Practical corn culture, written especially for the corn belt farmers

Front matter

Class _1:L.^ Bonk . M £ A ^

GofpghtN"_ coFnacHr DEposm

THE CORNFIELD THE DAY AFTER PLANTING

Preface

DURING the past ten years great progress has been made in the cnltivation and care of corn, both for seed and market. During this time few books have been written which have kept up with this progress. What has been written has pertained largely to the attacks of insect and fungous pests and to the selection and care of corn for seed.

Yery little that would be of practical benefit to the busy farmer has been written on the culture of corn. We have long felt the need of such a book and have at length been induced by our friends to attempt the work ourselves. The result is seen in the volume now placed before the public.

Our aim has been to make this book up-to-date in every particular and to cover the entire practice of corn growing, from the cutting of the stalks in the spring to the selection and testing of the seed for next year's crop.

We have purposely started with the preparation of the seed bed because we know that some readers will start this book and will not finish it. If only a little is read, we are especially anxious that the reader get that part pertaining to the growing of the crop.

The writers are both actively engaged in farming seven hundred acres of land, and W. T. Ainsworth has been growing corn on his Cloverdale farm for over thirty-five years.

No apology is offered for the manner in which the subject is treated. The public must be the sole judge as to whether the book is deserving of commendation.

We do not claim originality for all of our methods since

4 PREFACE

many of our operations have been suggested by neighbors and the reading of bulletins and farm papers.

Changing conditions, from year to year, demand new and different methods of culture. The farmer, to keep abreast of the times, must be ready to adopt new ideas. If any of us should disregard the opinion of others and depend solely upon his own judgment for ten years, he would find that he would be left far behind in the march of competition.

We wish gratefully to acknowledge the sympathy, encouragement and suggestions which we have received from farmers in Illinois and in other states. To mention each one would be out of the question, but our gratitude for their kindness is none the less sincere.

Such rapid progress is being made in the methods of growing farm crops that this book will undoubtedly be a back number in less than five years. For this reason it is our intention to rewrite it every two years. If the reader will send a return stamped envelope we shall be glad to answer any questions, in our power, in regard to conserving soil fertility and the culture of corn.

W. T. AND Ralph M. Ainsw^orth.

Sunny Side Farmstead, Mason City, Illinois.

January, 1914.

Letters on Corn Culture from Practical Farmers 140

Chapter I Introduction

Farmers in the United States are beginning to appreciate the fact that they are not raising as much per acre on their ground as do European farmers. This subject is being -brought constantly to their attention by government bulletins, the agricultural press, farmers' institutions, etc. The early settlers on the soil found a virgin fertility which they did not stop to think would some day be exhausted; and they and their successors did little or nothing to compensate the soil for what they took out. We have now come to the point where the subject deserves our serious consideration. We must not only recognize the fact, but must act. The difference in productivity, however, is not due entirely to low soil fertility, but may be influenced by culture and by the time, method, and rate of seeding. Unquestionably each of these factors influence the yield to a considerable extent.

When crop prices were low in the United States, the excuse was often given that European farmers could farm better because their farm produce commanded prices which made intensive agriculture profitable with them but not with us. This may have been true twenty years ago, but during the last five years wheat, oats, and especially corn, have brought good prices, in some cases higher than the prices in Europe.

Present food prices for farm products are an incentive to better farming; if they continue wonderful strides should be made during the next ten years. We believe present farm prices are here to stay, unless, perchance, they go higher.

Good Prices for Farm Crops

The last census shows that the population of the United States increases over twenty per cent every decade. This increase in population has been much greater than the increase in the available supply of land. The demand for farm crops has increased faster than the supply, with the result that farm crops and farm lands continue to bring higher prices. This is especially true of corn and corn land.

At least eighty per cent of the corn land in the corn belt proper is now under cultivation. If, then, we are to grow more corn in the future, it will be necessary to grow more bushels to the acre. More bushels mean better farming, and better farming requires not only more thorough and intelligent culture but the building up of the land and more careful selection of seed.

While we are confronted by depleted soils and the stern necessity of better farming, we are cheered by the fact that the resulting higher prices are making better farming exceedingly profitable. Twenty years ago the farmer was excusable for following bonanza methods (we have excused ourselves) with corn selling at fourteen cents per bushel.

From 1890 to 1895 it was necessary for the corn belt farmers to economize in every possible way in order to meet necessary expenses, to say nothing of bujdng manure spreaders and turning under leguminous crops. Automobiles did not exist, and if they had existed, the farmer could not afford to own one. During this period, careful farmers did well to plaj^ even; while with the majority farming was a losing game. Crops were often sold at a price which brought the farmer less than their value as a fertilizer.

INTRODUCTION 9

Even as late as 1895 the corn belt farmer did not worry much over the fact that he was depleting his soil. Since the farmer had no surplus and no working capital his farming equipment was inadequate. Corn was not considered as being worth more than three cultivations. If he wanted more corn he planted more acres. During this period of low prices the farmer's outlook was not optimistic.

Let us take time to contrast this with the last five years on the farm.

During the summer and fall of 1908, with corn at sixty «ents on the farm, prices of farm crops rose to a new high level; and if our memory does not fail us, it has been worth at least fifty cents per bushel (sometime during the year) for the past five years. At the date of this writing, corn is bringing sixty-five cents at the country elevators. With hogs and cattle at eight cents per pound there is surely a margin of profit large enough to give the thorough farmer a working capital, and a working capital means better farming.

Investing the Farmers' Surplus

"With corn land selling at $150 to $300 per acre, we believe that an investment of this surplus in manure spreaders and in the growing of leguminous crops to be returned to the land will bring greater returns in dollars and cents than the use of this money or credit for the purchase of more acres. There are indications on every hand that farmers as a class are beginning to appreciate this fact and to realize that it does not pay to practice crop rotations that do not include the turning under of at least one leguminous crop every five years.

Another good use to which this surplus may be put is the improvement of equipment by acquiring more horses and better implements with which to do more thorough farming. What is more pathetic on the farm than to see one man trying

10 riiACnCAL CORN CULTURE

to (U) \\\c Avork of two or tliree. Our own oxpei'ieiice has taiijj:ht. us that too unu-li work can hardly bo put on good corn jjfrouiid whon tlio crop is worth from fifty to sixty-tive cents l)cr l)usli('l. Jn every case additional work with us has meant an increase in the margin of prolit.

Spurred on by this we have gradually increased our farm ei|uipnuMit untiljoday w«^ are iMnploying considerably more lutMi by tlu^ yi>ar than we tlid ten years ago. Although we groAv fewer acres of corn and small grain, we have many moi'c horses in the field. This increase in equipment for the pui'pose of better farming, (^including the building of houses for rnnn help), has cost us several thousand dollars, but A\lial ai'c tlu> results?

In \hc lirst place we ai*e building up our farms by having more time to haul manure from town. AVith three spreaders we haul annually eight hundred tons of manure from the town of INlason City. (See Chapter A^ll.) "We are growing on an average fifteen bushels of corn more per acre than we did as late as ten ytwrs ago. AVith better land to start with we are able to cut the stalks and double disc before plowing, where corn follows corn. The corn is cultivated four to six times, the last time being with a high arch gopher cultivator. If the corn is too thick, it is thinned and suckered after the last plowing. This sums Tip briefly a\ hat we are accomplishing with our additional invi\stment in ciinipment.

We are sure that what we have invested along the line of more intensive farming has paid us well in dollars and cents, and still better in satisfaction. AVhat we have done is being done by others and can be done by every land owner and fanner in the corn belt.

What nbont tlu^ tiMiant rnnuer? "Many tenant farmers ar(^ jiiuoiig our In^st farnuM's and tlu> tenant really has the sanu^ opi>ort unity as the lamllord farmer, provided he has betMi iriven a long term lease. A tenant would be more

INTEODICTION 11

than luiinau if ho tried to hiiiUl up a farm when he felt that his sneeessor Avonhl reap the benefits of his h\bors. A tiveyear lease with priviletre of renewal, we eonsider a irood fair lease for an appreeiative tenant who has tirst been tested out on a one or two year lease.

Four Factors Determink the Yield

Before takina: up the culture of corn in detail, let us state brietly the four factors which enter into the producing of a crop of corn. They are : Culture, Soil, Seed and Climate. In the tirst three chapters comprising: culture wo shall ask the reader to go with us into the tields and stay with us until the crop is laid by.

In the four chapters entitled "Building up the Land." we shall explain the methods followed by experiment stations and the best farmers in their efforts to increase the fertility of their farms. In addition to this, we give the results of our own experience with rotations, manure and fertilizers.

The remaining chaptei*s deal with the breeding, selecting, drying and testing of corn for seed. All tield and corn illustrations in the following chapters have been taken on our own farms during the crop seasons of 1912 and 1913.

Chapter II

Iron-clad rules cannot be laid down for preparing a seed bed for corn. The methods suggested in this chapter have been found practical on our own farms and have been tested out from two to ten years. Our soil is a black level silt loam, with a deep, porous subsoil that makes a natural drainage for surface water. A heavier soil would need more rolling, and a lighter one would need less ; so the farmer who would benefit from reading this chapter should compare each operation carefully with his own practice and not make a change until he has satisfied himself it is adapted to his local conditions.

There is a great diversity of opinion among farmers as to the best method of preparing a seed bed. There is not this difference of opinion as to what constitutes a good seed bed. The best farmers agree that an ideal seed bed, to be in good physical condition when the time comes to plant corn, must be aerated and not run together. The soil particles must be fine and free from lumps or clods. A maximum amount of moisture is conserved in the subsoil by having a shallow dust mulch on the surface. A large number of weed seeds have been sprouted and all that show on the surface have been killed immediately before planting. We try as nearly as possible to have these conditions at planting time. Our success varies with the season and the equipment that we can put in the fields.

The implements used are those most commonly found in Central Illinois, namely: two-row stalk cutters, single disc harrows (disc pulverizers), gang and sulky plows, spike tooth

(Courtesy Parlin & Orendorff. )

SINGLE-EOW STALK CUTTER harrows and a corrugated roller. All these implements, including the harrow teeth, should be as sharp as the blacksmith can get them before spring work sets in. Five dollars paid the blacksmith in getting tools in shape will save many times that amount in horseflesh, besides doing a much better job in the field.

Work on Ground before Plowing

The stalk cutter should be the first implement in the field when corn follows corn. Unless the fields are very small, a two-row cutter should be used in i:>lace of a single row. In the first place, it gets over the ground twice as fast as a single row cutter, and owing to its greater weight and better balance does a much better job. The two-row cutters have tAvo tongues and are drawn by three horses. With this implement a good fast team will cut twenty acres in one day. All the stalk cutters we have ever tried have been satisfactory; but the farmer who has never used a stalk cutter must not expect it to cut every stalk if the stalk growth is rank and heavy.

If the stalks are heavy it will be necessary to follow with a disc harrow — either single or double discing. Where a stalk cutter is followed by a sharp disc, lapping half each time, the heaviest growth of stalks will be cut and the ground left level ready for the plow. If the ground is single disced after the cutter it is advisable to have the horses walk on the ridges. This cuts down the ridges and leaves the ground fairly level.

For several years we dispensed with the use of the stalk cutter in preference to double discing; but the objection to this method was that the standing stalks continually worried the team and the time lost would almost amount to the time required to cut the stalks.

When practicable, it is a good plan to run the stalk cutter on afternoons only, since the stalks are dryer and the cutter does a much better job. The disc will do nearly as good a job in the forenoon as it will in the afternoon.

We have tried breaking the stalks before discing, but the results were very disappointing, since the stalks became so bunched between the rows that the disc, although very sharp, would often ride over them.

When we first started, several years ago, to cut the stalks on ground to go in corn, we felt that the objections would almost offset the advantages to be gained. The stalks would clog under the planter runners, and during the first cultivation many hills of corn would be lifted out by the cultivator shovels catching the stalks. This was due to following directly after the stalk cutter with the plow and the stalks

(Courtesy John Deere Plow Co.)

FOUE-HOESE GANG PLOW This plow has two 12-inch bottoms were not cut up sufficiently to turn under. During recent years, Avhen the stalks were properly cut up and turned under as early as the 20th of April, we have had little trouble with their bothering during corn cultivation. When the stalks are turned under as late as the 10th of May, some little difficulty may be experienced in cultivating the first time.

The question is often asked: Will soil dry out more quickly when the stalks are turned under? The answer is, if the stalks are turned under as early as the 15th of April, they will be thoroughly water-soaked and partially rotted by the time the corn is cultivated the first time. Stalks add some humus to the soil the first year, and the more humus there is in the soil, the better its moisture retaining qualities.

Decaying stalks are very beneficial in keeping the soil loose. Loose soil allows the water to soak into the ground during a rain. On the other hand, hard packed soil will shed most of the rainfall off, especially on hilly ground. On hillsides, plowing stalks under is an additional benefit in that it prevents washes.

Discing before plowing serves a three-fold purpose. It cuts up the stalks, levels down the ridges, and pulverizes the top soil, making a mulch of from two to four inches in depth. This mulch aids greatly in the re-establishing of capillarity between the furrow slice and the bottom of the furrow. Pulverizing improves the physical condition of the soil by cutting up clods which could never be broken after they had been turned under. It is the buried clod that is more detrimental than the one on top. We consider the disc fully as important an implement on the farm as either the plow or the harrow. Our discs are kept bright and sharp and are used over more acres than are the plows. Before the corn is planted, the field is disced at least once. By discing before and after plowing the furrow slice is pulverized clear through.

Importance op Good Plowing

Since plowing is the slowest and most expensive of any single operation on the farm, every effort should be made to do it right. The furrow should be straight and uniform in width and depth. The furrow slice should be clear cut and all of the dirt moved. This does not mean that there should be a complete inversion of the furrow slice. With the exception of heavy sods it is better to have the furrow slice slightly on edge since it will work up more easily than if completely inverted. The ends sought in plowing are to alter the texture of the soil and to bring to the surface new soil ; to bury completely all vegetation and trash and to pulverize and aerate the soil.

This pulverizing and aerating of the soil we consider the chief objects of plowing. The plow may invert the soil in

This plow has one 16-inch bottom the most perfect manner, but if the plow fails to do the greater part of the pulverizing of the soil as well, and leaves it in such condition that the disc and harrow cannot finish the work in the cheapest and best manner, it is failing to accomplish its principal function.

This pulverizing of the furrow slice is done largely by the twist of the moldboard. For that reason a moldboard having a medium twist should be used. At present we are using four standard makes of gang plows on our farms, and the one with the shortest twist is doing the best work. We cannot see but that it pulls as easy as the others. Since we have never tested out the drafts of different twists of moldboards we will quote from Prof. Roberts as follows :

"About 35% of the powder necessary to plow^ is used up by the friction due to the weight of the plow, and 55% by the severing of the furrow slice and the friction of the landside. If, after having done nine-tenths of the work, the plow allows the furrow slice to escape without the greatest possible amount of disintegration, great loss is sustained because the bolder and more efficient moldboard may add l)ut two or three per cent to the draft."

Fall Plowing

We cannot recommend fall plowing of ground in Central Illinois, except in the case of heavy sods which require the erosion during the winter months to disintegrate the soil sufficiently to work into a seed bed. Fall plowed ground leaches badly unless plowed very late. Without a cover of any kind, soil will wash during the early spring months, even on land that is considered fairly level. To fall plow hillsides is to invite the formation of deep gulleys which will soon make the field fit only for pasture land.

There are, in our opinion, just tw^o good reasons for fall plowing: First, the work is done at the slackest time of the year when both men and teams might otherwise be idle. Secondly, if the plowing is done late, it affords a splendid opportunity to kill cutworms and other insects while they are lying dormant in their winter quarters. During the last five years we have fall plowed about ten per cent of our corn ground and have winter plowed about five per cent. We do not hesitate to plow clover sod in the winter time if the

PREPARING TEE SEED BED ground is not too wet. In this latitude there is only about one winter in four Avhen plowing is possible because of the frost.

Spring Plowing

Fields which have been in corn the previous year must, of necessity, be plowed in the spring. Just how early spring plowing can start depends largely upon the weather during

(Coiutcsy John Deere Plow Co.)

FULL DISC HAEKOW WITH TRUCK

One of the necessary implements on the farm

March and April. A wet spring will delay plowing even on well drained fields. So long as the furrow slice and the particles of soil run together rather than crumble, plowing had better be postponed, unless the plowing is done very early in the spring and is followed by several frosts.

There is no logic in the expression that ''if ground is plowed wet it should be worked wet all summer." Owing to the rush of spring work we have sometimes plowed ground when it was too wet. The results have always been very unsatisfactory, since a dry August will make the corn fire much more quickly than it would had the ground been broken at the right time. In plowing stalk ground that has first been disced, it is well not to allow too much time to intervene between the two operations. It is a good plan to harrow each morning what has been plowed the previous day. Time is gained rather than lost by this practice since the plowed ground must be harrowed and disced several times before a satisfactory seed bed can be made. An hour 's work on freshly plowed ground will do more toward making this seed bed than can be accomplished in two hours ^ time after the wind has been allowed to dry out the surface.

Another good reason for keeping plowed ground harrowed is to conserve the moisture. One man and four horses with a 120-tooth harrow will get over from twenty-five to thirty-five acres in one day. This will prevent the escape of more moisture and consequently will grow more bushels of corn than if an additional five acres had been plowed and the moisture allowed to escape from the thirty acres.

The argument is often advanced that spring plowed ground should not be worked down until the time to plant the corn since beating rains would make the soil too compact. This idea is wrong. If hard rains do come and pack the soil, an almost ideal seed bed can be secured by single or double discing. If the looked for rains do not come, the farmer who has worked his ground as he went along may have a seed bed when it would be impossible, even with double the work, to make one where the ground had been allowed to lie until planting time.

Every effort should be made to get the fields all plowed and harrowed down before the weeds have an opportunity to grow up in the stalk fields. A growth of weeds before plowing is injurious to the physical condition of the soil, since it makes it compact and allows a rapid evaporation of moisture. When the weeds are turned under later in the spring, they destroy the capillarity between the furrow slice and the bottom of the furrow.

The necessity for cutting stalks, discing, plowing and harrowing the corn ground — all within a short period of three

FULL DISC HAREOW WITHOUT TRUCK A popular disc in Illinois

or four weeks — has brought about what the farmer calls ' ' the rush of spring work," but there is no way to get around it if one expects to do good farming.

A great many agricultural writers (not many of them active farmers, however) advocate eight hours as being all a man and team should be made to stand in the field. This may be all right from an ethical standpoint ; but every farmer knows that it is impossible to hire extra men and teams on short notice. When ''rainy days off" are taken into consideration, we think that a ten-hour day is not too much to ask of either man or team. Most of our own farm help come from Kentucky, where they are accustomed to plow from ''sun to sun," and consider ten hours in the field a short day's work.

Depth of Plowing

The depth to which ground should be plowed in order to give the best results must, of necessity, vary with conditions. There is, perhaps, no subject on which farmers and writers differ so widely as on the matter of the depth of plowing. One writer says ' ' deep plowing of sandy land is not advisable, particularly in the spring. On clay land deeper plowing should be the rule." On the other hand, a corn lecturer of national fame says: "What is known as deep plowing is generally not advisable in the corn belt, although the loose soils and bottom-lands may be plowed much deeper than the black prairie soils with less danger of bad results." While these two statements are not altogether contradictory, they have, at least, a tendency to leave the reader in doubt.

In order to make ourselves more clearly understood, we shall state that we consider six inches and over deep plowing, and four inches and under shallow plowing. Plowing from four to six inches deep may be considered as medium deep plowing.

Deep Plowing

The advocates of deep plowing claim that since a loose, porous soil has a greater moisture holding capacity than a more compact soil, the deeper the plowing the more moisture will be retained. Deep plowing allows plant food to get

PREPARING TEE SEED BED deeper into the soil and thereby extends the feeding zone of the root system.

Hillsides do not wash so badly when plowed deep, since the rain can sink more easily into the soil than would be the case if plowed shallow. If the plowing is going to be deeper than six inches, it had best be done in the fall because the fall rains, aided by the freezing and thawing of winter and spring, Avill re-establish the capillary connection with the subsoil. This capillarity is necessary for a good seed bed and is not so readily re-established with deep plowing as where the plowing is shallow.

SPIKE-TOOTH LEVER HAEEOW

Plowing should not be at the same depth from year to year, since such a practice does not mix the soil well and the pressure of the plow and trampling of the horses will, in time, solidify the bottom of the furrows. Where land has been plowed four or five inches deep for a number of years, we know of nothing that will make the farmer more money for the added effort involved than to plow such land six or seven inches deep and break up the crust.

We plow from five to seven inches deep, depending on the time of the year, the condition of the ground, and what we are turning under.

In fall plowing for corn we plow from six to seven inches.

or as deep as the team can pull the plow. When we are turning under soy beans, however, the plowing is shallow in order to allow the plants to rot more quickly. This ground is plowed deep in the spring when the beans are put in.

In plowing stalks under we try to plow six inches deep, if the ground is dry, since the stalks are covered better than in plowing four or five inches deep. Never try to cover stalks with only four inches of soil when the field is to go in corn. Subsequent cultivations will drag them out and they will be a continual source of annoyance throughout the crop tending season.

Plow^ing Sod

Blue-grass sod, or ground that has been in pasture for a number of years, should be plowed in the fall. In plowing blue-grass it is a good plan to plow very shallow in the fall and follow with a plowing at least two inches deeper in the spring. This is more work than is necessary to break any other sod with which we are familiar. If the sod is very tough, a wide angle moldboard should be used. This will pull more easily and will turn the sod under much better than the general purpose plows found on most farms. Clover and timothy meadows that constitute a part of the short crop rotations of the corn belt seldom become sodded enough to necessitate the use of the sod plow.