Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1859-08-20
Cultivation of Corn Experiment of DR..
Parker in 1857.

The extraordinary success of DR., j. w.
Parker, of ColumLia gathering from two
acres of land SIG bushels and lS quarts of
Corn, has been widely noticed, and will no
doubt be the means of very largely incrcas-
ing that crop AS appropriate to the sea
son, We reproduce the report of DIR. Parker
to the Executive Committee of. the State
Agricultural Society on the preparation of
the ground and cultivation of the crop.
The ground selected for my experiment
was sand hill branch laud; after drying it
by underground drains, it WAS broken up
with a common tongue plow in November.
About 70 two horse loads of manure from
my cow-housc were spread over each acre
in December, and well plowcd in with
two horse iron plow. (Glazc, followed with
the subsoil plcw, drawn by two mules
About the filst of March, another coat of
good stable and COW manure was spread
and plowcd in as the first. Early in April,
three cart loads Of uir-sluckcd lime, and
two ,:ach. of salt, were spread over each
acre and lightly plowcd under. On the
HI of May, the ground was thoroughly
| plowcd with Glaze's large iron plow, liar
rowcd level and laid off thirty inches apart
with a shovel plow. Guano and Plastcr.
was Sprihlilcd i'll thc burrows, near 200 lbs
of the former, and 800 lbs of the latter, to
each acre.
The seed selected for planting was from
| North Carolina, and designated B" Bale
| Mountain After soaking it during the
night in a strong solution of nitrc, it was
| planted from to IL inches distance in the
row, covering it with hoes, and rolled the
| or ~, Al.
the l4th, it was plowed with long, very
narrow plow, and dressed over with hoes.
| On, the 9th and 18th of June, the same
work was repeated, each time leaving the
ground level. About the first of July, it.
was necessary to draw ridge about the
roots OF the corn to prevent its falling Du-
1 ring the protructcd drought, Acre No. |
wis twice irrigated, and Acre No. 2 had
tho water turned on it once.
As you will learn from the certificate of
the-comnittco, the yield from Aero No. /
was 200 bushels and II quarts from Acre
No. 2, ll6 bushels and q quarts, making
from two acres, three hundred and sixteen
bushels and lS quarts -.
1 On residing these extraordinary results
\ IN the Farmer and Planter, land Knowing
.. that such results arc, sometimes produced
at cost too great to bc practically valuable,
the editor of the South CUuntryman wrote
to DIR. Parker, asking information us to
some details which arc not given in the
printed report, who replied rs follows:
That acre, III connection with several
others, before thorough drainage, WAS not
only worthless for agricultural purposes, but
I nuisance to the farm and ncighborhood,
as Il source from which unhealthy miasma
cnianatcdj being nothing more thnn bog,
overgrown with rushcs, here and there "A
cluster of swamp willows, &c. Us ] neg
lcctcd to keep an account of the labor cx.
! pended in ditching,. clearing, covering
drains, and otherwise preparing this land
tor crop, it is not IN my power to answer
4 ydtT dueyy about the cost, but supposed it.
to have been nbuut $40 per acre; its pres
cnt vatne iaat least 500, which estimate
is based upon the fact that the first crop
was ! 40 Bushels corn, and the second, 200
| bushels, on one nc
1t being my desire to learn how much
corn could be made on enc acre, without
regard to costs and charges. every appliance
to produce tile desired end was brought
iuto use.
The preparatory blowing, sub soiliug, phnt-
ing and culture per acre, sums up, GIG so
Salt and Lime, 5 so
| Guaho, 500
Towhich add domestic manure, worth % 90
Total, 955 90
Thc same ground is now in corn, the
same method of culturc is being used, but
very LITTLE manure has been applicd-re-
aardihg the soil sufficiently supplied last
year for this crop.
You ask whether | regard the combina-
ton of lime and salt to have been of mate
rial Service in the crop, and if have be-
fore tested it. The combination of salt
and limc, / have long been in the habit of
Using in my garden, and with succcss---as
a preventive against tho dcpredations of the
cut worm. 1t serves two-fold purpose,
it is good stimulus to the soil, and is de-
! structive to those insects ahd worms, so
troublesome on our fiat and low lands.
My method of irrigation is simply to
4 convey thc water. from pond, by mcans of
small bitches, and making it pass alternate
| ~ through the furrows in the corn field,
until all the. ground is made thoroughly
:ncis.S IL that state it is kept from the tim
the shoots begin to appear until the corn
begins to ripeD. 'n
| We conclude with the following interest
ing comments, which we find in the South
! Countrymap for January, suggested by full
knowledge of all the conditions under which