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CULTIVATING CORN BY
TRACTORS
THIS TRACTOR STRADDLES THE CORN ROWS, AND NEVER NIPS OFF THE SUCCULENT
LEAVES LIKE HORSES LOVE TO DO
W I T H more than 100,000,-
000 acres of corn planted
annually, the task of cultivating
fields and freeing
them from weeds
until the corn has been "laid by" has
been Herculean, necessitating the services
of several hundred thousand
horses. Until the past year, the task
was never done by other than animal
labor. But just as horse-power long
ago supplanted man-power and cornhoeing
gave way before the sulky
plow, now tractor power has supplanted
horse- and mule-power.
It is estimated that the series of
demonstrations cost the tractor manufacturers
close to a million dollars,
one concern alone spending $20,000 to
display its makes. But each demonstration,
lasting a week, was visited by
from 10,000 to 15,000 farmers each day,
thus warranting the heavy expense.
In all the demonstrations no single
thing attracted more widespread attention
than the possibility of the
tractor in corn cultivation. A tractor
which straddles the corn rows, pulling
the cultivating shovels behind it, and
is guaranteed never to nip off the
green, succulent leaves—as the horses
and mules invariably do—proved its
worth at every demonstration and was
welcomed eagerly by the corn farmers.
A speed of five or six miles an hour
can be maintained, the corn field being
cultivated much more quickly than bv
horse labor.
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