Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1880 [PAGE 58]

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56

EXPERIMENT IN CULTIVATION.

In one experiment, in 1877, a plat which had produced a crop of potatoes the previous year, was planted with corn, one-third being trench-plowed to a depth of about eleven inches, one-third plowed about five inches deep, and one-third having surface smoothed with cultivator and harrow, without plowing. The yield of the three plats, in order described, were, 1,145, 1,070, 1,040 pounds. In another experiment, a set of plats plowed at different depths, from three to seven inches, gave a yield of 72 bushels 15 pounds, while on equal area plowed deeper, from nine to eleven inches, yielded 88 bushels 35 pounds. In a third experiment, the results were as follows:

Eight rows harrowed plowed 2inches 4 " 6 " 8 " 10 " 1§ " and subsoiled 10 " andtrenched 199.50 lbs.. 284.70 " 339.50" 372.40" 312.90" 290.80"' 560.00" 413.00"

:

In one case four rows of Dent corn were given good cultivation with ordinary corn cultivator. Four adjacent rows had no cultivation, save enough hand hoeing of the surface to destroy the weeds.. The latter gave 500 pounds, the former 525 pounds corn. In another trial four rows, with deep cultivation, gave 244 pounds;; four, with shallow cultivation, gave 280 pounds.

EFFECTS OF FKEQUENT CULTIVATION.

In an experiment to compare of corn, a plat was planted June of four rows, was cultivated six the other half three times. The

F o u r r o w s , cultivated 3 t i m e s " " " 6 " 3 " 6 " 3 " 6 " 3 " 6 " 3 " 6 " 3 " " " 6 " 3 " 6 " 3 " 6 " only3rows A v e r a g e s of r o w s cultivated 6 t i m e s " 3 "

common with frequent cultivation 14. One-half, in alternate strips times during the month of July;; result was as follows:

Pounds.! . 229.60 292.60259.70 329.70 331.80 329.70315.00299.60 276.50269.50 261.80395.80 276.50 284.90 291.90 211.40263.97 243.88"

Frequent cultivation gave an increase in yield of something over 8 per cent. In another experiment of the same nature the increase was a little over 5 per cent.