Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1889-10-03
MIR. 3. F. Keese's Prize Acre OF Corn..-
Yield, Mode OF Cultivation, SO.
TUGALoo HOME,

DEAR COURIER: Having gathered
our prize acre of corn, we beg leave
to present our experiment, tho cause
Of success and failure, comments and
deductions for the readers of the
COURIER, in behalf of all concerned
in the farmers movement of pro-
gressiye tilliage, contestants, 80, go.
We have gathered and measured
carefully ono hundred and five bush
els and twenty-three pounds, struck
measure. Though the acre has been
estimated from forty bushels to over
two hundred by different parties,
and though we have fallen Tar short
OF our own expectation, it is quite
refreshing to realize the fact that we
have more good mcrchantable corn
from one acre than we made OH our
whole farm IN either of the last two
years, having been submerged by
the floods of 1887 and 1888. The
cultivation was almost faultless.
The want of a machine to drop the
corn and good hand to lay off the
rows was the only irregular procedure
that observation could detect.
While we did not make two hundred
bushels or an approximate, we will
make the following statements, viz
Having manured very highly 10000
pounds of compost of cottou seed,
stable manure and land plaster, and
5000 pounds of guano,) the land hay
ing been deeply plowcd, the spring
cold and dry, the crop did not
start off well until the last of NAV.
The ground was thoroughly wet.
Two heavy rains from this time until
the last of . une, impcdcd it's growth.
at this particular juncturc, when
shooting" silking and tosseling, the
the weather was dry until the Oath
OF July. During this time we ex-
perimcnted a little with spraying,
and on Tuesday, 22d July, we turned
on branch, but on Thursday 1.-TWO
days later) the rain came, and our
irrigation amounted to nothing, but
an injury, as the land where the stream
ran was made too wet, causing the
corn to fall down. This is the OBJ
lection to irrigation by turning on
running stream. The ground gets
too wet before it will get over the en-
tire land. Spraying is more like
natural rain and far preferable, as the
operation can be better controlled.
During this drought, ten miles below
in Anderson county, the farmers
were having too much rain and par
tial showers were frequent, which, to-
gether with press of other work, de-
TERED us from rcsorting to irrigation,
thinking every day it would rain.
But if l had commenced irrigation in
the outset of the drought, and kept it
up, believe firing could have been
prevented. One other cause of fail
ure was taking in poor sand bank
for the purpose of testing the pow T.,
of highly manuring such land, a.
compared with rich land, and because
it was not SO exposed to overflow
On this sand we got Il good stalk,
but no corn, very little ut least
Two or three severe winds prostratcd
and split up tho blades, preventing
filling. We think the wind DESTROYED
twenty-five bushels, taking in the
sand bank twenty-five, and the
drought twenty-five or fifty, would
have given yield of two hundred
bushels or its approximate. AS it is,
we would have made more if there
had been less corn on the land, and,
perhaps, we would have made het-
ter yield had our rows been five feet
wide instead Of two and one half,
and thicker in the drill, and had
given the corn more sun light. Corn
planted OH the new moon grows
taller, giving more foliage and less
grain. Hence our high corn, some
ears being nearly ten feet from the
ground. 1t is not popular idea to
give the moon such an influence, but
neap tides arc formed by the moon
being in conjunction with the sun.
So we have faith enough in the
moon to insist on planting corn on
the old moon. This would have in
creased our yield.
DR.. Parker, of Columbia, claims
to have made two hundred bushels
and fraction on one acre, and
never have disputed the matter when
any man believes that two hundred
bushels were made. Orange, Judd &
Co., offer their splendid Journal as
premium to the one who guesscs
the largest yield, or its approximate,
of the contestants the present year.
My guess is two hundred and ten bush
els, three pecks, three quarts and one
pint. In my effort at large yields I feel
justified in making this guess, large
as it is, because over as large an area
as the United st. vcs and Territories
some farmer will realize all the helps
of the season mentioned in my case,
and even more.
In conclusion | will state that
have been on probation this year, or
feel so at least, having neglected my
religious, social and financial duties
for my farm work, or a higher and
better degree of tillage. But if |
have added one item to pailiatc, cx-
tricate, eradicate, cIucidatc, fasci-
nate, or in any way to amclioratc
the decree of disobcdiencc, "six days
shalt thou labor" "thc bread by the
sweat of thy face" "all the days of
thy life shalt thou cat thy bread in
sorrow" &c, then I hope for conso-
lation for my shortcomings.
find it hard to be "iack at all
tralcS". without brin(f rOo1 for mono