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Show CULTIVATING THE GROWING GORN By R. B. Rushing. As soon ns tho corn 13 large enough tho cultivator should be stnrtod and kept going until the corn gets too tall and largo for the cultivator to straddle. In plowing tho corn tho flrst two times the shovel should bo set to go rather dcop and then after that tho ground chould not bo stirred quite so dean. I hear a great deal about tho surfaco sur-faco cultivation of corn. I bcllovo In tho surfaco cultivation In a uay, but do not think that surface cultivation cultiva-tion should be run to tho extreme. The corn plant Is a heavy feeder and should havo a foundation ln order for It to mako tho very best development. If tho corn land Is Just scratched the roots will run out over tho surface and not go very deep, and consequently not havo sufficient foundation to make the proper development. My cxporlcnco has been that until tho plant is getting rather large, at least the first two plowlngs should bo rather deep, and evon after that. If tho land Ln stirred frequently boforo the little feeding roots havo becomo established. estab-lished. I plow rather deep nnd thon after tho plant gets larger It Is then tlmo enough to havo tho surfaco Just scratched, which will keep a soil mulch and that plant wfll then make a good development. After my corn gets too large to work with the cultivator I always go through with a one-horeo drag or a plowing machine to level It down and to kill the weeds that havo sproutod. By this way of cultivating I am Bure you will havo vory few weeds to i. 'w u yWj -&??& ;-33-gn. Uso the bnrrow till tho ground Is fino. bother at gathering time, or cutting time, or when you cut It for siloing. Of cour.so thoro is a great difference of opinion among men ln regard to the best way of cultivating corn, and ln a sonso there should be different methods. Some soils will naturally need deeper cultivation than others. In all cases, however, thorough Ul lage Is absolutely necessary to Becuro the host results Somo will say, as I havo often heard the expression: "I Just plowed my corn twico and I mado good corn, and thcroforo know that It Is not necessary to. do so much cultivating." This may bo truo. I have soon corn made with Just two plowlngs, but I am confident that ihe same corn, would havo beun bottor had it been I better cultivated. A ploco of land that Is very rich and in good physical condition might make vory good stuff under such conditions, con-ditions, but on soils that must bo workod to havo them glvo forth their storo of plnnt food, 3uch cultivation would avail nothing. Therefore It Is absolutely necessary to know tho character of the soil and then apply the method which will yield the largest returns, and this can only bo dono when tho soil is mado a study Many farmers say that It does not pay to replant corn becauso of tho loss of time, cost of seed, etc. Some think it bettor to plow up tho ground and put ln some othor crop, but the experience of n good many go to show that It docs pay to replant. Speaking on this subject, Mr. R. W. Owsley, of Missouri, says. I regard roplantlng Junt as essential as any part of the work essential to raising the crop. Tho basis of tho crop Is tho stand, of course, and unless this bo a full ono no matter how fertile tho soil may bo or how pure tho socd you cannot obtain ob-tain a satisfactory yield. Of course, roplantlng Is ofton necessary neces-sary because of the poor quality of the seed, but this Is not always tho case. Wot weather followed by unfavorable un-favorable climatic conditions may kill out a large portion of tho stand, and then It seems to me that It Is folly not to replace thcRe klllod-out hills with new seed. In a field of 60 acres ln one portion of which Is more than two-thirds of tho crop was klllod by a heavy storm followed by an extremoly hot sun I replanted the entire field, using hand planters, and an tho season turned ont to bo an excellent ono tho replanted grain came up quickly and within a month no difference botweon the corn that was first planted and that that was replanted could bo soon. Last year I planted a field Just be-foro be-foro the heavy rains came on, and 'about one-third of tho seed failed to como up. The seed was Yellow Dent, selected, and tho failure wan due 1 entirely to the rain. I replanted a white corn of a late variety. A good stand followed nnd tho Held tassolcd twice. At harvesting timo there Vas an much whlto corn as yellow and of a bettor grade and there was not a mixed car In tho field. Usually I think It Is better to replant re-plant with an early variety. Somo farmors bellevo that a belated stock will not produco good ears, but my experience does not bear out this theory. If two or more stalks grow ln the hill togethor thoy will go through tho breeding process Just as successfully as though tho cntlro field tassolcd out at once. My experience has been that when tho propor attention Is given to ro-pUnting ro-pUnting the yields will increase from ono-fourth to one-half. c A good clod amnshcr. You will be disappointed If yon expect to hnncst a good crop from gro und thus prepared. |