If found advisable to use commercial fertilizers for corn, it should not be placed in the hills with the kernels. It may be injuri ous to the ger mination of the kernels or, at any rate, it is not at the base of the stalks that the feeding roots of the corn plant are found. At the time of tassel ing and silking the roots of the corn plant are well distributed throughout the soil to a width and depth of three or four feet. For soils that are very porous, or when very soluble fertilizers, such as sodium nitrate, are used, it is thought best to make the application but a short time before the plants begin to tassel and form ears. (Fig. 618.) Preparing the seed-bed.—Whenever possible, and it should be made possible in most cases, it is advi sable to have the corn crop follow a hay crop. With a very few exceptions the sod should be broken in the fall. Double cultivators, two-row cultivators, or implements especially designed for the work can be used in the spring to tear up the decayed sod and place the seed-bed in a well-pulverized condi tion. Disk-harrows are often used to advantage for this work. Fall-plowed land is usually found in the spring to contain more moisture and yet have a drier surface than other soils.
For very level land, and land that is likely to remain very wet during a part of the growing season, a method of preparing the seed-bed should be adopted that will permit of some drainage for the young plants. A very good method for such soils is to throw up the land by back furrowing into beds about eight feet wide. When pulver ized, the rows can be planted four feet apart, plac ing a row on either side and near to the water furrows. In this way the young plants will have drainage and the surplus water can remain in the water furrows. For very sloping or hilly land, the plowing and planting should be done along the hillside or around the hill. In fact, if the soil is inclined to wash, permanent terraces should be maintained at intervals along the hillsides, so con structed as to maintain the same level throughout the field. No soil can be improved in fertility or kept in a fertile condition if much erosion is permitted.
Planting.—The method of planting must be adapted to the section of country in which the work is done. It is well recognized that for sec tions where very dry weather is likely to prevail during the growing season, listing is best. This method consists of planting the corn in the bottom of a deep furrow or ditch. In many cases the en tire process of planting is performed by one opera tion, and without any previous preparation of the land. It is usually best to prepare the land by means of thorough plowing and then adopt some method of listing that will place the young plants in a furrow, so that the soil can be gradually worked to them as they grow. Some corn-planters accomplish this by marking off deep furrows and running their drills or check-rowers in the furrows. A simpler method is to attach to the check-rower or corn - planter disks which will throw out the furrow just ahead of the shoe of the drill which places the kernels in the soil. On heavy lands in
wet climates, it may be best not to plant in furrows.
There is but one principal plan to be considered in deciding whether the corn should be planted in checks, so as to admit of cultivation in two direc tions or dropped one kernel in a place. This con sideration is that of keeping the corn free from weeds. On river-bottom land and land that is foul with weed seed, it is usually hest to plant in checks, otherwise hand -labor will be required in hoeing out the weeds. As the corn roots distribute themselves through the soil for a distance of three or four feet. there is no great advantage in having the plants stand one in a place.
Repeated tests have shown that for middle Georgia the best time for planting is March 15 to 20 ; for central Illinois, May 11 to Is; central Indi ana, May 1 to 11; central Kansas, the first week in May; Sonth Dakota, May 10 to 20; but these dates are only the average for a number of years, and the advancement of the season must each year be taken into consideration and the planting done when the soil can be put in good condition, and when it has become warm enough to insure prompt germination of the seed. The old saying that it is time to plant corn when the oak leaves reach the size of a squirrel's ear or the dogwoods are in blossom, is as definite a date as it is possible to establish.
The rate of planting is also a point that must he settled for each locality and each particular soil. For very fertile soil the usually adopted distances are RA x 321 feet, with three kernels per hill. When planted at this rate, the stand in the fall should average at least two and one-half stalks per hill, and, with this stand, yields of one hundred bushels and more per acre are possible.
The amount of moisture as well as the fertility of the land are matters that must be considered in deciding the rate of planting. If the stalks stand thickly in the rows the crop will suffer more from dry weather than if there is a thinner stand. In some sections where the soil is light, and dry weather is usual during the growing season, best results are obtained by having the rows four feet apart, with one stalk every three feet in the row. When such thin planting as this is necessary, it is preferable to plant the corn-rows far enough apart so that peanuts, cowpeas, or some other such crop can be planted between the rows. In the leading corn states, where the greater part of the land planted to corn is rather fertile, the mistake is made of planting the corn too thickly on the poor land. Ex perience has taught the corn-growers that live in localities where all of the soil is light, that thin planting is necessary, and the mistake of planting too thickly is not so common as in sections where the greater part of the land is fertile. The result of planting too thickly is to reduce the size of the ears and the production of grain, and to increase the amount of forage.