The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1871-01-13
Chr aelarictta 9unrnaI.
PREMIUM CORN CROP IN PENN
SYLVANIA.

SYLVANIA.
The Rrandywine Farmers Club
of Chester County, Pennsylvania,
has awarded to David H. Brownson,
Of Guthrievillc, the premium for the
best four acres of Indian corn, his
crop averaging l27 bushels and
80 pounds to the acre. The height
Of the stalks waited from Is to 10
feet, many measuring seven inches
in circumference. In his statement
TO the club, Mr.. Brownson said that
last fall and spring he applied 100
wagonloads of unleached livery and
barn-yard manure, broadcast on 20
acres Of clover and timothy sward,
80 loads of which were hauld dis
lance of three miles, all furrowed
down in April, and the first week in
MAY. On the land on which the
premium crop was grown, he applied
in addition to the stable manure, on
the sod, three ox-cart loads of hog
pen manure to the acre. After
blowing and thoroughly pulverizing
the soil; he marked out rows one
way - feet apart, dropping the
corn by hand, two grains, 10 to IS
inches apart, and applied to each
hill handful Of hen manure, ashes,
and plaster, of equal parts, cover
ing with hoe May 10. On II acres
of the % cultivated, 500 bushels of
lime were applied and cultivated in;
the remaining ID acres had previous
" been lined on the sod. In re-
gard to the use of fertilizers Mr..
Brownson remarked:
Observation has taught me to be-
Iicvc that farmers who have almost
abandoned the use of lime, and sub
stitutcd many of the various so-called
fertilizers, are impoverishing their
lands, and have been deprived of
their hard earnings, having been in
duced to purchase by the ingenuity
Of manufacturers, producing hume
rou5 testimonials of their magic re-
suits.
If we were entirely dependent
upon the patent manuros in the mar
l,et, our land would in time become
almost as barren as that of the great
Sahara, and our children would be
crying for brea6. Twenty-Five
years back, Brandywinc and her sis
ter townships were illuminated al
most nightly by the light from some
limeliiln in the neighborhood; to-
day we find them converted into ice
houses, and the trade entirel y in lhe
hands of the few who make it a
special business. When We apply
lime and barn-yard manure, we
need no stakes to mark the result.
Their application has long since
ceased to be an eXperment-the eff
fects are evident. Raw-bone, beyond
doubt, is an excellent fertilizer: yet
its market value is such that the far
mor cannot afford TO apply it in guam
titles necessary for permanent sub
stitutc for lime. An old horse, after
having faithfully served the will of
his master and paid the debt Of ma
turc, is more valuable, properly man
aged, than one ton of most of the
fertilizers in the market. The de-
posts in the hcnnery are valuable
when mixed in equal parts of plaster
and applied to corn, or wheat broad,
cast. Good shelter for our barn
yards is also one of the very best in
vesments farmer can makoi ma
nurc exposed to the sun and drcnch-
ing rains in the barn-yard' is almost
worthless, the substance offortilizing
properties having long since polluted
some rivuIet, and passed into the
ocean.
Mr.. Isaac l.. Sahler, of West
Brandywine, raised on one acre l@l
bushels and &c pounds of corn, al
lowing 20 pounds of ears 0 the bush
eli.