The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-01-19

Vile, s. C.
Ladies and Gentlemen: /: am farmer
simple and pure, having never followed
any other occupation or profession. The
| principal duties connected with the same
are to prepare the soil, plant the seed,
cultivate the crops and gather the har'
vest; therefore, writing essays will be
acknowledged by all to be out of my
line of business, and it would be pre-
sumptuoas for me to undertake an intel
lectual entertainment to such a good
looking audience as confronts me here
to day at this glorious meeting of the
farmers.
My subject is, as has just been an
Dounced to you by our worthy president,
my experiments with corn. My expert
ments having been but few, l can promise
you my essay will be short. The corn
crop in my estimation is by far the most
valuable of any crop We can raise in this
the upper part of South Carolina. And
why it is not more largely cultivated by
the farmers, astonishes me greatly. l see
from the report of the Commissioner of
Agriculture, that South Carolina planted
in 1885 one million, four hundred and
eighty.seven thousand, three hundred
and forty. one acres in corn, which pro.
duced thirteen million, four hundred and
ffty.three thousand bushels of corn,
which was nine bushels to the acre.
Besides that amount she produced, she
had to have shipped to her from the
West four million bushels more.
We ought to by all means raise enough
for our own consumption, aud until we
do it we will be failure as farmers. We
ought to increase the yield per acre from
nine bushels to twenty. Some will say
that can't be done, that our land is too
poor for corn, that we are compelled to
plant the most of our upland in cotton to
pay our debts, as it is our only moneyed
crop. How many farmers are there in
Spartanburg county that can afford TO
make cotton for nine cents per pound? !?
There are great many more that don't
do it than do. For when farmer has to
cultivate two acres, using two sacks of
ggano, to make bale of cotton, he will
fas. zee that it costs him in the neighbor-
hood of nine cents per pound.
Now, gentlemen, don't understand me
to say that there is no money in making
or planting cotton, for .aere is money in
making cotton as we'll as corn, wheat,
oats and potatoes, but we must first
enrich our lands. only mean the far.
mer that has to work two acres to make
q bale of cotton. There is no money in
it for him. The farmer who only makes
ten bushels of corn on an acre makes but
little clear; but let him make twenty
bushels to the acre and he will find
money in corn. Never give up planting
corn.
There is no telling how much corn can
be made on an acre of ground. DR..
Parker, of Columbia, a few years ago
made on an acre of rich bol tom, situated
near the Asylum, two hundred and three
bushels of good corn. believe that is
the largest yield on record. The yield
in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee and
great many other States, is thirty
bushels to the acre, while South Caroli-
ma, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina
make only ten bushels to the acre. Land
that will not make more than ten bushels
of corn to the acre had better be turned
out to rest, for no man can make an hon.
est living farming on such land.
The first and most important point in
corn culture is to give sufficient distance
to each stalk of corn, never less than six.
teen square feet, better twenty. Don't be
misled by the crowding of corn, as they
do;in the Northern and Western States,
or on the rich bottoms of our own State.
Upland corn will not bear crowding in
South Carolina one year in six. Excep-
tionally wet years alone can save the corn
that ia too much crowded. 1t is best to
plant on upland seed which have been
grown on upland. have found the
early maturing varieties Of the North
and West are only suitable for our very
best lands, for Oh poor land they must be
fed in the hill with complete manure
that is available. It cannot wait for rain
or the slow process of nitrifcation or
decomposition in the soil. Corn is
divided into FIVE well.marked varieties /:
The sweet, pop, d, !, flint and soft, the
three last being by far the most popular.
The corn is the only crop farmer can
make that can all be fed back on the
farm. While all other grain crops must
90 off from the farm, corn can be fed to
our horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry,
dogs, and last but not least, by no means,
ourselves.
1 want to impress on you that corn
requires ample space for its proper
growth, aud the soil between the rows
needs TO be frequently worked to be kept
mellow, porous and free of grass. The
manner of this working depends upon the
charactev of the root-growth; for We
might as we'll run straight tooth bar.
row all over the corn field in the attempt
to cultivate the corn and to break down
the stalks, as to run a shovel plough
through the rows deeply as most of us
farmers do. The method of cultivation
must therefore be consistent with the
manner of the growth of the roots.
Most farmers plant their corn in rows
four feet wide and three feet in the drill
which distance will give filty-two rows te
an acre and seventy stalA on each row
Now. seventy times ifty-two makes