The A B C of corn culture

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Chapter I The Corn Crop

Preparing the Ground, Planting and Cultivating the Crop

There is no one best method suited to all sections, or to the different soils of a section, nor even to the different fields of the same farm. Frequently two very different methods may give equally good results. There are no "ironclad" rules which may be followed blindly for the growing of corn any more than in other farm work. "Have good ground, do the work on time and do it thoroughly," should be the motto of every corn grower

IMPORTANCE OF GOOD GROUND

Nothing can make up for poor ground. Too many are trying to raise corn on old "worn-out" ground that has produced corn, oats and wheat for years. I met a man at an institute in Illinois who said in all seriousness that he was satisfied the seasons were less favorable for corn growing than they used to be, as he could get no such crops as he used to raise. Inquiry developed that he had grown corn for seventeen years in succession on the same piece of ground. No wonder the "seasons were becoming less favorable."

Let us remember that it was but a few years ago that the farms of the corn belt were broken from the virgin soil, and that because we have been able to crop the ground continuously in the past is no assurance that we may continue to do so in the future with profit. The fact is that the time is near at hand when we must give greater attention to* the fertility of our soil, to the conserving and restoring of the elements of plant food, or we shall soon be compelled to pay out millions of dollars annually for these elements in the form of commercial fertilizers, as is now being done in the East.

The tremendous importance attached to this question cannot be appreciated by those who have had no experience in the use of commercial fertilizers in the older settled parts of our country.

What is needed is more clover, better use of barnyard manure, and less of the continuous cropping with corn, oats and wheat.

FALL PLOWING FOR CORN

There is a great diversity of opinion regarding the merits of fall and spring plowing even in the same neighborhood. Among the advantages of fall plowing are the following :

First: The work is done at the slackest time of the year, when both men and teams would otherwise be idle.

Second: Having the ground already plowed in the spring sives us time to better prepare the ground, and, what is of equal importance, to get our corn in on time.

Third: A better prepared and a warmer seed bed, and consequently a better stand of corn.

Fourth: Less danger from insect enemies, especially in the case of sod ground.

Fifth: Weeds are prevented from seeding, and the seeds already in the ground will mostly germinate and be killed by the fall freezes before they have seeded. This is especially true of early fall plowing.

Some disadvantages of fall plowing are:

First: Occasional losses from blowing and washing on rolling ground.

Second: Unless the ground is disked early in the spring there is a loss of moisture and a consequent "firing" of the corn during the latter part of July and August, especially in dry seasons.

Third: The fall plowing does not give as good an opportunity to spread manure during the late summer and through the winter.

During the year 1904 the soils department of the Iowa State College conducted experiments with fall and spring plowing in different parts of Iowa, and in every case the yield of corn was greater on the fall plowing than on the spring plowing. The evidence is generally in favor of the fall plowing in the corn belt, but results will vary greatly with the method of handling the ground in the spring.

The mistake is commonly made of leaving the fall-plowed ground without disking until time to plant. The ground has become packed by snow and rain, and should be disked or harrowed as soon as the oat seeding is over. This will conserve the moisture and lessen the firing of the corn in August, so common to fall plowing.

Ground that is very rolling and likely to wash should not be plowed in the fall. Early fall plowing of stubble ground is usually advisable when the ground is very weedy. In the corn belt, where the area put into corn is large and the corn-planting period is short, it is the best kind of management to plow all stubble and sod ground in the fall.

Photo by A. D. Shame/ .

Fig. 1 — Root development of a single corn plant at time of "laying by." The roots do not run straight down from the stalk, as many suppose. Deep cultivation the first time over the field will not injure the corn; it will clean the ground and leave a good mulch. The experiments all show that deep cultivation after this always reduces the yield.

LATE PLANTING BAD

We should bear in mind that one of the most serious losses to the corn crop every year is due to late planting. Experiments show that late-planted corn seldom yields as much as that planted earlier, and the quality is inferior. The ground becomes hard and out of condition, the weeds have drawn upon the moisture and available plant food, the crop comes to the dry spell in a more critical stage, the proportion of barren stalks is greater, and it matures more slowly, contains more water and is much more likely to be caught by the frost.

Every year thousands of farmers lose heavily from late planting. Many of these are good farmers, but are unexpectedly delayed with the spring work, by a combination of bad weather, sick horses and scarcity of help.

This matter of readiness in the spring is of great importance in the corn belt, and is made all the more so because it is practically impossible to secure outside help at this time of the year.

PLOW STUBBLE GROUND EARLY

Let me say again, it is generally advisable to plow stubble ground early in the fall.

First: Because the weeds which have been started will be prevented from seeding, and the weed seeds will be brought near to the surface, where they will germinate and be killed by the frost before they have seeded in the fall.

Second: This second growth of volunteer oats, weeds, etc., will protect the ground during the winter and keep the soil from blowing. The late fall plowing has no second growth and blows worse in the winter.

Third: There is more spare time for the work. If the stubble ground is left for late fall plowing it is apt to crowd the plowing of sod over into spring, which is bad practice generally.

LATE FALL PLOWING BEST FOR SOD

The reasons for plowing sod ground in the late fall are:

First: It gives us the benefit of late summer pasture, and in case of clover a second crop for seed or to turn under to enrich the ground.

Second: It is the best possible place to spread the barnyard manure during August and September, as there is the least danger of washing or leaching.

Third: The ground can be much better prepared and with less work than when plowed in the spring.

Fourth: There is less danger from damage by cutworms and other insect enemies. There are many instances this year where the ground froze last fall before the "plowing of the field was completed. The corn on the portion that remained over and was plowed in the spring was frequently greatly injured by cutworms and had to be replanted.

It may often be advisable to leave some ground on which to spread manure during the winter. In this case it had better be the clover sod rather than the timothy or the blue grass.

Where clover is seeded with the oats or barlev for fertilizing;

Fig. 2 — The effect of injury to the coin loots. The coin in both strips received ordinary cultivation. The strip on the right was root-pruned four inches deep — that is the roots were cut, or pruned, with a rolling cutter adjusted to run four inches deep and about seven inches from the row. The root pruning was done after each cultivation and in the same diiection as the cultivator was run. The difference in the giowth of the corn is very noticeable. The experiment was repeated four times. The coin root-piuned four inches deep yielded fifteen bushels per acie Jess than that which was not piuned. Scores of carefully conducted experiments all go to show that injury to the roots reduces the yield of corn. The greatest damage is generally the result of allowing the shovels next to the* row of corn to run too deeply, especially during the last two cultivations. Many seem to think that because they are "laying by" the com, and will not get another chance at it, they must give it what is called a "good laying by." Injury to the roots also tends to make the coin later in maturing, chaffy and inferior in quality.

purposes, or where rape is sown in the oats for fall feed, it will, of course, be necessary to plow late in the fall.

BETTER ATTENTION TO FALL-PLOWED GROUND

The fall-plowed ground is often neglected in the spring and left to dry out, and the weeds are allowed to get a good start, robbing the ground of moisture and food. Not only should the fall plowing be disked as soon as oat seeding is over, but the corn stubble as well. When cornstalk ground is disked early in the spring the moisture is saved, the stubs are cut up and mixed with the soil, giving less trouble during cultivation, and a better seed bed is secured, also. If not disked, the surface is turned to the bottom of the furrow in a lumpy condition, where neither harrow, disk nor cultivator will reach it.

SPRING PLOWING ABUSED

We often abuse our spring plowing by turning the earth up to the sun and dry winds to bake and dry out, depending upon a shower to mellow the ground before planting time.

With spring plowing it is a good rule never to leave the field at noon or night without harrowing the ground that has been plowed. In my estimation no ground can be properly prepared, giving a good seed bed for corn, without the use of the disk. A half-prepared seed bed means a poor stand of corn and an uneven growth, and the corn will suffer more from drought and other unfavorable conditions.

DEPTH TO PLOW

What is known as deep plowing is not advisable in the corn belt, although the loose soils and bottom lands may be plowed much deeper than the heavy clay soils or the black prairie soils Avith less danger of bad results. There is seldom any advantage in plowing more than six inches deep, either in spring or fall. If the ground is to be plowed deeper than formerly, it should be done in the fall. On heavy soils the bad effects of too deep plowing are often apparent for several years.

TOO DEEP PLANTING

Too deep planting is especially bad when the seed is weak or the spring is cold and backward. When the ground is not well prepared or is very mellow, there is danger of putting the seed down four or five inches when two inches would be better. Especial care should be taken in case of early planting when the ground is still cold.

There were several cases last spring where the seed from the same sack was planted in two different fields, giving a good stand in one and a very poor stand in the other. Investigation showed that the poor stand was due to deep planting. Corn is generally planted deeper than we think. The planter wheels frequently sink into the earth two or more inches and the corn is covered another two inches. The planter tracks are then filled in by harrowing the field, and the corn is often more than four inches deep. We often watch the planter carefully for a few rounds, then pay no more attention to the depth of planting-. The soil is mellower as we get away from the headland, and consequently the corn is planted deeper than we supposed.

A DRY, MEALY SURFACE BAD

On the other hand, there is no more serious mistake than shallow planting in lumpy, dry, mealy soil. The moisture is

Fig. 3 — Photograph of the famous corn plant in the Iowa exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. This shows the root development of the plant when the corn is in the milky stage. Many of these roots are more than five feet in length.

not sufficient for rapid germination, the seed soaks up slowly, much of it sours or rots, and the remainder comes up unevenly with a large per cent, of sickly, plants. This condition is most frequently found where the spring plowing was not followed by the harrow the same day or where the disk was not used in preparing the seed bed, and especially when these two conditions are accompanied by a dry, cold May.

STRAIGHT ROWS AND EVEN CHECKING

The' yield of corn is often reduced and the work of cultivation made slow and difficult because of carelessness in handling the planter. Uneven checking may be due to several causes. In the case of short fields we generally draw the wire too tight and the planter checks too quick both ways. On long fields we are apt to check ahead, owing to slack in the wire, and this is especially true where the tongue of the planter is raised too high and the team walks fast. In the case of irregular shaped fields the checking is apt to be bad. This is especially true where the ends of the field are not at right angles with the rows. In this case there will be a jog every four rows, the amount depending upon how much the field is out of square.

Carelessness in setting the anchor is the cause of much poor checking. It is a common practice to draw the wire about so tight at both ends of the field. It is a much better plan to always set the anchor on line at one end of the field, while at the other end the anchor should be drawn to a certain tightness.

CULTIVATION

Cultivation should be level and frequent when the corn is small. It may be deep at first, but it must be shallow later.

It is not possible at this time to go much into details, and of course methods will vary greatly with local conditions, but there are a few things of importance that are often overlooked.

Many assume that there is nothing more to do after the corn is planted for two weeks, or until it is up and large enough for the first cultivation. There are others who believe in harrowing, and even in cultivation, before the corn is up, but on account of the pressure of work neglect it. Where ground is left two weeks and often longer it becomes foul with weeds, which take up the moisture and plant food and also make it difficult to work the corn. The ground becomes packed by the rains and baked by the sun until it is hard and dry — that is, "out of condition."

It is especially important in the case of corn that it should not become stunted when young, as it never fully recovers even under the most favorable conditions.

We should keep a good, mellow, lively tilth until the corn shades the ground, preventing the rain and sun from beating upon it, making it hard, dry and mealy.

The time to kill weeds is before they come up and before they have deprived the corn of moisture and nourishment.

CULTIVATE BEFORE THE CORN COMES UP

Where it is possible to do so it is a good plan to cultivate the corn once before it comes up, following the cultivator with the harrow. If the piece is so small that the cultivation can

Photo by A. D. Shamel.

Fig. 4 — Four hills of corn at earing time, in natural position in the field, three feet eight inches apart. The surface soil was washed off as deep as the ground was plowed in the sprinf?, exposing the roots. Few realize how completely the ground is filled with the corn roots. Thorough early cultivation before the roots have developed is important. Experiments show that deep cultivation at the time of "laying by" greatly reduces the yield, especially when the first and second cultivations were shallow, thus allowing the roots to come near the surface.

be finished before the corn breaks through the surface, it is well enough to wait until the field is all cultivated and then cross it with the harrow instead of following close behind the cultivator. However, in the case of large fields it is best to follow the cultivator with the harrow. This practice of cultivating the field before the corn is up, following the planter marks as a guide, is a good one, and especially on old and badly worn ground or heavy clay ground and on land that has become foul.

It is a common practice with some to harrow corn after it is up, but I prefer to cultivate and harrow as described above, especially on cornstalk ground. Even on stubble ground the harrow does considerable damage to the young corn. No one can afford to do less than to thoroughly harrow the ground before the corn comes up. It is a serious mistake to let our corn ground get out of condition in the spring.

It is also a very common mistake to cultivate shallow when the corn is small and "lay it by" with a deep cultivation. The reverse will be more profitable. There is little danger to the roots from deep cultivation the first time, and there is great advantage in going deep enough to secure a good mulch.

The later cultivations should be no deeper than is necessary to keep the ground clean. Many cultivate corn as though the

Ere 5 — "A rotation which does not include clover is hardly worthy the name." Photo taken June 20th. The corn on both sides of the road was planted the same day and with seed from the same sack. The field on the right has been in corn continuously for three years. The field on the left is on clover sod, plowed in the fall. The rotation is clover, corn and oats, one year each. Firs*, the corn is much more vigorous on the clover-sod ground, and has a deeper green color; second, at this time (August 13th) the clover-sod corn is standing up well, while the third-year-continuous corn is badly down, due to the work of the corn-root worm.

roots went straight down instead of spreading out through the surface of the soil. It is very essential that we disturb the roots as little as possible when the corn is laid by. We are very apt to feel that as this is our last chance at the corn we must give it a "good laying by," and especially if the weeds have gotten a start.

AFTER-CULTIVATION NOT PROFITABLE

After-cultivation — that is, the cultivation with a one-horse cultivator after the corn is too large for the two-horse cultivator — is not good practice generally. Even if the weeds have gotten a start, they will do less damage to the corn than will be done by the root pruning of the cultivator. The weeds have already done their greatest damage except in seeding for next year. The damage will frequently be considerable from the breaking down of the corn, and especially if it has been injured by the root worm or by the white grubs or wireworms and has gone down in places.

RAPE IN CORN PROFITABLE

The sowing of rape in corn at the time of laying by is coming rapidly into more general practice. The rape should be sown at the rate of six or eight pounds per acre, before the corn is laid by and cultivated in. Where the seed is sown broadcast it is well to sow down through the field and back in the same place, sowing but half enough seed the first time and the other half coming back. This will insure a better distribution of the seed.

After the middle of September the lambs may be turned in to pasture the rape and the lower leaves of the corn, but it will be a better practice generally to allow the rape to grow until the corn is husked, and then turn in the sheep, hogs, and cattle other than milch cows. In this way a remarkable amount of sheep and hog feed is produced at comparatively little cost.

CHAPTER 11

PREPARATION OF THE SEED FOR THE PLANTER,

OR MAKING TWO NUBBINS OF CORN TO

GROW WHERE BUT ONE GREW BEFORE

Poor seed means a poor stand, with missing hills, one-stalk hills, and weak stalks producing little or nothing. It means wasted land and wasted labor; it means less than thirty bushels of corn per acre in. this "corn belt" instead of forty or fifty bushels.

In this chapter I shall attempt to describe the methods which have done most to enable us to produce "another nubbin of corn to each hill." I shall spend little, if any, time discussing those things which we do well enough ordinarily, but I do want to j°g y° u to the importance of doing three or four simple things which most of us have failed to do in the past, but must do in the future if we are to secure the greatest possible returns for each year's labor and from each acre of land.

YIELD OF CORN IS LOW

The average yield of corn in the United States is less than twenty-five bushels per acre, yet there are hundreds and thousands of farmers who produce sixty and seventy, and even eighty and ninety, bushels per acre. I have in mind scores of instances where of two fields just across the road from each other, or perhaps adjoining, but on different farms, one yielded more than seventy bushels and the other less than twenty, yet the land values were the same and the labor required to produce the twenty-bushel crop as great as to produce the seventybushel crop. If one man can produce sixty and seventy bushels per acre, the other man can do it also, and not only that, but must do it if we are to achieve our agricultural possibilities.

A POOR STAND, AND WEAK STALKS PRODUCING LITTLE OR

NOTHING, IS THE GREATEST CAUSE OF A

LOW YIELD OF CORN

In the corn belt it is customary to plant corn in hills three and one-half feet apart each way, three kernels per hill, thus making 3,556 hills to the acre, or 10,668 stalks if each kernel grows. If two of the stalks in each hill bore nothing, but the other grew a very small ear weighing only eight ounces (140 ears to the bushel), we would then have twenty-five bushels per acre, or more than the average for the United States. What we must do is to make at least two of these three stalks produce an eight-ounce ear each, and we will have over fifty bushels per acre; and there are many who will not be content until they have two of those stalks produce a twelve-ounce ear each and

Pig. 6 — First Step in Preparing Corn for the Planter. Laying out the Ears on the Table

for Study.

the third an eight-ounce nubbin, making one hundred bushels per acre. This has often been done in the past, and it will be a common thing in the future.

One twelve-ounce ear per hill will make thirty-eight bushels per acre. Think of it for a moment. Last year Iowa produced one of her most magnificent crops of corn, yet if two of the three stalks per hill produced nothing and the other bore a medium-sized ear weighing only twelve ounces, we would have thirtyei^ht bushels per acre, or more than the average yield of this great crop. Iowa must produce another nubbin to the hill, and so must the rest of the United States!

A good stand of corn, and every stalk producing just a medium ear, as I have illustrated, will give us a good yield of corn of fifty, sixty, or even seventy or eighty, bushels per acre. Then why are we not getting it?

First: Because there are too many missing hills and one-stalk hills — hills that are producing nothing or only half what

Fig. 7 — Second Step. Discarding the Poor Ears. The ears should be laid out side by side, and two or more kernels removed from each ear and placed in front of their respective ears. By then examining the ears and kernels, the undesirable ears may be discarded. The importance of giving careful attention to this work can hardly be overestimated. In order to make a good selection it is necessary in the fall to save several times as much seed as will be required to plant.

they ought to. The fields which I have examined in the great corn belt show that there is on an average more than one-third of the ground put into corn that is producing nothing, yet it must be cared for all summer, yielding nothing in return.

Second: Because there are many thousands of stalks in our fields that are barren, producing no ears, and then there are many thousands of other stalks producing only small, inferior ears, yet they must receive the same care as the productive ones.

After having studied thousands of corn fields throughout the corn belt during the last nine years, I have no hesitancy in saying that a "poor stand" and "weak and barren stalks" are responsible more than anything else for the low average yield in the Central West. The ground may be rich, the preparation good, and the corn receive the best of cultivation, but if the stand is poor and the stalks are weak and sickly the yield will be correspondingly poor.

COUNTS IN THOUSANDS OF FIELDS

Careful counts of the number of stalks per hill have been made during the last three years in thousands of different corn

Fig. 8 — Third Step. Six Kernels Have Been Taken from Each Ear and Placed in the

Germination Box.

fields, and it is safe to say that there were not to exceed sixty-six per cent, of a perfect stand on an average, and in many cases it fell as low as .forty per cent. This means that Iowa alone devoted nine million acres to corn and produced only a sixmillion-acre crop, or, to put it another way, with a perfect stand the present average yield of thirty-two bushels for the past ten years would be increased to fifty bushels per acre, or an increase to the state of one hundred and fifty-three million bushels. This does not take into consideration the increased yield made possible through the use of improved varieties, better bred seed, elimination of barren stalks by means of breeding, better methods of cultivation, etc.

The real seriousness of the situation will be more apparent from the following counts illustrating the stand in the poorer, medium and better fields of Iowa. The following figures give

Fig. 9— Fourth Step. Shelling Off the Butt and Tip Kernels.

the number of stalks per hill in the poorer fields: 2, 2, 2, 0, 3, 2, 0, 1, 3, 0, 1, 1. 1, 3, 1, 1, 0, 2, 3, 0, 1, 2. 1, 0, 0, 2, 1, 3. Each of the first three hill§ had two stalks, the fourth hill was missing, and the next had three stalks, etc. That the result might be as accurate as possible, counts similar to the above were made in three places in each field. The hills were tajven just as they came in the row, and generally crosswise of the way the corn Avas planted. The field above represents only fifty-two percent, of a stand of corn. Twenty-five per cent, of the hills were missing, thirty-five per cent, had one stalk, twenty-five percent, had two stalks, and twenty per cent, had three stalks, per hill. If the poor stand was largely due to seed of low vitality, which is generally true in case of very poor stands, then the same influence which killed a portion of the seed must also have greatly weakened that which did grow, and as a consequence the yield is of far less value than is represented by the stand.

The above represents what is found in hundreds of corn fields everywhere. The following will illustrate very closely the

Fig. 10— Fifth Step.

Shelling Each Ear Separately, and Grading to Three Sizes of Kernels — Large, Medium and Small.

average stand in the state: 2, 3, 1, 2, 1, 0, 1, 1, 3, 3, 1, 3, 1, 2. 2, 2, 3, 0, 3, 1, 2, 0, 2, 1, 2. On the average soil of the state this would represent about sixty-five per cent, of a stand of corn. Twelve per cent, of the hills were missing, twenty-eight per cent, of the hills had one stalk, thirty-two per cent, of the hills had two stalks, and twenty-eight per cent, of the hills had three stalks.

The following represents the stand in one of the very best fields in the state: 3, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3,