The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1890-03-21
THE GRAND PRIZE CROP.
HOW 253 BUSHELS OF sHELr.ED CORN
WERE GROWN ON ONE EXACT ACRE
THE BIGGEST CROP EVER KNOWN.

~" Goo DUolEI6o OF SHELLED CORN
WERE GROWN ON ONE EXACT ACRE
THE BIGGEST CROP EVER KNOWN.
TIE LAND OF srARvATIoN's EMPIRE.
The acre entered by II. j. Drake
was q sandy soil in Marlboro coun-
ty, South Carolina. The original
growth was oak, hickory and long
leaf pine. Three years ago, before
the land was improved, eight dol
lars per acre was q fair valuation,
while thirty years ago, the planta-
ton Of which this acre is I'm avers
age specimen, was called by its
owner "Starvation's Empire" II
had q gentle slope, with northern
exposure, and was naturally we'll
drained. The acre was e fai.
specimen Of much of tho poor land
IN the South, and its Improvement
and productiyeness affords an in
structive lesson. AS late rs 1885,
when it was in corn, it made a
roor crop practically nothing.
III 1886, the acre yielded about
800 pounds Of seed cotton, two
dollars worth of arnmoniutcd fer
tilize" being used in the way COM
mon to ordinary cotton, culture.
The fertility was SO rctluced that,
in 1887, the yield Of corn was not
over five bushels per acre. But
now Mr.. Drake undertook to i'm
prove it. 10 provide the vegetable
matter or humus so much needed,
the land was literally covered with
rakings of leaves, straw, etc, from
the neighboring woods. On top
Of this, rs horse-loads Of stable
manure were evenly spread broad
cast; also, Is bushels of cotton
seed, 500 pounds Of Wilcox, Gibbcs
4 Cos manipulated guano, $50
pounds OF cotton seed meal and
$50 pounds Of kainit. This heavy
dressing was all plowed under
with Starkc's Dixie turning plow.
1t was laid off III rows with the
same plow, two t'urrows to the
row, four feet apart; 100 pounds
Of tho guano were applied in the
furrows, aud then each pair Of
burrows were thrown into II ridge
with the same plow. The Peter
kin cotton was planted with
Leytch cotton planter, and made
the great crop Of 9l7 pounds Of
lint cotton on the acre, showing
conclusivcly the result Of the I'M.
provement.
PREPARING FOR THE BIGGE EST CROP ON
RECORD.
Mr.. Drake decided that this
acre was the one for him to enter,
in the corn contest, and he deter
mined to make the biggest crop
on record, season permitting. The
last Of February, therefore, lie
hauled upon the contest acre SO
onc-horse wagon-loads Of stable
manure, averaging 20 bushels to
the load, or 1000 bushels of man
ure in all, worth $50, to which
should be added four dollars for
and spreading. This was
the droppings Of horses and mules,
fed on corn and fodder, and was
not moved until hauled to the
acre. At the same time, 5OO|
pounds each ofmanipulated guano,
cotton seed meal and kainit were
also broad-castcd, and the whole
was then plowcd under. Follow
ing the plow, whole cotton seed
was literally strewn in each fur
row, 600 bushels being applied to
the acre. A subsoil plow came
after, breaking the soil to Il total
depth of II inches, and also bury
ing the whole cotton seed deeper
than the other manure. Thus, the
dccaying seed should back up the
crop later in the season, when it's
roots had penetrated below the
first layer OF manure. One horse
and man did the plowing, also
the snbsoiling; both jobs being
completed in one day (March y at
a total expense Of two dollars.
The acre was narrowed on the
same day with a Thomas smooth
ing harrow, one man and two
horses doing the work in about
one hour The next day, March
2, the acre was laid of, with the
Starko plow, in each row. The
rows were alternately three and
six feet apart that is, there were
six feet between two rows, then
three feet, then six feet, and 50 on.
TIE VARIETY AND CULTURE.
The seed ulantcd was ono b,Isbn]