The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-02-19
CORN CULTURE IN THE SOUTH.


culture are contained in two lines:
"Plow deep, then often, while sluggaris sleep:
Anu you shall have corn to sell aud kcepb
1t Is unfortunate that these important
principles are not more appreciated in
the South. Our farmers do not generally
realize sufficiently the great Importance
of this corp; with them everything is
subjected to cotton, and while, as d rule,
they give assent to the assertion that q
plentiful supply of corn is essential to the
prosperity Of a farmer, they, with few
exceptions, take.no pains to study the ma
ture OF the staple, nor to investigate and
understand the conditions necessary to
the production Of good crops.
They drift Oh, year after year, in the
narrow grooves and primitive customs Of
their forefathers plant large areas, with
out any attempt Mt improving, or even
maintaining the fertility of the soil su-
peffcially scratch the surface Ultimate
ly gathering 70 or 13 bushels per acre.
and then say "that IL, does not pay to
raise corn" Under such q prevalent
system this assertion can not be denied !;
but when the staple receives the thor
ough attention that it deserves, its cul.
ture does pay handsomely.
Corn is the most useful crop grown in
the United States and throughout the
North and West. where its capabilities
ARE known, it Is considered most impor-
tansand profitable crop. In the South.
eastern States it is the most abused and
neglected, and our farmers rest quite sat-
isfied4with yields of one.third of what
their lands would produce If we'll -culti-
waited. eA.Ff ss2
The average yield of the United States
10 about 2Sa bushels per acre that of the
New England and middle States, about
95 hushs!s, and that Of the States OF
Maine Vermont gand New Hamshire.
about 40 bushels. The large average OF
the last named States in the result only
ofdiligent and intelligent cultivation, as
their soil is naturally the poorest aud
most rocky cast of Rocky mountains.
The seven Southeastern States, from
North Carolina, to Louisiana inclusive,
PT0dlvo th5 5niaiies*. average yioiidd OF i,is
the different sections of she country-on-
~ about IL or l3 bushels per scre al
is superior 10 that Of Maine, Vermont,
or New Hampshire, and equal 20 that of
any other section east OF the Mississippi.
This very anal average is .he =s.::i. SS:
of want Of cultivation, added to the abuse
that their soils have for generations re.
Iceived at the hands Of those who profess
and call themselves farmers.
| That very large yields can be made in
the South, has been. repeatedly demon
stgated, most conspiciously by Edf. j. w.
Parker, of Columbia, South Carolina,
who there made an aTerage ofl147 bush
els Eer acre, on two acres, and in tho fol.
lowing season gathered 200s bushels of
one acre. wide report of Department
of Agriculture for 1870, page a56.l With
an amount Of attention beatoWed upon
this important cereal equal to that it re-
ceiyes at the North, the average yield OF
our section can, within few years, lie
increased 20 three times Us much as It is
nt;present.
The three conditions essential to the
production of y good coTn crcJs, are good
seed, land well supplied with vegetable
matter, and thorough tillage Pure seed
iseof che very aTas imporiaace q good
yield can not be obtained withoutit it. The
rule that s'like prodnces like" is as in
ysriabiein corn culture as instock breed.
| ing and tho thoughtfnl, intelligent
farmer will be as careful in the selection
of tho com he plants MS ne is in that OF
the males and females srpm which be
raises his Earn1 stock. The selection oi
seed should be nude in the following
4 manner !. Z, "A s55.S Il - ~
A place ofland, oil sufficient oxtoat tc
yield seed enough for the succeeding
ysas'a planting, should ba we'll nianured
deeply aud very, thorough pioWS6, aIsS
caretully planted with the bess seed OBJ
| tainable. When this patch is ia tsssel
during june, IL ahouid DC UarufIiiiJ n
4 watched, snd from every stalk that doe
mot sllosf promise cf least Two good