PLANTING THE CORN

Dunstan Times, Issue 2172, 10 March 1903, Page 6

PLANTING THE CORN

Have the Soil Mellow and Fine and Stirred Deep. If a good stand of corn is secured, care must be- taken, first to have good seed and then to plant under such conditions as will bring a quick germination of the seed and a thrifty start togrow. Plants, like animals, stunted when young, and no after treatment will wholly overcome the effects of .stunting. While it is best to plant reasonably early, it is of no advantage to plant when the soil is. wet or cold, or before it has been carefully prepared. Better delay the planting rather than to plant under unfavorable conditions. Corn is a crop that should germinate in a short time after the seed is planted, and the plants should make a steady growth to maturity. Plow deep and thorough. If the ground has been plowed during the fall or winter go over it with a disk or spading harrow. It is an item to have the soil mellow and fine and stirred reasonably deep. Taking one year with another, deep lowing or stirring of the soil before planting should be the rule, with shallow, thorough cultivation afterwards. It is only occasionally that it will be best to plow or cultivate deep after the plants are up. Generally thorough stirring of the soil keeping down the weeds, and the soil fine and mellow, will give better results than to plow or cultivate deep. Rather more and better corn can be grown by planting in drills than in, hills, but it is nearly always done at an increased cost. In nearly all cases it will cost more to give clean cultivation with drill-planting than with hill. But where the land is free from weeds, so that the cost of cultivating is not increased too much, drill planting will I give the best growth and yield. But. in an average soil, it is usually ' more economical to plant in hills far enough apart each way, so that cultivation can be given both ways. One advantage in using only good seed and planting under the mast favorable conditions is that just the number of plants wanted in each hill, that many kernels of corn can be dropped. While it is better to thin out than to replant, both of these may usually be avoided by using good seed and taking care in planting. When the soil is warm and dry deep covering will be best. If the soil is rather wet or cold, it will be best to cover shallow. The fertility of the soil must determine the number of stalks in each hill. It is better to have one or two strong, vigorous I plants than three or four small, un- ! thrifty one®. It is better to thin out than to let the plants stand .so thick as to stunt their growth.—St. Louis Republic. TRAP FOR SMALL GAME. It I* Just as Good as the Most Expensive Contrivances. This trap can be made by any farmer’s boy; a is a. trap door held up by two cords attached to lever b, which rests on fulcrum o; e, a trigger, is a short, stick made- as illustrated, and is j attached to the end of lever by a short cord. The trigger passes through a smiall hole in the top of the trap, and

A HOMEMADE TRAP. catches on the front edge. The sketch shows the trap set. Grain is used for bait, but carrots or cabbage are much liked by rabbits. Place the bait in the further end of the trap so that it cannot be taken out without touching the trigger, which flies up and down drops the door, caging the game. —G. L. Kuncy, in Farm and Home, Early Potato Blight. The early blight of potatoes does not cause the tubers to rot. A more or less rapid drying and curling of the leaves and stems marks the presence of the disease. The edges of the leaves are tirst visibly affected; the color changes to a yellowish brown, while the central parts of the leaflets gradually become lighter green, or even yellow, and more or less spotted. The early blight of potatoes may be treated with partial success by means of the Bordeaux mixture. The vines should be sprayed when about two-thirds grown, and the application should be repeated as often as necessary, the foliage at ali lipies being well covered with the mixture. —Western Plowman. Clover Pasture Is Best. The best pasture for celts, calves, lambs and pigs is clover, but. it is still better to have a variety of pasturage plants, such as blue grass, orchard grass, red top, timothy and red clover. Let these seeds be well mixed and carefully sown and those best adapted to the soil will soon assert themselves and give largest and best growth of pasturage. Now is the time to scatter the seed. Plow well, harrow finely, _ sow _ the seed, let it become well established and you will have pastures that you will be proud of. —Rural World. This Is Worth Remembering. A wagon box ten feet long, three feet wide and 25 inches deep will hold 27.8 bushels of ear corn and 50.2 bushels of shelled corn. A crib ten feet wide, ten feet high and 16 feet long will hold- 711 bushels of ear corn. Of car corn, one bushel is contained in 2\\ cubic feet. In figuring shelled corn or grain the same space will hold 1 4-5 times as much grain as it will of ear corn. A crib that will hold 800 bushels of com will hold of shelled corn or of other grain 1,440 bushels, ?, . t