The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1869-03-03

-"Mapes' subsoil litter" 1t looks
like Il big, slender, fat iron at
tached to tho plow-beam. 1t goes
! six or eight inches below tho bot
tom Of furrow-bed, lifting and
breaking mp tho hard-pan, but not
turning it, IIe used it in all his
fields, and went on adding blood,
and bones, and fish. and lime, and
dung, to tho soil, till he mado a
place which is pronounced the
best in the United States. There
ls surface Of twelve inches alike
through tho mass, Of dark color,
mellow and fine, neither muddy
in wet weather, nor dusty in
draught Below this is sub
soil that for six inches is mellow
and porous, though unfertilizcd.
And below this arc tile drains on
most Of the tract, forty feet apart.
Some idea Of the vigor Of this soil
may be obtained by knowing that
Mr.. Quinn, the manager, who re.
alizes upon tho surface all the
plans and cal .ulations Of the pro-
fessor, can plant cabbages on that
pcrsimmon lot Of seven acres, two
and half feet apart each way,
and bo sure that ninety out Of
every hundred will head. 1t
makes no difference whether it
rains or not, on the Mapcs farm.
In 1868, whom there was a parching
drouth over half the country, the
blades of corn all fircd and turned
yellow, the lower leaves Of cab
hagcs shrivcIling and dropping off,
Mr.. Quinn made fill crop. He
kept small subsoil litter con-
stantly moving between the cab
bage rows, and thus drew moisture
from below, since it was not given
from above. A good plowing is
frequently rs helpful, and some
times moro SO, than Il generous
shower.
Does the Mapcs farm pay?
Yes, it does, rs well as any
equal area in tho country. For
agricultural purposes alone, these
%rrr, are worth So, 900 each. The
o.. ''.i>":>l"n has been replaced by
All elegant and spacious home.
One finds pictures and carving.
nroad galleries, we'll filled alcovcs,
and pleasant grounds, ull bought
with what came from tho soil.
The gross income from the sale
Of fruits and Vegetables is from
$4,000 to $4,000 q ycar,--thc
average coming to about SS,000
Tho labor bill is about 81 1000, and
the expenditures for money from
$500 to S400. This leaves a,nct
profit of s6.000-,tcn per cent on
100000. The original cost of the
tract was sl25 per acre, or ST. 900.
All tho improvements we have
described, the removal Of tho
stones, the draining, tho subsoiIing,
the generous manuring, tho
spacious home, with its comforts
have been developed from the sol
itself: In other words, these
forty acres, such rs We have de-
scribed have raised u family from
penury and almost starvation tc
comparative opulonce, surrounded
them with overy appointment ol
comfort and taste, and are, today
II thousand per cent more valuable
"a farming property than when
the professor first began to carry
out upon them his "book farming''
idoas Of hillside drainage, deep
tillage, and special manuring.
In January, 1866, this model
farmer died. Gods finger touched
him, and he was laid to sleep be.
meath tho sod he loved, in the
bosom Of tho soil he had studied
with 80 much enthusiasm. But
his influence is not buried. While
he lived l'o constantly reported to
the world tho results Of his studies
and gave mankind tho full benefit
Of his talents. These writings ro-
main and tho farm romains,-thc
example and tho proof of ALA
sovero and eloquent rcbuko to all
sneers about book farming. Let
tho skeptic who may believe that
stage coaches arc as good as cars,
who believes that six inches of
mellow earth arc as good as twelve,
who poohs at such expressions as
"superphosphato," "sulphato of
ammonia" and plants fruit in a
"progrossed" state, visit tho Mapes
| firm and turn frO,o '+Ln o,,,<,, -