be best for each lot or field, then he must plan his rotation of
crops in such a manner that each shall receive the change necessary or what
might be termed rest. That will assure the best results on such lands, as are
liable to be cold or backward. Irecommend thorough fall plowing on the
great majority of land through the Mississippi Valley. In this way one may
get an early start with the disc or drag. The next great advantage will be
the thorough packing of the soil which has a great bearing upon the coming
crop of all that portion of territory. By thus stirring the top early, the soil
is being warmed up many degrees above what it would be if not so treated
but one thing sure do not forget’the fact, do not plant until you have a thor~
oughly prepared seed bed. Weare fully aware of the great anxiety of the
farmer to plant his corn as soon as he hears the click of the planter on his
neighbor’s tarm, but I consider the man will be safest who makes haste slow-
ly but sure. Those days spent in discing and harrowing and preparing the
seed bed before planting will be a great saving of time a wonderful factor in
the thorough germination of the seed planted and will give the man great
results. We then ask you to be sure if you are right and when so satisfied, do
your work thoroughly and quickly.

Corn Planting the Foundation of the Crop

Do the farmers fully realize the great gain or loss that may accrue from
the good or poor planting? Withseed of the desired variety, with kernels
of the right shape and right chemical composition, and with the desired
power of proper germination, one may be certain of the coming crop so far
as the seed and placing of it inthe ground are concerned. After the seed
comes the planting and the preparation of the seed bed, is another important
item in all successful corn culture. Wehave said much from time to time
about the thorough cultivation, before the planting of any crop, and at this
time will merely mention the fact that one half of the cultivation ought to
be done before the seed is planted. We should remember that the better the
ground is prepared the better the crop of corn is sure to be,and that added cul”
tivation before planting will tend to lessen the amount required by the grow-
ing crop. There need never be any fear of doing too much work in the prep-

62 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

aration of the land. It is better to bea little late in planting a crop, and
thereby being thoroughly prepared than to seed exactly on time ur 2 little
early withalack of proper cultivation. It is of course, very desirous to
plant in good season, but it is far better to be a trifle late, if necessary, and
have the seed go into the moist earth in a suitable condition. With careful
management it is possible to have all these conditions fairly favorable.

In the planting of corn there is one thing that deserves special attention
and that is in regard to the number of kernels that each hill shall contain or
the distance bet ween kernels when planted in drills. This of course is a mat-
ter of personal opinion among farmers, and will depend more or less on what
special use the crop is intended for or the fertility or richness of the ground
upon which the cropis to be grown. The size and final development of both -
the ear and stalk will depend much upon the amount of seed planted. That
isthe greaterthe number of kernels in a hill or the closer the seed in the
row the greater will be the tendency towards smaller stalks and smaller ears
of grain. On the other hand if the seeds are less numerous in either Hill or
row the effect will be tocut downthe yield peracre. It may be said that
more farmers prefer that three kernels to the hill as they have in their es-
timations the best results. This number in fact is the one usually set on and
composes the ideal hill of corn. In the drillit is quite desirous that the seed
be not less than eight inches apart on the very rich ground aud not more than
twelve to fourteen On ordinary fields of corn. Each farmer will have to be
his own judge as he knows the soil he is planting, and set his gauge as he may
wish knowing the soil in which he is planting. This matter of uniform plant-
ing now becomes not only an important one but a particular one as well. It
is a difficult matter to always have the hand or horse planter to always drop
the right number of kernels at just the right place, regulate the machines as
we may. This is especially soin the case of thedrili. The drill or planter
may work their best but the seed will not always appear as desired. How-
ever the planter is not wholly to blame for all such irregularities. We may
by the selection of seed after thorough testing it in the planter determine to
alarge degree this matter of. uniform planting. When the kernels are of
different sizes and shapes there is no planter or drill that will drop the exact
number of grains every time, nor should we expectit todoso. The seed
planted should not only be selected as to the pedigree and germinating quali-
ties but as to uniformity andsize of the kernel. The small farmer who is
only planting a few bushels of corn would best,after hisseed has been selected
and shelled by himself or someone who with a good eye and judgment, spread
upon the table and run or pick over the same, tbrowing out all small, inferior
cracked or long, light kernels A few hours spentin this selection will be
wonderfully paid by the uniform dropping, the better stand of corn and better
yield in bushels. Uponevery ear the kernels will vary more or less as to
shape and size, according totheir location upon the cob, whether from the
tip, the butt or the middle. The use of the entire ear including tips, butts
and middles will not giveor cannot make a uniform seed. Where only the
middle kernels are used andthe tips and butts are discarded better results
with ‘the planter are bound toresult. Inarecent test made at the Iowa Ex-
perimental Station in this regard it was found that where the entire ear was
used the planter dropped three kernels sixty-six times out of one hundred.
Four kernels, twenty-five times; five kernels, once; six kernels, once; two
kernels, six times and one kernel once. From this it will be seen that only

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 63

EE A EEN cae RES EOE I I
sixty-six per cent of the hills contained ttree kernels. When the tips and
butts were discarded the planter dropped three kernels, ninety-two times out
of one hundred. In another instance where corn was used in which the
length of germs differed considerably on the various ears only seventy-five
hills out of every hundred contained three kernels, while the same ears when
classified when placing those with shallow kernels by themselves ninety-five
per cent of the hiils contained three kernels, in one test and in the second
test ninety-four. These trials show very plainly the importance of uniform
seed planting in reference to the plants ard also to the uniform stand of corn
to be had. In drilling corn the results would not be so very different and in
every case we should be careful about the grading of the seed that we are to
use. The more uniform and even we can make our hills and rows of corn the
more uniform and better will be our yield of both grain and stalk. This is a
matter deserving great attention, and something we can all be more careful
about in our future planting. The little money expended in thoroughly pick-
ing the seed in testing the planter will be repaid more thana hundred fold in
satisfactory yield of corn.

Corn Experiments

\

[FROM WALLACE’S FARMER]

Mr. T. S. Hunt, a student of the Iowa Agricultural college, is helping us
with our corn work, and has just noted an effect of harrowing that may be of
value to our young readers who have wet fields.

We are making a test of planting corn, at different dates and are taking
the temperature of the soil at the time of each planting. The experiment is
being made on fall p’owed Jand. The day each planting is made the land of
that planting is thoroughly disked and then harrowed. Our first planting
was made April 224d and the second planting April27th Mr. Hunt found at
the time of the second planting that the land on which the first planting was
made hada temperature of 55 degrees, three inches below the surface. While
the freshly harrowed land on which the second planting was made had a tem-
perature of 50 degrees at the same depth. This shows that disking and har-
rowing had the effect of warming up the soil 5 degrees in five days. Some
years ago the writer had a large areaof land in another state to be planted
with corn. It rained almost constantly until May 15th, and the soil was stiff
and cold. It was so late in the season when the rain stopped that something
had to be done immediately to prepare the ground for planting. We started
disc harrows as soon as the surface became dry although the horses’ feet
sank three to five inches in the mud. If this disked land had been allowed to
become dry it would have been very lumpy. Just as the disc soil became dry
enough to crumple it was cross disked and this left it dry and mellow enough
for immediate planting. A small lot was left asa test until it became suffi-
ciently dry to work in the ordinary way. This m de planting so late that the
corn was a failure while a heavy crop was secured on the land disked while it
was wet.

Professor King inhis book upon the soil says that it requires nine and
’ two-thirds times as much heat to evaporate water from the soil asit does to
warm an equal quantity of waterin the soil 100 degrees. Does not this ex-
plain why Mr. Hunt andthe writer found diskingso effective in warming up
the soil. The disking made a good surface mulch that prevented evaporated

64 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

water from the soil and the consequent cooling of it and turned the full effect
of the sun’s heat into warming the land. Th‘s would seemto indicate that
each farmer should be able toso handle his wet soil in such a way that it
shall be warmed up and will grow and produce a crop as heavy and in as good
' season as the dry land. Must assuredly there is something to think of along
this line.

The Cultivation of Corn
[By C. P. HARTLEY, |
Assistant in Physiology, Plant-Breeding Laboratory, Bureav of Plant Industry.

GENERAL REMARKS,

The object of this article, like that in the Yearbook* for 1902, is to pre-
sent to farmers some suggestions as to the surest and quickest means of in-
creasing the production of corn per acre. The writer feels certain that it is
possible within a few years to double the average production of corn per acre
in the United States, and to accomp ish it without any increase in work or
expense. It is not to be understood from this that it is desirable to double
the present corn crop, but that it is desirable to produce the same yield ona
smaller number of acres and with less labor. If 60 bushels are raised on 1
acre instead of on 2 acres, the labor of plowing, harrowing, planting, culti-
vating and harvesting is greatly reduced. Some farmers produce from year
to year an average of more than 60 bushels per acre, but the average of the
entire United States for the past ten years (234 bushels per acre) shows that
many are annuaily harvesting less than half this quantity. Since the average
crop in the states best adapted to corn grow'ng is but little above the general
average of the entire country, it is evident that the average is not lowered
to any great extent by the poor crvups in sections unsuited to corn growing.
Moreover, the yield per acre-in the New England States, with their poor soil
and short growing season, is greater than in any other part of the country.
This clearly indicates the possibility of greatly increasing the yield per acre
in the corn belt. This is especially easy of accomplishment in the Southern
States, where the present average is low and where the growing season is not
shortened by frosts,

Practical corn growers will understand the impossibility of giving speci-
fic directions regarding the best methods of planting and cultivating corn

that would be applicable to any considerable portion of the United States.

The soil or drainage of different farms is oftenso different as to demand
different methods of culture. [See article] It is therefore only possible in a
general articleof this kind to tell what methods have been successful in
some sections of the country and to discuss the general effects on the soil and
crop of certain methods of plowing and cultivating, leaving it to the judg-
ment of the grower to decide upon the best methods for his particular soil
and climate.

The most valuable information regarding the growing of corn in any par-
ticular section can be obtained from unprejudiced observant corn growers of
many years’ experience; and the writer wishes to thank the hundreds who
have so kindly given him such information. The fact that the experi-
ences of growers in different localities and the reports of experiments from
the various State experiment stationsdo not agree should not lower the

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG. 65

estimation of the value of either. Such disagreement follows necessarily
from the different soils, altitudes, latitudes and seasons. Conflicting pub-
lished statements have caused some to cease trying to learn better methods
from the experiences of others, but a study of the conditions will show good
reasons for the conflicting results reported.

The methods of cultivation in general use in one section of the country
differ greatly from those in another section. The implements and methods
employed in Iowa are as different from those of Connecticut as these in turn
are different from those of Georgia; and while these differences are to some
extent due tothe nature of the farm land or to the class of labor employed,
they are to a still greater extent due tothe conservatism of the farmers
themselves. That certain kinds of cultivators or plows or methods of plant-
ing have been in use in Georgia or Iowa for many years does not prove that
implements or methods found successful in other states might not be used
there to advantage. It ismuchtoo common fora majority of growersin a
locality to adhere to methods accepted as best simply because they have
been followed for years. They often purchase a particular kind of plow,corn
planter, or cultivator because it is the one in general use or the only kind for
sale by the local implement dealer, without considering whether some other
kind might not be better suited to their farms. Merchants or manufacturers
are so familiar with the methods or machinery of their competitors that any
time or labor saving system or device adopted by one soon comes into general
use. A similar diligence and enterprise should be exercised by farmers. If
every corn grower couid visit all the corn-producing states of the Union, the
general result would be the discarding of poor and the adopting of improved
methods. No section excels in all respects, but almost every section excels
in some respect.

In the South Atlantic States the observant corn grower would notice
the uze of terraces for preventing the washing away of the topsoil. He
would also see the advantage of spacing rows and stalks in the rows at dis-
tances suited to the fertility of the soil; and, where poor soil necessitates
the pianting ofthe rows6 feet apart, he would perc2ive the economy of
growing asoil enriching, leguminous plant between the cora rows. On the
broad prairies of the We:tera States h2 would leirn methods of curtailing
expenses by the use of plows, planters, cultivators and corn harvesters de-
signed so that one man can work alarge ‘saumber of horses and thereby ac-
complish a maximum of work. With such imp ements one man can, without
help, plant and care for 40 or 60 acres of corn in addition to his other crops:
The same methods and implements are suitable for many farms where more
tedious and laborious methods are now followed.

SOME LAND TOO POOR FOR PROFITABLE CORN GROWING.

While it is true that properattention to seed selection and methods of
cultivation will grealy in:rease the average production per acre for all land
now devoted to corn growing, it is equally true that the cultivation of corn
will never be found protitable on very poor land for grain crops alone but
may be grown on such land where the stalks as fodder have a large cash value
for feeding. The plowing and cultivating of poor soil is as expensive as the
plowing and cultivating of fertile soil. Corn growing should not te attempt-

66 ene BOOK ON CORN GROWING

ed on such land until it is brought into a fertile condition by the growing and
plowing under of leguminous crops, the application of manures, etc. In the
meantime some of the crops that require less fertility than corn may be
grown. Itshould be remembered that the nature of the corn plant is such
that it will not produce grain unless the soil is rich enough to afford a con-
siderable growth of stalk, and that the best yield of ears is not obtained un-
less the stalks have made amaximum growth. For this reason some other
plants will produce small or fair crops on soil too poor to produce corn. A
cotton plant adjusts its yield of 1int,to the fertility of the soil, a small plant
producing a small number of bolls containing lint of as good a quality as that
from a larger plant bearing many more bolls. A hay crop is also in quite
regular proportion to the fertility of the soil. This is not true, however, of corn.
When poor soil dwarfs grass to half its normal size, the crop of hay is re-
duced by about one-half, but when poor soil dwarfs the corn plants to half
their normal size it is probable that there will be little or no grain yield, and
any ears that are produced will be small and inferior.

Even in the best corn producing states there is some Jand so poor that
farmers who persist in attempts to grow corn on it receive nothing for their
labor. Such land, however, in atew years’ time can be made to produce
good corn crops. The growers who are quickest to learn the futility of at-
tempting to grow corn on impoverished land are those whose farms contain
some poor upland fields and some fertile bottom land. They find it necessary
to fertilize and renovate the poor fields or confine corn growing to the bot-
toms. In most regions creek bottoms and river valleys are particularly
adapted to corn growing, as they usually have afertile soil and a subsoil
well supplied with moisture.

Another explanation of the low yield per acre on many farms is the
amount of unsuited or unimproved areas frequently embraced within the
boundaries of fields planted tocorn. In many cornfields throughout the
country may be seen portions or spots on which it is impossible for corn to
thrive. Tnese may be clayey spots or swampy or undrained areas or ground
adjacent to timber. It is too great a waste of labor to plow, harrow and cul-
tivate such unproductive spots. They should be improved so that they will
yield a profit, or they should not be planted at all. The poor clay spots
should be enriched, the swampy places dceained or filled, and the corn should
be planted farther from the timber, with a strip ot timber grass next to the
trees. Many farms could be made more profitable by rearranging the fields
in order to make them more uniform as regards moisture and soil fertility,so
that the entire field may be treated as the character of the soil may demand.
No field can be well tended if the corn rows extend through a portion too
wet for cultivation when another portion is in best condition for cultivation.

MEANS OF PREVENTING SOIL WASHING.

‘ More land has been rendered unfit for corn growing by the washing away
of the surface soil than by constant cropping. Soil washing must be guarded
against if profitable crops are to be harvested from the same field for a num-
ber of years, and with proper attention in this respect the farm will become
better from year toyear. .The effect of heavy rains is to wash out gullies
and ditches andto carry away the soiland plant food as muddy water. If

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG iS OS 67

this is allowed to continue unchecked the fertility is reduced, the soil itself
is carried away, and the land becomes less productive from year to year. One
heavy rain will sometimes carry away from a field more soil than a man with
a team and wagon could restore ina week. Itis to be regretted that farmers
in the newer and more fertile sections of the country are not as wide awake
to the destructive effects of soil washing as they are in older sections, where
the farms have already been injured by the rains of past centuries, and
where constant attention is now necessary to retain the fertility which is at
some expense put into the soil.

ROLLING OR HILLY LAND.

It should not be supposed that because land is rolling or hilly washing
must take place. Some very hilly sections which have deep, porous soils, full
of humus, wash but little, and that only when. the ground is frozen to a con-
siderable depth and thaws on the surface. Hard soils that do not readily
take up the water that falls upon them wash much more than loose, porous
soils. The most effective means of preventing washing is to cover the soil
with vegetation and loosen the subsoil so that tne rainfall can penetrate and
be absorbed instead of running off. The rows of corn, moreover, should run
at right angles to the direction of the slope. Terraces are also effective bar-
riers to soil washing, and their use is to be encouraged. These methods
could be profitably employed on the sloping lands near the Ohio and Missis-
sippi rivers. It is the desire of most farmers to have straight corn rows, and
on level land this is preferable, but on hills better success will be obtained by
running the rows at the same level around the hills This will necessitate
curved rows, but the curves will usually not be abrupt enough to make culti-
vation difficu't; in fact, cultivation is thus rendered much easier, since it is
sot necessary to plow up and down the hill, which, to prevent soil washing,
should always be avoided.

ABSORPTION OF RAINFALL.

The carrying away of soluble plant food and lighter portions of soil is not
the only objectionable feature of soil washing. The water itself is likely to
be needed during some portion of thesummer. By loosening the subsoil and
covering the surface with a growth of vegetation, the soil can be made so
absorbent that the water will penetrate the ground and be held in reserve to
sustain the growing plants during times of drought. It would seem that after
a period of heavy rainfall, during which 8 or 10 inches of water fell within a
month, the soil and subsoil of all fields would be alike saturated, but such
is not the case.. The condition of the surface soii has much to
do in determining how much of the rainfall will be absorbed. The
condition of the subsoil is also important. If its moisture has been
exhausted by lack of cultivation and injudicious cropping, it will
absorb water more slowly than when it is already moist. Thus it is that the
subsoil of some fields remains dry to a depth of several feet during a season
of heavy rains, while that of other fields absorb3 water in sufficient abun-
dance to sustain crops during periods of drought. To readily absorb the
water that falls during times of heavy rains the surface soil must be loose

68 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

and porous, so as to take up the water rapidly before it has time to accumu-
late, and hold it thus until by capillary attraction it is drawn to the subsoil.

Some very fine clay subsoils are so compact that they turn water almost
as effectually as a slate roof. Such subsoils should be rendered permeable
and the most effective and cheapest way to accomplish this is by growing
deep-rooted plants; such as clovers, alfalfa, melilotus, etc. The roots of
these plants penetrate the subsoil and, decaying, leave numerous ducts
through which water from the surface soil will pass to greater depths. That
this is exactly what occurs is proved by comparisons of plats of ground on
which such plants have been grown with adjacent plats on which they have
not been grown. Theformer plats are firm soon after heavy rains, because
the water has found its way into the subsoil, while the latter plats remain
muddy on the surface. Some subsoils are the reverse of those just referred
to; instead of being toocompact they are tooopen. A subsoil of coarse
gravel may allow the water to pass through too readily, thus washing out
and draining away the fertility. Such subsoils are not compact enough to
supply the surface soil with moisture by capillary attraction. Soils of this
nature are greatly benefitted by the plowing under of vegetable matter,
which, besides adding greatly to the soil fertility, checks the rapid leaching
through the subsoii and enables it to retain moisture better during dry
weather. The application of vegetable matter improves the fertility and
physical condition of almostall soils, regardless of whether the subsoil is
compact or porous.

IMPORTANCE OF RETAINING SOIL MOISTURE.

The amount of moisture needed to produce acrop is much greater than
would be imagined. In the case of corn, it is sufficient to cover the field
with water to 2 depth of from 10 to 15 inches. (a) About three-fifths of this,
quantity, or from 6 to 9 acre-inches of water, is absorbed by the roots and ex-
haled by the foliage of the growing crop.(d) More corn crops are cut short
by an insufficient quantity of available soil moisture than by any other cause.
This is well demonstrated by the fact that fields situated by rivers or lakes
in such a manner that the subsoil always contains sufficient moisture seldom
fail to produce good corncrops. Tbe greater portion of the corn-growing
area, however, is dependent directly upon the rainfall for its water supply,
and it is for this reason that this matter is here considered so important.

After the soil and subsoil have become well supplied with m isture by the
Tains of fall, winter and spring, the next important consideration is the
means by which it can be retained in the soil constantly within reach of the
growing crop. The effect of sunshine and wind is to cause the moisture to
pass rapidly from the soil directly into the atmosphere, and unless cultural
methods are employed to lessen evaporation much of the soil moisture will
pass into the air without benefitting the crop except in a very slight and in-
direct way. For the good of the crop as much of the soil moisture as possible

(a) Ninth Annual Report Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station,
p. 99.

(6) Experimental investigations into the Amount of Water Given off by
Plants. Rothamsted Memoirs, by Lawes and Gilbert, Vol. I.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG . sts ; 69

should pass into the atmosphere through the plants. In this way it will carry
the soluble plant food into the plants, whereas if allowed to evaporate from
the surface of the soil it will leave the soluble plant food deposited on or
near the surface, where it will be inaccessible to the roots until it is culti-
vated deeper into the soil or washed there by succeeding rains.
As the moisture from the surface evaporates it is replaced by moisture
drawn from greater depths by capillary attraction, just as oilis drawn
through the wick of a lamp to replace that which is consumed by the flame.
’ The rapidity with which moisture will evaporate from the ground depends
upon the condition of the capillary tubes or pores that connect the surface
with the deeper soil. Any dry blanket that can be placed between the at-
mosphere and the damp soil will check this evaporation. The most practical
protection is a covering of finely pulverized dry soil2 or 3 inches deep. By
thoroughly loosening the surface layer, the soil particles are disarranged so
that the capillary tubes are not continuous. In this condition the surface
soil becomes quite dry and remains so without absorbing moisture from be-
low, thus acting as a mulch and retaining the mvisture within reach of the
plant roots. It is necessary that this soil mulch be fine, for, if composed of
clods, air circulates between them and causes evaporation to take place from
the soil below the surface. A rain, however, will wet the surface, causing
the soil to run together and crust, thus restoring capillarity. This makes

another cultivation necessary inorder to renew the blanket of fine, loose
soil.

FERTILIZERS AND CROP ROTATION.

The question of the chemical fertilizers best suited to the corn plant is
too broad for discussion within the limits of this article. The corn plant
needs plenty of food and for most profitable results should be grown on fer-
tile soil. A soil lacking in plant food can, of course, be made to produce a
crop of corn if the requisite amounts of nitrogen, phosphate, potash, and
other essential elements be added and the soil kept in a good physical condi-
tion; but the growing of corn on very poor land is usually attended with very
little or no profit, and the application of commercial fertilizers does not per-
manently improve thesoil. It is usually preferable to spend a given sum of
money in buying corn rather than to make the same outlay for fertilizers in
order to raise the crop on impoverished soil. If thesoil is of such a nature
that the application of one or a few elements at a small cost will cause it to
produce good corn crops, these elements should be supplied; bnt if the soil is
little more than a foundation, to which must be added a large portion of the
necessary plant food, corn growing should be suspended until the soil is per-
manently enriched by applying large quantities of barnyard manure or by
liberal and contiuued growing and plowing under of leguminous crops rich in
nitrogen.

Nitrogen, which isan essential element of plant growth and the most
costly ingredient of chemical fertilizers,in a free state constitutes four-fifths
of the atmosphere. By the aid of microscopic organisms (a) leguminous
plants, such as clovers, vetches, beans, peas, and the like, extract nitrogen
from the atmosphere and store it in the soil in a form available to succeed-
ing crops. Thisis one of nature’s ways of applying fertilizer, and by work-

70 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

ing in harmony with nature man can hasten these processes and render poor
soils fertile ina few years’ time and at bit slight expense other than for
labor. Soils enriched by the growing and plowing under of leguminous plants
retain their fertility well, but no soil, unless it be a river bottom which is
frequently renewed by overflows, should be planted to corn year after year.
The fertility should be maintained and improyed by crop rotation and by
the turning under of green crops, which can often be grown the same season
with the crop grown for profit’

In sections where wheat, oats or other crops are harvested in early sum-
mer, it is almost always desirable to follow them with a soil improving crop
that can be turned under that fall or the following spring. Clover sod, turn-
ed under in the autumn and then torn to pieces and well mixed in the soil by
cultivation the next spring, furnishes one of the best seed beds in which to
plant corn. This isthe method employed by a Pennsylvania farmer who re-
ports that his yield has not been less than 100 bushels of corn per acre during
the past twelve years, with the exception of two seasons. He also practices
frequent shallow cultivation in a manner well suited to conserve the soil
moisture, and is confident that with average rainfall during fall, winter and
early spring he can raise a fair crop without any rain from planting time
until harvest. A field of hiscorn as seen in August, 1902, is shown in Pl.
XIV, fig. 1, when it appeared that the yield would exceed 100 bushels per
acre. A later report gives 130 bushels as the average yield from 90 acres.
Some implements used on this farm are shown in Pl. XIII, fig. 2—on the left
a 4-horse or 5-horse cultivator, used in the spring for loosening and tearing
to pieces the clover sod plowed under inthe autumn, and on the righta
planter made expressly to plant corn according to this farmer’s idea of the
best method for his farm.

Whatever may be the system of crop rotation, all fields which are subject
to blowing or washing of the soil should be kept covered with some crop
during the winter. Thisis usually advisable, even though the field is not
subject to blowing or washing, and if the proper crop is grown during fall
and early spring it will enrich the soil when plowed under. If oats are to fol-
low a corn crop, clovers, cowpeas, soy beans, velvet beans, wheat, rye, or
some other crop should be planted in the cornfield at the last cultivation, or
as soon as the corn is cut. Although such crops may not have time to make
much growth, they will protect the soil during fall, winter and early spring,
and add to its fertility when ‘turned under or uprooted by cultivation. The
growing of beans, peas, clovers, etc., is a great help to the soil even
though the seed be gathered or the vines cut for hay, but the turning under
of the entire crop enriches the soilto agreater extent and on poor soils
causes a very noticeable increase in yield for two or more years.

FALL PLOWING.
Fall plowing cannot be recommended for all soils and localities, but

should be more generally practiced than at present. If a cover crop or sod
is turned underin the autumn, decomposition will increase the amount of

(a) ‘‘Bacteria and the nitrogen problem,” by George T. Moore, Yearbook
of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1902, p. 333.

BY J. B, ARMSTRONG yn
ie SSS Re Sen er ae
plant food available for the crop the next summer. This is true to some ex-
tent even though sod is not turned under, inasmuch as the simple loosening
of the soil admits atmospheric oxygen and increases chemical action upon
vegetabJe and mineral matter. Fall plowing is one of the methods of com-
bating grubworms, cutworms and cornroot worms, which are often destruc-
tive tocorn. Because tne surface of ground plowed in ‘the fall is drier at
planting time in the spring than that of ground not so treated, it does not
necessarily follow that there is less moisture in fall plowed ground. The fall
plowing has enabled the rainfall better to penetrate the subsoil, allowing the
surface to dry more rapidly. In the spring, fall-plowed fields usually contain
much more moisture, but at the same time have a drier surface than fields
which remain undisturbed until spring. In sections where there is much rain
during the winter it is better not to harrow the fall-plowed land in the
autumn. This is especially true of fine clay soils that run together and pack
readily. In comparative tests of fall and spring plowing, preceding a dry
summer, the fall-plowed fields have generally yielded better. The same is
true of subsoiling. Deep spring plowing and spring subsoiling are likely to
result in diminished crops, especially if done after the spring rains. The
loosening of the soil to great depths admits air and facilitates the loss of soil
moisture; it also interrupts the capillarity, so that moisture is not as readily
drawn from greater depths, and during a dry summer there is not enough
available moisture to support a good crop.

DEPTH OF PLOWING.

From the above, itis plain why there has been so much contradictory
evidence regarding the best depth to plow for certain crops. Fora deep,
rich soil deep plowing is best, providing itis done in. the fall or does not ren-
der the soil too loose and dry. For thin clay soils subsoiling is better than
very deep plowing, because it does not turn the compact clay to the surface,
yet at the same time loosens the soil to a gooddepth. The plowing should
not be at the same depth from year to year, as by such a practice the soil is
not mixed well and a hard surface is left at the bottom of the furrows where
the horses walk and the plowsdrag. A _ little subsoil turned to the surface
occasionally allows the elements to act upon it, liberating plant food, and as
it becomes mingled with surface soil and vegetable growth the soil depth
will be increased. To accomplish these desired results it is well to plow a lit-
tle deeper each year for several successive seasons, and then for one season
give a plowing at about half the depth of the deepest plowing. It is well to
have the farm mapped, the various fields numbered, and records kept of the
annual treatment and production of each field.

PLANTING.

Throughout all corn-growing sections of the country it is the general ex-
perience that corn planted early most often gives the best yield. Occasion-
ally later plantings yield best, but they are exceptions. In 1902 the writer
saw fields of corn in Georgia, planted in February, that yielded 40 bushels per
acre, and others adjoining, planted two months later, that did not produce 5
bushels per acre. In the Northern States there is little choice as to time of

72 BOOK OR CORN GROWING

planting. Corn must be planted as soon as the ground is sufficiently warm, in
order that it may mature before early fall frosts. In the Southern States
the growing season is long enough to allow planting at different dates, thus
lessening the likelihood of having the entire crop cut short by drought.
Growing conditions are more favorable in the spring, and corn usually pro-
duces better if planted at that time. Although the Southern summers are
long enough to afford plenty of warm weather, corn planted in the summer
will ripen in less time and usually produces less than if planted in the spring.
Fields planted early frequently escape attacks of the bud-worm, while later
plantings of the same year suffer severely. As the result of many years’
trials at different State experiment stations the best planting season has
been found to be, respectively: Middle Georgia, March 15 to 20; Illinois, May
11 to 18; Middle Incliana, May 1 to 11; Kansas, May 2; South Dakota, May 10
to 20; Iowa and Nebraska, April 25 to May 25.

Corn should, of course, not be plantedin cold or wet ground simply be-
cause the calendar shows that the usual planting time has arrived; but by
good drainage, fall plowing, etc., every farmer should strive to have his land
in good condition to plant at the proper time. Underground drainage wil,
prove most profitable in the end, but as this is rather expensive it is some-
times desirable to use low, flat land for corn before it is possible to have it
tile drained. Sometimes such fields are plowed in small strips or ‘‘lands’’ 4 to
6 feet wide, and a row of corn is planted on the ridge or backfurrow of every
land. This places the plants aboye surface water, and for this reason -is sat-
isfactory during wet weather, but the high situation of the stalks places
them at a disadvantage during dry weather. The method of planting illus-
trated in fig. 3 gives more general satisfaction for such fields. The groundis |
backfurrowed in lands 8 feet wide, making thereby dead furrows every 8 feet.
On each side, and 2 feet from each dead furrow, shallow rows are marked off,
and in them the corn is planted. By this method the plants have drainage
during wet weather and are better situated for enduring drought than when
standing on the higher ridges.

A little more care can be exercised to advantage as regards Gropping a
precise number of kernels and covering them with mellow soil when the
planting is done by hand, but the labor saved by the use of planters is so
great that for profitable corn growing their use is indispensable. Moreover,
if the seed bed isin the proper condition any good planter can be made to
cover cornas satisfactorily as it can be done with a hoe; and, if seed ears
having kernels of uniform size be selected and the small kernels at the ex-
tremities of the ears be rejected, good modern corn planting machines can
be made to drop with sufficient accuracy for practical purposes. However,
the yield depends to such an extent upon the proper number of stalks and
their even distribution that too much stress can hardly be placed upon the
necessity for selecting seed ears having kernels of uniform size and plates
for the planter that will drop the proper number at the required distance.
Every spring the planter should be thoroughly tested and adjusted until it
will drop accurately the seed to be used. These are some of the many essen-
tials that can be attended to before the rush of planting time arrives.

DEPTH OF PLANTING.

The proper depth to plant must be governed by the quality and moisture

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 73

of the soil. If it isa stiff, heavy clay containing plenty of moisture at plant-
ing time, 1 inch is sufficiently deep; but ifit is a light, open, dry soil, 3 or 4
inches is a satisfactory depth. If the corn is planted deeper than 4 inches
much of the food supply stored in the seed will be consumed before the young
plant can reach the surface and expand its leav’s. Plants can not be made
to send their roots deeply into the soil by planting the seed deeply. They
can better be fortified against dry weather by planting the seed ina furrow: .
here is where the lister gets inits best work, covering it slightly, and then
gradually cultivating the furrow full of soil as the plants grow. This requires
some care, however, as the furrow should not be filled to any great depth un-
til the plants have attained the height of a foot or more and are in a vigor-
ous condition. This method of planting is especially well adapted to deep
soils where dry weather is likely to prevail during the middle or latter part
of the growing season. The lister, tne implement with which a large part
of the corn is planted in the Prairie States, fulfills the requirements of this
method of planting.

PLANTING WITH A LISTER.

The lister is used for planting fields that have been thoroughly plowed
and also for planting directly in last year’s cornfield or stubble field without
previous preparation. This latter practice, however, is not recommended
for shallow or stiff clay soils.

The resultsofa majority of the comparative tests in the deep soils of
the states just west of the Mississippi river have beenin favor of listed
rather than surface-planted corn, and the increased yield of listed plats has
been greatest in dry seasons. By planting in a deep furrow, as is done witha
lister, weeds in the corn rows are more easily covered by cultivation, and as
the furrow becomes filled by cultivation the root system is placed at a greater
depth. Thecornis thus better enabled to endure drought, and the stalks
are not so easily blown down. On soils where corn can be listed without pre-
vious preparation of the ground, this method is profitable because of the
labor saved, but it can be successfully employed only on very deep, loose
soils, When the drillis attached to the lister, one man with three strong
horses can do in one day all the work connected with the plantiyg of 7 acres
of corn. The drill is so constructed that it can be detached from the lister
and used separately. By this means an additional man and horse are re-
quired to drill the corn in the furrows made by the lister. If the soil is stiff
and heavy it should be well plowed and brought into good condition for plant-
ing before the corn is listed. Alister ora planter with lister attachment
which lists two rows at once and makes a mark to guide the driver on his re-
turn, can then be employed. Disks or double moldboards, could be attached
to the various makes of planters and check rowers, and thereby the corn
could be planted in the bottom of furrows below the general surface of the
field. For the reasons mentioned, this method of planting would be an im-
provement for many localities where extensive areas of corn are yearly
planted by means of check rowers which leave the surface of planted fields
smooth. See article entitled Prosperity and Expansion.

74 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

PLANTING WITH A CHECK ROWER.

Perhaps more cornisnow planted by means of a check rower than by
any Other device. This implement is adjustable, so that the spacing of the.
rows and the distance between the plants or hills in the rowcan be regulated
to suit the requirements of the soil. By meansof the wire chain stretched
across.a field one man and team can plant in straight rows in both directions
across the field 12 0r l5 acres per day, thus admitting of cross cultivation.
Corn planted in this way can be kept free of weeds and well cultivated with-
out costly hoeing or the cutting of weeds. A summary of numerous tests
made by various State experiment stations shows that there is practically
no difference in yield of corn planted in hills of several stalks each or drilled
so that the stalks stand separately in the rows, provided there is the same.
number of stalks per acre in each case. The former system facilitates cul-
tivation and the latter provides for a more equal distribution of roots
throughout the soil. Check rowers are best adopted to large and compara-
tively level fields free from treesor stumps. Hillsides and sloping ground
can not be planted in checks without increasing the liability to soil washing.

DISTANCES BETWEEN ROWS AND HILLS

The distances between rows and stalks or hills in the rows affect toa
great extent the production per acre. A proper number of stalks evenly
distributed, so that none will suffer from crowding and so that there will be
enough to produce the greatest number of well-formed ears, constitutes the
best stand for the production of ear corn. If planted thicker than this the
weight of stover increases and the production of good ears decreases. If
planted thinner the weight of the stover as well as of ears decreases. Small-
growing varieties should be planted thicker than varieties producing tall
stalks. The scope of this article precludes the giving of specific directions
as to the best distances for planting the various strains of corn, but remem-
bering that for greatest production rich soil requires thicker planting than
poorer soil, each farmer must determine the best distances for his particular
corn and soil. In 1897, 1898, and 1899 the Georgia experiment station ob-
tained the best results by having the rows 4 feet apart and the stalks 3 feet
apart inthe row. In 1900 the conclusion was reached that for upland soils,
capable of producing from 35 to 40 bushels of corn per acre, rows 4 feet apart,
with one plant every 2 feet, would yielda larger quantity of grain than any
greater or less distance. As anaverage for eight years the Indiana State
experiment station obtained best results from rows 3 feet 8 inches apart,
with the stalks 10% inches apart in the rows. On many farms of slight fer-
tiliy in the leading corn states of the Mississippi Valley the annual yield is
considerably reduced because the corn is planted as thickly as would be ad-
visable on fertile prairie or bottom soils. Here, the thinner planting prac.
ticed in regions generally less fertile could be adopted with advantage,
Where the soilisso poorasto necessitate the placing of corn rows 5 or 6
feet apart, it is best to grow another crop between the rows. Pindars or
peanuts, cowpeas, soy beans, or other leguminous crops are well adapted to
this purpose. They enrich the soil and do not interfere with the growth of
the corn.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 15

The distance for planting in a particular soil should be decided upon and
che planter adjusted to plant accurately and regularly. Spots missed by the
planter, as well as those depleted by crows, insects, etc., greatly decrease
she yield per acre. The custom of planting a little thicker than the stand
»f stalks desired is not a good one. It may meet the requirements for small
yatches that can be thinned by hand to the desired stand, but hand thinning
arge fields is too tedious to be profitable. - If the seed shows a germination
yf 97 per cent or more in a thorough germination test and it is then properly
ylanted the stand will be almost perfect unless very adverse weather ensues,
n which case all the plants will be so injured that the planting of the entire
ield again will be preferable to replanting.the missing hills and will be more
‘asily accomplished. It is not only a waste of land to have missing hills ina
cornfield, but also a waste of labor in cultivating them. Ifa field has been
irilled in but one direction and for any reason a poor stand is obtained, it can
ve replanted with a check rower set to drop one kernel at atime operated
vithout the tripping chain. The check rower is driven at right angles to
he rows of the first planting and operated so as to plant just as it crosses
ach row. For this purpose two men will usually be required, one to drive
ind one to trip the check rower as it crosses the corn rows.

IMPORTANCE OF THOROUGH EARLY CULTIVATION

The most successful corn growers realize the importance of thorough
arly cultivation, thus preventing any check in the growth of the plants be-
ause of weeds orcrusted soil. The farmer should see that, from the time
£ germination to the maturing of corn, the plants are not subjected to any
infavorable conditions, but are given an opportunity to make a steady, vig-
rous growth. Iftheir development is checked from any cause they will
ever fully recover, no matter how favorable the latter treatment. Asa
onsequence of heavy rainfall the stalks may increase rapidly in height, and
it the same time, for lack of cultivation or of plant food, or for other rea-
on, they may be slender or of poor color. Thrifty corn plants are thick,
trong, and of dark green color. 2

Horse weeders and harrows should be used when needed to break a sur~
ace crust or kill young weeds that start before the corn is up or large enough
o be worked with other implements... During the first cultivation, or while
he plants are very small, narrow shovels that throw the soil but very little
hould be used, and fenders are usually. found desirable to prevent the cover-
ng of the plants (PI. XIII, fig. 3).

DEPTH OF CULTIVATION - -

Many comparative experiments of deep and shallow cultivation have
een made, and on the whole the resuits are in favor of shallow cultivation.
‘here are but few occasions when deep cultivation is preferable. If excess-
ve rains have packed the soil and kept it water soaked deep cultivation will
elp to dry and aerate the soil. Breaking the roots of the plants must be
voided so far as possible (Pl. XIV, fig. 2). If roots are broken the plants
ill rapidly produce other roots, but it will be at the expense of the vitality
nd food supply. After the plants have reached a height of 3 or 4 feet, the

76 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

soil even in the middle of the rows should not be cultivated deeper than 4
inches, and 3 inches is usually better. For retaining soil mwisture a loose
soil mulch 2 or 3 inches in thickness should be maintained.

FREQUENCY OF CULTIVATION

The best answer to the question of how frequently corn should be culti-
vated is that it shou'd be cultivated often enough to keep down weeds and to
maintain constantly a loose soil mulch till the corn has attained its growth.
To this end a greater number of cultivations will be necessary when rains at
intervals of about a week cause the,.surface soil to run together and crust.
This crust must be broken and the soil mulch restored, or evaporation will
soon rob the soil of its moisture. It is a mistake to think that the longer the

drought the more frequent should be the cultivations. After afine mulch of |

about 3 inches in depth has been produced, its frequent stirring is not neces-
sary except in so far as it is required to keep weeds from starting. The es-
sential object of cultivation is to restore the soil mulch as soon after a rain
as the condition of the ground will permit. If this time is allowed to pass
and the ground becomes hard and baked dry, the crop will suffer greatly, for
the cultivation of hard, dry ground breaks it up into clods, allowing the air
to penetrate to greater depth and causing moreirjury than if such cultiva-
tion had not been given at all. All observant farmers have seen crops
injured in this manner. Many crops are cut short by stopping the cultivator
because the corn is too tall for the use of a double cultivator without break-
ing down the stalks. If the condition of the soil demands it, shallow cultivation
should continue even though the corn is tasseling. See article entitled Do
Not Cultivate Too Deep.

Selection of Seed Corn

GOOD SHAPES OF EARS

Fig 3 illustrates good forms of ears. These ears are well proportioned.
Their butts and tipsare good. The rows arestraight and the kernels uni-
form. The ears are full in the middle parts, showing strength, constitution,
and good breeding. It is very essential that an ear shows fullness in the
middle portion, as this is the place where the greatest quantity as well as
the best quality of corn will be found. Ears 1 and 2 would plant well to-
gether. Ears3 and 1 are slightly better in shape than 2 and 4.

The fact that the selection of seed corn has a broad bearing upon the
amount of ccrn grown per acre, and fully governs the good or bad qualities
of the same is without question; therefore, to those persons who are best
fitted to make the best selections, at least to the general farmer, results
have proven that he who has made the propagation and growing of corna
study, and whose mind runs in the right direction, who possesses a sound
judgment and who is looking for that which will benefit the world at large,
will receive the best results.

Selection is truly the plant breeder’s magic wand and with its aid the

ready thinking man has brought forth wonders; in fact, from the scanty

yielding Indian corn he has brought forth the mammoth golden ears, and
from a yield of but a few bushels per acre, he has perfected that variety that
will yield its hundreds of bushels.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG la

It is true that natural selection has had much to do with the architect-
ure of the present plant world. It has guided the tendency toward variation
in plants insuch a manner as to cause them to become fitted for their en-
vironments. Whenever a variation occurs that is not for the well being of
its species, natural selection sweeps it out of existence.

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Tae law of natural selection materially aids man in the form of this
type; this is due to the fact that most vigorous plants constantly tend to be
a great deal more fruitful than the weaker ones; selectioa gives exercise to
the highest faculties of man, although not one in a thous?n4 has accuracy of
eye and judgment sufficient to become an eminent plant breeder, but if
gifted with these qualities and he studies his subject for years, and devotes

78 BOOK ON CORN GROWING ; viebsiimnees
his lifetime to it with an indomitable perseverance he will most surely suc-
ceed and make great improvements. If selection is to benefit agriculture,
it must be followed up incessantly for a type of corn that is not in a state of
progression will very surely degenerate. It is true that there has been ever
since the remotest beginning of agriculture a sort of unconscious selection,
which is exemplified by the farmer when he takes the largest ear of corn
from which to plant his crop, but this practice often leads to bad results.

A much better mode for the selection of seed corn is to go into the field
and select from the first ears that are ripened, which are to be gathered
from a uniform plant, healthy, strong and showing fully matured ears, not
forgetting that the great point to keep in mind is weight of corn—not cob.
The really effective part of plant breeding is intelligent selection, because it
is effective. Selection gives the operator the opportunity of exercising his
choice, and by proper exercise.of his judgment and experience, he is able to
avoid all needless conflict with the heredity tendency; in fact, he must work
in the same direction with heredity in order to make his labor sufficient,

Although selection is of great importance in the development of a type;
its office is of still greater importance in preserving that type; after a de-
sirable variety has been secured, the ease with which it will degenerate will
require the keen observation rs careful selection with the same idea in
view that guided the originator‘in his labors. We must therefore learn that
eternal vigilance is the price of success, as man by his observation and ex-
periments has transformed very many seemingly worthless plants to beauty
and goodness, but none more so than King Corn, as the riches of the Klon-
dike make no comparison withthe vast wealth we reap from the wonderful
advance made in the yield by the man who has brought forth two ears where
was but one before. I therefore consider that selection is the key that opens
the great treasure box to the world. Hoping the above will strengthen my
brother farmers to greater efforts and that all may reap the reward for the
same.

The Best Method of Corn Breeding

The manner by which the general farmer may most assuredly get corn
for seed best adapted for his farm and surroundings, a subject upon which
we have written in other articles within this book, we give yet another
article upon the same subject In our judgment a small plat by itself planted
with the very best seed obtainable and thoroughly fertilized and worked and
by the removal of all barren stalks detasseling all weaker growth, will in our
judgment at once show its superiority and worth. There are a great many
good farmers, who d» not believe that it will pay to detassel corn, that corn
has always prcduced barren stalks and that it will always continue to do so.

Some have a theory that the soil has something to do with the production of
barren stalks while others are equally positive that it is due to climatic con-
ditions, such as excessively wet weather. That corn has always produced
barren stalks we are unable to dispute, because we have no figures that tell .
anything about it. . That barren stalks can entirely be done away with ina
given variety is very doubtful, at least this is true for a great many genera-
tions to come, but that the percent of barren stalks can be greatly reduced
in a variety of corn, if proper precautions in seed selection be taken, the
writer firmly believes.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 79

Experiments at some of our stations have proved this beyond a doubt. If
we stop for a moment to inquire into the cause of barrenness, the most logi-
cal conclusion one can arrive at is to suppose that there must be a possibility
to breed out a tendency to produce barren stalks. ‘‘Like produces like” isa
well-established fact in both plant and animal breeding. If we breed a
Chester White sow to the Poland China boar, we would be greatly surprised
should some of the offspring not resemble the sire in color and other char-
acteristics. In other words, everyone is well aware of the influence of both
parents on the offspring. The sheep breeder increases the prolificacy of his
flock by selecting his rams and ewes that produce twins and the hog breeder
prefers to choose his boars from large litters for the same reason.

In the corn plant we have both male andfemale organs on the same
plant. A barren stalk is one that produces no female organs or silks, but
which does produce male organs or tassels. It is evident that a barren stalk
is not a perfect one and hence the pollen which it produces partially par-
takes of this imperfection, and when such a pollen grain fertilizes an ovary,
the result of which is a new kernel of corn, it is clear that this new kernel of
corn must partially partake of the imperfection of the tassel stock. One
would naturally suppose that 100 kernels produced by the union of the male
and female elements from two normal plants would produce less barren stalks
than would 100 kernels that had been produced on perfect mother plants, but
had all been fertilized by pollen stalks. Whenever pollen from barren stalks
is allowed to fall upon the silks of other stalks we are simply propagating
a bad character which ought to be weeded out as much as possible.

The above view of the situation leads to the conclusion that unless bar™
renness is kept in check by detasseling that this undesirable quality would
be increased to such an extent as to become alarming. It must be remem
bered, however, that we always have a great preponderence of fertile stalks
in the field and that barrennessis only one of the qualities of a plant and
hence may not always appear in the offspring, even though a tendency to
produce barrenness is inherent in the kernel. In other words, this character
may remain recessive for a number of years. Further, it should not be for
gotten that it is only possible to transmit barrenness from the male side of
the plant as the female must certainly always be fertile in order to produce
kernels at all. These causes therefore operate against barrenness, increas-
ing above a certain reasonable percent. What we are to do, however, is jto
minimize barrenness as much as possible.

To illustrate that this can be done, we refer to some work accomplished
along this line at the Minnesota Experiment station. This station has orig-
inated a variety of corn which is a superior yielding variety and which is al-
so an early maturing corn. Itis called Minnesota No l3corn. Fora num-
ber of years detasseling has been carried on in the breeding plots with this
variety and in 1903 it produced less than 1 percent of barren stalks, while
other varieties, with which no care had been taken to eliminate barren
stalks produced 20 percent of barren s‘alks. Having established the fact
that the tendency to produce barren stalks can. be increased or decreased at
will, the question naturally arises how shall we make use of these facts in
practice? Willit pay togo through our main corn fields and detassel all
barren stalks? The answer is, no.

At the same time we also say, don’t select seed from the main crop, and

80 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

one reason for that is because of the many barren stalks that are found
there. Have a special seed patch or nursery for the production of your seed
corn and in this nursery it will pay well not only to detassel all barren stalks,
but to destroy all weak ones as well. If you have not such a seed patch on
the farm this year, lay aside a strip along one side, or better still, a square
in one corner of the main corn field and detassel all barren stalks there as
soon as the tassels begin to appear and are well out of the sheath and before
any of the pollen is ripe. Go through this seed patch or nursery every day
or two for a week or ten days until the corn is fully tasseled out and each
day remove the tassels that have come out since the day before. By keep-
ing up such detasseling for a number of years the tendency to produce barren
stalks will gradually be decreased, and hence the yield will necessarily be
correspondingly increased. Detasseling of the barren stalks should not be
considered to increase the yield of the fertile or remaining stalks, as it will
have noeffect on them whatever, but it will improve the crop in future
years as has been shown above. This work is especially to be commended to
those who took a good deal of pains with their corn last spring and who may
have gone to considerable expense in introducing a good yielding variety of
corn on their farms.

BARREN STALKS

Out of the five stalks inthese two hills only one produced a good ear.
Note how weak and sickly the non-productive stalks are compared with the
productive one. JBarrennessis one of the greatest sources of lors in corn
growing. To the farmer who grows corn for the grain alone these barren
stalks are worse than a complete loss. They not only deprive the productive
stalks of food, moisture and light, but they produce pollen which fertilizes
the silks of the good stalks and so reduces the vigor and future producing
power of many of the good ears. Nubbins are simply a mild form of
barrenness.

This subject of barren stalks is very closelyrelated to that of ‘*The Pro-
duct of a Single Hill.” (See Fig. 10.)

This cut gives an illustration of the class of stalks which produce the
nubbins, or what is worse, nothing at all. The unproductive stalks in these
two hills have kLundreds of brothers scatteréd here and there throughout the
field wherever the kernels from the ear that produced them were planted.
Some of these brothers of course bore something but a large percent of the
plants that came from that ear would be about like four of those in this cut—
worse than nothing. Ontheother hand the stalks bearing the good ear
would have hundreds of brothers threughout the field, which came from the
same good ear it did, bearing—not nubbins or nothing at all as these are do-
ing—but strong, vigorous stalks producing in turn, a large percentage of
good vigorous ears.

This question resolves itself into one of getting rid of these unprofitable
ears and of planting only vigorous ear-producing ones. On an average one
stalk in every seven produces nothing because of barrenness. One acre in
every seven planted to corn is worse than wasted because of these unpro-
ductive stalks. Yeta little time and care in selecting our seed corn—nota
dollar in outlay is required—will materially lessen this enormous loss. We
cannot pay too much attention to the careful selection of our seed corn.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG Sr

Fs aaa

Kise lr.

Prof. P.G. Holden of the Agriculture College of Iowa h7s fully studied
the subject of barren stalks and their effect on the future yield of corn grown
from pollen supplied from them Seecut No. 11 and you will get a fair idea
of his illustration from which yu willJearn that the yield will be cut down
wonderfully if the matter is not brought to the attention of the farmer ina
forcible manner—thi:su j°ct tou-hes the pocket-book. The results there-
fore are most easily br ught to one’s mind, in fact all the subjects brought
out from illustrations selectel from the Year Rook are most vivid; such as
you may find at any time in your own or your neighbor’s cornfield and coming
as it does from soeminent and reliable asource as to b2 confirm ng proof of its
worth. It is said that the book learned farmer is no good. He does not deal

82 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

directly with the farm but in this case we have the farm and the educated

man combined. Study this matter fully, it will do you good
J. B. ARMSTRONG.

Fig. 12:

PRODUCT OF A SINGLE HILL

Fig. 12 illustrates what is too often seen ina single hill—a good ear, a
poor ear and-a nubbin. We have seen this so often that we never stop to
think what it means. Why do not all these stalks bear ears like No. 3? Be-
ing in the same hi'l, the conditions of soil, climate and moisture must have
been exictly the same One could not have received more thorough cultiva-
tion than another. From the time the corn was dropped there was no good
reason why Nos. 1 and 2 should not be as good as No. 3. Why, then, is there
this wide variation? Can we do anything to bring Nos. 1 and 2 up to the
standard set by No.3? Wecan. Thedifference in yield of these three ears

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 83

' was not due to differences in soil, climate or cultivation. The difference lay
behind all this—it lay in the character of the parents planted. If we could
locate a!l the stalks in the field which spring from the brothers of the kernel
that produced No. 2 we would find that the great majority of them were ears»
on an average, as good asitis. The same thing would hold true in the case
of the parents of No. land No.3. This would lead us to the conclusion that
the difference in these three ears isdue to the difference in the producing °
power of their parents.

In our study of individual ears we saw the wide variation in the yield
which different ears produced. We saw that while one ear yielded 90 bushels
per acre, another ear beside it, which had exactly the same conditions, pro-
duced only 36 bushels. Some ears produced twelve times as many barren
stalks as others and the same held true with the broken stalks. Now if we
can select the ear which gives the large ear-producing stalks and leave out -
the one which produces the sma] ear and the one which produces the nubbins,
we will have gone a long way toward materially increasing our yield for it is —
evident that this wide variation is due to the difference in the producing |
power of these twoears. In this work of selection the ear may be taken as
the unit. While there is something in the individuality of each kernel, we
are sure of getting good corn and a large increase ih’ the number of good
ears to the hill if we study our seed ears carefully and plant only the best.
Fourteen ears on an average will plant an acre, therefore, if we put in one

ear that. produces a great many nubbins- and barren She we greatly reduce
our yield on that acre. —

Don’t Get the Cultivator Too Deep

The ground finely cultivated before the corn is planted will leave it in
such condition that you may at the first plowing before the corn roots have
spread out plow as deep as you wish to, as to fully kill and cover all weeds

after which the cultivator must be run more shallow but never deep enough
to interfere with the root system.

84 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

Why dee» enough to kill the weeds? Simply because you are trying to
grow grass or weeds in the same field. Wesometimes think that weeds act-
ually poison the ground but whether or not, they take the strength of the
land which should go to the corn, they rob the corn of its moisture, and hence
they should not be tolerated.

Have youever seen a cornfieldin which weeds had come up after planting
till they threatened to take the crop, and the farmer had gone through and
tried to hoe them out and then got tired and quit? If you ever see that (and
you may see it every year) just notice, please, the difference between the
corn out of which the weeds have bz2ea cut or pulled, and the corn where

they have been allowed to grow. Corn and weeds cannot live together in the
same house.

Why not plow deep? Simply because by the time the corn is knee high
the roots reach from row to row and come up just as near the surface as they
canget moisture. See cut: the top of the ford shows top of the soil. Why
should you cut off these roots—why limit the pasture field of the corn plant?
The amount of corn that you will get is proportionate root growth. Ifaman
will take a day off and wash out a hill of corn for the purpose of finding out
where the roots are, where they are feeding, he will do his corn more good
than if he plowed corn that day. Itis quite as necessary for the farmer to
understand the anatomy of thecorn plant as it is for the surgeon to know
the bones and veins and arteries and muscles and ligaments and tendons and
nerves of the man on whom he proposes to operate.

Another reason why you should not go deeper than necessary to kill the
weeds is because you want to leave the space between the rows just as level
as possible. You want to use all the field as a pasture for corn roots, and the
corn root must have moisture. The more level you have it, the greater pro-
portion of the pasture the corn roots can utilize. They must have moisture,
and if the corn is ridged up it has better opportunity to dry out; hence there
is less moisture and the roots must go deeper. Don’t get the old idea that
was prevalent when we were boys that you have to throw the soil up around
the corn to keep it from blowing over. Nature has provided means for en-
abling the corn tostand uo straight. It has provided an 2dmirable root sys-
tem for that purpose; therefore let nature run that part of the business. It
should be your aim to keep your soil in such shap2 that the plants will have
the greatest spreadof roots andthe greatest supply of available moisture.
Nature will look after the rest.

Deep vs. Shallow Cultivation of Corn

By James Atkinson, Ass't. in Agriculture at the Iowa Experimental Station, Ames, Lowa.

The amount and d'stribution of the rainfall throughout the corn belt is
just sufficient to carry the corn crop through the average season. Indeed it
is the comparatively light rainfall, together with a certain amount of sun-
shine and a given temperature, that creates this, the greatest corn belt in
the world. It is true that there are exceptional seasons when the rainfall is
sufficient to safely mature a crop, and yet, as the science of cultivation be-
comes more fully understood, the damage to the corn crop on account ofa
meager supply of moisture is becoming very much lessened. In the past the
cultivator has been used largely as a weapon for destroying weeds. When

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 85

its purpose was accomplished in this direction, its duties for the season were
at an end.

The modern idea concerning the corn cultivator, or corn plow, as it is
mostly called, attributes to the implement athree fold purpose, namely, the
conservation of moisture, the destruction of weeds, and the aeration of the
soil. Concerning the first factor mentioned, that of conserving moisture,
there is no longer any dispute as to the great value of cultivation in this re-
spect. King found adaily loss of more than three tons of water from an
acre under cultivation than from the same area uncultivated, which loss was
directly due to greater evaporation from the uncultivated soil. This would
amount to a two-inch rainfall in the course of two months, quite enough to
save acropinadry season. However, this great saving of moisture is not
accomplished by any fixed number of plowings, as, for example, it is the
practice of certain farmers to cultivate only twice while others practice
three plowings. As a matter of fact it is impossible for anyone to say just
how frequently corn should be plowed asso much depends upon climatic
conditions. Every rainfall prepares the soil in the best possible manner for*
the evaporation of moisture by leaving the surface soil filled with small
pores, which act as water conductors between the lower soil and the atmos-
phere. Just as soon asthe free water that enters the soil by the force of
gravitation is arrested by the capillary forces in the soil it immediately be-
gins to arise toward the surface by virtue of the same force that arrested its
downward course. It therefore follows that the breaking up of these sur-
face pores will check this flow of water into the atmosphere, hence the wis-
dom of making free use of the cultivator after heavy rains.

But there is less controversy over the importance of freouent cultivation
than there is on the subject of depth to which corn should be plowed. And
right here let it be said that the nature of the soil and the climatic condi-
tion are very important factors. Ourexperiments up tothe present time
favor shallow culture, that is, adepth of from one and one-half to two and
one-half inches, as compared with a depth of four to five inches. In 1899 the
yield from the shallow cultivation was seventy-two bushels per acre and
from the deep sixty-nine bushels. In 1900 the crop that received shallow
cultivation yielded ninety-three bushels per acre, while the deep culture
crop yielded eighty-nine bushels. During a period of five years the I)linois
Experiment station reports a gain of five bushels per acre from the shallow
culture as compared with the deep. While these experiments are decidedly
in favor of shallow cultivation, yet they cannot be accepted as applying
under all circumstances. But let it first be explained why better returns are
obtained from the shallow culture. It has been demonstrated by King that
a three-inch mulch will conserve more moisture in a cornfield than one an
inch deep, and yet nearly all experiments favor the shallow culture. The
explanation of this seemingly contradictcry situation is found in the fa¢t
that while the roots of the corn penetrate the soil to a depth of four or five
feet, it is, after all the surface roots that are the principal agents through
which food elements enter the plant. Not that the lower roots are incap-
able of taking up plant food if it existed in the lower layers of the soil but
that the conditions for the liberation of food elements are only favorable in
the surface soil, where there is moisture, warmth and an abundant supply of
air. It therefore follows that acropcan ill afford to part with any of its
surface roots. I have often heard farmers say that they like te hear the

86 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

‘cultivator tearing the corn roots, as they believe they are then doing some
good. It is true that the plant will tend to develop a stronger system below
this line of cultivation, but, as said before, there is but a scant supply of
plant food in this lower soil upon which they can feed, their office being
largely the taking up of water. Inadry season it is especially injurious to
a crop to destroy part of its root system, and indeed it is reasonable to sup-
pose that no good will be accomplished by root pruning at any time.

However, there are conditions under which it may be advisable to plow
to considerable depth. Ifasoil contains any considerable amount of clay,
and the season would be wet, it may be necessary in order to warm the soil
and destroy the weeds to plow or cultivate to considerable depth. On this
topic John Cownie says: ‘‘In heavy soil and wet weather shallow cultivation
is a mere waste of time and labor, while deep and thorough stirring of the
soil, leaving the surface between the rows somewhat rough, destroys weeds
and assists in the evaporation of surplus moisture, and in addition deep cul-
tivation allows the air to permeate the soil, to warm it and assist in forcing
growth. But with light soil and during dry weather, surface cultivation will
destroy weeds very effectively, for growth is then slow and greatly retarded
and the object should be to conserve moisture, and this is best accomplished
by thorough and repeated stirring of the surface soil, leaving it as fine and
smooth as possible.”’

Shallow cultivation cannot be adopted unless the soil is thoroughly pre-
pared before planting. If planting is done amidst a crop of weeds, these in
all probability will be so firmly established as not to be disturbed by the
shallow shovel. Under such circumstances it is our practice to use the deep
shovels to destroy the first crop of weeds before the root system of the corn
is developed to an extent that will render them liable to injure. ~ Indeed, I
would advise the complete destruct tion of weeds at. all hazards, although it is
much better to do this when they are young and tender. In crder to cope
with a variety of conditions we have two sets of shovels with every plow, the
deep ones to be used during the early part of the season if necessary, and
the shallow ones when the rainfall is light and the weeds are well in check.

There is another factor that should receive some attention, that is the
leavimg of the surface soil as smooth and level as possible after every plow-
ing. A rigid surface exposes more soil to the drying action of the sun than
@smooti one, which is another argument in favor of shallow plows, I ‘like
the attachment on the Tower cultivator which levels the’ soil after the
knives, leaying it smooth and level. This may seem a small matter, and vet
the difference between success and failure in any business is often due to, thé ©
attention paid to details to ‘small things.” = = ==JAMES ATKINSON," ee ond.

Iowa Experiment Station, Amés, “fOwae”

The above fully carries out the ideas that for years” we have been talk.” 7 is

ing to our farmer friends and practicing on our “Pleasant Valley Corn’ Farm. he
IB: ARMSTRONG, cee

What May be Done to Increase the Yield ‘of Corn

GOOD SHAPE or EARS ” C ST Fut Arias Gabe

Fig. 16 illustrates good form ofears. All_are well ‘proportioned, have,
good butts and tips, the rows are straight and the kernels uniform. All the
‘ears show strength, constitution and good breeding. Ears 1, 3 and 4, would

A DU

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG ol

plant well together. Ears3and1are slightly better in shape than ears 2
and 4,

Fig. 16, ees ‘

When we realize the possibilities that are wrapped up in a single:ear of
corn and then make the careful selection. the importance of thé-subject de-
mands we Can, in a few years, greatly increase the value of the corn-crop.

Recently the Journal gave an account of the ‘success of corn breeding in
Illinois, Kansas and Iowa. . Missouri has done. little or nothing inthis di-
rection. If we may believe Geo:.M. Tucker,. instricter in soils and crops-at
the Missouri State University, he notes in arecent bulletin that {llinois has
increased the average of her corn crop during the past ten years, 22 pey cent.
In the same time Indiana has increased:her average 12 per cent,and Jowa has
brought hers up to 28 per cent, and. Kansas and Nebraska 14 to 16 per cent,
but Missouri has made but 1 per cent andin all these states the increase is

88 BOOK OR CORN GROWING

due to corn breeding and selection and better attention tocultivation. Here
we have before us a striking object lesson of what attention of this sight
might do for Missouri. The acreage of cornin Missouri in the last year was
767,645,600, and increase of one bushel to the acre would mean 7,645,600 more
bushels of corn or an increase of over two millions of dollarsin value. The
state revenue by direct taxation last year was two million six hundred and
thirty-two thousand dollars, so an additional bushel of corn to the acre would
almost pay the whole direct taxation of the state. ‘‘Now’’’ says Mr. Tucker,
“if three, four or five bushels could be raised. two millions two hundred and
ninety-three thousand, four million flve hundred and eighty-seven thousand
or sixty-eight hundred and eighty-one thousand would be clear profit to the
farmers of the state and five bushels to the acre would be an increase if all
the farmers in Missouri paid attention to their seed.”’

Improved seed may be obtained if buying it of reliable seed growers. In
planting those varieties of corn that have been degenerated by time and are
producing twisted, spindling, dwarfed, abnormally large with little tendency
to produce strong stalk or healthy leaf. The farmer cannot expect to geta
large yield of grain from the seed grown upon such field. It will be subject
to a similar abnormal growth anda poor development. It isa well estab-
lished fact that the quantity of the grain depends upon the plant that bears
it, and the plant which had fertilized Seed plants should be strong and vigor-
ous, with an erect symetrical and well developed stalk, tapering regularly
from the base to the tassel with well developed broad leaves uniformly set

upon the stalk, and no anpearance of dwarfed or stunted ears at the various
nodes but with one or two well developed ears and these born at a medium

height above the ground. It is not adisible toselect seed corn from large or
abnormal plants, nor select large abnormally ears to plant. The result of that
kind of selection will be to develop a tendency to produce plants that the soil
will not be strong enough to bring to maturity and the grain must suffer in
consequence... Ina field or breeding plot there are always abnormally small
and abnormally large plants but the actual adaption of the soil is measured
by the average and not by the extremes. When everything had been done
to secure a perfect stand there may yet be a relatively small number of ears
in the field on account of the barren stalks. Many stalks that came trom the
best selected kernels may not bear ears. Therefore, it'is necessary in order to
secure a large yield todetasselthe barren stalks in the breeding field in order
that they may not pass their barrenness along through the ears which their
pollen reaches. The farmer who desires to breed up his own seed must have
a breeding field at some distance from his other cornif possible. This field
must be kept ina good state of cultivation,the barren stalks must be detasseled
as soon as their tassels appear and further selection may be advanced by de-
tasseling others than barren stalks if they are not considered suitable. ‘Then
when the crop is made there should be aselection of seed ears by measure-
ment, weight, etc., not only with the eye to the ears themselves but also the
plants which produce them. Then by selecting the best kernels from the
best ears for use in the breeding field another year, the farmer can soon
breed up a corn perfectly adapted to his surroundings.

It used to be the idea and is often carried today, in selecting seed corn,
that a big ear with large kernels was the nearest to perfection, but a great
variety of tests made by our best thinking corn growers have proven to me
conclusively that big ears may be least desirable. Seed of a variety which

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 89

ae

have been grown on arich soil for a number of years have acquired the habit
of using large quantities of plant food and developing large plants and large
ears out of this food. Now it is evident that if seed of this description is
planted on thin soil, it will exhaust the food supply in its effort to builda
larger plant for the larger ear which it is in the habit of growing and the re-
sult is, a crop giving a large yield of fodder and a small amount of grain.
The reverse is also true and seed from thin soil will reach the capacity of its
growth long before it has exhausted the soil and the result will be a smaller
yield than the soil is capable of producing. It should therefore be the ob-
ject of each farmer knowing as he ought to, his farm soi], and possibilities to
select such seed as may be adapted to it, and make his selection according.
I find many farmers who are growing on the same farm several varieties of
corn; this is all wrong as when this is done the corn will become mixed and
while the first year they may do fairly well this second planting will usually
be a sickly failure. Get first, what seems to you best, give it the best of cul-
tivation and attention. Secure with care your seed and you will surely do
yourself good and by thus doing raise the standard of yield from year to year.

The Possibilities of Selection and Association

The following cut fully shows to what extent selection and cultivation can
do for our corncrop. Several years ago the writer founda stalk of corn
which attracted his attention by the strong growth of stalk and leaf on which
there were five medium ears of corn;from this stalk the best ear was selected
for an experiment for the following year, at which time this cornso selected
was planted in a small plat from which the stalk and tassel, which we show
you in above cut, was grown with two strong heavy ears, also shown in cut,
thestrangest part of all. Upon this one stalk was the tassel, which you will
note by the cut, is very different from the ordinary tassel.

It had one hundred fully formed ears of corn, the husks were perfect in
shape as was the the cob which was tully covered with minature kernels,
even the silks being present, all, of course, of minature size. Had this stalk
of corn been grown in some section where the frost had not killed it so early we
would have had a better illustration of what nature may do with corn when
the right selection is made. Many will say this is only a corn freak; it may
be so, yet there were several other stalks in the same plat that bore the
same minature ears upon the tassels fully covered with husk.

From this we have a fair hint of what may be possible for man to occom-
plish with corn. Did it ever occur to you how closely the life and a prosper-
ity of corn is bound up and connected with man. . And were man with his
thoughts and mind to be wiped from the earth and all conditions for growing
corn were left as now, corn could not survive him more than one year. Other
grains, grasses, fruits and vegetable would survive, not so with King corn.

Man by his magic touch has so transformed him that the human family
must be his associates and the finer and more prolific will be the varieties of
corn. It is but a few years, in fact, not further back than many that read
this article will remember, that the only corn had or being cultivated was
the little nubbiny, spotted, squaw, eight rowed corn.

But a few years since the man of thought began to study the possibilities
of improvement along this line may we then not look forward with great
confidence to a greater and grander improvement that will surely come with-
in the life time of the working, thinking, educated farmer of today.

90 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

We find that in the study of corn growing and the more intense farming
that the student who had once started on this subject never finds the place
at which to stop, but ends his time only as the stalk of corn; when its work is

finished the harvest is at hand, the frost has come, then he most happily
passes from earth.

Laying. Corn By

Some of the farmers in the corn-belt are beginning to apprecigte the fact -

that the old idea of “laying the corn by”? in early July and permitting it to
battle with the elements and work its own way to maturity without further
pursuing or assistance is a grave error. The past few seasons have many il-

lustrations of the value of latter cultivation which will. be apparent. . Itis
not a question as to whether you should concede the correctness of some <
other fellow’s theory, but purely a business proposition. . Will you leave the.

field to take its chances or will you give it further protection, to the exent
of possibly 20 to 40 cents worth of labor per acre, with a possible gain of not

only 10 to 20 bushels per acre,"but of #thuch bettér quality? No* matter L

‘

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 91

whether you wish to sell the corn or feed it, a perfectly matured crop is
worth much more per bushel.

With the unusual rainfall that we have had in May, June and early July,
and continued coo] weather, we are quite likely to get hot, dry weather in
in the latter part of July and August. Damage is sure to come from two
sources should this prove true to any great _extent—first, loss of moisture by
evaporation; second, the crusting of the surface or crusting beneath the
mulch, and shutting the air out ofthe soil, both of which can be prevented
by additional and later cultivation of the right kind, and especially is this
true and very important if a fairly heavy rain should come after your last
cultivation.

At this writing, now past the middle of July, our soils | are full of mois-
ture, and the corncrop in a very healthy and rapidly growing condition. If
this moisture is conserved, and the surface of the moist soil kept from crust-
ing, an enormous crop of choice, well matured corn may be garnered. True,
the cultivation must now be done witha one-horse cultivator, and the driver
must walk behind it; this, to most farmers, looks like aslow and expensive
job; but stop—don’t consider the part of labor and expense without con-

sidering the possible returns.
i SOME MARVELOUS RETURNS

Mr. Arnold Martean of Pawnee county, Nebraska, raised 84 bushels of
fine, well finished corn per acre in 1893, while his neighbors got from 15 to 30
bushels*of low grade corn, due tothe fact that they laid their corn by and
left it to work out its own salvation while Mr. Martean put forth a little ef-
fort and saved fully 50 bushels of corn per acre that was lost to them.

Another man in Franklin county, Nebraska, in 1902, raised over 60 bushels
of choice corn per acre by going over his cori two times after his neighbors
had laid their corn by. From this neglect they only Bot from 2 to 20 bushels
of very light, chaffy corn.

Another very remarkable case was the result ‘of an unintentional cultiva-
tion after a heavy rainin 1901. This was ‘the: year of extreme heat for a per-
iod of more than two months. In Fillmore county, on the 7th of July, cover-
ing a small district of country they had nearly four inches of rain. The man
referred to was about half through cultivating his corn, preparatory to lay-
ing it by, when this rain came, and as soon as the ground Was sufficiently dry
he cultivated the balance of the field. When, hidrvest tife came he was sur-
prised to find that he had from 15 to 18 bushels more cort per acre on the
land cultivated after the rain than from the’ ‘part cuftivatéd before the rain.
We could quote many similar results, but | this is enough td°convince anyone
that there is much to be looked for from thé ‘tight time, and” thé right kind
of cultivation.

Lon

CA

.SOME REASONS, WHY,

We fully appreciate the fact that it as not sutiete gs, that a man should:

know what to do, but he should know why he;does.it..; typ.

Air and water are two principal.elements, ugcessary for healthy mal pro- :

lific plant growth and development. Now with the ground so full of moisture
and corn in a very fine, healthy condition, jit.stands every man in hand to see
that he does all he can to reach the highest possible yield. When we come
to realize that with a firm. surface, as ‘left after a a rain, * that as high as one
and a half quarts of water will be lifted €6 the'surface Dy éaptflary attraction

meen

92 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

and lost by evaporation from asquare foot of soilina single day, and even
as high as two quarts during such conditions with kigh wind and high tem-
perature such as prevailed generally in July, we are then in position to seek
the remedy. When we come to realize that with the soil loosened and made
fairly fine, to a depth of three inches, would lose but a very small per cent of
this amount, and but very little would get away, why should we not try at
least a small piece for comparison? The experiment will be very valuable in
two ways—first, it will add bushels to your corn crop; second, it will prove
the correctness of this principle.

REGULATE THE AIR

Air in the sdilis a very important element; shut it outtosome degree
and you will see the plant begin at once to turn yellow and cease, toa great
ccg~ee, to grow. no matter how abundant the moisture may be.

One of the most marked illustrations of this fact was taught out on the
Burlington model farm in 1903. For several previous years this land had
been put to small grain by simply disking. The fire guards had been plowed
parallel with the railroad, which ran angling through the field. This ground
was plowed in the spring of 1903 fully six inches deep, packed and harrowed
and sowed to oats; as the work was pretty thoroughly done the field looked to
be level. When the oats were about six inches high there was a sudden and
heavy rain of about two inches, which resulted in settling the surface very
firm. Assoon as the surface was dry enoughto permit, we harrowed the
field with a combined weeder and harrow. Then followed eleven days of hot,
dry weather, at the end of which we chanced tonotice a peculiar and very
interesting condition. Running parallel with the road were streaks of light
green colored oats, and darker green color. Close inyestigation showed that
the light green streaks were the result of the open furrows, left by plowing
the fire guards. The rain had settled the field so there was aslight depression,
and in harrowing the field the teeth passed over, leaving a packed, crusted
surface, which had shut out the air; the leaves were narrower, shorter stalks
and lighter color, while the back furrow was higher aud the harrow teeth had
cut deeper, loosening the soil more fully.

There was a narrow strip of oats, with taller coarser stalk, wider and
longer leaf, and adarker color. To nothing can we attribute this except the
increase of air in the soil where the harrow cut deepest anda decrease where
the surface was not loosened. Wehave noted several similar conditions
with corresponding results, all of which point to the importance and value of
watching and handling the soil in your cornfields until the corn is made.

Never use the expression again—thet of “Jaying the corn by.” It’sa
bad idea to get into the minds oi the corn growers that the growing corn
crop can be advantaged by stopping its cultivation, and this when it gets
shoulder high or thereabouts.

Let the thinking farmer next year test this matter fully by selecting an
acre or more, at the time he lays by his field, put a one-horse cultivator into
it, keep it going until the corn is glased, and note the increase. He will find
that in that cultivation he made his easiest money.—Webraska Farmer.

The Harrow in the Cornfield.

So much has been said in recent years in the agricultural press.on the
above topic that it is difficult to add anything new. On account of the differ-

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 93

ent circumstances and conditions, it is impossible to lay down any one rule by
which the farmer can safely be guided intheuse ofthe harrow. His own
past experience, if he has had any in this direction, will probably be his safest
guide. Nevertheless it is worth while to point out the objects which the far-
mer may have in view, or rather the condition in the corn field which he
should desire, and which are essential to his greatest success, and then he
can determine whether these conditions can be better secured by the use of
the harrow or by some other implement.

A good seed bed having been prepared and planted in due time with good
seed, what next does the farmer desire? He wishes the corn to have the free
use of every square inch of that field; he wishes freedom from weeds; he
wishes to utilize the moisture held in reserve in the subsoil for the best pos-
sible growth of thecrop for the next ninety days. Howcan he best gain
these three points, each of which is essential to the growth of a first class
crop of corn?

What may happen to prevent it? Several things. A soaking rain may
happen followed by ahot sun. This will not interfere very much with the
growth of the weeds, but on heavy lands it may form a crust and prevent the
more tender corn from pushing itself into the sunlight. If there is nothing
done, the weeds may attain such a hold that it may not be easy to eradicate
them by surface culture, and with anything else than shallow culture he may
not be able to secure the mulch of dry dirt so essential to the utilizing in the
most complete way of the stored water.

In view of these contingencies, which are very likely to occur, our pref-
erence would be to immediately follow the corn planter with a shovel plow
cultivator, or disc, and give very deep cultivation before the corn appears,
running as close as possible-to the drill or planter marks without disturbing
the corn and thus bury what weeds have already sprouted and securing deep
cultivation at the start. We would then fol!ow with the harrow and harrow
right along, first crosswise until the corn was up and keep on harrowing so
long as the ground was in fine condition and no damage was done to the young
plants, using of course, alight slanting toothed harrow. It is not necessary
to say that we would under no condition use the harrow on very wet land for
the reason that it would not kill the weeds nor would it better the condition
of the land; neither would it promote mulch. We would wait until the ground
was drying off, then would not harrow late in the evening for the réason that
there would not be enough sun heat to kill the weeds; nor would we care to
harrow on a cloudy day.

Just how long the harrow can be used depends on circumstances. When
the corn is a couple of inches high, it is not advisable to harrow very early
in the morning as there is more breakage before th= sun toughens the leaves
and blades. When the conditions are all right, the sun warm and the ground
dry, one may apparently do a great deal of damage with the harrow and yet
at the same time do the corn great benefit. The beauty of harrowing is that
it enables you to get close to the stalks, even raking through the hills if the
harrow be light enough an‘ slanting toothed, thus thoroughly breaking ap
the crust and at the same time killing all the weeds.

Under conditions where it is possible to use the harrow thus effectively:
corn needs but comparatively little work afterwards, providing it-has had
deep cultivation between the rows to begin with. Aboutall that is necessary
afterwards is to create the dust mulch in order to conserve moisture, and this

94 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

cannot be done without killing the weeds. Shallow cultivation without any
kind of implement then becomes practicable. If the weeds are allowed to
become deep rooted, the deep cultivation must be adopted, and this necessar-
ily involves root pruning which, however, is not aclvisable in the Mississippi
Valley. SE

Once more we calithe attention-of our readers to the fact that a dust
mulch of two or three iaches shuts off to a great extent the evaporation of
the water and utilizes the main bulk of the stored water in growing a crop of
corn. This must be-done if we are to get the very best results. It is not pos-
sible for any man to.grow a good crop of corn with the average rainfall, alone
of the Mississippi Valley. A good crop can be grown only by using the water
stored in the subsoil and to utilize this we must have resource to the mulch of
dry dirt formed wherever you have surface cultivation following a well pre-
pared,seed-bed and deep cultivation before the.cornisup. Keeping these
points in mind, which need only be stated to win the approval of every read-
er, the farmer can determine fur himself when to use the harrow and when to
let it alone. :

Our Method of Corn Cultivation.

We are receiving communications very often asking many questions in
regard to our views on all subjects pertaining to corn growing. Our manner
of planting and cultivation, the different tools we use upon our farm, the
number of times that we cultivate qur corn and what time itis best to lay
our corn by, etc. In a former communication we. have given answer ina
general way to many of these questions but just now in our latitude the
planting of corn is the one which is the thought of our farmer friends and is
foremost in their mind. We will give you what seems best to us on our seed
corn growing farm. I wish ifit were possible that our ground might have
been fall plowed. The ground has heen left as rough as possible. At spring- ©
time it would have been so thoroughly frozen up that many of the worms and
insects would have perished and the soil wou'd have been given new life for
the coming year but if we are to plant upon ground not fall plowed we would
start the stalk cutter as soon as the stalks are fully dried and do the best job
possible and follow this with the stalk rake burning at once all such trash as
we may gather. This we would follow as soon as convenient with the disc as
this will so fix the ground that most of the weed seeds still left will very soon
germinate and grow; then comes the best opportunity that you will have at
any time for killing the great crop of weeds which are sure to spring up.
This may be done with the drag, the weeder or any other light cultivator.
Our next operation is to start the lister making our rows as straight as pos-
sible having it deep intothe ground but. not planting the corn. This we
would follow with a high wheeled corn planter, dropping the corn if possible
to the average of three in a hill on high ground, four on rich land, using the
check row.

In this manner of planting you derive the advantage of both methods of
planting, to-wit: the planter, the check row and the lister system and by
this method your corn is in the ground in shape that it may be easily tended
in both directions. Our first cultivation would be with the two-rowed cultiva-
tor following in the lister rows as with listed corn filling in the rows of corn
covering the roots over far down in the ground and giving thestalks better

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 95

protection from being hurt by the root louse or the wire worm and of the ad-
vantage of cultivating both ways. After making two plowings with the
double-rowed disk cultivator we turn and cross this with the Eagle Claw
which leaves the ground smooth and level. For ten years this has been our
method of cultivating andit has doneus good. I have stated in a former
communication that I have two sets of implements which I use, the two-
rowed cultivator being the first and the Eagle Claw the second, although any
of the small shovel cultivators may do as well. We find that when our ground
is leveled up we may use the weeder with great success as one horse and man
will be able to go over at least 20 acres perday. This leaves the ground in
fine shape. Our custom is to keep this cultivation up with the Eagle Claw
and weeder as long as we can work the corn witout injury. Do not quit be-
cause your neighbors do or because the 4th of July has arrived, as each plow-
ing after these dates bring you many bushels of finely matured corn. Do not
forget that eternal vigilence and intelligence and hard work makes a bounti-
ful crop. Among the very best surface cultivator is the Eagle Claw. This
is one/of the first gotten our for this wornand has always kept at the head
of the procession. Ihave two different makes of weeders, both good. One
thing I wish to say to all interested, don’t be ina hurry as to planting your
corn. Youcan do better work for your crop by thoroughly pulverizing the
soil and getting your seed bed in such shape that when you do plant there
wili, if the weather be favorable, be nothing to stop the germination or
growth of your corn. ’

Corn Breeding Or Selection.

Twenty-five years ago we started the study of corn with the view of the
possibility of getting a larger ear, stronger stalk, a greater amount of foli-
age, a more prolific bearer and a greater amount of teeding value and today
looking back over those years of study and experiment we can hardly realize
the great progress we have made inthis direction. Our first venture along
this line being with corn grown in central Illinois and taken to northern
Michigan. The wonderful growth of the foliage, stalk and corn was the talk
of those who saw it, and was convincing proof to me that there wasa great
possibility along this line brought out by this little experiment. Our study
years ago, as many of the readers of this paper will remember gave our efforts
and the Early Yellow Rose,corn much notoriety but such things only prompted
us to greater efforts until our corn was given first place at the Experimental
and Testing Station at Ames, Iowa, and when we were informed by letter
from Secretary Wilson tsen in charge of the Agricultural Station that our
corn had made the wonderful yield of 90 bushels per acre and had shelled 624
pounds from 70 pounds of ears which beat all competitors we realized as never
before that our efforts were not in vain and that we were on the right track,
that in fact we were doing the world and the farmers good although our
enthusiasm was slightly chilled when we in our honest way showed the letter
to a farmer friend he very cooly asked what we paid for such a recommenda-
tion, and well do I remember the answer given to him at that time, ‘‘There
are some things that can be bought but no such letter of recommendation
could be bought from Secretary Wilson who wrote the letter.’’ Soon after
this one of the most progressive farmers who had bought his seed from me
and who had grown a wonderful fine crop of one hundred acres or more said
he was feeding several car loads of cattle and weighing them every week so

96 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

as to know just the amount of grain they were making from each bushel of
corn and he found that when he stopped feeding our variety of corn and
commenced feeding corn bought promiscuously from the surrounding farmers
his cattle lost fully twenty-five per cent of the gain that they were making
when feeding upon our corn. This was positive proof tome that our corn
which had been awarded 7 pounds more weight of shelled corn per bushel than
other varieties was the corn that would lead the world. We were not theorists,
no scientists, but were working on honest undisputed proof from facts. Soon
the Experimental and Testing Stations commenced work along the line that
we had been following for years. The subject of selecting and improving
corn with a view to securing the largest amount of gain has begun to take
hold of the mind of the farmer only in the last year or two. In two or three
years more farmers will all be thinking on the subject and then we may ex-
pect progress at a very rapid rate. Whena country is new and the mind of
the farmer is intent on paying for his farm and erecting suitable buildings,
cattle are just cattle, hogs are just hogs and cornissimply corn. But when
the stock breeding has been established on a firm basis, we begin to have im-
proved cattle, improved hogs, improved sheep, and improved corn.

The farmer begins to realize that there is corn andcorn and that some
seed corn is worth a great deal more than others in the same way that he has
realized that there are cattle and cattle and some breeding cattle are worth
many times as much as others.

The object in breeding corn, is to secure a type of stalk and ear suitable
to the district in which it is grown. Similarly the object of the farmer in
breeding cattle is to secure a type adapted to his environment and to the
market. Why grow eight rowed corn such as the Indians grew ona farm
that will grow twelve, fourteen or sixteen? Why grow this last on farms
that will grow eighteen, twenty or twenty-four? Why grow an ear eight
inches long when the land will produce a ten inch ear or even better?

There are many things involved in the breeding of corn besides the shape,
the circumference and the length of the ear. Why grow corn that has 30
per cent of barren stalks when by careful breeding a variety can be developed
that has ten per cent, five per cent or even less? The bre:ding of corn in-
volves a careful study of this question; what is tre cause of barren stalks?
It is too thick planting or some injury to tne stalk or unfavorab’e conditions
under which the ear cannot develop? Or it is in addition to this a particular
kind of corn mixed with the seed which under no circumstances would pro-
duce an ear but the pollen of which falling upon fertile stalks will produce
grain which under no circumstances would proluce a bearing stalk in the
future? We do not regard this point as altogether settlel but it is worthy
of the most careful study. It is a fact that the oriyinal of the corn was ear-
less and produced grainon the tassel as it sometimes does now on suckers
but in a long slow process of evolution and not yet entirely completed, a bar-
ren stalk is the result.

That we have for years been trying to solve by cutting out all barren
stalks and planting only such corn as is produced by strong healthy stalks
and bearing fully matured ears that are finely covered at both butt and tip
which produces a variety which under Does cultivation produces an ear or
more for every stalk.

All breeding whether of cattle or corn, must take into consideration the
environment. Hence corn breeding is most intimately connected with corn

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 97

growing. There can be no successfui breeding without the very best kind of
culture as there can be no successful breeding of live stalk without the most
careful breeding. The most highly bred corn if poorly cultivated in a bad
season will produce inferior corn, the merit of it however, being that it will
do better under unfavorable circumstances than corn not properly bred. In
fact, the breeding of corn or any other grain must proceed along the lines
already well established in live stock breeding, and the same mistakes will
occur.

Any number of farmers will be taken with the cross craze in corn breed-
ing just as they have been with live stock breeding and will meet with the
same disappointments. Other men will think that everything is in the breed
and neglect the cultivation. Still others will not take advantage of breed-
ing but like the man who believes in corn-crib cross will say that the breed-
ing goes in at the mouth and that rich land makes big corn no matter what
kind is planted.

Nevertheless the breeding of seed corn will proceed. The subject has
taken full posession of the best informed and thinking men along this line
and the farmer who buys his seed corn has learned the fact that the -intelli-
gent, thinking man, who is making corn his life study will be more apt to
bring out and place before the people not only corn that will grow, ‘ut will
combine length of kernel the per cent of corn as compared to cob, the keep-
ing quality, the time of maturity, the amount of foliage, the per cent of
barren stalks and many other questions that make 6r mar the desirability of
each variety.

Adapting Corn Varieties

We are always learning somethipg new about the cornplant. One thing,
new at least toa good many students of the corn plant, is that corn varieties
differ so greatly in their characteristics that success or failure with corn de-
pends on the selection of the right varieties for certain fields. It is not un-
usual to hear of a man declaring that the variety of corn he grows is one of
the most profitable in the world, will give most astonishing yiclds. The fact
is that he is growing it on a Jocation that is admirably suited toit. Weare
now coming to have varieties of corn adapted to uplands and to lowlands, to
rich land and to poor lard and it may soon be that we may add taat variety
adapted to the thor. ugh worker and the slipshod farmer, but thus far it has
been fully demonstrated that those varieties grown on rich bottom land for
a length of time will not do nearly so well when changed to higher and thin-
ner soil until they have fully adapted them:elves to the great change so that
it is often the case that two farmers in the same neighborhood may buy seed
corn from the same grower, one havea fihe crop to matuve early, bearing
large, fine, sound, heavy ears, while the neighbors get very unsatisfactory
and light chafiy corn, the one says, ‘‘my failure is from the fact that my
seed was not acclimatea”’ while the neighbors think the acclimat on was just
right but in our judgment the adaptability of the corn was wrong, as one had
a hill farm and the other a bottom-farm, hence the great difference.

The lowland variety may do very well on the upland ina wet year, but in
a dry year proves almost a failure, while the variety adapted to the upland
yields well even in bad seasons. At: the present time this differentiation is
Only beginning to be made. During this summer corn growers would do well
to watch the behavior of corn on lowlands and uplands. At the present time

98 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

we have only very meager data by which to figure out what kind of corna
man should select for the bottom lands and what kind for the uplands. Some
of our experimenters are only now just beginning to study the corn plant
from this standpoint. We have, however, much to hope for from our agri-
cultural colleges in this matter. The students are taking great interest in
such matters and are taking up every phase of corn growing. This study of
varieties is one that may well engross the attention of some of the brightest
minds.

The above is very good and yet the man whohas by association learned
the various different varieties of corn is fully aware that the large heavy
eared variety, such as require along season and great quantities of plant
food, must necessarily be cut short of the same when put on hilly light soil,

while the same land will grow fairly well the smaller and quicker growing
varieties.

The Farm Boy Who Aspires to be A Farm Manager

True leadership isa rare quality. Few men possess it. A successful
farm manager isa man whoisa leader and organizer of men; a leader of
thought along agricultural lines; a leader in accepting and putting into
practice new agricultural truths which are almost certain to increase the
profits of the farm, writes W. H. Stevenson in Wallace’s Farmer. There,
fore, the young man who aspires to prepare himself for a farm manager-
whether the farm is to be his own or another’s, aspires to reach a goal which
is worthy of the most earnest effort, persistent work and years of self-denial,
for we believe that his reward will be ample, not only in a financial way, bet
also in the consciousness of a life well spent amid the surroundings which
usually tend to bring to their best development aman’s mental, moral and
physical qualities.

The farm boy of today who accepts farm management as his chosen line
of work, enters a field of endeavor which calls for the very best there is in
him. He cannot affordto missa single opportunity to gain experience
and acquire scientific knowledge which pertains to the widely diversified
facts which will always stand as all important factors in his work.

Valuable experience regarding many practical subjects can be gained on
the farm, where the young man comes face toface with certain problems
day by day, but that more fundamental strength which springs from scien-
tific knowledge can best and most easily be acquired in these latter days in
our agricultural colleges. We have ample proof for this statement in the
splendid records made by young men inall parts of our country. Almost
without exception, where we find an agricultural college graduate in a farm-
ing community there we find a man who is doing something of real merit not
only to better his own condition, but also to lead his neighbors to fuller ap-
preciation of the pressing need for better methods and greater knowledge
regarding their farm work. And who can measure the value to any com-
munity of a leavening element at once so potent and helpful?

The young man who is to take charge of a farm needs this larger train-
ing because a new agriculture is dawning; an agriculture with more numer-
ous and complex problems; an agriculture which .demands that hand work
must be combined with head work; an agriculture which will not give a boun-
tiful return to the man who knows only how to plow, harrow, reap and sow
but an agriculture which will abundantly bless the one who brings to his as-

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 99

sistance every resource of a fertile brain as well asa skilled hand. This is
true in part because the virgin fertility which nature so lavishly bestowed is
rapidly showing the effect of asystem of husbandry which has been character-
ized in many instances by reckless expenditure of soil fertility. These soils,
though cropped continuously, have not beenso exhausted but that intelli-
gent, scientific care will make them profitable for ages to come.

But just this one phase of farm management, if carried to a successful
issue, will require clear thinking and much study. In addition, diversified
crop production, physical soil conditions, and rotation must be studied, and
the intelligent and successful management of a herd of improved live stock
requires skill of an exceedingly high order. These, in brief, are the condi-
tions which necessitate trained brains and trained hands. Therefore, be-
cause there are on the farm so many complex problems for solution—prob-
lems which tax every resource of even the best equipped men—how import-
ant it is that our young farm manager give his time and strength to lay
broad and deep the foundations of his agricultural education.

Grant that the young man hasa good general education; that it is his
good fortune to have ascientific agricultural training and a goodly fund of
practical experience, but if he hasthese and has not qualities of a business
man his most earnest efforts cannot wrest success from the unfavorable con-
ditions which will confront him on every side. Every successful farm man-
ager emphasizes again and again the fact that he really knows the business
methods, practices business methods and is business-like. It is the business
farmer of today who is able to sort over the scientific and theoretical facts
which are given to the world—pick out the practical and valuable and apply
them in a business-like way to the business of farming. The successful far-
mer of today is a business man because the conditions of his work make it
absolutely necessary; he isa farmer because he chooses to be. He is success-
ful in proportion as he brings business methods to bear upon his every trans-
action. Recall, if you can, a present day successful farm manager upon his
forty acres or upon a princely estate who is not a business man.

This fact did not carry in many sections the same weight more than half
a century ago; then the farmer accumulated money and added to his acres
year after year more because of favorable circumstances than because of any
particular business ability which he possessed. Then vague business meth-
ods were in vogue amung the early settlers in many sections; little money
was in circulation and barter was the principal means of exchange. In those
days the wants of a farmer’s family were few—the means for meeting them
perhaps were even fewer. But today things are changed, the farmer and
his family live in a luxurious age, and Juxury, we must remember, always
costs money. Therefore, if the farm manager is to meet the larger demands
made upon the land for increased profits he must depend for success upon
the practice of methods which have made the great commercial enterprises
of the country successful. Certainly broad-gauged comprehensive business
methods were the underlying factors which made for the success of these
enterprises.

The farm manager needs a liberal scientific education, business training
and ability. Does he not also need in a full measure that peculiar gift which
we sometimes call good judgment? It is acharacteristic not easy to des-
cribe, and yet how important it is; for goodcommon sense, and good judg-
ment in applying it to the many and varied operations on the farm often

100 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

measure a man’s true worth asa farm manager. The young man who is
striving to fit himself for this work should ever be on the lookout to strength-
en his good judgment. It isarare possession. It issecured and strengthen-
ed by the exercise of the faculties of good common sense, observation, tact
and experience. It cannot be obtained dishonestly; it will not be used inju-
diciously. Good judgment wil aid the farm manager to systematize his work.
System above all things must be the way tosuccessconthe farm. It is the
secret ot great business success. In very few lines of business, however, are
there as many disturbing elements which interfere with nicely laid plans as
in farming operations. The manager may plan the work with consummate
skill but atmospheric changes and the pressing demands of various crops at.
the same tiwe often bring confusion and disorder to even the most carefully
regulated establishment. Therefore, to meet these emergencies, the man-
ager must do consid*rable thinking and wise planning, and just here is where
his gocd judgment will serve him well, for all too often conditions are such as
to compel him to cut loose from precedent and grope along into new and un-
tried ways. The way must be rugged atd a'most blocked at times with un-
expected obstacles, but intelligent effort based on common serse and good
judgment isa powerful lever with which to remove these hindrances. He
who wisely uses this lever leads his own business on to victory and success.

Our successful farm manager will master bookkeeping. The business on
a majority of farms consists of several departments The business man
makes use of hisset of books in many ways, but innoneso muchas to learn
just what departments of his business are making or losing money. Is it not
essential that the farmer do the samething? Bookkeeping isa lighthouse
to the business man; it will as unfailing guide the farmer past many a shoal
and breaker aud often enable him to reach a harbor of safety which might
otherwise be unknown tohim. A simple system oi bookkeeping not only
will be a source of satisfaction to the farmer but will also prove financially
profitable. Wou'd it not be helpful for him to know, as nearly as the actual
cost could be approximated, the amount experded in producing a certain
fleld of corn, wheat, oats or hay; to know what it cost to raise his calves and
yearlings and fit his stock for the markets; just how much it costs to keep
his milk cows a year; what his machinery, he]p, repairs, incidental expenses,
etc , cost, A knowledge of these points will enable him to really know his
own affairs and be master of them; without this knowledge it is not easy for
him to discover the leaks and ev-n mighty apertures through which the
floods of hard times, low prices and poor crops carry the profits and gains.

Again, the yousg man who aspires to bea farm managcr will endeavor
to be acareful man. Care isa mighty safeguard against many a_ loss, many
a catastrophe; carelessness is a withering blight that dwarfs and destroys.
everything within the range.of its influence.

The conclusion of the matter is this: The thoughtful young man.on the
farm who is planning to make farming his life work will earnes:ly endeavor
during his days of preparation to build into his life and character those ele-
ments of strength which will prepare him to meet with assuranee and ability

the problems and perplexities which in the fullness of time will unfailingly .
meet him face to face on the farm.— Wallace's Farmer.

What Is The Farm?

The farm is a factory for converting the inert mineral matters of the

BY J. B ARMSTRONG 101

soil and the elements of the air into food products for either man or beast.

The highest type of these factories are those which turn out only the
finished product. Why not have all our farm factories of this type? Why
not turn this material into beef, mutton, pork, butter, eggs, etc., etc., before
they leave the farm where this transformation was begun?

The farmer is the one who is most competent torun sucha factory.
There are no complicated engines necessary, no hired, skilled laborers or en-
gineers. Instead of. this a good sound judgment, a practical man—one who
at least enjoys his calling, who knowsa good horse, cow, hog or sheep and
who enjoys dealing with nature. To such I wish to say: It requires only about
twelve pounds of feed tomake a pound of butter. Why not condense your
results into products of this kind and save the freight on all that extra bulk?
If the man at the other end of the line can buy your grain and rough feed
and make money by the operation after paying all this freight surely the
farmers can find still greater profit in feeding these foods where they are
grown. Every pound of grain androughage produced in this middle West
should be fed right here where it is grown.

Not only would this practice insure greater immediate return, but it
would also insure a continuance of the producing powers of our lands. Our
section of the country has been especially favored in its natural endowment
of soils and climatic conditions, but nevertheless it is only a question of time
when wasteful or improper methods will produce the conditions now found in
the East, where husdreds of farms have b2en abandoned because the occu-
pants couldno longer makea living onthem. There area very large num-
ber of farms in this section that have had their productive capacity very
greatly reduced already.

In days past it was talked that ourrich prairies could stand the soil rob-
bing process for any length of time, but many farmers are learning by sad
experience that their day of judgment is fast coming and if they are to pre-
serve their beautiful homes and solid bank accounts they must return to the
farm the amount of fertilage that rightly belongs to it, or soon the lock will
be fastened and the account closed, until sach methods are adopted as shall
bring to our lands the richness which once was there. And there isno better
and quicker way to get the knowledge required than to read some of the best
farm papers, using your owa best judgment as to your own farm or factory.
But on one point do not forget the best of all kinds of seeds and stock. Give
them the care they need in an intelligent way and your bank account will
grow and your factory pay forever.

The Farmer Waking Up

He sees object lessons in the improved crops of his neighbors, in the fine
bred horses he is driving as he takes his family to town, before the fine new
carriage that he has just got, and he begins to wonder how he can afford so
fine arig. He begins to think and observe and soon concludes there is some-
thing worth knowing and doing that he has not yet acquired. We trust that
many such will now read the ideas advanced of those who are leaders in this
direction, and the readers of reliable farm journals where in their best judg-
ment it would seem possible for them todo. Buta few years ago,we knew of
a certain young lady who was presented with a fine watch, but to her great
mortification and distress it would not run, and on taking it to the jeweler he
informed her that it had not been wound and consequently in that condition

102 BOOK ON CORN GROWING
NE I ee
could not run. What was the trouble? Merely this: she had turned the
stem the wrong way, and that was all that was wrong with the beautiful
watch, and this is the trouble with a great many things along the agricultu-
ral lines, they are not started in the right way and never will go until they
are started right. Land will improve itself if left alone, but nature’s pro-
cess is so slow that its owner will never get any good from it. He will have
to start itand keep it woundup if it makes him anything. Thousands of
men know better than they do simply because they have never been wound
up and started. They read with great pleasure the improved methods of do-
ing things, they are wonderfully interested in the fine development of agri-
cultural implements and of science in regard to their business but they get
no practical good from them because they never make a start. It is easy to
get in the habit of thinking that all these discoveries and methods are for
the so called advanced scientific or fancy farmers only. But I assure you
they are not; they are for everyone and it is surprising how simple some of
them are, how easy it is to get them and how much good they will do after
one gets started. The time has now arrived when the common farmer must
be what we term up-to-date. In this we mean the one who has learned to
grow such crops and animals as will sell for the highest prices, such as will
pay the interest on our hundred dollar land instead of as formerly on ten.
This may be done, in fact is being done. New ideas, tools, seeds and methods.
The old is past, the new is here, strive to lead the procession and others will
follow.

An Article of Great Interest to All

DOES IT PAY TO SPRAY POTATOES?

Does it pay to spray potatoes? is the question which is asked by growers.
of that universal vegetable, and as for a vast majority of them the question
remains unanswered, while each season the problem becomes more pressing.
The experiment stations of New York and Maine have of late years giyen
large attention to this subject, and the answer of both stations to the query
is emphatically in the affirmative. The New York station (Geneva) recently
has issued a bulletin on the subject, prepared by Profs. Hall, Eustace, Stew-
art and Sirrine, which is so timely that we make generous extracts from its
pages. And for the photograph from which the illustration of the simple
but efictive sprayer herewith is produced we acknowledge obligations to
Prof. Hall. The illustration shows just how the work is done in the exper-
ience conducted on the farm at West Rush and suggests to any “handy’’
farmer how to make one out of materials at hand or very easy to secure.

The experiments made were taken up as a result of the tremendous losses
suffered from the ravages of late blight. A conservative estimate, says the
bulletin, places the loss during 1903, in New York state, from preventable
diseases at fifty bushels per acre; for in many districts the crop was hardly
worth digging, and, so far as known, there were no considerable areas where
diseases did not do more or lessinjury. These figures indicate a loss to the
state, largely unnecessary, of nearly $10,000,000; for the area devoted to po-
tatoes in recent years has been about 400,000 acres, and the average value of
late potatoes at harvesting time this season was about 50 cents a bushel.

Experiments made last year at the station and at Riverhead, Long Is-
land, confirmed the belief held by all students of potato diseases that spray-

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 103

ing with bordeaux mixture will prevent most of this loss; and tests made dur-
ing the past season at the same places and at six other localities in the state
lend most emphatic support to the belief. The potato grower who sprays
thoroughly every yearinsures his crop against serious damage from blight
and rot, and in a season when disease is epidemic will make enough profit to
repay the cost of treatment for many years. For example, the gain from
spraying at Geneva in 1902 was 123 bushels per acre and in 1903, 118 bushels a
gain for the two seasons, at the lowest allowable figure, $1 a barrel for pota-
toes, of $80. Allowing each application of the spray mixture to cost $1 per
acre, a very liberal estimate, this profit would allow the station to spray po-
tatoes for thirteen years, making six applications each year, and come out
even if no further damage from blight should occur. Is there any potato-
grower who believes that thirteen years will elapse before blight again
strikesthe potato crop of the state?

To meet the objection that the tests made in 1902 on the station grounds
were too limited fairly to determine the effectiveness of spraying, arrange-
ments were made with six farmers scattered over the state, who co-operated
with the stations in the tests, three near Phelps,from six to eight miles from
Geneva, one at Southampton, on Long Island, one at West Rush in the Gene-
sse valley, south of Rochester, andone at Charlotte, north of Rochester.
Each grower was to give the crop only such conditions, culture and care as
he would ordinarily; to spray as often as he thought best, using his own mix-
tures, apparatus and methods, and to keep an itemized account of the ex-
pense of spraying. The station merely required that a portion of the field
fairly representative of the whole be left unsprayed and the product weighed
for comparison with the yield onan adjacent acre of sprayed rows.

On the total area of 61 1 6 acres sprayed in the six experiments in differ-
ent parts of the state, there wasa total increase in yield of 3,746 bushels, or
an average of 61.24 bushels per acre. At 50 cents per bushei the increase was
worth $1,873. Subtracting from this amount the tctal expense of the spray-
ing, $296.49, there is a remainder of $1,576.51, which isthe total net profit.
This is at the rate of $25.77 per acre.

The authors of the bulletin point out that some farmers report failure
and are inclined to condemn the practice of spraying, but they declare that
the disappointment is largely due to two preventable sources of failure. First»
it is necessary to spray at the right time Spraying is a preventive of plant
diseases, not a cure; and if treatment be delayed until signs of damage begin
to appear but little good will be likely to result. When the leaves begin to
turn brown at the edges and curl up, the little plants which grow within the
potato leaves and stalks and cause the disease have already become thorough.
ly established inside the tissues and are out of reach of any spray mixture.
Though the foliage be thoroughly drenched with spray each day after this
time, the infected plants are certain to die quickly if weather conditions be
right. Spraying to be effective must be done before any signs of disease ap-
pear.

Second, it is necessary to spray thoroughly, for unless the entire surface
of the foliage be protected by a film of bordeaux mixture, some of the tiny
germs (or seeds) of the disease may find aspot on which to germinate and
from which to send their little tubes down into the tissues of the host plant.
In time of moist warm weather the potatois growing rapidly and new sur-
face is constantly being exposed.

104 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

Make the bordeaux with good stone lime slacked gradually by adding just
enough water to:keep it moist, not to flood it. When slaked, dilute with
one-third or one-half the water required by formula, and add the dissolved
copper su!ph ite diluted with the rest of thewater. The common formula
for bordeaux for potato spraying is 6 lbs. copper sulphate, 4 lbs. fresh stone
lime, and 50 gallons of water. i

For poisoning the bugs add to the amount of the mixture you will use in
covering one acre, one poundof paris green or its equivalent in white arsenic
inthe form of arsenite of lime.

This latter material is cheaper and better than paris green. It costs
about one-third as much per pound, and is equal in poisoning properties to
twic* as much parisgreen. Itrequires some time and thought to prepare,
however. It is made and used as follows: Dissolve one pound of white arsenic
and fur pounds of salsoda (washing soda) in on gallon of water by boiling 15
or 20 minutes. This makes the stock solution, which can be bottled and kept
until desired for use. Forspraying potatoes add two quarts of the stock so-
lution (one-half pound white arsenic) to the quantity of bordeaux required
to cover anacre. This is equivalent to an application of one pound of paris
green per acre.

In using the white arsenic stock solution with bordeaux mixture pre-
pared by the potassium ferrocyonide test it is always advisable to add lime
a little in excess of the amount required to satisfy the test in order to pre-
vent the possibility of injuring the foliage. In our experience it has notin-
jured the foliage in the least when used with bordeaux. If used in lime the
foliage will be injured.

This bulletin is of direct advantage to the potato grower everywhere
But it may be of even larger value in its suggestion ard proof of the effect-
ivene-s of spraying in modifying the ravages of plant diseases. How great-
ly the nation suffers from these causes is indicated by aa report just issued
by the department of agriculture on ‘‘Plant Diseases in 1903.’ This shows
that many mil-ions of dollars were lost to agriculturists and horticulturists
in the United States and the island possessions in 1905 by plant diseases and
parasites. One of the largest items of loss was from potato blight and rot,
the ravages of which were particularly severe in New York, Pennsylvania,
Obio, Michigan and Wisconsin. The cotton rot in Texas prevailed to a
greater extent than for many years before, the loss being estimated at $2,-
000,000. Rice blast has spread rapidly, and in the past six years the loss from
this cause has been $1,000,000. One comparatively small item in cucumber
downy rust, which in the trucking section near Charleston, S. C., alone cost
the truck farmers $100,000. Tomato blight and tomato rot in Porto Rico
caused the loss of almost the whole of these two crops. The ravages of black
rot in the grape were destructive, but the experts are receiving encourage-
ment ia their efforts to develope a vine that will resist. Of general interest
to the South is the rapid spread of the watermelon wilt. In Ottaway county,.
Onio, the loss from peach leaf curl was $50,000. Under such conditions there
can be no doubt that the use of the sprayer must become universal if the
American tiller of the soil is to save himself from destruction. The ordinary
farmer has but to try any of the recommendations made and he will be so
thoroughly convinced of their reliability that he will very surely follow them
fully but from such authority and what you will find in the following from

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 105

the Agricultural Bureau at Washington will be fully convincing and if fol-
lowed make you much money.

Potato Culture.

INTRODUCTION.

This bulletin isnot intended asa complete treatise on potato culture.
The discussion of varieties and manuring has been merely touched upon, the
importance aud intricacy of these subjects meriting fuller treatment ina
separate publication. But-special attention has been given to the most pro-
fitab!e amount of seed, and as factors inthis question the proper distance
between seed pieces and other closely related subjects have been briefly
treated. Some other cultural questions have also been considered. In re-
gard to funguous diseases the reader is referred to Farmer’s Bulletin No. 15
of this Department, ‘‘Some destructive potato diseases.’’ Methods of com-
bating insect enemies are treated in Farmer’s Bulletin No. 19, ‘‘Important
insecticides. ”’

The potato (Solanum Tuberosum) is a native of America,though it is widely
known as the Irish potato because of its general use in Ireland. Aside from
its universal cultivationin gardens it constitutes an important field crop
over the greater portion of the country. The value of the annual potato
crop of the United States is approximately $100,000,000. Yields of 250 or 300
bushels per acre are frequentlv obtained over large areas, and there are not
a few records of more than 500 bushels. These encouraging figures stand in
bold relief against those giving the average yield for the United States,
which is less than 100 bushels per acre.

SOIL AND ROTATION.

The potato is grown in every State and Territory, and naturally on a
great variety of soils. Indeed, it has been grown on nearly every class of
soils, but this fact does not minimize the importance of selectlng for the
potato the kind of soil best adapted to it. The ideal soil for this crop should
be one so light as to offer no great resistance tothe enlargement of the
tubers, so applied with organic matter as to be rather moist without being
wet, and so rich as to furnish an unfailing supplyof fertilizing ingredients.
A rich, sandy loam abundantly supplied with organic matter and naturally
well drained is preferable. Stiffer soils may be rendered suitable for the
potato by drainage and bythe incorporation of farm manures; or better
by plowing under green erops. Very heavy clay should be avoided if the
farm contains any lighter soil. Recently cleared ground suits the potato.
Sandy soils, if not too subject to drought, may be fitted for this plant by the
addition of organic matter. It is claimed that potatoes grown on sandy land
are of better quality than those grown on stiffer soil.

The potatorequires a rich goil, but even more important than natural
fertility is a proper mechanical condition of thesoil. Artificial fertilizers
may be substituted in part for natural fertility, but they are effective only
when the soil is in such a condition as to furnish a constant supply of water.
The potato should have the best soil on the farm, since it is more exacting in
this respect than the other staple crops and since the product of an acre is
generally of greater value.

.. The success of the potato is largely dependent on the crops preceding it

106 BOOK OR CORN GROWING

in the rotation. If clover, cowpeasor other leguminous plants are grown
just preceding potatoes, its stubble furnishes organic matter and adds to the
store of available nitrogen in the soil. Corn after sod frequently precedes
potatoes, and this is generally regarded as the best rotation.

Rye is sometimes sown in late summer or fall and plowed under so as to
lighten a heavy soil. Buckwheat and other plants have also been used for
the same purpose. On light soils and in rather mild climates, crimson clover
for green manuring may advantageously take the place of rye where early
planting of potatoes isnot specially desirable. One year, or at most two
years, is as long as a field should be devoted to continuous potato culture,
although this crop is sometimes grown for more than two years in succession
on the same land. This latter course taxes heavily the fertility of the soil
and necessitates liberal manuring; moreover it involves considerable risk of
injury from funguous diseases, especially from potato scab. A clean crop of
potatoes can not, as a rule, be grown on land which in the preceding year
produced scabby tubers. The germs cf the disease once in the soil must be
starved out by growing on the infected field other crops, such as grass or
grain for several years. In certain localities in the central part of the
United States and elsewhere the following three years’ rotation has given
highly satisfactory results on farms where potatoes are extensively grown:
Fall wheat, in which clover is seeded in spring; second year, clover, plowed
under in fall or winter; and third year, potatoes. In some localities the un-
certainty in obtaining a catch of clover renders this rotation inexpedient.

Detaiied directions forthe preparation of one class of soils would not
apply to others, hence it can only be said that preparation should be deep
and thorough, and that unnecessary compacting of the soii shou'd be avoid-
ed. Plowing can scarcely be too deep, provided that much of the subsoil is
not brought to the surface; when practicable, the depth should be gradually
increased from year to year. Though the tubers are usually formed within
6 inches of the surface of the ground, the roots feed deeper. At the Utah
Station a very large proportion of potato roots were found 12 inches below
the surface. At the New York State Station potato roots penetrated toa
depth of 34 inches. Girard, in France, measured single roots nearly 6 feet
long growing on rich soil, deeply prepared. (See fig. 1, p. 7.)

Practical experience, as well as the extent of the distribution of potato
roots in the soil, emphasize the importance of deep and thorough prepara-
tion of the soil for this crop) Whether fall plowing is advisable depends on
a variety of local considerations. In general ina mild climate fall plowing
of light land exposes it to leaching; on the other hand, fall plowing is some-
times necessary, as, for example, when a field is badly infested with injurious
insects.

MANURING.

The potato requires liberal manuring. Barnyard manure usually affords
a large increase in the crop, for not only does it supply nitrogen, phosphoric
acid and potash, but it improves the mechanical condition of the soil. How-
ever, its direct application to the potato affords conditions favorable to
potato diseases, and thus injures the quality of the crop. For this reason the
best practice is to apply barnyard manure to corn or grass the year before
potatoes are grown. If it is considered necessary to apply it directly to the
potato crop it should first be well rotted.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 107

If for several years before potatoes are planted the land has been proper-
ly manured with farm manures, or with green crops plowed under, commer-
cial fertilizers can be advantageously used on most soils. Generally, a com-
plete fertilizer should be used—i. e , one which contains nitrogen, phosphoric
acid and potash. The farmer is justified in supplying all three of these fer-
tilizing ingredients, unless by previous tests he has learned that on his soil a
certain one of them can be safely omitted.

Of nitrogenous fertilizers,one of the best for potatoes is the quick-acting
nitrate of soda. Of phosphatic fertilizers, superphosphate is preferred.
Among potash fertilizers the sulphate of potash has been found to afford a
better quality of potato than kainit and muriate of potash. Ashes are ex-
tensively and effectively used to supply potash to potatoes.

Numerous special potato fertilizers are on the market, their chief pecu-
liarity consisting ina higher percentage of potash than is contained in the
ordinary brands of mixed commercial fertilizers. American experiments in-
dicate that a fertilizer mixture for potatoes should contain a high percent-
age of potash.

Since the proper position of fertilizers with reference to the seed pieces
doubtless depends on the character of season, soil, and manure, no general
rule can now be given further than to caution the reader against applying
the fertilizer in immediate contact with the seed piece.

VARIETIES.

The following are among the most widely grown varieties: Harly, Early
Ohio, Early Rose, Beauty of Hebron, and Triumph. Medium and late, Bur-
bank, Rural New Yorker No. 2, Empire State, Mammoth Pearl, White Star,
and Dakota Red.

These are standard varieties, and though not necessarily the best, they
seem to have given general satisfaction. ;

PLANTING.
GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

The rows should be laid off as close together as practicable without in-
terfering with horse cultivation. Generally the seed pieces should be drop-
ped in furrows made in the level field and not on ridges. However,low ridges
are advantageous for an early crop and on poorly drained land. In covering
the seed pieces, whether they are planted flat or on ridges, it is well to leave
a small, sharpridge marking the line of the row. In some localities, how-
ever, where excessive moisture is not feared the opening furrows are only
partially filled after planting, leaving a depression along the row to be filled
by the use of the smoothing harrow or other implement. In planting late in
the season this course is sometimes advisable.

The pieces may be dropped by hand in the open furrow,or a potato plant-
er may be used, dropping and covering the seed: pieces at one operation.
There are several potato plantersthat do very satisfactory work, but their
cost restricts their use to those who plant a large acreage in potatoes or to
cases where several farmers can use one together. Their more extended use
is perhaps desirable, since they save a considerable amount of labor and er-
able the potato grower to take full advantage of evena brief period of fav-
orable weather at planting time regardless of scarcity of labor.

There is not sufficient evidence now available to determine whether

108 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

there is any difference in yield due to the cut surface of the set being placed
upward or downward when planted. Probably there is no loss in letting the
seed pieces fall as they will from the planter or from the hand:

In the preparation of the ground and in planting, the earth along the
line of the row should be compacted as little as possible consistent with
thorough work, and hence the team should be made to walk between the
rows whenever possible instead of along the drill. There is a simple potato
coverer constructed somewhat like a triangular snowplow, with the wide
end forward and a portion of the point or apex cut away so as to leave a nar-
row opening atthe rear. .,0 special implement, however, is required for
this purpose.

TIME OF PLANTING

Each community is the best juge of the proper date for planting. Where
potatoes are grown for the early market the aim isto plant as early as pos-
sible, without subjecting the young plants to severe cold. Thecrop should
be planted at such a date as to bring the stage of growth during which the
tubers are rapidly developing at a time when there is ordinarily dry weather

om is most certain
2 varies with the lo-
cality, and each po-
tato grower should
so time his planting
as to be least af-
fected by drought.
Where the growing
season is long the
crop that is to be
stored over winter
should be planted
very late, so that it
may remain in the
ground’ until cool
weather. On the
other hand, where
the season is short,
late varieties should
be planted in time
to ripen before frost.

DEPTH OF PLANTING

The roots of a
young potato plant
grow, not directly
from the seed piece,
but from the under-
ground joints or
nodes of che stem.
From these under-
ground nodes also
grow the short stems
Fic. 1,—Entiré plant, showing root system. r which bear the tub- ~

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 109

ers at their extremities. (See fig.1.) Hence the seed pieces should be-
placed deep enough in the soil to permit several of these joints to form be-
low the surface, so as to afford room for an ample supply of roots and tuber-
bearing stems to grow.

Many experiments have been made to ascertain the best depth for plant-
ing. The results, with some exceptions, favor planting not less than 4inches
deep. The favorable effects of deep planting were especially marked on well-
prepared, friable soil and in dry seasons.

Very deep planting is open to objection because of the increased labor of
harvesting and the danger of a deficient stand when weather conditions are
unfavorable. Very shallow planting reduces the yield and injures the qual-
ity of the crop.

To test the effect on the yield of using seed potatoes from different lo-

calities, several varieties of potatoes grown in Vermont and Maryland were
planted in both states. The seed grown in Vermont gave larger yields both
in Vermont and in Maryland than seed grown in Maryland.
4 It has been found advantageous to change seed potatoes every few years,
but from the small amount of definite experimentai data now available we
believe no final conclusion can be drawn as to the effect of the practice. To
make the change, tubers of the desired strain may besent to the grower ata
‘distance, and after two years’ cultural under new conditions the stock may
be brought back to its original home.

A common practice in the regions where asecond crop can be grown on
the same land in the same year is to plant in the spring asmall area with
Northern seed potatoes,replanting the resulting tubers in July or August,and
using the crop produced in the fall for the main spring planting. By this
course seed is renewed frequently without sacrificing any of the advantages
resulting from the use of second-crop seed stock, such as freedom from
sproutling, etc

SEED END V. STEM END

When potatoes are cut in half through their smaller diameter we have a
seed or bud end more or less crowded with eyes and astem or butt end on
which there are few eyes. (See fig. 2, p. 14.) The experiments to determine
the relative value of cuttings from the stem end and from the seed end of
tuber have been numerous. The majority of these showed that the yield was
greater when the seed end was used. The superior productiveness of the
seed end as compared with the stem end was maintained, whether the halves
of the potatoes, the thirds, or smaller cuttings were employed

In a few instances, however, the results suggest that the general super-
iority of the seed end may not be maintained with some varieties and with
immature seed tubers.

EFEECT OF SPROUTING

The growth of sprouts before planting is made at the expense of the
tubers from which they draw their support. Hence if these shoots are
rubbed off before planting there is a total loss of the nutriment contained in
them. Moreover, numerous weak shoots grow from the injuredeye. To pre-
vent these evil consequences of premature sprouting, seed potatoes are
stored in adark, dry, cool place. In spite of all precautions the tubers
sometimes sprout; but when practicable only potatoes that have not sprouted
should be selected for planting.

110 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

If the eyes appear dormant in spring, seed potatoes may be exposed to
the light and warmth for a few days before planting so as to promote ger-
mination and prompt growth. If long exposed, sprouts will form and careful
cutting and planting by hand become necessary, so as to avoid breaking off
these sprouts.

QUANTITY OF SEED POTATOES PER ACRE

A bushel of potatoes (60 pound) may contain 240 quarter-pound tubers.
When the seed pieces are planted a foot apart in 3-foot rows anacre requires
14,520 sets. When tubers averaging 4 ounces are employed an acre requires
at these distances 60 bushels for planting whole potatoes, 30 bushels when
halves are used, and 15 bushels when quartersare planted. Ina number of
tests the amount of seed cut to two eyes, spaced 1 by 3 feet, averaged 13
bushels per acre, the usual range being from 10 to 14 bushels. In 18 experi-
ments with many varieties the average amount of seed cut tosingle eyes
was at these distances 6.3 bushels per acre, the usual range being from 5 to 7
bushels, though the varieties with large tubers bearing few eyes required ~
considerably more seed.

Results which follow in these pages suggest that it is generally advisable
to plant at least 15 to 30 bushels per acre.

SIZE OF SEED PIECES

In the size of the seed piece planted the practice of different farmers
varies widely, some advocating aliberal use of seed and others claiming
equally good results from small cuttings. To aid insettling this question
the State agricultural experiment stations have numerous tests of seed
pieces of different sizes. Taken separately these experi ments show a certain
amount of divergence in results, as might naturally be expected of tests con-
ducted under widely different conditions However, the majority of these
tests, and especially the figures expressing the average results of all avail-
able American experiments, may be safely taken as indications of what the
farmer, under ordinary conditions, will generally, but not always obtain.

The effect of size of seed pieces on yield of crop will be treated here
under three distinct beads: (1) On the total yield; (2) on the gross yield of
salable potatoes, and (3) on the net yield of salable potatoes, i e., after de-
ducting the amount of seed planted.

EFFECT ON TOTAL YIELD

In making up the averages below it was found practicable to use the re-
sults of 19 tests of single eyes v. 2-eye pieces, 4 tests of 2-eye cuttings v. quar-
ters, 17 comparisons of quarters and halves, and 44 tests of halves v. whole
potatoes. The results of other experiments less completely reported were
used for the purpose of corroboration.

The following table shows the average results of these tests, including
potatoes of all sizes:

Average differences per acre in total yields from different seed pieces.

Bushels. [Percent

Excess from use of—
2-EYV EG PlECeS OVE M-EV.e PIECES se. .s.. cee os te ve cigise wlamticileine sales ones Mer averstersle 26 21
Quarters OVETU2- EYE PIECES Alege iaacietein eile co meclvesfeleielas Set eis cei gait 15 16
HalvieStOVercGQWaLtersts ci tercictse setts Piisiiecicle se crebtn ier aieisiechelaletatetelelaletchote tisteiaters 24 18
WiroleititbesiOvier oil viesrjet wre ccionereiecleteniereereleleleleisloletelcieeletseieier eet alates eters 31 18

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 111

If we compare all the total yields with the total yicld produced by single
eyes we have an increase of 21 per cent for 2-eye pieces, 41 per cent for quar-
ters, 67 per cent for halves, and 96 per cent for entire tubers. The total yield
resulting from planting whole potatoes is practically double that obtained
by planting single eyes.

Thus far we have considered only the total yield, i.e., large and small
potatoes, and have found that the total yield increases somewhat uniformly
as the size of the seed piece is increased. Hence, if it is the aim simply to
secure an enormous yield without much regard to expense, in contests for
prizes, etc., a lavish use of seed is justifiable. The farmer and gardner, how-
ever, have to consider other factors than the total yield, for a heavy crop
may consist very largely of tubers too small for the market, or the great ex-
penditures for seed when large pieces are planted may more than counter-
balance the increased yield. Betore noting the gross and net yields of large
or salable tubers, resulting from seed pieces of different sizes, we may con-
sider the causes inducing a somewhat regular increase in total yield accom-
panying the use of larger seed pieces.

Several causes operate to increase the yield when large seed pieces are
planted. The larger the cutting the greater generally the number eyes and
the number of stalks. The young shoot, before it develops a strong system
of feeding roots, is dependent for nutriment on the material stored up in the
seed piece; hence the more abundant this supply the more vigorous the
growth of the plant and this increased luxuriance is not confined to the early
stages of growth, but is marked throughout the growing season. Investiga-
tion has shown that severing the connection between the seed piece and the
growing vine, even after the latter is thoroughly rooted, reduces the yield of
potatoes.

The danger of partial or entire failure resulting from animperfect stand
is much greater with small cutting than with large seed pieces. The small
pieces with extensive cut surfaces are liable to perish should the season be
unfavorable, either through excessive moisture or drought. The sprouts
from small cuttings being weaker reach the surface with difficulty, or fail
entirely on soil not properly prepared.

EFFECT ON GROSS SALABLE YIELD

By averaging the results of the experiments referred to above, we find
that the actual increase inthe potatoes of salable size due to using larger
seed pieces was as follows:

Average differences per acre in gross salable yields from different seed pieces.

Bushels.|Percent.

Excess from use of—

2EGVE DIECES OV ETHEL CYC) PLECOS Hosa taal e a rers cle Se nota Naot ae silelcteatess Corbin: 23 21
QuiantensiOver 2 EV.S: MET Sem irars seen rons ou eiveisio SUES Mera Ts cis Mostd ele) avalos 10 15
FLAT ESOVMET RGU ACES sc tiny pr ee cocrelacreie bier ates Case he tee yoEEE lirerGarelloralsiclinuntntele 15 15
Wiholertwbersiover valves fees sciliccis cesses ade Poteet cee ee serene sees cee 14 10

I | SA a SEL

Every increase in the size of the seed pieces was foliowed by an increas-
ed gross salable yield.

2 BOOK ON CORN GROWING _
se Eee
EFFECT ON NET SALABLE CROP.

Before concluding that the largest seed pieces are the most profitable it
becomes necessary to deduct from the crop the amount of seed planted. It
is plainthat the increascd amount of seed potatoes required when larger
pieces are used may more than counterbalance the increase in yield obtained.

The true test of profit is the market value of the crop produced, less the
cost of seed planted. Should the quantity of seed potatoes used be subtract-
ed from the total yield of large and small potatoes or from the salable crop?
If small or unsalable seed potatoes are planted, then the former course is the
proper one, but since large or medium tubers (either entire or cut) are gen-
erally selected for seed purposes, it seems best to subtract the seed from the
salable crop, thus ascertaining the net salable yield. ;

The following table shows the actual average results for the net salable
yield; that is, the crop after deducting the small potatoes and the seed used:

Average difference per acre in net salable yield from different seed pieces.

Bushels.|Percent.

Excess from use of—

ZR EYCXDIECES OVER L-GYOCDIECE Site ciave ciiois ci alaein, ale aisle sentences dete Nae at petttera lar eee ieeee 15.0 14
Quarters over2-eye pieces: oe a eae ee SS Hodlonas be Aon CnE san SaasabE dass 7.0 15
Halves OVER QUACK S esa sieliedicaln syapeice lok sce ae toe calebtee MEETS he nee Cae hae eet 5.0 6
LAV ES3O Viet Wil OLE PLU OTS miaxs-ners te tate (atel te tate oval oieietesicucralinietataieanve siseeve eaters ates lonsteets 8.5 8

The amount of the net salable ‘crop rose with the increase in the size of
the cutting employed, but whenthe whole potatowas planted the figures de-
clined on account of the Jarge amount of seed potatoes which had to be de-
ducted. The above figures indicate avery slight advantage in planting
halves rather than quarters when the price of seed and of crop produced are
the same. Asa matter of fact, spring prices are usually somewhat higher
than fall prices. A high price for seed potatoes may make it profitable to
plant smaller pieces ‘as, for example, quarters) than would be economical
where seed and crop command the same price per bushel.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE AMOUNT OF SEED POTATOES.

Inthe following diagram 100 represents the total yield from planting
single eyes. The figures may be read as bushels per acre, if it is constantly
borne in mind that we are talking about soils of such character as to average
100 bushels of large andsmall potatoes per acre when planted with l-eye
pieces.

The first group answers the question, ‘‘What size of seed piece generally
affords the largest yield of large andsmall potatoes?’ The second group
answers the query: ‘‘Waatsize of seed piece generally gives the greatest
yield exclusive of small potatoes?’’ Thethird group offers ananswer toa
still more important question: ‘‘What size of seed piece generally produces
the largest vield after deducting both the small potatoes and the amount of
seed planted?’’

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 1016)

Yield from planting different seed pieces, assuming 100 as the total yield from single eyes.
RELATIVE TOTAL YIELD.

RELATIVE GROSS SALABLE YIELD.

POY esielelelo. aioe

Quarters..25:..:

Halvesio2. s5.. 0:

Wihtoles nsec

Baliviesees aso ;

WiholesSi¢s.504

Taking as the correct measure of profit the yield of salable potatoes less
the amount of seed used, we see by the third section of the diagram that with
seed and crop atihe same price per bushel it was more profitable in these
tests to plant halves than smaller cuttings and whole potatoes.

If we take account of the vield of small potatoes the advantage of large
seed pieces is even greater than the figures in the last section of the diagram
would indicate, for the yield of small potatoes is greater with large than
small seed piece:. Where large quantities of small potatoes can be profit-
ably utuliz d, as, for example, as seed for the second crop, the potato planter
may therefore use quite large secd pieces with advantage.

On the other hand, the higher price of potatoes in spring than in fall is
an argument in favor of planting quarters rather than halves or whole tub-
ers. A number ofinvestigators have noted that large seed pieces (cither
large cuttings or entire potatoes) afford an earlier crop than very small cut-
tings, a matter of much interest to growers of early potatoes, However,
some growers have repor'ed that uncut potatoes germinate more slowly than
large cuttings. Most of those who raise potatoes for the early market use
large cuttings rather than whole potatoes.

In this connection it may be said that the seed-end half gives an earlier

114 BOOK OR CORN GROWING

crop than the outer half. This suggests the expediency of cutting a potato
lengthwise when halves or quarters are to be planted, thus securing on each
piece one or more of the eyes which germinate first. Another advantage of
cutting lengthwise is that it insures a moreeven distribution of the eyes on
the several pieces. Of course this system is not practicable when very small
cuttings are to be made from long, slender potatoes, since the large amount
of exposed snrface would render the long pieces susceptible to injury both
from moisture and dryness,

If it is desired to cut the potato into small pieces the operator should be-
gin at the stem end, and the pieces shonld be cut ina compact shape, and of
as nearly equal size as is practicable without leaving any piece entirely de-
void of eyes. There are special implements for cutting potatoes, and their
use is reported as enabling aman tocut four or five times as many bushels
of seed per day as by hand.. The character of the work is said to be satisfac-
tory. ;

No definite rule can be given astothe best size of the seed piece, for
this depends somewhat on the distance between the hills and on the charac-
ter of the soiland season. Another important factor in determining the
proper amount of seed is variety. Some varieties are able to produce a crop
almost as large from small cuttings as from large pieces. Thus, in several
experiments, the variety Clark No. 1 has given indications of this capacity
to produce well even with light seeding.

SIZE OF SEED TUBERS

A study of more than a hundred experiments testing the relative values
of large, medium and small uncut tubers confirms the general law that an in-
crease in the weight of seec planted affords an increase in the total crop.
The yield of salable potatoes increases less rapidly than the total yield.
With whole potatoes as seed the salable yield reached its extreme upward
limit in one test when tubers weighing about half a pound were planted; in
another when those weighing 44 ounces were employed. The limit of profit-
able increase was reached with tubers wcighing 44 and 3 ounces, respective-
ly. The size of seed tubers selected becomes a matter of importance when
they are to be cut, for we have seen that the heavier the cutting the larger
the total yield, and seed tubers for cutting should be of such size that their
halves, quarters or other divisions shall not be extremely small.

CAN SMALL POTATOES BE PROFITABLY USFD FOR PLANTING?

Whether or not touse uncut small potatoes for seed is an important
question on which farmers are divided. Some present the plausible argu-
ment that the use of undersized potatoes results in degeneration. If this
claim is based on the results of experience it should determine practice, but
if the conclusion is simply a generalization based on the fact that large seed.
usually give best results the reasoning is defective, and the question remains
open. The potato tuber is not a seed, but an underground stem, and the re-
lations existing between seeds and their progeny do not necessarily exist be-
tween a tuber and its descendants. Others hold that potatoes just below
marketable size, if shapely and sufficiently mature, may be used without ser-
ious deterioration, and that for economic reasons their use is especially de-
sired, because if not planted or used at home they must be lost or fed tu stock,
for which purpose their value is usually smaller than the market price.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 115

The result of tests at a number of experiment stations have uniformly
indicated that small tubers uncut can be used for seed purposes without det-
riment to the succeeding crop. It may still be urged. however, that the
choice of small seed year after year will result in degeneration. On this
juestion the information is meager, but two experiments, extending over
four and eight years, respectively, have been reported in which no degenera-
sion resulting from the continued use of small potatoes from the preceding
Srop was apparent. ;

Although the evidence seems fairly conclusive that small uncut seed po-
satoes may sometimes be used with profit, we cannot advise that small seed
subers be selected year after:year from a crop which has been grown from
small potatoes.

Girard’s investigations in France justified the usual practice of the most
srominent agriculturists and horticulturists in carefully selecting seed pota-
oes. By selecting for several generations average-sized tubers from the
yest hills he aifected a considerable improvement in productiveness. ‘To as-
-ertain the best hills by digging each is exceedingly laborious, but Girard
‘ound that the best hills in‘an°evenly manured field containing only one va-
‘iety were those in which the vines were most vigorous. Selection was thus
-endered easy by means of stakes placed beside the luxuriant plants. This
-orrespondence between the vigor of vegetation and yield of tubers has been
‘requently noted at the State agricultural experiment stations, especially
with seed pieces of different sizes,in which case the growth of vines is in pro-
oortion to the size of the seed_piece planted. American experiments indi-
sate some advantage in selecting seed tubers from the most productive hills.

Potatoes of irregular shape and injured tubers should be rejected as un-
it for planting.

NUMBER OF EYES AND WEIGHT PER SET

Many potato growers cut tubers into pieces containg one, two or more
ayes, laying greater stress on the number of eyes than on the size of the cut-
ting. Extensive experiments at the Indiana station and elsewhere prove
that of the two factors, number of eyes and weight of piece, the latter is
more important. Of course it is desirable that each piece, whether large or
small, should contain at least one eye, and it has been generally profitable
for it to be of such size as to contain at least several eyes; but whether it has
yne Or many eyes it is important that the seed piece be heavy enough to fur-
nish abundant nutriment to the shoots which spring fromit. A single eye
may give rise to several stalks, for each eye is a compound bud or cluster of
muds. An eye can be bisected, and each half may then grow successfully if
it is not a victim to dryness or decay, to which its exposed condition subjects
ha

In one series of experiments it was found that the number of stalks grow-
ing in a hill was Jess dependent on the number of eyes than on the size of the
seed piece, whether cut or entire. Ingeneral, asthe number of eyes per
piece increased each eye became less prolific in sending up stalks, so that
there was less crowding of stalks where large seed pieces with many eyes
were used than would be expected from the large number of eyes planted.
After numerous experiments touching on almost every aspect of this subject
the investigator advised that tubers be cut so as to make each piece of acon-
stant size or weight, whatever the number of eyes that might fall to its share.

116 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

NUMBER OF CUTTINGS PER HILL

A custom not uncommon among those who plant small cuttings is to drop
two pieces in each hill. They usually get a larger yield by so doing than by
planting single pieces, the increase generally, though not always, being suf-
ficient to pay for the excess of seed. This does not prove the practice profit-
able, for better results may be secured by planting a single piece weighing
as much as the combined weight of the two pieces which would have been
dropped in one hill. Thus the labor of cutting is considerably reduced and,
what is more important, larger pieces improve the chances of getting a good
stand in an unfavorable season, because they have less exposed surface than
two small pieces of ejuivalent weight, hence are less liable to dry out ex-
cessively when drought follows planting. They are also better able to resist
rotting if wet weather prevails.

NUMBER OF STALKS PER HILL

The most common objection urged against planting large seed pieces is,
next to the expense, the danger of having the hills so crowded with stalks, —
and conseouently with tubers, that a large proportion of the potatoes never
develop to marketable size. The objection is probably valid for entire tubers,
and also for halves planted very close in the row. The evidence available
does not permit us to conclude that in the case of quarters used as seed there
results any injurious crowding, and it may be questioned whether halves give
rise to this trouble when planted under favorable conditions and at consider-
able distance apart.

The number of stalks that can be advantageously grown in each hill
varies greatly with variety, season, soil, anddistance apart. At the Indiana
Station it was found that when uncut tubers of 1 to 5 ounces were planted in
hills 3 feet apart the gross yield of large potatoes and the net yield of large
potatoes increased with every increase in the number of stalks per hill up to
9 stalks for Burbank and eight stocks for Beauty of Hebron, growing in both
cases from tubers weighing 44 ounces. Eight stalks per hill would probably
be excessive for distances less than3 feet each way. In experiments in
Maine, extending over several years, 6 stalks per hill gave larger yields than
4 to 2 stalks, the amount of seed planted being the same in each case.

As to the effects of thinning the stalks, recorded experiments are incon-
clusive, and with ordinary seed pieces it appears to be unnecessary.

DISTANCE BETWEEN PLANTS ee

In deciding on the proper distance at which to plant potatoes it is ngces-
sary to take into consideration the size of the seed piece that is to be em-
ploved. In general, small seed piacesshould be planted close and the dis-
tance allotted to each hill should be greater as the weight of the piece is in-
creased. Close planting for small cuttings is best attained, not by narrow-
ing the row to less than about 2} or 3 feet (for if the distance is much less
horse cultivation becomes difficult), but by planting the seed pieces close to-
gether in the row.

To frame a general rule giving best distances for seed pieces of different
sizes is plainly impossible, for the distance at which the largest yields is ob-
tained depends also on the variety, the season, the soil, and the fertilizers.
However, the results of some of the investigations covering this matter af-—
ford help in deciding on the proper distance under varying conditions,

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG ala ky,

It has been shown that if very small cuttings are used, and if the soil is
fertile, the distance can be reduced to6 or9 inches without sacrificing the
yield, provided the season happens to be favorable, but this is not gencrally
advisable.

On rich s>il cuttings of considerable size can be advantageously planted
as close as 12 inches.

Checkihg effects a saving of labor in cultivation, and also in planting and
harvesting, when these latter operations are performed by hand; hence ex-
pensive labor and the absence of machines for planting and harvesting the
crop are conditions in favor of coecking. For planting in checks a variety
can be chosen which makes a large growth of vines and which forms many
tubers in each hill, thus more completely utilizing the space at its disposal
than could a variety with small vines and few tubers. In checking there is
danger on rich soil that some of the tubers may grow to an objectionable
size. Potato growers in attempting to obtain a phenomenal yield, as in con-
tests for prizes, almost universally plant in drills rather than in hills, and
place the seed pieces from 8 to 15 inches apart.

The advocates of planting in drills claim that by this method a larger
yield can be obtained, and experience seems to confirm the correctness of
this view. The few experiments that have been made on this question are
not entirely conclusive, though the majority of them favor drills.

Although no fixed rule regarding distance of planting can be given, the
following general considerations are widely applicable:

(1) For maximum yield of salabie potatoes plant in rows as narrow as
can be conveniently cultivated.

(2) Crowd small seed pieces close together in the row, increasing the
distance with every increase in the size of the seed piece; avoid on the one
hand such close planting as to greatly reduce the average weight of the
tubers, and on the other such wide spacing as to leave any considerable por-
tion of the soil unshaded by the full-grown vines.

(3) Asarule, the richer the land the less required distance between sets.

(4) Varieties with strong growth of vines or which set many tubers ina
hill should have greater distance between plants thanis necessary with less
vigorous varieties

CULTIVATION

‘Soon after planting, and again just as the young plants are beginning to
appear above ground, the field should be harrowed, inclining the teeth of the
harrow backward. This is a cheap method of cultivation, since a wide space
is covered. It is also effective indestroying small weeds, in leveling the
ridges left in planting, in preventing the formation of a surface crust, and
in keeping the land covered with a mulch of dry earth, thus conserving mois-
ture within the soil below. Subsequent cultivation should be frequent so as
to accomplish these same ends. Almost any pattern of cultivator may be
used, provided it is made to do shallow work. However, if the ground has
become packed the first cultivation may be deeper. Experience and exact
experiments generally favor flat or nearly flat cultivation. Excessive hilling
during cultivation intensifies the injurious effects of dry weather. It also re-
sults in breaking many of the feeding roots between the rows. The frequent
use of the cultivator should be substituted as far as possible for hoeing. If
a severe frost is apprehended soon after the plants come up, the tops should
be covered by throwing a furrow to each row.

118 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

MULCHING

While mulching with hay, straw, leaves, or other litter frequently in-
creases the yield and is specially valuable in tiding over a season of drought,
it is not generally practicable on farms where potatoes are grown on a large
scale. Its place is in the garden rather than inthe field. It is a substitute
for cultivation, and it is generally cheaper to maintain a soil mulch by fre-
quent cultivation than to apply litter. If a mulch is employed, it cambe ap-
plied over the entire surface or inthe furrow above the seed pieces, or be-
tween the rows. Mulching in the furrow is not commended by the results
of tests in Colorado, Louisiana, and Michigan. In striving for a large yield,
with little regard to cost, or to insure against drought, mulching is useful.

Material intended to serve as a mulch should first be exposed to the
weather, so as to cause the sprouting of any seed it may contain. Itis bet-
ter to apply a mulch after potato plants haye made some growth, as an |
earlier application may result in smothering some plants and in injury from
late frosts. ;

HARVESTING AND STORING.

The death of the vines is the signal for digging the main crop. For the
early market potato growers do not wait for this, but are governed by the
size of the tubers. Aslong as any portion of the vine is green the tubers
can continue to grow. At the Vermont Station White Star potatoes, planted
May 20, aielded 163 bushels per acre of merchantable potatoes when dug
August 22; 234 bushels September 1; 303 bushels September 12, and 353 bush-

els September 2 More than one- “third of the merchantable crop was made
after eae a At the above dates the average size of all tubers was,
respectively, 3.7, 4.4, 5.2, and 5.7 ounces, respectively. These figures show

the importance of protecting the foliage from the late blight by spraying,
and they also afford some data as to the rate at which potatoes develop late

in the season.
In gardens very early potatoes a-e sometimes obtained by carefully re-

moving a few of the larger tubers from the growing “plant, “replacing 1 the soil

and allowing the smaller potatoes to continue growing (‘‘grabbling”’). Ex-
periments conducted in Germany by Wollny and Nobbe, and in Austria by
Leydhecker showed little or noloss asa result of this operation carefully
done. The large amount of labor required prohibits “‘grabbling”’ except
when early potatoes are selling at a price very much higher than can be ex-
pected from the later crop.

In harvesting a large area a high-priced potato digger is frequently used;
hand digging with a four-tined fork is probably the best method on small
areas, though many make use of a potato hoe or of a plow. Careful handling
always pays, and extreme carefulness is necessary, especially with the early
crop, to prevent injury to the tender skin of the immature potatoes.

In harvesting. as wellas in storage, potatoes should be exposed to light
as little as possible. In storing potatoes a low temperature is required. The
potato tuber is uninjured by a temperature of 33 degrees F., and one author-
ity gives the freezing temperature ot potatoes 30.2 degrees F. Warmth
favors sprouting, which injures potatoes both for planting and eating.

SECOND-CROP POTATOES.
In most of theterritory south of Maryland, Kentucky and Kansas two

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 119

crops of potatoes are frequently grown in one year on the same land. Inthe
warmer portions of these three states, and indeeda little farther north, a
second crop can sometimes be produced. The Agricultural Experiment
Station at Manhattan, Kans , had fair success when 225 days elapsed between
planting the first crop and digging the second, buta growing season of 195
days proved too short for two crops.

The second crop is grown by methods somewhat different from those em-
ployed with the main crop. Small potatoes from the early crop are exten-
sively used for seed, and these should be planted whole (or with only a small
slice removed), for when cuttings have been planted in August or September
a poor stand has generally resulted.

It is best to allow the crop which is to furnish seed potatoes for the
second crop to remain in the ground until the vines are entirely dead. How-
ever, the culls may be uséd even when the early crop is dug before complete
maturity. To prepare these culls for prompt growth and to eliminate those
too immature to sprout, the small potatoes are exposed tothe lightina
shady place for several days, or until they become greenish; then they are
spread out on the grouud in a single layer and a little fine dirt sifted among
them, covered with straw or pine needles, and the bed kept constantly moist.
“The potatoes will sprout earlier if before bedding them under the strawa
small piece is clipped off one end and rejected.”

Planting time varies from the last of July in Virginia to September in
Florida. For the Gulf States,and others with similar climate, the usual time
for planting the fall crop is the first half of August. Plant without ridging
in furrows about 6 inchesdeep. In the bed select only the potatoes that have
sprouted. Drop them in the freshly opened and moist furrow, cover at once
with about an inch of soil, leaving a depressed row to be filled by subsequent
cultivation. In covering with the hoe the man should walk in the row and
thus compact it. Professor Massey recommends the use of a home-made
coverer consisting of an ordinary plow beam and handles with a crossbar in
front, to which are attached two spiked teeth a foot apart; behind these teeth
isaroller. By planting deep the moisture of the soil is made available to
the young plants, and by covering lightly prompt growth is insured. For the
second crop an early variety should be employed.

The advantage of second-crop potatoes is their superiority in keeping
qualities. Ina warm climate potatoes dug in June or July can not well be
kept without sprouting, and thus injuring their value for eating and plant-
ing, while the second crop, dug in October or November, can be kept perfect-
ly through the winter and late into the following season.

Recently the claim has been made that the second-crop potatoes excel
ordinary potatoes for seed purposes. It is undoubtedly true that unsprouted
second-crop seed potatoes are better than sprouted potatoes from the main
crop. This makes the use of second-crop seed popular in portions of the
South where unsprouted seed potatoes are difficult to obtain. Recent ex-
periments at the Kansas Experiment Station indicate a superiority for
second-crop seed even as far north as Manhattan, Kans. There in 1890 second-
crop seed produced a crop 27 per cent larger than main crop seed of the same
varieties. Inthe following year the excess was 70 per cent in favor of seed
potatoes of the second crop.

Whether or not the continued use of second crop seed propagated by
means of culls results in degeneration seems at present an open question.

120 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

Many successful growers have employed second crop seed for a number of
years in succession. Many of those who grow early potatoes for market use
northern seed in spring to obtain potatoes for planting the second crop,
which in turn is intended as seed forthe next early crop. Thus the advan-
tages of second crop seed and of frequent renewal of the stock are secured,

SUMMARY.

(1) A rich, sandy loam, well drained and well supplied with vegetable
matter is the best soil forthe potato. Stiffer land may be improved asa
potato soil by green manuring and drainave, and lighter soils can often be
made sufficiently rich by the addition of green manures and fertilizers.

(2) Potatoes should not, as a rule, be grown continuously on the same
land, but should be alternated with other crops. Barnyard manure may be
freely used, but should, as a rule, be applied to previous crops in the rotation.

(3) If commercial fertilizers are used, a mixture containing nitrogen in
form of nitrate of soda, phosphoric acid as superphosphate, and potash as
sulphate, and in which potash predominates, is recommended.

(4) Preparation of the land should be deep and thorough.

(5) Planting without ridging generally affords the larger yields, eee
stiff soil and the desire for an extra early crop sometimes necessitate plant-
ing on ridges. ,

(6) The best time for planting depends on the climate of each locality. —
The planting should be so timed as to bring the period when the tub-
ers are rapidly forming at a date when the average rainfali is ample.

(7) On mellow, well drained soil deep planting (3 to 5 inches) is best, es-
pecially when the season happens to be dry. For the. early crop, or on stiff
soil with a tendency to bake, the depth of planting may be decreased.

(8) The use of the harrow before the plants are all up and frequent
shallow cultivation afterwards, until the vines shade the land, are advisable.

(9) Seed potatoes grown in New England in several tests proved superior
to Maryland seed both in New England and in Maryland. However, the data
seem insufficient to determine definitely the relative value of seed potatoes
from different climates.

(10) Cutting the seed pieces a few days before planting appears to exer-
cise no injurious influence, provided, of course, that the cuttings are care-
fully stored in the interim.

(11) The yield from planting the seed or bud end is generally greater than
from the stem or butt endof the tuber. The eyes onthe seed end are the
first to germinate, and hence are especially important when an early crop is
desired.

(12) Exposing unsprouted tubers in a warm place before planting hastens
growth, but if continued until sprouts form (which are rubbed off) the yield
may be considerably reduced.

(13) Experiments indicate that it is more importaut to cut the tuber in-
to compact pieces of nearly uniform size than to so shape the pieces as to
have a definite number of eyes on each set. No piece should be entirely de-
void of eyes, and the majority of the seed pieces should be large enough to
support at least two eyes, and better three or more.

(14) At distances of 1 by 3 feet, and with seed tubers averaging 4 ounces,
an acre requires of quarters about 15 bushels.

(15) The total yield increases with every increase in the size of seed

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG aPAL

piece from the single eye to the whole potato. This increase occurs both in
the large and in the small potatoes, but chiefly in the latter.

(16) The gross yield of salable potatoes (large and medium) also increases
with the size of the seed piece from one eye to the whole potato.

(17) The net yield of salable potatoes (found by subtracting the amount
of seed potatoes andthe yield of small potatoes from the total yield) in-
creases with every increase in the size of seed piece from one eye to the half
potato. The half potato affordsa larger net salable crop than the whole
potato, on account of the excessive amount of seed required in planting en-
tire tubers. Taking the average of many experiments, it was found that for
every 100 bushels of net salable crop grown from single eyes there were 114
bushels from 2 eye pieces, 131 bushels from quarters, aud 139 bushels from
halves, but only 129 bushels from planting whole potatoes.

(18) These results favor the use of halves as seed pieces if seed potatoes
and crop are assumed to be of equal value per bushel, but when seed potatoes
command a very high price quarters may be used to advantage.

Potato Diseases and Their Treatment
INTRODUCTION

A number of diseases affect the Irish potato in this country, and the
losses they occasion are often a serious drain on the farmer’sincome. The
object of this bulletin is to briefly describe the most important diseases and
to outline methods of treatment which experience has shown to be success-
ful in holding them in check.

POTATO LEAF BLIGHT, OR EARLY BLIGHT
(diternaria solani (EK. & M.) Sorauer.)

This disease is widespread and destructive. It is confined to the leaves
and green stems, and appears about the time the tubers begin to form, but
may be noticed earlier if the growth of the plants has been checked in any
way. The first indications of its presence is the appearance on the leaves of
grayish brown spots, which soon become hard and brittle. The disease pro-
gresses rather slowly; the spots gradually become larger, especially along
the edges of the leaflets. At the end of ten days to two weeks half of the
leaf surface may be brown, withered, and brittle while the rest is of a yellow-
ish green color. Three weeks or a month may elapse before all the leaves
succumb. The stems in the meantime remain green, but they too finally per-
ish through lack of nourishment. The tubers stop growing almost as soon as
the leaves are attacked, and as a result the crop is practically worthless.

TREATMENT

Early blight may be held in check by the application of the fungicide
Bordeaux mixture. This is prepared and applied as follows: Pour into a 50-
gallon barrel 25 gallons of clean water; then weigh out 6 pounds of crushed
bluestone, or copper sulphate, and after tying it in a piece of course sacking
suspend the package just beneath the surface of the water by means ofa
string tied toa stick laid across the top of the barrel. In another suitable
vessel, such as a tub or half barrel, slack 4 pounds of fresh lime. Slack the
lime carefully by pouring on small quantities of water at a time, the object
being to obtain a smooth, creamy liquid, free from grit. When the lime is

122 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

slacked add sufficient water to make 25 gallons. As soon as the bluestone is
dissolved, which will require an hour or more, pour the lime milk and blue-
stone solutions together, using a separate barrel for the purpose and stirring
constantly to effect a thorough mixing. It sometimes happens that sufficient
lime is not added, and as a result the foliage may be injured. To be certain
that the mixture is safe, hold a steel knife blade init for two or three min-
utes, and if the polished surface of the blade shows a copper-colored tinge
add more lime, but if it stays bright the mixture is safe to use. Application
of the mixture should begin when the plants are 4 to 6 inches high, and should
be repeated at intervals of twelve to fourteen days until five or six treat-
ments have been made. By adding 8 onnces of Paris green to each barrel of
the Bordeaux mixture a combined fungicide and insecticide is obtained,
and this will prevent the attacks of the Colorado potato beetle, the flea
beetle, and other insects. Before adding the Paris green it should be mixed
with a small quantity of water, and when a thin paste is obtained this should
be thoroughly stirred into the barrel of Bordeaux solution.

The success attending the application of the Bordeaux mixture depends
in large measure upon the thoroughness with which it is applied. To reach
all parts of the plants above ground with a fine spray requires a good force
pump and a suitable nozzle. The knapsack sprayer, now onsale in nearly
every section of the country, will be found one of the most useful machines
for spraying fields of 3acresorless. For larger plantations more powerful
machines should be used. A cheap and serviceable apparatus, well suited
for this work, may be made by mounting a good, strong force pump ona
barrel, and then placing the barrel and mounted pump in a light wagon.
The entire outfit, including barrel, pump, hose, nozzles, operator, and boy to
drive, may be drawn by one horse. Asthe wagonis drawn slowly between
zhe rows the man in the wagon may operate the pump and at the same time
time keep the mixture stirred, while two others on the ground hold the noz-
zles and direct the spray over the plants. The nozzle found to be best suited
to the work isthe Vermorel. This is now offered for sale by pump manu-
facturers and dealers in seeds and agricultural implements in various parts
of the country. Where there are only a few plants to treat, simple devices
for the application of the fungicide, such as watering cans, the syringes used
by florists, etc., may be used.

POTATO BLIGHT, LATE BLIGHT, OR ROT
(Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de By.)

This disease attacks the leaves, stems, and tubers. Generally the first
noticeable effect upon the leaves is the sudden appearance of brownish or
blackish areas, which soon become soft and foul smelling. So sudden is the
appearance of the disease in some cases, that fields which one day look green
and healthy may within the next day or two become blackened as though
swept by fire. The rapid spread of the disease, which is caused by a par-
asitic fungus, is dependent in large measure upon certain conditions of mois-
ture and heat. A daily mean or normal temperature of from 72 degrees to
74 degrees F. for any considerable time, accompanied by moist weather, fur-
nishes the best conditions for the spread of the parasite. On the other hand,
if the daily mean or normal temperature exceeds 77 degrees for a few days,
the development of the disease is checked. This fact explains why the fun-
gus seldom occurs to any serious extent in sections where the mean or normal

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 123

daily temperature exceeds 77 degrees for any length of time, and probably
why it appears later than the disease discussed under the former heading.

The tuber affected with the disease show depressed, dark-colored areas on
the surface while within are blotches and streaks of a brownish or blackish
color. Other diseases may produce similar effects, so that in this case the
changes are not so characteristic as those shown by the leaves. For many
years it was believed that most of the injury to the potato was due to this
disease, but recent investigations have shown that view to be erroneous.

TREATMENT

The same treatment as recommended for early blight should be followed
here, and will be found to prevent the blighting of the tops and rotting of
the tubers. Inregions where late blight is known to occur, care should be
taken to begin the application of the Bordeaux mixture before the attacks
of the fungus. Inall this workit must be constantly kept in mind that the
main object is prevention rather thancure. Benefit will undoubtedly result
if only clean, healthy potatoes are used asseed. Decayed and discolored tu-
bers should be fed to the hogs, as it is poor policy to plant them.

BROWN ROT
(Bacillus solanacearum Smith.)

This disease occurs in many parts of the South, and in addition toat-
tacking the potato, is found to seriously injure eggplants and tomatoes. In
the case of the potato, the leaves, stems, and tubers are affected. The dis-
ease usually manifestsitself by asudden wilting of the foliage and soon the
whole plant may become affected, the leaves and stems shriveling and then
turning brown or black. The disease reaches the tubers through the stems,
producing a brown or black discoloration of the tissues and ultimately acom-
plete breaking down or rotting of allthe parts. Brown rotis caused by a
bacillus, a minute organism, which multiplies in the tissues and through its
action produces the effects mentioned. Various insects, such a Colorado
beetles, flea beetles, and blister beetles, serve as carriers of the disease.
These insects may feed on a diseased plant, and in their visits to adjoining
healthy ones infect the tissues through bites and possibly in other ways.

TREATMENT

Throughout the South, namely, in South Carolina Mississippi, Alabama,
and adjacent States where this disease is known to occur, a thorough system
of spraying, such as recommended for early blight, should be followed. In
addition, all diseased vines should be removed and destroyed as soon as pos-
sible, and the tubers should be dug and either used at once or stored in a cool,
dry place. In planting it would be well to avoid land which has just been
used for tomatoes or eggplants, and finally seed tubers from localities where
the disease is absent should be used if practicable.

POTATO SCAB
(Oospora scabies Thaxter.)

Scab is one of the most widespread diseases affecting the potato. In-
juries of various kinds may produce a roughened surface, but it is safe to say
that most of what is known as scab is due to the attacks of a minute parasite
fungus, first studied and described by Dr. Roland Thaxter, of Harvard Uni-

124 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

versity. The effects of the disease on the tuber are plainly noticed in scabby
patches and blotches are sv common we believe any one can identify it.

TREATMENT

Potato scab may be successfully controlled by treating the seed before
planting. Two fungicides are used forthe purpose namely, corrosive sub-
limate solution and formalin solution. To prepare the first, dissolve 23
ounces of corrosive sublimate, or bichloride of mercury, in about 2 gallons of
hot water and after tenor twelve hours dilute with clear water so that the
whole quantity makes 15 gallons. Corrosive sublimate is a poison and must
therefore not be placed where it can fall into the hands of children or irre-
sponsible persons. To prepare the formalin solution, mix 8 fluid ounces of
commercial formalin (otherwise known as 40 per cent formic aldehyde) with
15 gallans of water.

To treat the potatoes with the corrosive sublimate solution, immerse
them for an hour and a half in the liquid and then spread out to dry.

Finally cut and plant in the usual manner. A large barrel is a convenient
receptacle for the solution. The potatoes may be placed in a coarse sack
and suspended in the liquid, care being taken to wash the tubers before dip-
ping, provided they are very dirty. All treated tubers should be planted in
order to avoid danger from the poison upon them.

It has been shown that the formalin is fully as effective 2gainst scab as
the corrosive sublimate solution, and asit is far less dangerous it will prob-
abably come into more general use. In treating seed with this preparation
the whole potato should be soaked for two hours in the solution already-de-
scribed. After soaking, the potatoes may be dried, cut and planted in the
usual way, care being taken not to allow them to become contaminated by
coming in contact with bags, boxes, or bins where scabby potatoes have been
kept In practice it is found that 15 gallons of either of the foregoing solu-
tions will be sufficient to treat 20 to 25 bushels of potatoes, taking ordinary
precautions of course not to waste too much of the fluid as each lot of tubers
is dipped.

TIP BURN, LEAF BURN, OR SCALD

This disease of the leaves occurs in many partsof the country and is
often confused with early blight. The tips and edges of the leaves turn
brown and these discolored areas soon become hard and brittle.

The burning or sca'ding may occur at any time and as a rule is the result
of untavorable conditions surrounding the plant. Long continued cloudy and
damp weather followed by several hot and bright days is very apt to result
in the burning of the foliage. This is especially the case on soilS carrying a
comparatively small percentage of moisture. When the weather is cloudy
and damp the tissues of the potato become gorged with water and this has a
tendency to weaken them. If the sun appears bright and hot while the
leaves are in this condition, there isa ranid evaporation of the moisture
stored up in their cells. The evaporation may be faster than the supply fur-
nished by the roots, and if this continues for any length of time the weaker
and more tender parts first collapse, then die, and finally turn brown and dry
up. Tip burn may also occur as the result of protracted dry weather.

TREATMENT,

Little of a specific nature can be saidonthe treatment of this trouble.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 125

Numerous factors are involved in the matter,so that only general state-
ments are possible. Every effort should be made to keep the plants in good
growing condition, for if they become checked through lack of proper food
or Guitivation or both they are more apttoburn. It isa fact that where
the Bordeaux mixture is used for other diseases burn is less apt to occur, and
this furnishes another instance of the remarkable properties of the fungi-
cide. Briefly, therefore, the plants should be kept as vigorous as possible by
good cultivation, plenty of available food, and the application of Bordeaux
mixture, as recommended for early blight.

ARSENIAL POISONING OF POTATO LEAVES.

In many sections where Paris green in water is applied to potatoes in-
juries are produced which cannot be distinguished from early blight by any or-
dinary examination. It frequently happens, therefore, that farmers are led
to believe that their potatoes are affected with early blight and other dis-
eases when the trouble has been brought on by themselves through the im-
proper use of Paris green. Injuries resulting from the use of this substance
are very apt to occur where flea beetles have eaten the foliage. The arsenic
attacks the tissues at such points, and as a result more or less circular brown
spots are produced, having for their centers the holes eaten out by the flea
beetles. By combining the Paris green with Bordeaux mixture, as already
described, these injuries may be wholly avoided.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

The cost of the work of spraying as described here will depend toa con-
siderable extent upon the kind of machinery used and the price paid for labor.
With suitable apparatus and labor at $1 50 per day, potatoes may be sprayed
six times for about $6 per acre. This estimate is based upon experiments
extending over several years and includes the cost of chemicals as well as
labor. The cost of treating scab is mainly in the labor involved in dipping
and drying the seed and seldom exceeds 15 cents peracre. Much attention
has been given to the effects of Bordeaux mixtureon the-growth and yield
of potatoes aside from its value in keeping parasitic foes incheck. It has
been shown conclusively that it pays to apply this preparation if for no
other purpose than to induce a more vigorous growth. Three or four appli-
cations of the mixture have in many cases increased the yield of potatoes 50
per cent, so that no matter where the crop is grown or whether diseases are
present or not the writer feels warranted in recommending the application
of the mixture on the ground that its use will yield a handsome return,

Humus in the Soil
DON’T FORGET IT—YOU MUST HAVE HUHUS IN THE SOIL

It seems like telling the same story over again, but we must talk a little
more about humus, or the partially decayed vegetable matter in soils. You
see that fellow on the adjoining farm who is p'owing and putting in corn the
third year in succession. He will putin oats next year, spring wheat per-
haps the next and then take three more crops of corn and sell it all on the
market. He is probably a renter on a year’s lease and has a landlord who
does not know anything about farming. What is that landlord forcing the
tenant todo? Robthe soil of the humus. For what did the Lord of all farms
put that humus inthe soil? He had twoor three thingsin mind. One was

126 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

to warm it up in the spring by its slow decomposition. Another was to en-
able it to absorb water in a wet time and to hold it and give it out slowly in
adry time. Another was to keep the soil particles apart so that they would ©
not bake, and another was to keep it from washing. Still another was to
have on hand aconstant source of nitrogren, and another, a source of car-
bonic acid by means of which the plant roots could take up the mineral mat-
ter. That is what the Lord of the farm and of the soil had in view when he
commenced putting humus in all soils capable of sustaining vegetation.
And now this fellow is spoiling the work of the great master. Heis trying
to exhaust that humus. The more he cultivates it the more rapid is the
action of the atmosphere, and in time he will have nothing but gas, which
has gone into the air and ashes which remain in the soil, and his soil will be-
come a muck ina wet time and bake inadrytime. It will have no reserve
moisture. It will wash away by the rains and the fellow will think that the
soil has been exhausted. Probabiy it might be as well to let him think so
and go off somewhere else. In point of fact, however, it isnot exhausted,
and there is just as much potash and phosphoric acid in the soil as there ever
was, only the great Farmer of farmers has locked it up, turnded the key and
put it away where this fellow will not find it. ,

Now, just this is the trouble with nearly every soil naturally good that it
is said to be exhausted in all these states of the central West. That is the
trouble over in Illinois on lands rich beyond the dreams of avarice that are
being rented year after year for graincrops until they are refusing to re-
spond and the fellows think the climate has changed or there is something
wrong with the administration. That is the trouble with rented farms all
through lowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota adn
away out in the Red River valley.

If you will go with me to portions of Mississippi, Alabama*or Florida, I
will show you thousands of farms with.their once beautiful mansions, sur-
rounded by parks, trees and shrubbery, which today are a total wreck.
Thousands of acres of beautiful farm land on which apparently nothing will
grow except shrub palmetto and sickly wire grass and yet at one time those
farms were wor'h from $100 to $200 per acre, today they may be bought from
$5.00 to $20 per acre. And wby? For years they grew cotton which was sold
throughout the world and made their owners rich. The day of judgment has
passed, the richness cf the soil was sold, the land was literally robbed, no
humus left. The soil once black and rich, today has the appearance of
bleached ashes, no life, and cannot respond tothe farmer’s call until it has
been recuperated with that which brings new life and no one plant can so
surely give the needed relief as clover.

We do not blame the tenant, who probably cannot helphimself, but the
owner ought to know better, and if the tenant does not know better it is
time for him to subscribe for an agricultural paper and learn something. |
This subject, like others, has been investigated carefully by the experiment
stations, and the following is the result in Minnesota:

Where there is 33 per cent humus in the soil at the beginning, four years’
cultivation in given crops brought it down 3 per cent; one-seventh of it was
gone. On a plat of similar soil, part of the same plat, where the rotation
was wheat, clover, wheat and oats, one crop of clover in four years, the per
cent of humus rose to 30 per cent, showing how easy it is not merely to stop
the waste, but to actually increase the humus inthe soil. For better bring-

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 127

1g to your observation I give you the experience of a practical farmer as
ell as a learned scholar, such matter as carries conviction of truth and
horoughly backed by actual farm tests. It will do you good to read, think
nd act.

SOME SOIL PROBLEMS FOR PRACTICAL FARMERS.
By: E. C. CHILCOTT,

Professor of Geology and Agronomy in the South Dakota Agricultural College.

INTRODUCTION.

That the practical farmer, the tiller of the soil, should thoroughly under-
sand the soil that he tills is a proposition so self-evident that at first thought
, would seem useless to discuss it, and yet careful observation will surely
lake us realize how slow practical farmers have been toavail themselves of
ne knowledge within their reach concerning the soil, itsorigin, and its prop-
rties. The responsibility for this condition of affairs does not rest entirely
ith the farmers themselves. Itis largely the result of faulty methods of
Jucation in our common schools, high schools, and colleges.

STUDY OF GEOLOGY AND SOIL CONDITIONS.

In many of the common schools the study of physical geography is either
ntirely neglected or taught by instructors who know little more of the sub-
ct than is contained in the very elementary text-books used, who have no
nowledge of geology, and no conception of the very inti nate connection be-
ween physical geography and the agricultural resources of a country Many
f these teachers have never had an opportunity to learn at first hand from
ature the things they are expected toteach They are not to be blamed for
nis condition; itis one of the very unsatisfactory results of our system of
ducation, which places the instruction of the young, especially in the rural
shools, in the hands of inexperienced teachers. Such teachers can not be
xpected toimpart a broad and comprehensive knowledge that will be of
alue to the practical farmer inatter life, for they do not possess it them-
slves.

Much has been written lately in favor of teaching agriculture in the
ublic schools; but, until ieachers can be,found who can teach physical geo-
raphy and geology from an agricultural standpoint, there is little prospect
f finding competent teachers of agriculture.

TEACHING GEOLOGY IN HIGH SCHOOLS AND AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES.

The teaching of geology in high schools and colleges is not much more
atisfactory. Even in many of the agricuitural colleges very little attention
} given to geology, and what little instruction is given is by teachers who
ave no knowledge of agriculture, and who, consequ*ntly, do not attempt to
each the student the close connection between geology and agriculture.

Geology isso broad a subject that teachers of this science are almost
orced to select some quite restricted branch of the subject along which they
‘ill specialize, to the partial or entire neglect of other branches. Unfor-
unately, we have very few geolozists who have specialized along the line of
gricultural geology. The agricultural colleges should, and it is hoped that
1 time they will, turn out young men well equipped to teach geology from
n agricultural standpoint.

128 . BOOK ON CORN GROWING

THE STUDY OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY BY THE FARMER.

In the meantime, what is the practical farmer todo, who realizes that
he does not possess the knowledge of physical geography and geology neces-
sary for intelligent comprehension of the practical problems in connection
with the tillage of the soil, in order to supply the defects in his early educa-
tion?

First, let the farmer procure a copy of any one of the numerous standard
modern elementary text-books of physical geography. No farmer of aver-
age intelligence anda fair knowledge ofthe English language, who will
bring to the task a mature mind, more or less practical experience and ob-
servation, and an earnest desire to learn, will find any difficulty in mastering
the subject, as set forth in such a text-book, ina very short time He will
not find it necessary to learn so very muchthat is entirely new to him, but
he will be brought to see the relations and bearing of many facts that he
was already familiar with. He will frequently be surprised to discover what
a fund of valuable information he had gathered from experience and obser-
vation, but had not been ab’e to use because his attention had never been
called to the bearing and relation of these facts.

If there are young members of the family who are studying or 1 studied
physical geography in school, they can materially assist their elders in the
study; and, furthermore, it will be a great stimulus to these young people if
they- find the subject has a practical side of such importance that-their par-
ents are interested init. The practical knowledge and experience of the
mature man will supplement the theoretical knowledge of the student, and
they will be mutually helpful to one another.

THE STUDY OF GEOLOGY BY THE FARMER,

Hav ng become familiar with the subject of physical geography, the
next step should be to take up the study of some elementary work on geo-
logy. In selecting a text-book the name of th? authoris not of so mach im-
portance as that the work itself be up todate. The science of geology is ad-
vancing so rapidly that all the publishers of standard text-books find it neces-
sary to make frequent revisions, and only the latest editions should be used.
It is a quite generally accepted opinion among those who have never studied
geology that it isso profound, not tosay mysterious, a science that only
those with college training can comprehend it. Such an opinion is entirely
erroneous; for while it is true that the geologist who would undertake origi-
nal investigation, either in the field or in the laboratory, must be well
grounded in the sciences of mineralogy, chemistry, physics, biology, astron-
omy, and mathematics if he expects to take a place among the leaders of the
profession, it is also true that these investigators are able to expound many
of the complex problems in geology in language easily comprehended by any
person of ordinary education; and this has been done in tre elementary text-
books in use in the schools.

In no other vocation, with the possible exception of mining, is a know-
ledge of the fundamental principles of geology more necessary than in farm-
ing. It might even be questioned whether the miner is able to utilize the
teaching of geology as fully as canthe farmer;for while the miner must
possess some knowledge of structural geology, gained either from baoks or
from experience and observation, the farmer findsa knowledge of all the
subdivisions of geology equally serviceable to him, A knowledge of dynamic,

]

a

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 129

structural and physiographical geology gives him an insight into the origin
and characteristics of the soil, the tillage of whichconstitutes so large a part
of his vocation, while a knowledge of historical geology shows him how all
the plants and animals with which he has to deal have slowly developed from
lower and simpler forms, In fact, the work of the farmer and stock breeder
in improving cultivated plants and domesticated animals is simply a continu-
ation of the process of improvement carried on by nature before man existed
and for a long period after his advent, and before he had developed in the
scale of intelligence to the point where he began to recognize the benefit to
himself that would result from his taking advantage of the forces of nature
to shape animals and plants to his rapidly increasing needs and wants.

There are very few practical farmers who will not find it profitabie to
devote some time to the study of physical geography and geology after their
minds have matured and they have acquired a store of practical experience.

The extent to which the study should be carried must necessarily be de-
termined by the tastes and intellectual bent of the individual concerned, but
it should certainly be sufficient to enable him toread intelligently the vari-
ous reports issued by the United States and his own state geological surveys.
He should make himself thoroughly familiar with these reports, at least so
far as they deal with the conditions in his own state, or with broader and
more general problems with which he has todeal asa practical farmer and
business man _ In this day of world-wide competition it is not sufficient that
the farmer shall be acquainted with his local conditions only. He must pos-
sess a general knowledge of the conditions surrounding those with whom he
isto compete in supplying the world with its food products. Commercial
geography is a subject with which all producers as well as all dealers should
be familiar.

No doubt many farmers who read the above will say that this is simply
theorizing, and that it is not practicable for a farmer to undertake such a
course of study. It is hoped that the writer may be excused for stating that
he is and has been for twenty years a practical farmer, and that the above
opinions are the outgrowth of his personal experience as such.

ESSENTIALS FOR THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER

With the knowledge above suggested the farmer isina position to
keep abreast of new developments along agricultural lines by keeping in
close touch with the agricultural college and experiment station of his own
State and with the Uaited States Department of Agriculture. He will also
be in a position to take up lines of investigation and experimentation for
himself on his own farm that will not only add to his prosperity, but will give
him a added interest in his farm life.

HOME STUDY OF SOIL PHYSICS

In nearly all of the more progressive agricultural colleges of the country,
‘laboratories are equipped with quite extensive and elaborate apparatus for
the study of soil physics, as is fully described and illustratcd in a recent pub-
lication of the United States Department of Agriculture.a + 1lfarmers who
can take a course in soil physics in one of these institutions should
do so; but there are thousands of intelligent, progressive far-
mers who caunot spend the necessary time away from _ their
farms. These farmers, however, need not feel discouraged. There
are a great many very important problems in soil physics that

130 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

must be solved on the farm if they are ever to be solved, and, indeed,
the value of laboratory training and study depends entirely upon the char-
acter, experience, and practical knowledge of the soil,and its behavior under
actual field conditions, possessed by the teacher. The ultimate object of all
study of soil physics by those who are fitting themselves for practical far-
mers is to become so thorougly acquainted with the various types of soil with
which they are likely to have to deal in actual farm operations that they
will be able to recognize them as soon as they see and handle them, and to
know the crop-producing powers of each under the conditions where they
are found; to be able to decide what methods of tillage will place each in the
best possible condition for the crop to b2 grown upon it under varying climatic
a Bulletin No, 127 of the Office of Experiment Stations.

conditions, and how best to supply any lack of food that may exist.

There is no doubt that most of this knowiedge must be acquired in the
field, under actual farm conditions. Laboratory methods of instruction that
will assist in acquiring this knowledge without obscuring the objects sought
are tobe commended. But the time and energy of the student must not be
so taken up with mastering the details of the methods adopted for establish-
ing certain facts as to lose sight of the object for which these facts are
sought. The teacher must constantly keep before the mind of the student
the practical application of the principles demonstrated in the laboratory.

STUDY OF MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOILS

Every practical farmer should know something of the mechanical char-
acteristics of different types of soil, and particularly of those with which he
has todealon hisownfarm. If hecan have made for him, by some compe-
tent person, mechanical analyses of the various types of soils with which he
has become acquainted through prectical experience and observation, he
will be able to see the causes of some of the productive peculiarities of these
soils that he has already observed but cannot explain, and in many other
ways the knowledge gained from these analys<s vill be of value. For a
practical farmer to undertake to become an expert s)il analyst is however,
awaste oftime. Thesame may be said of nitrogen and specific gravity de-
terminations and many other laboratory proc sses required of students in
some of the agrisultural colleges. ‘‘Art for art’s sake’’ is nowhere more out
of place than in laboratory instruction in soil physics for the practical farmer.

REQUISITES IOR THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER OR INVESTIGATOR

The above remarks do not, of course, apply to tEose whoare fitting them-
selves for teachers or investigators in the theory of soil physics, for to them
laboratory work is of the higaest importance, and such work offers a very in-
viting field of usefulness for those who are fitted forit. It is most import-
ant, however, tyat every teacher or investigator in agriculture should be

thoroughly familiar with the soil and all farm operations. Heshould know

bow the different soils behave under different methods of tillage in the field,
under all the varying climatic conditions that are to be met within the
couatry where he is located; and in addition tothis he should havea broad
general knowledge of conditions, methods, aud results in other parts of the
world He should have a good working knowledge of geology, physics, and
chemistry, in so far as they apply tothe soil and plant production, and he
should not only be familiar with the results obtained by specialists in labora-
tory investigations in soil physics, but also with the methods used in their

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG Sit

investigations. Without these qualifications he cannot be a successful
teacher.

The farmer should have the same general knowledge of the soil, agricul-
tural methods, and climatic and economic conditions as is needed by the
teacher or investigator. He should also be acquainted with the results ob-
tained by these investigators, though he need not be able to perform the
laboratory manipulations. There are thousands of successful business men
who never attended a business college and who know nothing of the methods
of instruction employed in them. Although many of our best farmers attained
their success without direct assistance from the agricultural colleges and
experiment stations, all of them have profited very largely from the indirect
benefits they have received trom these institutions, which have, by investi-
gation and teaching, added so enormously to the general store of knowledge-
This knowledge has become pub ic property, and has benefited thousands of
men who have never come in direct contact with any of these institutions.

RELATION OF THE SCIENTIST TO THE FARMER

Farmers as a class are conservative, and they have not been 2s quick to
grasp indirect benefits as those engaged in other vocations. The reason for
this is largely their failure to realize how, by a little effort on their part,
they can fit themselves to make available the vast stores of more or less
theoretical knowledge accumulated by the scientists.

On the other hand, there has been, and still is, a tendency on the part of
some scientists to belittle the value of the knowledge and experience of
thcse unacquanted with the mere machinery that they have used in obtain-
ing their knowledge. A better understanding is, however, being brought
about between the practical farmer and the experiment-station worker. The
very best men in the agricultural colleges and experiment stations frankly
admit that many practical farmers who know litt!e or nothing of the meth-
ods adopted by scientists, nevertheless, have, by observation and practical
experience, gained sucha knowledge of the soil and its requirements for
crop production that they can, froma simple examination of the soils with
which they have b2come acquainted, make a reliable estimate of their crop-
producing capacity

What is needed is that the scientist should be thoroughly acquainted
with the soil and p'ant growth under actual field conditions, and should know
the actual results of the various methods of tillage and farm management,
although he does not perform any of the actual operations of the farm him-
self, and that, on the o'her hand, the farmer, should keep himself posted as

_to the actual results of the investigations carried on by the scientist.

All information given to the farmer by the scientist, eitherin the class
ro’ m or through the pudlications or public lectures, should de] with results
and not with details of the methods by which those results were obtained.
Only such information should be given concerning the details of the methods
used to to obtain the results as will enable the farmer to j7dge intelligently
of the value of those results. And in giving these details the scientist should
be absolutely frank in admitting the defects and limitations of his methods:
Field conditions cannot be duplicated in the Jaboratory, and laboratory re-
sults will not hold good under field conditions, although certain general prin-
ciples may be demonstrated by laboratory methods.

132 BOOK OR CORN GROWxNG

CROP ROTATION, METHODS AND VALUE

Among the many problems that may and should be worked out both at
the agricultural experiment stations and upon private farms, few can be
found that are of greater importance and of more universal application than
that of crop rotation.

Some very significant facts are brought out in the article upon ‘‘Prac-
tices in crop rotation,’ contributed to the Yearbook for 1902 by George K.
Holmes, of the Division of Statistics, Department of Agricultural. He says:

‘‘Haphazard isa mild word to describe the impression given by the re-
ports of the correspondents with regard of the rotation of cropsin many
counties aud parts of counties of the United States. Although there may be
an annual change of crop on the same land, this change isso uncertain, so

unsystematic, that at first it seems impossible to establish order out of the
chaotic mass of particulars.”’

In another place Mr. Holmes says:

‘‘A diminution inthe degree of rotation hardly appears until Ohio is
passed, and then the diminution is gradual until in the longitude of middle
Kansas rotation is of the simplest, when existing at all.”

In the same article, speaking of the use of fertilizers, is the following:

“There are still extensive regions in the United States where barn ma-
nure is considered a farm nuisance. Ina county in Oregon the neighbor is
welcome to haul away this manure, and that neighbor islikely to be a thrifty
German with a large garden; in other Oregon counties the manure is burned.
In a California county the manure is dumped into ravines; it goes to the
creek in Oklahoma; it is hauled toa hole in the ground or put on one side of
the field in Kansas; South Dakota farmers burnit to be rid of it, and some
times burn it for fuel. In North Dakota farmers haul barn manure to piles

and leave it there until it disappears; farmers in Missouri deposit it bythe

roadside, and in Idaho scrapers are used, and it is ‘often seen piled as high
as a barn.’

In many counties between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean
farmers not only find barn manure a nuisance, but they have a grievance
against it, claiming in South Dakota that it produces dog fennel, elsewhere
that it produces other weeds, and in various counties that it has such an ef-
fect of ‘poisoning’ the soil that farmers are afraid of it.’’

The foregoing statements are all true but they ought not tobe. One
can not help exclaiming in the words of Polonius, ‘Tis true ’tis pity; and
pity ’tis ’tis true.’’ Not only are these statements true when applied to the
localities mentioned, but they would be equally true of manv other localities.

The farmers are not alone to blame for this condition. In the article
quoted the statement is made that ‘‘The farmer isin a rut, lacks initiative,
and needs help to get out.’’ Thisis true and toa certain extent always will
be. Are the agricultural colleges and experiment stations doing all they
might do and ought to do to help the farmer out of this rut? In some states,
yes; in others, no. It would not be difficult to name some agricultural col-
leges where thousands of dollars are being expended annually in teaching
young farmers how chemical and physical analyses are made where absolute-
ly nothing is being done in a practical, systematic, scientific way to test the
value of crup rotation and the application of manures under ordinary field
conditions, Js there not, then, some ground for the ‘‘contempt of book farm-
ing’’ mentioned by Mr. Holmes as being felt by some practical farmers, and

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 133

are not the colleges and stations in part to blame for the condition mention-
?
Se WORK IN CROP ROTATION AT EXPERIMENT STATIONS.

There may be experiment station farms in the United States where it is
impracticable or needless to carry on work incrop rotation but it would be
difficult to imagine where they are located. Most, if not all, should be carry-
ing on experiments, not with one but with many systems of crop rotation.
This work should be carefu ly planned and systematically and uninterrupted-
ly carried on for a long succ2ssion of years. In fact there isno limit to the
length of time to which it should be extended. It will become more and
more valuable as time goes on. It should embrace not only those rotations
which the experience of practical farmers has indicated as best adapted to
the local conditions in the state; but it should also include others, both good
and bad; those that seem to be bad may prove to be good, and those that
prove to be bad may be as valuable, as object lessons, as those that give bet-
ter results.

In connection with this work of crop rotation many other lines of work
could be carried on, such as studies in the movement and conservation of soil
moisture, application of fertilizers, methods of tillage, nitrification, leach-
ing of soils, effect of green manuring, and the growth of leguminous plants-
etc. But these should be considered as accessory to the main problem of
crop rotation Crop production through a long term of years should be the
crucical test of the value of any rotation, and these results should never be
obscured by the introduction of any side line.

Asa rule, it will not be advisable for the practical farmer to carry on
more than one, or at the most two, rotations on any one farm. A system of
crop rotation should be planned to last for generations, and should not be
undertaken without careful consideration. The farmer should become thor-
oughly acquainted with the subject before he adopts any system. This he
Ought to be able to do by applying to his own state experiment station The
men in charge of the work there ought to be able to furnish him with more,
and more valuable, information than he can obtain from any other source.
Here, then, is a field for the practical application of the science of soil
physics where close cooperation between the practical farmer and the scien-
tist can be mutually beneficial.

COMPARISON OF HUMID AND SEMIARID REGIONS.

Mr. Holmes, previously quoted, makes the following statement in the
article mentioned: ‘‘In semiarid regions barn manure needs to be used cau-
tiously on unirrigated land.’’ He also mentions ‘‘the limitations of the semi-
arid regions,’’ and finally says: ‘‘Unirrigated lands in the arid and semiarid
regions labor under such limitations thatthey can not be compared with
other parts of the country in such a manner as crop rotation.’’ These state-
ments, like the others quoted, are in the main true, but the limitations of the
semiarid regions are not as restricted as might be inferred from the words
quoted. Neither does it seem true to the writer that crop rotation in semi-
arid regions is so different from crop rotation in humid regions that the two
Can not be compared. On the other hand, it would seem that a comparison
of the problems Involved incrop rotation in the humid and in the semiarid
regions would be of value in bringing out certain fundamental principles in-
volved in both. The limitations are mainly in the kind andnumber of crops

134 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

that can profitably be produced in the two regions, and the difference in this
respect is not so great as might at first be supposed, aswill be seen from an
examination of the rotations given below.

The main difference in the nature of the problems involved, between the
humid and the semiarid regions, is that in the humid regions the most impor-
tant object sought is the conservation of the soil fertility or plant food,
while in the arid and semiarid regions it is the conservation of soil moisture.
Of course, neither of the.factors can be disregarded in either region, but the
relative importance of each is as stated. In other words, the farmer in the
humid region is mainly interested in the chemical problems involved, while
in arid and semiarid regions the most important problems are those of soil
physics.

USE OF BARNYARD MANURE.

What has been quoted from Mr. Holmes concerning the need of caution
in using barn manure is true, and it is true because the physical effects pro-
duced by an application of the manure are often of greater importance than
the chemical ones. Itis quite freqnently the case that the bad physical
effects of the application more than offset the beneficial chemical ones. But
when this fact is recognized and due consideration is givento these physical
effects, manure can be applied in semiarid regions with beneficial resuits
without danger to the physical condition of the soil In summing up the re-
sults of some experiments in the application of manure to wheat, conducted
by the writer in 1897 and 1898, and published in Bulletin No. 79 of the South
Dakota experiment station, the following statements are made:

The farmer should fully understand that while the application of barn-
yard manure to the soil is certain to have a beneficial effect by adding to the
store of plant food, its effect may not be apparent in the results of the first
crop after the application, and that the immediate mechanical or physical
effects upon the soil may be either beneficial or detrimental, depending upon
the character of thesoil, the kind of manure, the time and method of appli-
cation, the nature of the crop, and the character of the season as to moisture
and temperature.

The soil of the farm should be considered a bank in which the surplus.

resources Of the farm, in the form of plant food, should be deposited with the
understanding that the surplus can not be withdrawn at once, but is to re-
main until such time as the conditions are favorable for its utilization. With
our light rainfall and retentive soil the danger of loss from leaching 1s very
slight.
From our experience and observation we believe we are warranted in re-
commending as the surest method of guarding against the possible bad phys-
ical effects of the application of the manure that it be applied to land intend-
ed for corn instead of wheat; that it be hauled direct from the stable during
the late fall, winter and spring, and plowed underin thespring. The corn
will be likely to be benefitted, and the wheat crop that should follow the corn
will probably be improved as much or more than it would be if the manure
were applied directly to that crop.

CROP ROTATION AT SOUTH DAKOTA EXPERIMENT STATION,

The writer has been engaged in experiments in crop rotation at the
South Dakota experiment station for the last seven years. Below is given a

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 135
1 SSE Ea Tl al So AR a
list of the various rotations which have been carried on continuously and
systematically for that period and are still under way:

1. Flax, barley, millet, wheat, corn.

2. Wheat, oats, peas (fed), a wheat, roots.

3. Oats, wheat, fallow, wheat, corn.

4. Wheat, barley, peas (plowed), a wheat, corn.
5. Wheat, oats, corn, flax, millet (fed).

6. Wheat, barley, peas (cut), a wheat, corn (fed).
7. Wheat, corn, wheat, oats,

8. Wheat, corn, oats, millet.

9, Wheat, corn, (manured), wheat, oats. ;
10. Wheat, corn, oats.

11. Oats, fallow, wheat.

12. Barley, millet, wheat.

13, Barley, peas (cut), wheat.

14. Wheat, wheat, fallow.

15. Wheat, wheat, corn.

16. Wheat, fallow.

Wig ey Deak ecornt

18. Wheat, vetch.

19. Wheat continuously, no manure.

20. Wheat continuously, manured every five years.

21. Wheat continuously, manured every three years.

22. Wheat continuously, manured every year.

23. Wheat seeded to brome grass, brome, brome, flax, wheat, corn.
24. Wheat seeded to brome grass, brome, brome, wheat, corn.

Space will not permit more than the briefest mention of the results of
these experiments; but in order to bring about the beneficial effects of a
proper rotation under arid conditions the following table and explanation
are given. The season of 1900 was one of the most unfavorable experienced
here for many years. Crops on many neighboring farms were a complete
failure on account of the lack of sufficient moisture at the proper time, while
the season of 1901 was a fairly favorable one. The yields given are the aver-
ages for plats in the aforementioned rotation, grouped together according
to the kind of crops which immediately »receded the wheat and oat crops,
respectively.

The following table shows that the average yield of wheat from 30 plats
was but 915 bushels per acre for 1900, while that from the same number
of plats in the same rotations was 16.38 bushels for 1901.

The average yield of oats from 8 plats was 20.69 bushels per acre for 1900
and 47.87 bushels for 1901. These figures fully bear out the conclusions ar-
rived at from previous considerations, that 1900 was a very unfavorable and
1901 a fairly favorable season; but in spite of the very unfavorable conditions
which prevailed in 1900 there were 12 plats out of the 30 that yielded on an av-
erage 14.27 bushels of wheat per acre. Four of these had been summer fal

a Where the words ‘‘cut,’’ ‘‘fed,’? and ‘‘plowed’’ are used in parentheses
after a crop they indicate whether the crop was allowed to mature, and was
cut or harvested in the usual manner, was fed off by stock before it reached
maturity, or was plowed under for green manure. The word ‘““manured”’ fol-
lowing a crop indicates that barn manure was applied at time of planting.

136 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

lowed in 1899, 6 had raised a crop of corn, lacrop of potatoes, and 1acrop
of peas which had been plowed under. Theother 18 plats yielded an average
of only 6.23 bushels. Of these, 4 had raised oats in 1899, 3 peas, 1 vetch, 4
millet, and 6 wheat.

Of the 8 plats of oats raised in 1900, the 5 that followed wheat yielded -

only 12.63 bushels per acre, while the three that followed corn produced 28.75
bushels per acre. :

Yields of wheat and oats in different rotations compared for an unfavorable and a fav-
orable season.

Nia: 1900 1901
Rotation. ber of ; E
plats. |Straw. |Grain. nano |) Straw.|Grain. partes :
Wheat after— Lbs. Bu. Lbs. Bu.

Wallowa oeoess Al STO. wl osO0. 2.64, 2848) 15.66 3.03
COPMS Re machie aes 6} 2,280} 13.91 273) 2,958] 17 35 2 84
Oaesaasue uesee hay 41 1,150 3.96 484) 2,558) 16 75 2.54
Reasi(fed) ewe eee 1} 1,920 7.16 4.46] 2660} 38 16 2.44
Peas Cut) wanmieresnes 2} 1,645 4.66 5 87} 3,020) 14 66 3.43
Peas (Plowed under) 2,290 | 14.83 257| 2,980) 17.00 2.92
POtatOES sb eoee PAZ S00) Vals ioo 288] 2,870) 17.16 2.79

BV Arey ere o AUN HC ea 1} 1,620 7.16 Bitte 2,080) laeoe 2.80
Milleti(icut)iew, 2254 Sy eres 6 55 ASI 2onnO;walopas 2.83
MMe Ed oe ete: Teale rial 10 50 281) 3,020) 16.33 3.08
Walle ata Moaivoneaneagiac. 6} 1,415 3.60 6 63] 2,805] 15 46 3.02

A Vera renin caee leee ee 1,86! Qh eel Resa Os 258242516238) peer iee

Oats after— I Sesnbein ce ehiag ademas tinea penta y
AU VA) cael eae NUM ey he 5| 2,046] 12 63 5 06} 2,358) 48 14 eS
Connian eran ees esthes 3}__ 2.280) 28.75 248} _ 2.343} 47.59 1.54
AV ORATO) woruicae eiemens 2 LOS| we O0 | ietrete estate 2,590) FiO Whereas anaes

It will be seen that in the case of the wheat an increased yield of 8.04
bushels was obtained where the wheat followed summer fallow, corn, potatoes:
or peas plowedunder, while the advantage of raising oats after corn instead
of after wheat was 16.12 bushels of oats. As a bushel of wheat is usually
worth from three to four times as much as a bushel of oats, it would have
paid better to have raised wheat after corn and oats after wheat in all the ro-
tations.

The yields of both wheat and oats for 1901 were quite uniform and fairly
good, although they were undoubtedly 2 or 3 bushels less than they should
_ have been, judging from the growth of straw. This reduced yield was caused

Jy the very hot weatherin July. It will be noticed that the heaviest yields
of grain were from plats having the lightest growth of straw, and the light~
est yields of grain were from plats having the heaviest straw, showing, as
has frequently been observed, that where there is avery rank growth of
straw the damage from hot winds is usualiy greater than where the growth
has not been so luxuriant. There seems to have been no advantage from

’

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 137

sowing wheat on summer fallow orcorn land. In fact, the summer fallow
plats fell below the average by 0.72 bushel per acre.

While we should guard against forming too positive opinions upon an ex-
perience limited to six years, the evidence so far obtained certainly points
very strongly toward the conclusion that, during years when there is a suffic-
ient supply of moisture and a suitable temperature properly distributed
throughout the growing season, good yield of wheat may be obtained from
our average prairie soils, where the crop is properly put in, without much
regard as to the kind of crop the land has raised the preceding season. But
when the supply of moisture is deficient for the season, or is not properly
distributed, a fair averaged crop can be produced where a suitable rotation
is practiced, while partial ortotal failure will result where wheat is sown
after a crop that does not leave the soil in the proper physical condition. In
short, it would seem that our soils, after twenty years’ continuous cropping,
have a sufficient supply of plant food to produce good crops, provided the
physical condition of the soil is such that there is enough water to make this
supply of food available to the plant.

CONCLUSION

From the results of the above experiments and from a residence of twenty
years in the semiaridregions, the writer feels waranted in stating the opinion
that in no part of the United States is the subject of crop rotations of great-
er importance than in the arid and semiarid regions.

Crop rotation is only one of the many soil problems that should be worked
out in the fieid at the experiment stations and by farmers upon their own
farms; and the farmer and the scientist should keep in close touch, so that
each may profit by the experience of the other.

Practical Farming.

The following will form one of the chapters cf the book, ‘‘Practical Corn
Growing,’’ which J. B. Armstrong has written and which will soon be issued.
Mr. Armstrong wrote this article a number of years ago and has hadtime to
observe wnether or not he was Correct in his contentions, and now, after giv-
ing close observation, he intends to put it in the book exactly as he wrote it
ten years ago.

How to grow corn and other grains and keep up the fertility of the farm,
that it will make a paying crop, ought to be the study of every tiller of the
soil. As the world will always have to depend upon the great corn belt of the
United States for its supply of the best and most prolific corn seed, and of
those varieties that growthe strongest, that resist the drought and hot
winds, that best give the most amount of fat-giving quality; this being the
case, it is necessary that every farmer do his best that we may not disap-
point the world and at the same time reap the rich reward of bountiful crops.

It must be evident to all observing menthat theold idea that anyone
could farm successfully is fast being abandoned and the people are beginning
to learn that preparation for successful farming is as necessary as in any of
the professions and that those whoare keeping at the front are those who
read, think and experiment; that thorough preparation is the first thing that
each one should practice. Seconda thorough knowledge of the land that
they are to cultivate and next the proper seed to be used, especially in corn.
The old idea that corn is corn is true, but that the seed grown by the intelli-

138 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

gent specialist with the view in mind that first vitality, sturdy, strong stalk,
broad leaf and prolific tendency are the requisites toa paying crop it being
evident to every mind that such seed bought from a reliable grower and prop-
erly cultivated will do away with the low general yield.

I am thoroughly conyinced that the farm papers, especially in the corn
belt, who are advocating the holding of farmers associations, who are asking
for the views of those who are prosperous in that direction are doing a won-.
derfully good missionary work and ought to be fully sustained with a liberal
patronage and the individual farmer, while he must toa certain extent di-
versify his farming, he should take some one thing asa specialty and doa
great amount of work along that line, and then besureto give your nelehe
bors your experience.

One such farmer with whom we talked but yesterday says: ‘‘Five years.
ago I read your little book, ‘Hints on Corn Growing,’ and it awakened in my
minda newtrain of thought. I procured some improved seed and did my
very best to make a good crop and with me the results have been wonderful.
My yield for the five years that [ have grown it on 80 to 280 acres has made
an average for all of these yearsof 67 bushels peracre. The best year was.
82 bushels. Now mind, all of my corn is weighed in at the time of gathering,
and this year I weighed in from the field 4200 bushels and sold the same after
being in the crib 60 days and delivered it in the market seyen miles distant
and only had 41- bushels of shrinkage. I wish all farmers could understand
the value of thorough system and correct methods as well as I doat the pres-
ent time. The experience those five years and the efforts that I have made
are convincing proof to me that one has only to study, read and practice what
he may find in those farm papers being so thoroughly scattered throughout
our broad land. At least I receive this year three hundred dollars more for
the crop of corn that I have to sell than I should have gotten had I not plant-
ed reliable corn and that grading at the head. Just such trials and test are
what bring out the grand results. Hoping that the above may stimulate
many of my readers to a better and stronger effort, I am,

The Sick Farm

The Delaware Agricultural Experiment Station has recently published
Bulletin No. 65 which is unusually suggestive to men who are thinking about
fertility, commercial fertilizers, and in general about the methods of in-
creasing crop production. The title—‘‘The Bacteriological Analyses of Soil’’—
might scare some reader and for that reason we have chosen a different head-
ing for our article. We assure them that a bacterium (singular for bacteria)
is something that one need not be afraid of and it is well that we should know
just how he is helping us.

The bulletin goes on to state that forty-nine analyses of the typical soils.
of the United States showed as an average result that they had in the first
eight inches enough nitrogen to last for ninety crops, enough phosphorus for
500 and potash for 1000 and yet these same soils where the chemist has found
so much fertility may under certain conditions become so utterly barren of
results to the farmer as to lead him to believe that they are actually devoid
of plant food.

The bulletin goes on further to state that the soil at Rathamsted. Eng-
land, which had been cropped with wheat for fifty years without manure and

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 139

which had consequently been exhausted producing only eight bushels per
acre, still contained pbosphorus, in which it was especially exhausted, to
last a hundred years to come. We have seen this identical piece of land and
saw two or three crops of wheat growing on it. The reason this plot, witha
supply of phosphorus to last a hundred years, had become exhausted was sim-
ply because it was not in shape to be available for the plants.

You say what has this todo with microbes or bacteria? A very great
deal. The trouble with the Rothamsted soil, and the trouble with nearly all
so-called exhausted soils, is not that they are deticient in the elements sup-
plied by commercial fertilizers but because they are deficient in vegetable
matter—humus—something for the bacteria or microbes tofeedon. Itis
through these that the unavailable forms of plant focd become available.
To quote from the bulletin: ;

‘‘When vegetable or animal matter is incorporated with the soil it under-
goes a process of decay. Inthis decay certain products are formed which
react upon the insoluble or unavailable forms of plant food in the soil and
render them soluble and available. This iatter decay is brought about
through the agency of myriads of bacteria present in the soil.”’

Here is an idea which may be quite new to many of our readers and yet
it explains a good many things that happen in their experience. You must
use vegetable matter in order to make your mineral matter available to
plants; in other words, to allow digestion and assimilation to goon. The
bacteria of the soil are simply cells and they do work quite similar to
what the cells which outline the glands of our own bodies do in the process
of digestion. No matter how much food we may have in our stomachs, or the
stomachs of our live stock, it does neither them nor us any good unless it is
digested. If our digestion is out of order, or we take something indigestable
into our stomachs, we runtothe drug store toget patent medicines. If
something is the matter with our land which we do not understand we buy
commercial fertilizers. What we need in either case is to get our digestive
system at work regularly without tonics or stimulants, and the best tonic you
can give your land is vegetable matter. This wili start digestion to work by
giving it something to work on and the rest doeth itself. Man suffers from
the indigestion; so does the soil. and the worn out soil is simply one that has
a bad case of dyspepsia. Give it something for the bacteria to work on and
they will increase and multiply and digest even the rocky particles, thus.fur-
nishing available plantfood. Then give it thorough cultivation so as to en-
able it to prepare food for the plant, and you have solved the problem.

There is a closer relation between man and the soil than we sometimes
imagine. Both of them are liable to indigestion and as the man who has in-
digeition falls away in flesh because he is using more force than his system is
supplying him from day to day so soil that is troubled with indigestion is us-
Ing up plant food faster than it can be made avaible in the soil and it, like a
dyspeptic man, goes into a decline and is said to be wornout. Wedo not
think the good Lord intended the soils of the Mississippi valley to be worn
out in ten, fifty, or five hundred years and they will not be unless the farmer
allows them to get an attack through the neglect of inficiency of either
acute or chronic indigestion.

140 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

SS

A Green Manure Crop

A subscriber living in Grant township, Ind., writes: ‘“‘I havea field of fif-
teen acres, black ground and clay, that needs greenmanure. The field has
been in timothy four years. It isin corn this year and in making some
changes in fields and rotation I find it desirable to plant corn again in this
field. I want atop dressing or covering for the ground through the winter.
What would you do, sow crimson clover, cow peas, mommoth clover, rape or
rye? Which is best? When and how to sow?”

We could not advise you tosow crimson clover on your fifteen acres that
are now incorn. If it were possible to get this clover to grow in the corn, it
would be just the thing tosow. It should be sown some time in August, say
about the first or 15th, but this isa time when we usually have rather dry
weather in this latitude and the corn plant takes up about all the moisture
in the soil and if the seed germinates at all the plant is likely to die. If the
corn could be removed at that time andthe soil prepared for the seed, you
would likely get a good stand. Thesame is true of cow peas and soy beans,
only there is more liklihood of getting a stand of these two plants. These,
however, would not furnish a coyering for the grouni during the winter.
What is needed on this land is a nitrogen gathering plant anditis hardly
possible for you to grow that this fall. This, however, depends upon the sea-
son.

Rape,in this latitude,freezes down in winter and cannot be pastured with
safety after freezing weather comes. If five or six pounds of seed be sown
sometime during the present month, considerable pasture could be had about
the first of September and until freezing or frosty weather. By sowing rye
a corn crop can be-grown and some pasture secured from it, but aside from
the humus it would form, it does not benefit the soil any except that it fur-
nisbes a covering during the winter season. We hold that farmers can af-
ford to sow arye crop or other crop for the special purpose of keeping the
ground covered and preventing washing.

You do not say what rotation you desire to use, but if you wish to get
this field into clover again you can do so by sowing rye this fall and seeding
heavily to clover in the spring and either cutting the rye crop or pasturing
it. A good clover and timothy sod can be grown and at the same time pas-
ture the rye field. If it is necessary to plant this field to corn next year, we
would let the rye go until it was ten inches or a foot high, plow it down and
thoroughly pack the soil before planting. Do not let such acrop get too
heavy before plowing it for corn. A heavy crop of this kind turned under
has a tendency to separate the furrow slice from the subsoil and cut off the
rise of moisture.

What would we do? Wewouldsowrye then toclover and pasture the
field and not plant to corn next year. This field has already produced five
crops that are quite large users of soil fertility. Noone can hope to raise
maximum crops in this section and follow the above system. Timothy yield-
ing 2500 pounds of hay per acre, removes 814 pounds of plant food which in
the above case has removed 326 pounds of fertilizer per acre. If another
crop of corn is removed from our correspondent’s field the total plant food
consumed would be 647 pounds per acre. What would we do with this field?
We would right-about face in our treatment and try to regain the vast
amount of plant food r.moved from its soil. This fieldis yourbank. The

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 141

€reator placed on deposit there material with which to grow crops for you.
He limited the amount of the deposit and trusted you to keep up the bank
account by annual or biennial deposits. Let’s not take any more from this
bank until a good big deposit has been made. Let’s make amends for the
past abuses on what the God of nature has stored up for us. Let’s be friends
of this black and yellow bank by feeding it with chemical fertilizers, by barn-
yard fertilizers, and by growing these crops which will extract plant food
from the air and delve deep into the lower depositories for that placed there
for our use.

Warming Up The Ground.

It is a common mistake to suppose that the chief reason for digging or
plowing the land is to separate its particles. On the contrary, we are oblig-
ed to add to the labor of loosening up the soil that of recompacting it by har-
rows and rollers before we can intrust seedor plantsto it fora summer’s
growth. Nodoubt the plowing and pulverization facilitates; expansion of
roots and helps during dry weather, but no healthier, handsomer growth is
obtained by it than we often see on surface not worked at all.

Twenty years ago we learned, partly by accident, that it was not neces-
sary to plow the land deeply in order to secure a maximum crop, and since
that time we have never, excepting for purposes of experiment and compari-
son,turned our land more than four and a half to five inches deep.

SOIL AND CROPS.

Perhaps the question will be asked: ‘‘What k’nd of land have you and
what crop do you grow?” Andthe answer is a clay loam clay subsoil, and
the crops those general in the central states, excepting that we grow some
tobacco.

Our land was in part cleared before the year 1800, and in the past twenty
years Our maximum yield per acre thirty-six bushels wheat, eighty five of
corn, two hundred twenty-five of potatoes and 1,700 pounds of tobacco; it may
thus be seen that our land is far from sterile. We pin our faith to breaking
at the depth mentioned, and then thorough'y working the soil to the very
furrow bottom before entrusting seed or plants to it.

Thorough pulverization of the soil as deeply as broken is of vastly great-
er importance than the depth of breaking, and we will insure any man a bet-
- ter crop on one half his field, broken four inches deep and cut in perfect con-
dition for the crop, than on the other half broken eight inches deep and fitted
for seed with two harrowings.

Did you ever stop to think what the forces of nature are doing year after
year to assist vegetation to exist and flourish even in times of extreme
drought?

HOW ROOTS GROW.

For every blade of grass that grows up to be cropped by the teeth of our
stock, cut by the mower or to perish by the frosts of winter there is, compar-
atively speaking, a root that goes down into the earth. If we could examine
these roots witha glassof high power we would find that they are covered
with mouths to take up food for the plant. A p ant root does not bore its
way through the soil like a gimlet; neither does it force its way like a nail
driven bya hammer. By means of a mild acid that it secretes from its tip,it

142 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

dissolves its way, and after astart is made its expansive power is sufficient
to burst even a stone.

Hence it is not necessary, nor is it even desirable, that the soil in which
the plant roots develop be as loose as the proverbial ash heap. Now, we go
back to the point at which we stopped to speak of the manner in which the
roots of the plant make their way through the soil. It is generally supposed
that most of the plant roots which go deep into the subsoil are seeking for
moisture rather than for plant food, and the supposition seems a reasonable
one, for the reason that by far the greater part of fertility in ordinary soils
is contained inthe upper six inches while the greater part of the soil mois-
ture, of course, lies deeper.

When we break up a field we break up the connection which nature has
established between the top soil, in whichthe plants get the most of their
food, and the subsoil from which they get the moisture necessary to dissolve
that food, for plants take all their food in fluid form. If we do not re-estab-
lish that connection by use of the harrow, roller and drag, and if we havea
mass Of clods and trash at the furrow bottom, the growing crop must suffer
even in seasons of moderate drought. ;

No Money in an Average Crop.

Whether it be corn, wheat, oats or grass, there is no muney in an aver-
age crop. Take the average corn crop for instance, of any state in the Union.
Figure out for yourself the average cost of production which you can do
within a few cents, and then takethe average price either you will soon
learn that you have small rents on the land or the interest on the money in-
vested. The only way that a man can figure out that he is making money on
an average price isto count histime at a great deal less than it is truly
worth. Farmers must learnin making their estimates to figure the cash
value of their labor. If youhaveto hire another manto do the work you
have, you cannot afford to hire yourself at any less price. Wedon’t care to
make the figures but prefer that the farmers make them, themselves.

The farmer who grows an average crop or less, gets a living and if he
gets rent for land or interest for money he must take it off from the price of
his own labor. The money is made in growing crops above the average.
Thirty bushels of corn per acre will pay expenses, fifty busbels will furnish a
nice profit. It costs more to raise a fifty bushel crop than it does to raise
thirty; it costs more to husk and it costs more to prepare tke ground but the
difference is far less than twenty bushels of corn per acre.

The average wheat crop of the United States or particularly of lowa is
not far from fourteen bushels per acre, worth in the market about eight dol-
lars or less, counting two-fifths for the rent. The farmer must furnish the
seed, prepare the grouud, cut ardthresh the crcp. He can very easily see
that he is not getting much for his money in a deal of this kind.

The difference between an average crop anda paying crop liesin the
adoption of a rotation that will maintain the fertility of the land; second, a
better preparation of the seed bed. This requires a little more labor but is
more a matter of judgement and clear thinking than of labor. The next
difference is the better care of the seed. This may cost more but in general
costs only a little more time and the use of a good fanning mill in blowing out
the light and small grains, and screening out sprouting grains if such there
be. The paying crop costs perhaps a pound of twine more to the acre, four

BY J. B. ARMST:iONG 143

cents per bushel for the thresher and a little extra for the hands. Thesame
applies tothe corncrop. Given the proper rotatian and cultivated with
brains and it costs not a great deal more to growa paying crop than an av-
erage crop, until the time of husking and it does not cost twice as muchto
husk a fifty bushel crop as it does to husk a twenty-five bushel crop.

If the farmer gets it clear in his mind that an average crop never pays
and the profit of grain growing is altogether in growing more than an aver-
age crop, he will have made a long start in being anup-to-date farmer. He
will then begin to study the method of his ground andits surrounding as to
the overflow, draining, etc., he will study to find the crop best adapted to
every particular location and the varieties of crop that will be of most value
in a mony way, and yet at the same time preserve the fertility of his land.
He will strive to adopt such methods as will insure the largest crop on the
least number of acres. He will study the great advantage of improved seeds
and up-to-date implements for cultivation. He will spend his spare time in
reading one of the up-to-date Agricultural Papers, edited by men who are
thoroughly and practically in touch with the farmers ard the one in which
he will find many communications from farmers who are fast forging to the
front. Wedo not wish youto understand that we mean fancy or book farm-
ing. Less acres, more intense farming, better seeds, up-to-date tools, etc.
We may put more work on the cropthan we get paid for, but as a general
rule if we put more work and especially more hard thinking on a crop we get
extra value for additional work and clear thinking.—//allace’s Farmer,

To Prevent Potato Blight.
SOME FARM EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED BY NEW YORK EXPERIMENT STATION.

For years scientists and investigators have held that the diseases respon-
sible for far the greater part of what is called ‘‘blight’’ are largely prevent-
able, and have advocated the use of bordeaux m'xture as an easy, cheap and
- practical remedy for these diseases. But new methods. gaina foothold in
farm practice only slowly and after convincing proof of their value, so spray-
ing potatoes for diseases has not been generally practiced.

Experiments conducted at the Geneva station by F. H. Full, F. C. Stew-
art, H J Eustace and F. A. Sirrine have shown striking success in spraying.

In bulletin No. 241 of that station are given results secured by five farm-
ers in spraying potatoes, and the figures pri sented should gn far to convince
the m)st skeptical that the use of bordeaux mixture pays.

These ‘‘farmers’ test’? were carried on by the potato growers without
dictation or criticism from the station, each farmer using his own apparatus,
preparing his own mixtures, spraying as many or as few times as he chose
and giving his fields just such care 2s seemed best tohim. Thestaticn mere-
ly arranged that a sufficient area of each field should be left unsprayed as a
check and that the yields on the checks and on equal sprayed areas should be
carefully weighed when the potatoes were dug.

In all sixty-one and one-sixth acres of potatoes were sprayed in different
parts of the state, and comparisons with the check acres showed an increase
in yield, due tothe spraying, of 3,746 bushels, or an average of 61+ bushels
_peracre. The total expense of the spraying was $296.49, which subtracted
from the value of the increase at 50centsa bushel, leaves $1,576 50 as the
total net profit, or $25.77 an acre.

144 BOOK ON CORN GROWING °

In the second year’s test of a ten-year experiment to be carried on by
the station in two places there was a gain at Geneva of 88 bushels to the acre
from three sprayings and of 118 bushels from five sprayings. On Long Island
the gains were 39} and 56 bushels per acre from three and five sprayings re-
spectively.

Red Clover And Varieties.

Perhaps no plant in this state has more friends than red clover and just-
ly so, as it is a good yielder, a splendid forage, and a grand soil enricher—on
this point I seriously doubt whether its equal grows within our borders. It
has been my fondest dream to establish clover in the rotation on my farm. I
have not yet succeeded in growing it to my satisfaction, having made more
failures than successes. ThisI regret for asa legume it was my earliest
love. Inmy dreamsI live again amcng the hills of Missouri where I grew
from early childhood to manhood, eurrounded by great clover fields,lazy sheep
and lowing herds. Isow red clover every year on two of my bluegrass pas-
tures not subject to overflow. It makesa splendid variety in the pasture.
On lancs subject tooverflow I sow alike. This little clover should have
more friends. It makes good pasture and an excellent quality of hay, prac-
tically free from dust It willstand more overflow of water than any other
tame forage plant. I had several acres continually under water last May for
twenty days. It came out looking very sickly, but ina few days regained its
color and made a good growtb, furnishing lots of nice pasture the rest of the
season.

Brome grass bas no place on the tillable lands of this state. Why should
we spend our time and energy in the cultivation of a plant which in the end
furnishes us a better quantity, a poorer quality, and of a lower feeding value
than our old time, honored, frined-timothy? Iwill not take time to write
about this grass. It’sallright. Just throw a dash of red clover seed in the
hopper when seeding. Your stock will enjoy it and your land will be bene-

fitted. In regard to the wild kay of the bottom lands, I can truthfully say, I

never liked it. It is too coarse and woody. But why write of a dying cause?
Its days are numbered. I can as best but sing its requiem

It cannot stand close cutting every year and never gets a chance to re-
seed itself. Blue grass tco has entrenched itself. It never retreats, but

with bull dog tenacity advances its skirmish lines year after year and always.

wins the battle: the big grass must go _I tip my hat, I say good bye, without
a tearorsigh. Its very abundance has caused our farmers to partially ex-
haust the fertility of their soil because it was not necessary for them to grow
legumes.

‘‘Many a flower is blown to blush unseen and waste its fragancé on the

desert air,’’ but barley is one of the unnuals that will be on my list of forage.

plants as Jong as I grow stock. © I like to feed it, my stock, both horses and
cattle do wellonit. It is especially good for milch cows. It cures a nice
light green. It isdustless. My stock clean out their racks more completely
when I feed barley hay than any other forage I have, with the possible ex-
ception of sorghum, My stock requires a much less grain ration when I feed
it. Iuse the common bearded variety. I sow as soon as the frost is
out of the grouasd. Icut in the early dough stage, about the 18th or 20th of
June. if] have not grown it asa nurse crop, I plowupthe ground and sow
to sorghum or millet at once. Barley will cut from two to three tons per

aT es a er

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 145

acre. In many parts of California and the extreme West, work horses are
fed no grain ration, fed absolutely nothing but barley cut in the milk stage.

The Early Man.

Many farmers are too slow in planting their corn crop inthe spring.
They are slow in starting to break the soil, in pulverizing the soil; and, last,
but not'least, in planting after they are ready. It will always pay in the
long run to commence breaking the soil as soon as possible after the ground
has settled in the spring. Then youwill not beso crowded with your work.
As a general rule the early man is ahead in plowing as well as in cutting up
his corn crop, thus having less danger from early frost in the fall. In the
last few years we have triedto plant our cornas early as ;possible in the
spring, so that we would not have to be crowded during haying time. Last
season while we were getting ready to plant we were talking with one of our
neighbors: about early corn. We told him we preferred planting during
April, because we hada bettercrop and it maturedearlier. ‘Well,’ he
said, ‘‘I believe I will wait a week or two yet.’ Before that corn of his was
cut up he said that we hit the time and he missed it. Our crop dida great
deal better than his, which was just over the fence.

Another advantage for us is that our ground is so rich that when corn is
planted late it makes very large and tall stalks, while on the other hand
early corn is not quite sotall. Ifthe-early corn is frosted down it will be
early enough to plantitover. Thefirst and second plowings make a large
per cent of the crop, and the man withthe early corncan plow his corn be-
fore the hot season comes on, which is so hard onboth man andbeast. Inthe
early season one day or week makes a great difference with corn, for if a man
gets his corn plowed over before the May rains he will have the start of
weeds; but on the other hand, should we have a week or more of wet weather
before the later corn is large enough to plow, the weeds would have the start
in the uncultivated fields.

Value of Rape as a Hog Food

In the second annual report of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment
Association the above subject is discussed by Mr. C. E. Jones, of Waukesha
county, Wis., who says:

.**My experience in using rape as a forage plant for pigs has been growing
the last two years, although we have been growing rape for about five or six
years. We farmers came to the conclusion that in order to raise hogs the
most economical and thrifty way was to grow a bulky, succulent food for
them to graze upon. By doing this you will enlarge the frame (or body) of
the growing pig and expand his digestive system which will give him the
the power to digest grain feed closer.

Pigs fed in this way will make a quicker growth with less grain feed re-
quired for one pound of gain. The pig feeding experiments at our experi~
ment station where rane was used as a forage plant will prove this to you. It
even took less grain feed per pound of gain where rape was used than where
clover was used. My experience has tanght me that in order to produce rape
as forage you need other pasture connected with it, such as clover, rye, etc.
When you have a variety of feeds which sharpens their appetites, your pigs
will not be troubled with scours. Two years agolIscwed one acre of rape

146 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

connected with clover pasture. The pigs took asreadily to the rape as to
the clover. Itis best to allow rape to harden or until some of the lower
leaves turn brown before pasturing. By feeding at the-proper stage you will
have better results. The latter part of the season when old pastures are
getting short and dry, we are in need of a forage crop for pigs. Rape isthe
very plant that fills the bill of fare. Using rape asa forage will give us an
opportunity to change our. pigs on different ground. This keeps down disease
and produces cleanliness. Last season I plowed up our old hog yard and
sowed rape.

It produced enough forage for eight brood sows from September until
winter. This is just the food for the broodsow. Pasturing on rape will make
her more active and hasten growth of frame. It seems the only true way of
making a good mother of her. The kind of soil we have grown rape onisa
sandy loam. About two pounds of seed should be sown broadcast per acre.
Sow when the ground is moist or just before a rain so as to give it a start.
You can sow rape from early spring until late in August. Allow me to urge
upon every member of the experiment association who raises hogs to pre-
pare a small piece of ground, sow it to rape and use it asa pasture crop for
the pigs this coming season. Study the results and see if youdo not reapa
benefit and profit from it.”’

We feel that it is almost impossible to over-emphasize the importance of
the rape crop for hog feeding purposes. Rape comes in at a time when other
pastures are beginning to dry up, ard during August, September and October
if one has a small area into which he can turn his hogs he will find that it
will effect a very large saving in the amount of grain required.

There are those who have hada little hard luck while pasturing rape on ac-
count of the skin of hogs becoming blistered. Where there is any indication
of this taking place it is an excellent idea to turn the hogs out of the rape at
night and keep them out until the crop has become well dried off the next
morning. It is entirely practical tosowrape evenas late as the first of
August, and yet obtain considerable food before the ground freezesin the
fall. Of course, in this case there must be moisture in the surface soil to
germinate the seed at once, otherwise a crop may not result

There are but few farms but what have some wet or awkward corners
that cannot be worked or cultivated at the time that other crops are planted:
We have often sown such places, if but verysmall and have enjoyed the pleas-
ure of seeing the look of satisfaction and pleasure exhibited by that hog or
other animal so confined for some reason that green pasture could not be had
saying in our imagination, oh how good and acceptable and if no other place
is available so soon as the wheat, oatsor early potatoes are taken from the
ground, plough an acre and sow to rape and you will be surprised at the
great amount of feed you will get from it before frost will kill it giving your
hogs health, fat and comfort and just the time it will be most wanted. ~

Improving Our Grain Crops.

We have on several occasions called attention. through these columns, to
the fact that grains could be improved by the use of a system of grading that
would separate the plump heavy grain from that whichis light and shrunken.
The advice given in the past has been based on a somewhat extensive practi-
cal experience, backed by results obtained at a number of experiment sta-

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 147

tions. A world renowned seedsman and plant breeder, Mr. H. L. J. de Vil-
morin, in a paper given in the report of the Royal Agricultural Society takes
an entirely opposite view of the matter. He says:

‘In concludiug these notes on selection, it appears advisable to touch upon
a point to which certain people attach great importance, but on which my
opinion does not agree with that usually held. I refer to the custom of col-
lecting seeds from some certain part ofa plant in preference to another.
There is no idea more prevalent in gardening than that of the superiority in
seeds from the base of the central stem over those of the top of the same
stem and especially over those of the lateral branches. I have made, and
had made, experiments on this subject, and I have invariably found no differ-
ence among the seeds collected from various partsof the same plant with
respect to the proportion of single and double plants obtained. I have re-
peated these experiments many times on Ornamental plants with respect to
the doubling of flowers, on vegetables with respect to the size and quality of
the roots, and on cereals with respect to the yield in weight and appearance
of the seed, and I have always found that while individual plants may differ
from each other with respect to the trausmission of character, yet from the
same plant there was a great uniformity of results obtained. The larger
seeds produce slightly more vigorous plants in the earlier periods of growth,
but do not give any guarantee of ability to transmit superior qualities. When
a plant is known to be thoroughbred and its ability to transmit its own char-
acter has been established I should always prefer the smallest seed that came
from it, although collected from the part of the plant which is considered
the least favorable in the common opinion to the largest seed taken fromthe
part believed to be the most favorable of a plant whose pedigree is less cer-
tain.

It would seem to smack of audacity forthe average man toset up his
opinion on matters of this kind opposing so eminent an authority as Vilmorin
and in view of this we can but resort tosome data given in areportof the
Ontario station that bears directly on this subject. So speaking of his ex-
periments in barley Prof. C. A. Zavitz says:

The exp:riments with the different selections of seed barley extend over
a period of six years, the average results for the whole period being as fol-
lows: Large plump seed, 53.8 bushels of grain per acre, 1.5 tons of straw per
acre, and 49.5 pounds of grain per measured bushel; small plump seed 50.4
bushels of grain per acre, 1.5 tons of straw per acre and 48 8 pounds of grain
per measured bushel; and shrunken seed, 46 bushels of grain peracre, 1.4 tons
_ of straw per acre, and 49.1 pounds of grain per measured bushel. From these
results it will be seen that the large plump seed has given an average of near-
ly 8 bushels per acre more than the shrunken seed and a little over 3 bushels
per acre more than the small plump seed.

Speaking of the effect of seed selection in the case of spring wheats, the
same experimenter says:

The experiment in seed selection with spring wheat has now been con-
ducted for a period of eight years The average results for the eight years
show that large plump seed produced 2I.7 bushels of grain per acre, 1.4 tons
of straw per acre, and grain which weighed 59 1 pounds per measured bushel;
that the sma'l plump seed produced 18 bushels of grain per acre, 1.3 tons of
Straw per acre and grain which weighed 58.3 pounds per measured bushel;
and that shrunken seed produced 16.7 bushels of grain per acre, I.2 tons of

148 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

straw per acre, and grain which weighed 569 pounds per measured bushel.
The plump seed produced grain which was heavier than that produced from
shrunken seed the difference being 5 bushels per acre in favor of the former.
The large plump seed, therefore, gave practically 30 per cent more grain
per acre than that which was produced by the shrunken.

In the case of oats the results were even still more striking than with
barley and spring wheat. Professor Zavitz found that during a period of
seven years large plump oats gave an average yield of 62 bushels per acre,
the grain weighing 33.2 pounds per bushel; that medium size produced 54.1
bushels per acre, the grain weighing 32.2 pounds per bushel; while the small
seed produced 46 6 bushels per acre, the grain weighing 31 8 pounds per mea™
sured bushel. It will be seenin this case that the large oats produced 15.4
bushels pcr acre more than that produced by the small seed, or an increase
of 33 per cent.

In the face of results like these, coming from one who is noted for his
accuracy in scientific matters of this kind, we cannot but believe that the
greater vigor of plants grown from large plump seed in the early part of the
season is apparent throughout the entire growing season, and that at thresh-
ing time the difference is still as noticeable as ever, viewed from the stand-
point of bushels per acre. To our way of thinking it would be just as reason-
able to say that the small pig of a litter is of equal merit for breeding pur-

poses as the larger and better proportioned ones, as to say that asmall ker= |

nel from a wheat head will produce thesame results when sown, asa large
plump one.

There has been so much said of late as to corn breeding and how to im-
prove corn and it seems those who are working along this line have forgotten
the fact that oats and wheat are governed by the same laws of nature and
that they will just as readily respond to selection, good soil and cultivation
as any other crop grown. The fact is, our wheat, oats and other grains are
scrubs, and have not been improved by breeding, although they can be im-
proved as readily ascorn by selection and breeding. The fact that on our
rich land the average of oats is about 32 bushels to the acre, showing that
we are raising scrub oats, and also that we are not raising as much of that
as we could if our systemof cultivation was better. The same thing holds
good with wheat, and I think ina greater extent. In our stock breeding we
realize that like produces like, we know the same thing now about our corn
and the same thing is true about our oats, If wesow scrub, light, inferior
grain we certainly will raise the same kind as we sow; if we sow good, heavy,
perfect seed, we will raise that kind. Wecan breed good by sowing good
seed, as surely as we can raise gocd cattle by using good blood. Too often
we think that anything will do to sow that will come up; if we want to im-
prove our oats and wheat we must sow only the heaviest grain The seed
should be run through one of our best fanning mills, that will save only the
very heaviest grains. It may be desirable to run the grain through the sec-
ond time. It will take some work to thus prepare the seed. In this way you
will have seed that will raise good heavy grain. The grain grown from this
seed will weigh at least 2to4 pounds tothe bushel more than the ordinary
grain. This means an increase of 6 to 10 per cent and instead of our average
yield being 32 bnshels to the acre, will befrom 40to 75 for oats and 30 to 40
for wheat. These small gains of a few bushels per acre will easily pay all
the taxes or interest upon the farm.

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 149

We hope that the farmers will pay as much attention to improving their
seed oats and wheat as they ¢oto improving their stock, and when they do
this they will get better crops and make more money.

We consider the above an object lesson that should be studied by every
thinking farmer and if fully carried out tothe bestof their opportunities
will result in a fine paying proposition.

The Score Card And The Common Farmer.

VITAL POINTS MISSED IN SCORING CORN VALUE.

Plant Should Not Be Grown For Its Beauty But For Its Meat And Mill Producing Quali-
ties—Some Important Things Overlooked In Score Cards:

That there is a good dealof claptrap about corn judging is not to be
denied, and Professor J. T. Willard, director of the Kansas experiment sta-
tion, writes a timely criticism of the methods employed in some quarters,
He says: E

‘*Within the last few years great interest has been awakened inthe pos-
sibilities of improvement in corn and it has been demonstrated that by intel-
ligent selection strains may be produced in which protein, starch or fat is
made the dominant charactcristic. The agricultural colleges are giving
marked attention to instruction in corn judging, the agricultural papers ex-
ploit the subject, and the hard-headed, practical farmers are beginning to
think that there may be sumetbing of value in it.

All of this interest is right, and if rightly yielded must bring valuable re-
turns but from much that appears it would seem that some of the most vital
factors in making up one’s judgment on a variety of corn are almost, and in
some cases completely, neglected. To rationally judge corn we must keep
constantly before us the object fer which corn is produced. Though a hand-
some plant, corn is not grown for ornament; though an ear of corn may be a
thing of beauty, beauty is not the aim inits production By far the greater
portion of the corn crop is produced and used directly for feeding purposes.

The remainder, not required for seed,is used in certain industries in
which one or another of its constituents may possess a special value. For
the great majority of farms, therefore, that corn is best which will produce
the most nutriment peracre. The production of nutriment per acre, consid-
ering now the ears only, will depend upon (1) the weight of the shelled corn
peracre and (2) upon its chemical composition. Here, then are the vital
points in corn production—yield and composition—yet neither of these ap-
pears on the ordinary score card, though, of courss, some of the points con-
sidered in scoring have a direct bearing on them.

SOME DOUBTFUL SCORE CARDS.

‘‘The score cards emphasize points that have much to do with the beauty
of the individual ear, but have little or no bearing upon its practical value.
Varieties are judged with reference to an arbitrary standard selected as a
type, notwithstanding the fact that the type of any variety of corn is altered
by a change of climatic relations. It isinsisted upon that the ends of the
cob must be well covered with grain, that white corn have little white cobs,
and yellow corn red cobs, and that the rows must be straight.

‘All these are merely fancy points, conformity to which does not insure,
or even tend toward a maximum production of nutriment peracre. lt might
even be argued that possession of acob which is not always filled to the ut-

150 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

most limit is a variety characteristic that is to be sought rather than to be
discarded, since it indicates a habit of growth which in certain seasons might
be taken advantage of to extend the length of the rows of grain.

‘‘We have seen how quality has been made snbservient to fads in respect
to color of pure-bred cattle; we see in the judging of poultry how the practi-
cal points have been almost surpressed by the fancy inscoring, Should we
not take pains to avoid any such degeneration in corn judging?

‘Corn judging will lack very much of being ona practical basis until a
variety is judged by its crop producing power first. The chemical composi-
tion of the corn is the next consideration, after which accessory and fancy
points may recieve some attention.

PROTEIN THE THING.

‘‘A variety producing thirty bushels of handsome ears per acre should
not receive a moment’s favorable consideration as compared with one pro-
ducing thirty-five bushels of ears, however deficient in beauty the latter may
be. ‘

‘‘Differences in composition cause equal weights of corn to have different
values. Corn being deficient in protein and our most abundant grain, a var
iety showing yield equal to another, but having a higher percentage of pro™
tein, would possess superior value. So, too, fats though containing the same
elements as carbohydrates, contain them in different proportion, and weight
for weight, possess,about two and one-fourth times as great feeding value.

‘‘Kifty-six pounds of corn containing 7 per cent of fat.would have about
as great feeding value as fifty-eight pounds of corn containing only 4 per
cent of fat, the amount of protein being supposed to remain the same in the
two cases.

‘‘*Handsome is as handsome does.’ Let us judge varieties of corn on a
record of past performances, rather than of promise forthe future, based
merely on good looks.”’

Utilizing the Wet Places

There are to be seen a great many wet places in cornfields where a stand
of corn is entirely lacking, Throughout the corn belt the ground that is liable
to remain unproductive on account of wetness will amount to an exceedingly
large area. It may seem at present as though it is difficult to do anything to
prevent this ground from growing upto weeds during the balance of this
season. ,

While cornfields are generally reluctantly patched, yet we believe that
it often pays to patch them. In some cases draws that have dried out are be-
ing sown to millet, while in other cases, sorghumis being planted. Ofcourse,
these crops are not sownin rows and no attempt is made to cultivate them.
The fields are cultivated just the same as if no crops were sown in these
places, but the shovels are lifted out while crossing the draws. By the last
time the corn is cultivated a little damage may seem to be done by the
tramping of the horses, but it is surprising how much fodder may often be
obtained in spite of alittle rough treatment, especially if the season happens
to be reasonably dry after seeding. Where sorghum is used it is advisable to
sow somewhat thick, using it at the rate of from 80 to 100 pounds of seed per
acre. When sown in this way sorghum makesa most excellent fodder, and
will be found to be palatable for all kinds of stock, It is usually cut with the

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG isi

mower, although in case the crop is not very heavy it may be handled with
an ordinary self-binder.

Sometimes it is practicable to plant a little early-maturing corn in these
low places. As the draws usually run in an angular direction across the field
it is impossible to check the corn so that it will match the rows, hence it is
just about as well to make no attempt to check it, but to drill in the seed.
Of course the shovels must be raised when the field is crossed, and while this
corn may not be large when the regular crop is laid by, it may be possible to
obain all the way from twenty to forty bushels per acre from these places
that would otherwise go to waste. Pride of the North and Longfellow Dent
are varieties that mature in about ninety days so that it is possible
throughout a large area of the ¢orn belt tosow even aslate as the Ist of
July and yet obtain a reasonably good stand. It is necessary before planting
to thoroughly set back all weed growth by the use of the seed disc. This is
hignly important, as but little opportunity will be afforded for cultivation
during the growing season.

More Depends on Grass Than Any Other Crop

The late Senator Ingalis of Kansas, during his long life of public service
said many good things in an eloquent and charming manner. The following
is taken from one of his notable addresses on Agriculture: ,

“Next in importance tothe divine profusion of water, light and air,
those three physical facts which render existence possible, may be reckoned
the universal beneficences of grass. Lying in the sunshine among the butter-
cups and dandelions of May, scarcely higher in intelligence than those minute
tenants of that mimic wilderness our earliest recollections are of grass; and
when the-fitful fever is ended, and the foolish wrangle of the market and the
forum is closed, grass heals over the scar which our descent into the bosom
of the earth has made and the carpet of the infant becomes the blanket of
the dead.

“Grass is the forgiveness of nature—her constant benediction. Fields
trampled with battle, saturated with blood, torn with the ruts of cannon,
grow green again with grass, and carnage is forgotten. Streets abandoned
by traffic become grass grown, like rural lanes, and are obliterated.
forests decay, harvests perish, flowers vanish, but grass isimmortal. Be-
leaguered by the sullen hosts of winter, it withdraws into the impregnable
fortress of its subterranean vitality, and emerges upon the solicitation of
spring. Sown by the winds, by wandering birds, propagated by the subtle
horticulture of the elements which areits ministers and servants, it softens
the rude outlines of the world. It invades the solitude of deserts, climbs the
inaccessable slopes and pinnacles of mountains and modifies the history,char-
acter and destiny of nations. Unobtrusive and patient, it has immortal
vigor and aggression Banished from the thoroughfare and fields, it bides
its time to return, and when vigilance is relaxed, or the dynasty has perished
it’silently resumes the throne from which it had been expelled, but which it
never abdicates. It bears no blazonry of bloom to charm the senses with
fragrance or splendor, but its homely hue is more enchanting than the lily or
the rose, it yields no fruit in earth or air, yet should its harvests fail fora
single year, famine would depopulate the work.”’

The Score Card |
As applied to corn growing and judging in our opinion, an object lesson

152 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

calling the attention to certain points or rules adopted by certain organiza-
tions to be used for the purpose of making award to the person showing an
ear of corn having the most of the points thus described in such Score Card
aud has notbing to do with the real value of the corn as to weight, yieldor
desirability, time of maturity and therefore has no bearing upon the work of
the farmer or the breeder or the honest man who may be at the head of our
testing stations or state farms who are working along well defined lines and
who are selecting from the best planting under various conditions and culti-
vation making tests of different combinations of crossing and watching the
results in this way they are brought in close connection withnature. The
writer has spent many years in such study and fully understands the difficul-
ties under which one must work. It takes time and patience. “Profiavem:
Willara of the Experimental Station of Kansas, in an able article publised
in the Drovers Journal in which he callelattention to the score card and said:

‘Tt has its merits, it should not be forgotten that the most important
factors, yield per acre and chemical composition, are not taken into consid-
eration in the score card. He is inclined to think that too much attention is
being directed to fancy points and not enough tothe points of real value:
Prof. Willard says: ‘Let us judge varieties on arecord of past performance
rather than of promise for the future, based merely on good looks.’

Commenting upon this article, one of our contemporaries recently said:
‘Tt is true the score card should emphasize those points that contribute most
to the yield per acre, and yet we cannot help but think that it has contrib-
uted to-this end as much as any other factor. It has taught us that it is not
necessary to have ‘homely’ looking corn in order to have alarge yielding
corn, and experiment station officers would do well to get into line instead of
belittling the efforts of those scientists and workers who have been improv-
ing our varieties of corn and teaching others todo the same during the last
decade. We though-that the blunder made by the Minnesota Station along
this line was sufficient example to prevent its repetition. That station
started out to acclimate and improve a variety of corn that would outyield
anything onthe market. Weunderstand that after a time this object was
attained, but sohomely was the corn, owing to the neglect of these ‘fancy’
points in selection that seedsmen could not dispose of it. Consequently this
variety has fallen into disrepute, and the workers of that station are now
making strenuous efforts to improve not only the ytelding qualities but also
the outward appearance of this corn. This example should stand as a warn-
ing to men who are filled with fear over the danger of getting good looking
corn that does not produce the pounds per acre ”’

In regard to the ‘blunder’? made by the Minnesota Station, we wish to
say tha that station has not made any blunder as their cornitself has proved:
It is quite evident that our contemporary has been misinformed on this par-
ticular point. It is true that when the Minnesota Station began the improve-
ment of corn varieties by breeding and selection, those conducting the work
did not lay a great deal of stress upon ‘‘fancy points’? because they deemed
yield p2r acre of far greater importance than mere outward appearance of
the ear, and we most decidedly think they did well. Itis also true that now,
since yield has been obtained, they are giving some attention to appearance;
never, however, do they lose sight of the fact that the past performance
records, as regards yield per acre, are of far greater importance than mere
fancy points. That great progress has been made at the Minnesota Station

BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 153

in plant breeding is generally known to those informed upon that subject and
to read of the great ‘‘Blunder’’ was therefore no little surprise to us. Class
Bulletin No. 14, recently written by Prof Coates P. Bull, who now has charge
of corn improvement at the Minnesota Station, was issued May 10, 1904, and
amply sets forth the fact that the Minnesota plant improvement has brought
forth important practical results. Their corn, Minn. No. 13 for instance,
which yielded an average of 48.6 bushels during a four years’ trial, when sub-
sequently selected according to the method in use at that station for five
consecutive years, increased its yielding capacity by 16.3 bushels per acre.
In other words, the average yield from ’94 to ’97 was 48.6 bushels, while from
98 to ’03 the average was 64.9 bushels peracre. Where the ‘‘Blunder”’ comes
in is difficult to see when viewing the results from astandpoint of practical
utility.

In regard to the fact that seedsmen were unwilling te handle the corn of
the Minnesota Station, we are not aware of any such cases and we happen to
be well informed upon that point. In 1903 and 1904the demand for this
“homely” corn was far in excess of the supply, and further, a record from
experiment station distributions to farmers in various parts of the state
gives, in nearly every case, a satisfactory report. Aside from this,the South
Dakota Station has found it acceptable for conditions in that state: Wiscon-
sin and North Dakota are also cultivating its acquaintance. To keep anew
variety of grainup toits full yielding capacity a system of constant selec-
tion must be practiced, and this to be effective, must be based upon capacity
to yield a large crop. Cornisno exception and will deteriorate rapidly if
not selected with care. Under common methods, a highly bred variety will
run down toan inferior quality, and thisis probably what happens under
seedsmen’s management.

These in brief, are some of the facts regarding the corn, Minnesota No.
13, to which presumably, our contemporary refers. It would seem that the
Minnesota Station has been grossly misrepresented, and we are glad to, at
least, in part, correct the error. It is very easy for those of the score card
school, to temporarily lose sight of the real value of anearofcorn. The
yield per acre is what the farmer wants, and what the farmer wants, is also
what the merchant and the manufacturer wants. It is perfectly true that

_the qualities set forth in most score cards are toa certain extent valuable,

but the yieldcannot be measured entirely by looks. What do the factory
men care about looks so long as they can get the quantity and quality suited
to their purpose? What is there left of the beauty of an ear of corn after it
has been shelled, the cob burned or ground and the grain ground into forty
‘different manufacturing products? Yield is also what the feeder wants, and
little does the steer or hog care whether his corn is pretty to look at or is
homely so long as he gets quantity and quality.

It is not the purpose here to ridicule or denounce the score card for it
has a purpose and fills it well when in the hands of the proper teacher. But
it is the purpose tocall to mind the fact that yield is first and of greatest
importance. Experience in corn breeding has amply demonstrated that it
is not necessarily the good looking ear or the one scoring highest according
to the score card that should be used in the improvement of varieties, but
the one wnich yields most shelled grain and shows by its progeny that it has
a strong prepotency to produce an abundant yield per acre. Let us first look
for yield, early maturity and such other practical points as may suggest

154 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

themselves and let appearance and fancy points be of secondary importance.

Intense Cultivation

Cut of a Cornfield that by Intense Cultivation and Improved Seed turned out
140 Bushels per Acre.

In the production of all kinds of crops we must have more intense culti-
vation. No matter what crop or in what section of the world, the more and
better the cultivation the better the crop. It is a recognized fact that in-
tense cultivation and civilization go hand in hand, and we must in truth say
the same for the new and better education. ‘sea

We get our living from the earth and mostly from the farm, By reference
to page 23, you will note what is said in regard to abandoned farms. Hadthe
people who cultivated those farms had the knowledge we possess today and
have been able to give those farms the intelligent and intense cultivation as
we understand it, there would have been no abandoned farms. The first idea
of each farmer is the money consideration. We all want money. Butit
must not be obtained in such a way that we rob the soil and make no returns,
hence the better knowledge.

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BY J. B. ARMSTRONG 5S)

Again there is no place on the farm for the lazy man, and] am positive
that money can be made on the farm if we only work with energy in arational
and scientific manner, first planning our work with judgment and thought
then carying it out faithfully. Wecannot blame those of the past for not
doing all they ought, for in their time the people did not possess the know-
ledge that we may so easily have at this time.

The agricultural world had not awakened up to the fact that they would
be required to feed the people of the universe, and furnish the sustenance
that would support the workers in all the industries of the world, that they
were in fact the chosen ones who could and would sustain the mechanic, the
merchant, the manufacturer, together with the other thousand of in-
dustries. Today we face this problem. This being the case how important
then must it be that we must be learned in all that pertains to the farm, in
such a manner that we may get the best there isfrom the soil. First, by
knowing all that pertains to the soil and second, all that pertains to intense
farming in all its different forms. When we have mastered these points we
occupy the high position of master of the situation and be able to raise 100
bushels of corn per acre easily. See cut.

We note the fact that in many of the farm papers that there is fear ex-
pressed that our boys will not stay onthe farm. This may in many cases be
true yet it has been our observation that the farm boy who has had the right
training and surroundings will not forget the old home, and the honorable
vocation of his father, nor the gentle teachings of his mother. But he will

Cut of a cornfield that from poor cultivation, poor seed and lack of knows
ledge turned out fifteen bushels per acre.

read and thirst for more and better knowledge. He willseek the agricultural
schools in which he will be an earnest worker and when his education is fin-
ished he will hasten back to the old farm home with that pride that justly
belongs to the honest student. When he will be prepared toimpart to others
that knowledge that shall and will enthuse and engage others in the great
work of progress and the good to be derived from such learning and observa-
tion will obviate their many ruined cornfields.

The men who guide our nation today were boys from the farm one day;

156 BOOK ON CORN GROWING

the men who shall take their places in the future are yet on the farm. They
are getting the inspiration, and the grand work will roll on; the farm boy
will be the one to fill the high positions of our nation, and make farming the
most honorable calling amongst the people, and with the latest improved
implements and methods of today the most profitable vocation that can be
found. It raises the standard of morality and intellect, it gives one a life of
toil and at the same time enjoyment of quiet and rest with which no other
occupation can compare, for their old and declining days. The art of science
is nothing but knowing how to do while that intenseness is but doing witha
will what we have to doin aright way. This can and will bedone. But
let me say to the fathers and mothers who have the first training of
the young, do your best to make the home and surroundings as happy and as
pleasant as possible for the young children, but do not forget the one fact
while you are doing this keep this one point in view. The farm home, the

Farm machinery that was used in growing 100 bushel per acre.

farm association and the farm papers have them ofthe puresttype. The
first impression of the young and the one that stays with them the longest
are those of youth, and will come to their assistance in after life when most
needed. Occasionally the son or daughter while young and thoughtless will
wander away, yet when they cometo that point when they must face the
realities of life those early teachings and surroundings come back with double
force. Then will the education obtained in their younger days under the
above teachings be in great worth in rounding out their happily declining
years.

I most sincerely hope that all who have thoroughly studied this volume
may and will understand its teachings, and prosper bythe same. And I trust
at least it will do all such lasting good.

Truly yours,

J. B. ARMSTRONG.

The ripe fruit is dropped at last without violence, but the lightning
flashed and the storm raged, and strata was deposited and up torn and bent
back and chaos moved from beneath to create and fiavor the fruit and color
the flowers on your table today.

Page 134.

pages |S:
Page 51.
Page, i:

Page 72

Page 74.

Page 75

Page 83.
Page 84.
Page 102.

Page 116

Page 60.
Page 109.
Page 110.
Page 112.
Page 129.

Page 69.
Page 70.
Page 76.

Page 34.
Page 141.

Pages.
Page 68.
Page 75.

Page 90.

Page 33.

Page 151.

INDE X.

A
A twenty acre farm.
Agriculture at the head.
Acclimation of corn and how to get good seed.
Absorption of rainfall.
A green manure crop.
Adopting corn varieties.

B
Bacteria and the nitrogen.
Barren stalks problem.

C

Corn improvements and selection.

Corn planting the foundation of the crop.
Corn experiments.

Corn breeding or selection.

Can small potatoes be profitably used for planting.

Cultivation.
Crop rotation, methods and value.

Crop rotation at South Dakota experimental station.

D

Do not sell the farm.

Do not plow too deep.

Depth of ploughing.

Depth of planting.

Distance vetween rows and hills

Depth of cultivation

Don’t get the cultivation too deep.
Deep versus shallow cultivation of corn.

Does it pay to spray potatoes. (An article of great interest to all.)

Distance between plants.

; E
Early and late planting.
Effect of sprouting
Effect on gross saleable yield.
Effect on net saleable crop.
Essential for the progressive farmer.

F

Fertilizers and crop rotation.
Fall ploughing.
Frequency of cultivation.

EE
How legumes improve the soil.
How roots grow.

us

Introduction. . The feeder and the breeder.
Importance of retaining soil moisture.
Importance of thorough cultivation.

L
Laying corn by.
M

Must maintain soil fertility.

Maintaining fertility of the soil,

Means of preventing soil washing.
Manuring potato ground.

Mulching.

More depends on grass than any other crop.

Page 115.
Page 116.
Page 142.

Page 23.
Page 54.

Page 137.

Page 110.

Page 67.
Page 93.
Page 130.
Page I31.
Page 144.
Page 43.
Page 57.
Page 65.
Page 109.
Page 110.
Page 114.
Page 119.
Page 120.
Page 127.
Page 130.

Page 9.
Pages ts

N

Number of eyes and weight per set.
Number of stalks per hill.
No money in an average crop.

P.

Possibilities of farm education.
Preparing the ground.

Planting corn.

Planting.

Planting with a lister.

Planting with a check rower.

Products of a single hill.

Possibilities of selection and association.
Potato cultivation.

Planting potatoes. (General directions. }
Potato diseases and treatment.

Potato blight. (State blight or rot.)
Potato scab.

Practical farming.

Q

Quantity of seed potatoes per acre,

R

Rolling or hilly ground.

Regulate the air.

Requisites for successful teacher or investigator.
Relation of the scientist to the farmer“

Red clover and other varieties.

Seed corn.

Selection and care for seed corn.

Some land too poor for profitable corn growing.
Seed end versus stem end.

Size of seed pieces.

Size of seed potatoes.

Second crop potatoes.

Summary.

Soil problems for practical farmers.

Study of mechanical characteristics of the soil.

4y

The farmer’s sons and daughters.
Thoughts for father and mother on the farm, intelligent and pro-

fitable farm knowledge.

Page 128.
Page 143.
Page 145.
Page 149.
Page 151.
Page 138.

Page 134.
Page 150.

Page 145.

Page 86.
Page 100.
Page 133.
Page 141.

Page 113.

The study of geology by the farmer.

To prevent potato blight.

The early man.

The score card and the common’ farmer.
The score card.

The sick farm.

U
Use of barnyard manure.
Utilizing the wet places.
Vv
Value of rape as hog food.
; Ww

What may be done to increase the vield of corn.
What is the farm?
Work in crop rotation at experimental station.
Warming up the ground.

Y
Yield from planting different pieces.

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MAR 5 1906

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

TIEAITA

000268159659