rule rather than the exception. For | in the third and fourth inches, unless silage drill three to six inches; for husking, one foot apart. When corn is too large to harrow, use a weeder. This gives the best results right after the cultivator. All the cultivation is in the direction of the row. Drilled corn can be kept clean with less labor than checked corn. In either case, it would have to be hoed to keep it absolutely clean, but only needs it at ends of row where cultivation is not thorough. Drilled corn matures earlier than check rowed. The majority of cultivators are not built on correct principles. The face of shovel is at right angle with line of draft. This takes an unnecessary amount of power to move it and leaves the land in the best possible condition to permit either washing or drying out. A good cultivator should cultivate all of top soil, the depth should be controlled beyond mere guess work. It should leave the surface smooth, but not compact. It should have a pulverizing action on the soil. To acomplish this, shovels, knives or disks should be oblique and not at right angles with line of draft. The draft is less, the cultivation better, as the old style leaves land open, lumpy and rough on surface, conditions to be avoided. An uneven surface causes waste of moisture, one of the most necessary elements to make a big corn crop. Some one has recently recommended dragging a mower wheel in the corn row. This may answer the purpose, but there are plenty of cultivators that do the work and a whole lot easier. To control depth of cultivation and close the ground after cultivation, use some form of leveler. This is an attachment and all of them do the work. Deep preparation of a deep soil is not objectionable, but deep cultivation does not give good results. The principal part of the root system is forced lower by deep cultivation, and this is at a loss of early maturity and also quality. Quality means more than the average man allows. I would rather have three bushels of mature corn, that is dry enough to shell at husking, than four bushels of the soggy kind that some people say is mature. It may be dry enough to not spoil in the crib, but carries too much moisture and does not have feeding value like mature corn. DISCUSSION. Mr. Imrie-Why should corn mature quicker in drills than in hills? Mr. Convey-Because the root growth is not distributed to the same extent. We found that out when we drilled partly and checked-rowed partly, although our drilled corn was planted later than the other. Mr. John Imrie-I got a very good idea from Mr. Griswold. He uses a long evener and also a long neckyoke, separating the horses and making the planter run more evenly, and getting his corn planted more evenly. Mr. Imrie-We are farther north than Mr. Convey and I think we need to plant more shallow and in planting shallow, wherever the horse steps, we leave the corn on top of the ground where it is hard. Mr. Stiles-Do you prefer to plow early in the spring, or just before you plant? Mr. Convey-If there is plenty of moisture, we prefer to wait until regular corn planting time. We plow and harrow and plant and harrow, to make a continuous operation. We have not had any unfavorable result from handling that way. If we allowed it to remain too late, it certainly would dry out. Mr. Nordman-I think that depends on the kind of land you have to a great extent. Our farm is quite roll ing, and we find it necessary to wait until just before we plant for our plowing, because if we do not and a heavy rain comes, it is liable to do a great deal of damage by washing. Then, too, you know we live in the northern part of the State where the climate is not so warm, and not as conducive to a good growth of corn as in the southern part of the State, and we have to plant right close to the surface. We aim to just cover our corn, not more than half an inch. Some is on top when we get through planting, but we cover it with the harrow. i Mr. Martiny-What method do you employ in selecting your seed corn? Mr. Convey-We select it in the fall, after we start to husk, taking the best ears. Mr. Martiny-Do you call that the best way of selecting seed corn? Mr. Convey-We get good results that way. We have not found any obection to having the seed corn cure in the shocks; in fact, we think we get better seed corn. It is not wise to wait until the cold weather sets in. It is not wise, either, to put the corn into a large pile and let it remain there for some time before you make a selection. Mr. Imrie-I have noticed that in the southern part of the State they do a good deal more spring plowing than in the northern part. With us we always prefer fall plowing for corn or any kind of grain; we think that for corn we can get the ground in the right condition cheaper and easier and with less weeds on fall plowing than with spring. Mr. Convey-We have been raising corn in the southern part of the State longer than you have. They all start with fall plowing, but we find there is more waste of manure, more wash ing of the land, and more washing out of the fertility, so we have changed to spring plowing. We plant on clover sod, in clover one year. A Member-We put our manure cu the clover sod. Mr. John Imrie-Ours is practically level land and of course that makes a difference. We have very little washing, if any, and we have found the fall plowing seems to be the best, especially if we can top dress with manure. Mr. Convey-I would like to ask this gentleman, don't you get good results with spring plowing on your clover sod? The Member-We will, unless there should be a very dry season. We can always conserve more moisture with fall plowing. One year I made an experiment, I plowed in the fall and left a little piece in the middle of the field and plowed it in the spring. I found the corn was about six inches lower than the rest, and in the fall it was a good week later than the other, with exactly the same cultivation. A Member-By planting it in drills six inches apart, you will get more to the acre, but won't you hurt the quality of your ensilage? Mr. Convey-If we get practically half the development of the ear, we get a larger amount of fodder. Of course in a very dry season, sometimes the corn is too thick to give good results, but in an average season you will certainly get more food to the acre. On good land, that is not at all too thick. A Member-How is the disk for cultivating corn? Mr. Convey-We have used the disk for several years. We have two dif ferent styles of the knife cultivator. They give nice cultivation. It is one of the best I know; but it should be used with levelers in any case. I would not use any cultivator without, even the Planet Junior should have it attached to it. It keeps the land very much better and it also tends to wash less and dries out less, So I do not care what kind of a cul tivator I use, I would insist on the per cent grew, that was No. 7, but levelers every time, and start with it the corn that we saved in the field from the beginning. Once you get your land out of condition by leaving it uneven, it is difficult to get it right again. A Member-Do you drag after the corn is up? Mr. Convey-Yes, sometimes until it is eight or ten inches high. Where the season is such that there is a slow growth, you cannot do it, we use the weeder instead. Of course we always use the weeder after the cultivator, close after it, until the corn is too large, and run the same way as we cultivate. All our cultivation is in one direction. Chairman Griswold-I think we should emphasize the fact that every farmer should test his seed corn this spring. We found this last year in testing seed corn that we received from Chicago that not more than five before the corn was cut tested ninetyfive per cent. There will be a whole lot of seed corn this spring that will not grow and the farmer has got to look out pretty carefully. seed Mr. Convey-We tested our corn, and out of 133 kernels only six failed to grow. The quality of seed corn depends in large measure on the variety and on the location, and also as to whether the ground is heavily manured and proper growth made. Two years ago we had a peculiar season, we had very little midsummer growth until after the 15th of August, when it rained. It grew until frost, we had most fodder and a poor qualiity of seed corn. If your corn matures and it is dry enough, there is no trouble about the seed, but it is safer to test it anyway. VARIETIES OF FRUIT FOR THE FARMER. Mr. Bingham. It is not my intention in this paper to elaborate on varieties suitable for the farm orchard where care is given the varieties of fruit under cultivation, but rather to mention some of the varieties that can be grown, if any, without any attention, for this seems to be the rule. Those that understand the great necessity of care and attention also know what varieties will succeed with them, and as location has so much to do with selection of varieties, any list may be misleading to some. The varieties to be chosen for the farmer are those that will do the best under the neglected conditions they are sure to have, close planting, sod, no cultivation, no pruning, no spraying, and annual browsing by the cattle, calves, horses and other farm stock. And if once in a while the effort is made to cultivate, the methods employed usually result in injury, after several years of neglect, by not employing the right system of culture and pruning. age farmer obects to as too much trouble. The currant, we ought to have a new variety originated, one without leaves, so we could starve the cur rant worm to death. Until that va hardy, strong-growing variety that will not be killed if the leaves are all eaten off every summer. We have quite a list to choose from and perhaps the Prince Albert is as hardy as any. Assuming that the location is fairly good for the growing of fruit and one wishes to supply fruit in abund-riety is originated, we should plant a ance for his family, he should still choose varieties that will do the best with the least amount of work, for it is hard for the average farmer to see any real money in fruit growing and he seldom takes much interest in anything he cannot see money in. He does not consider that after all the real glory in growing fruit on the farm is the pleasure of gathering from his own vine and fruit tree the abundance of fruit for the home. Raspberries, well, if there aren't any wild ones within ten miles of the farm where you can gather a few quarts by spending a whole day's time, it might be well to try some of the cultivated sorts that will stand out all winner without any fear or injury. The Turner is a good variety. Blackberries select the same way, if none can be found in your township and there is no alternative and you still have an appetite for the luscious fruit, plant the low-growing Dewberry type, so that if you have a few inches of snow nature has done for you what you could do in a few minutes, but never have the time, that is, covered them so they may come through the winter without injury. The gooseberry is a fruit that will grow almost anywhere, but, like the currant, was originated with foliage that appeals to the currant worm and consequently the same fate is due them. Unless they receive a little attention, they will, like many va rleties of fruit, be a thing of the past only a symbol of "what might have been." After all, the farmer ought to have fruit for his table and should consider the production of it in the same light as he does the performing of any task for money expected to be derived therefrom. If fruit is to be had, like the grocery bill, the expense must be met, but it is slight, only a few minutes each day will be suffi |