The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, April 19, 1920, Page 5

+ Some “Tips” on Increasing Corn Yields Iowa Expert Believes Average Farmer Can Increase Production Five to Ten Bushels by Careful Methods BY E. V. LAUGHLIN T IS not the purpose of this article to stress the matter of 100 bushels per acre yields of corn. Rather the pur- pose is to give details of how ordinary, average yields may be increased from - five to ten bushels. The writer’s ob- servation, based upon a score of years’ critical ex- amination of actual yields, is that 90 per cent or more of corn land pro- duces from 40 to 50 bushels per acre. Here and there one finds au- thentic cases of 75 and 80-bushel yields; and once in awhile there are real cases of 100 bushels per acre. Con- sidered, however, strict- ly on the basis of the facts farmers consider they have harvested satisfactory crops when the weights or meas- ures show 40 bushels per acre. An increase of five or * ten bushels per acre may not seem very large. However, for a 40-acre field five bushels additional means 200 bush- els—an amount that will increase the farm rev- enues about $300; and if the larger increase of 10 bushels is secured the increase in revenue is twice as great. Increases of this size are not difficult to secure. The writer will here give his experiences in bringing about bigger corn yields. Four things are to be considered in the growing of corn: Fertility of the soil, preparation of the seed bed, selection of the seed, right kind of cul- tivation. Upon the first depends, very largely, the size of the yield. Unfortunately few fields possess a max- imum degree of fertility. Cropping, erosion, un- timely breaking and cultivation have operated to deplete the fertility content. Unless fertility is in some measure restored it is needless to expect the field to increase its yield. The addition of barn- yard manure is the means usually employed. To be of the largest value the manure should be applied to the soil before it has been leached by drenching rains. The red liquid that drains away from a manure heap carries the most of the fertility. This waste may be avoided by applying the manure be- fore it has been subject to rains or by keeping it under shelter. DISTRIBUTE FERTILIZER WIDELY, IS ADVISED Suppose one has a limited amount of manure. Would it be wiser to apply it liberally upon a small area or to distribute it sparingly over a very much larger area? The writer’s experience is that the latter alternative is the wiser. Aside from furnish- ing plant food to growing crops manure seems to act as a sort of stimulant that urges the soil to do its best. Probably much larger sum totals of bushels are obtained by stimulating just as large an area as possible. To produce the best results the manure must be finely divided and evenly ap- plied. By making use of these facts it is possible to secure the maximum results from the manure available. Consider next the preparation of the seed bed. All soils except those that are quite sandy should be plowed rather deep, seven or eight inches, say. Every bit of the area should be turned over—there should be no cutting and covering. It goes with- out saying that there should be thorough harrowing and disking. The farmer who attends to these de- tails is merely making use of the mechanical means connected with the growing of corn. However, attention to these items is one of the surest means of adding three or four bushels to the per-acre yield. The writer has known farmers who have in- creased the yields of wornout fields from 25 to 35 bushels and better through painstaking atten- tion -to the preparation of the seed bed. It is an item that must not be overlooked. The farmers of Iowa and Illinois have found As this writer states, individual farm- ers, by exercising greater care, may be able to produce more. another problem facing the farmer be- sides that of producing more. the problem of getting a fair return for what he produces. Farmers, work- ing alone, can solve the first problem but to solve the more important second problem they must work together, both in their co-operative marketing organization and in their co-op- erative political organization— the Nonpartisan league. that careful selection of the seed invariably makes for increased yields. Three stalks to the hill, every stalk constitutionally able to produce an ear, im- plies several hundred more earS per acre; and as 100 average ears make a bushel it will readily be seen that care in selecting the best seed operates to the production of several bushels more corn. It is poor economy to economize in the matter of seed corn. The best seed should be the motto of every corn grower. It is one of the cheapent ways to make money. In the northern states, careful seed se- lection includes the ne- cessity of selecting seed that is thoroughly ac- climated and has been grown successfully in northern latitudes. Often all the good ac- complished through the applying of fertilizers, preparation of the seed bed, procuring of good seed is lost through carelessness in cultivat- ing. Corn does not do its best where weeds and grass contest the soil with it. These enemies must be overcome through cultivation. And in addition the aeration of the soil that comes through the stirring action of the cultivator shovels is a wonderful stimulant to growth. Cultivation should begin shortly after the plants appear above the ground and should continue until the plants break under the cultivator arch. Attention to all four of the items mentioned is But there is That is certain to be attended by an increasing yield, the size of which depends upon quite a number of ini- tial factors. And the several bushels of extra corn thus produced may change a loss into profit. Every farmer raising corn should consider these matters and be governed accordingly. TRUCK EXPRESS LINES During his term as food administrator Herbert Hoover made the statement that 50 per cent of our perishable products never reach the consumer and that we lose from 40 to 60 per cent of our potatoes annually. Much of this loss.is undoubtedly due to middlemen holding unduly long for a profit, but a stupendous waste is traceable directly to poor transportation facilities. Most of the loss is noted in districts in which railroad service is poor. Motor truck express lines are filling the gap left by lack of railroad facilities more and more in such districts. Some 50 “Ship by Truck” bu- reaus already have been established in different parts of the country and the movement to organize more is gaining. As was noted recently in the Leader, the postoffice department has proposed to congress that motor trucks be installed on virtually all rural routes, where roads permit, with a view that by stimulating the shipment of food products by parcel post much will be done to stop the in- crease in the cost of living, There is no reason jpyv- co-operative farmers’ organizations should not undertake to operate many truck lines. Otherwise there is reason to fear that the truck lines may come under the control of the railroads. The railroads have practically killed the competition that used to face them on the internal waterways of the United States and there is no reason to believe that they would operate motor truck lines to the advantage of the farmers if it interfered with their own profits. 3 The Farm Manure Pit and Its Operation BY ORIN CROOKER MANURE pit when properly handled will store manure temporarily with- out much, if any, depreciation. It is not- enough, however, to dump manure in such a receptacle and then forget all about it. It is not uncommon to see manure in such pits that has suffered heavy loss through heating, or firefanging, as it is call- ed: The utilization of such a contrivance is of little real profit under some conditions unless it is operated with due regard to its limitations. In theory the manure pit is designed to prevent the leaking away of valuable plant foods, such as occurs when barn waste is piled in‘the open yard with no protection from the elements. It is ex- pected that there will be sufficient rainfall or other moisture, distributed at regular intervals, in order to keep the waste at all times suffi- ciently moist to prevent heating. Heating isthe result of bac- terial action which takes place when the manure becomes suf- ficiently dried out for air to permeate its interior and provide the bacteria with the oxygen needful for their work. In actual farm practice rain may not fall in suffi- cient amount and with proper regu- ~ PAGE FIVE Concrete manure pit and mechanical manure conveyor on an up-to-date Illinois farm. larity to keep the waste at all times in a proper state of moisture. If this be the case heating, and consequently depreciation, will occur. Oversight is needed to maintain the manure in a condition in which air is excluded. The manure pit‘lends itself as a practical agency through which rock phosphate may be applied ad- . vantageously to the soil. It has been found that raw rock gives much quicker returns if it goes into the soil in close association with an abundance of organic matter. By applying the phosphate rock to the manure each day after it is placed in the pit, one is assured that the two, when spread and plow- ed under, will be in the desired contact with each other. . The amount of phosphate to be mixed with the ma- nure in the pit depends, of course, upon the size of the application to be made to the soil both of ma- nure and rock. Thecon- tents of the pit divided by thenumber of tons of ma- nure to be applied per acre will give the num- ber of tons of raw rock to be mixed with the ma- nure held by the pit when it is full, pro- vided one wishes to ap- ply the rock at the rate of a ton an acre. If half this amount of rock is to be used one should figure accordingly ower. e s