The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1890-01-02
HIGH FARMING AND BIG PROFITS.
The Remarkable Results in the American
Agriculturist Prize Crop Competition.

The Remarkable Results in the American !
Agriculturist Prize Crop Competition.
A sensation in the agricultural
world will be created by the expert
ence the past year of host of the
best farmers throughout the United
Ssates and the Canadas in competing
for prizes amounting to about $4,000,
offered by the old standard farmers
magazine, the American Agriculturist
of New York. There were four grand
prizes of $500 in gold for the largest
Yields of wheat, oats, corn and pota-
toes on one exact acre, and many
minor prizes. Ample provision was
made for securing honesty throughout
the contest, areas and yields being
carefully supervised by sworn wit
nesses. Their certificates accom-
panied the official book for reports, in
which contestants recorded every de-
tail of culture.
The potato competition was partici
pated in by thousands, but potato
blight swept the whole country at the
height of the growing season, reducing
the yield from one-half to four-ffths-
In spite of this unavoidable disaster a
large number of complete reports have
been submitted. The American Agri-
culturist today completed the award,
with the following astonishing result;
Grand prize, $500 in gold, to Charles
B. Coy, Aroostook county, Maine, for
yield of 1881 bushels of Dakota red
potatoes on traction under one acre,
dressed with one ton of Stockbridge
potato manure, seed cut to two eyes
and dropped in hills 1x28 feet, on clay
loan land, for six years previous in
grass without manure of any kind, The
principal other prizes were given as fol-
| lows: 2, to Alfred Rose Yates county,
N. Y, go bu. Early Peruvian Sunlit
Star and Early Ontario, cut two eyes,
planted 9x1S inches on sandy loan
| enriched with a ton Of Mapes potato
manure; 3, Fred S. Wiggih, Aroostook
county, for 5371 bushels Dakota Red
from seed cut to one eye and planted
Oh fertilizer; 4, ]. H. Hitchcock
Wabash county, Mimi, for 5329
bushels Empire State from seed cut
to one size and fed with commercial
fertilizer; 5, Delano Moore, Aroostook
county, 523 bushels Dakota Red cut
half and whole and MANFRED with
Quinnipiac potato phosphate IS, r. G.
Nisbet Rio Grande county, Colorado,
492 bushels on barnyard manure; Z,
| nhIcrNn
county, California, Ats bushels Peer
less, with no manure or fertilizer; 8,
J. M. Ogle, King county, Washington,
AGO bushels on fertilizer; 8, w. G.
Cusick, Union county, Oregon, 42S
bushels, also on fertilizer.
The $500 in the oat class went to
Orleans county, New York, a yield Of
135 bushels. The wheat award is to-
be announced in the February issue Of
the magazine, and the result with corn
in March. The latter is awaited with
peculiar interest both by practical far
mers and agricultural scientists, be-
cause chemical tests of the amount OF
water in the crop are being made in
each case, together with numerous
complete analysis to ascertain the
feeding and manurial value of corn
under the differences in variety, eli
mate and culture, which prevails in
this country. These comprehensive
investigations are being conducted
through the cooperation of the various
state and national experiment sta
tions, and promise to be the most ex-
tensive and practically valuable appli-
cation of science to ordinary farming.
The American Agriculturist says
the whole affair is a remarkable in
stance of the intelligence and pro-
gressive spirit of the mass of Amer
lean farmers, that such an enterprise
would be impracticable in any other
country, and that it is designed to-
have marked effect upon the agri-
culture of the next decade, and en-
able farmers to greatly increase their,
profits.
The average crop of the prize win
ners was 500 bushels, and of the first
100 contestants was 361 bushels per
acre, while the average crop of THO
whole country was only 76 bushels(
This shows how good farming pays.
The contest also settles what has
heretofore been in controversy, that
highgrade complete potato fertilizers
are better and more profitable for this
crop than stable manure. Much light
is also thrown upon mooted ways of
cutting the seed, and many other
points. A summary of nearly 100 OF
the best crops will appear in the
American Agriculturist for January,
together with the complete story Of
the grand prize yield.