Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 148, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 June 1914 — EARLY PLOWING BEST [ARTICLE]

EARLY PLOWING BEST

By E. T. Robbins, Agent, Tazewell County, Illinois.

Early plowing is much the best for corn. It has advantages. When plowing early, one can plow deeper than he can later on and still get a satisfactory seed bed. Whether it is sod or corn stalk ground, the early plowing allows the plowed ground to make a better connection with the soil below and any trash or stalks becomes well surrounded with soil and gets an early start at rotting. Rotten corn stalks do not interfere with tue passage of moisture through the ground as do stalks plowed under just before corn planting time. These early plowed stalks also make less trouble for cultivation.

One of the main advantages of early plowing is that it prevents evaporation of moisture and so allows the soil to hold a full stock of moisture for the use of the crop. Another important advt-ntage is found In the mellow seed ted produced by early plowing. Before tlie land has baked, the soil plows up mellow and it is possible to make a seed bed without the objectionable clods. A still further advantage of early plowing is that It allows the weed seeds an opportunity to sprout and be killed by discing or harrowing before corn is planted. Eaily plowing and subsequent discing and harrowing also do more than anything else to kill out the com root aphis or louse, which causes so much damage with com in old ground. Taking all these things into consideration it is not surprising that corn on land whch' was plowed early frequently yields 10 or 20 bushels more than corn on land plowed late.