Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-04-26
SECRETARY RUsK BEATEN.

AAeeAO VIII oOhCoy hAO % PACothuAAoVCut PhO-
ducing flowers from the inner recesses Of
silk hat. He removed the sliding lids
Of these boxes, of which there were thirty,
and spread them out on the secretary's
desk. There were thirty small masses Of
corn, chromatic scale in maize. Box
No. was full of kernels almost as white
as periwinkles, while box No. 30 was as
black as darkness. All the tints and
shades known to the chemist were to be
found in this product of corn field lab
oratory.
"And here are some Of the emblems Of
my royalty" said the visitor, diving
deep down into his carpet sack and bring
ing forth two or three long yellow
wands, set with rows Of golden drops.
"You think that kingly ear of corn,
do you" exclaimed the secretary Of agri-
culture. "You think it can't be beat?
Well, wait here one minute and I'll take
the conceit out of you."
Uncle Jerry touched his electric bell
button, and in a couple of minutes he
held in his hand long ear of corn.
"Now, size up here with me-" he ex-
claimed, merrily; ''now well see if you
are the King Corn Grower of America.
Measure up, now!"
But 10 and behold the ear of yellow
corn which for many months had been
the pride of the department Of agricul-
ture was shorter by an inch or more than
the ear which the visitor held aloft in
triumph.
II acknowledge the corn" said the
secretary; "you are king; but now give
us an account Of yourself"
The visitor needed no second invitation.
"My name is Wolfe-Dr. N. b. Wolfe
of Cincinnati" said he. ~ practiced
medicine for thirty five years. Now I
have retired and become farmer"
"Being a millionaire, you can efford
to till the SOIL" interjected the secretary.
Eyes, and let me tell you what have
done with the soil. Let me talk corn to
you. Some years ago purchased four
sections of land, 1850 acres, in Reno
county, Kansas, intending to have cat
tie range. Mr.. Secretary, you never saw
prettier piece of land. A stream runs
through it, and it lies as a great basin,
from the rim of which every other spot
OF It's surface can be seen. In May, 1888.
gave orders to have one of the sections
put under plow. To do this, the season
being late, thirty breakers were set to
work turning over the thick turf. Our
burrows were mile long. How long do
you think it took us to break and plant
square mile Of ground3 Just twenty-five
days. In the history of farming in Kan
sas never has 80 much been done in so
short time. Forty men and 1875 horses
did the work. OF course that years
crop of sod corn didn't amount to much.
It was not expected to.
"Last spring we began preparations for
raising real crop of corn. had some
ideas of my own about corn planting,
and put them into operation. The soil
had not been touched for year, but now
we put the listers in, plowing out fur
rows ten inches deep, with two inch
subsoiler following to pulverize soft
bed in which to plant and bury the seed.
Again, our burrows were mile long, and
by the time the three or four horses at.
tached to each plow had dragged heavy
lister sixteen times across the field they
were tired enough to quit for the day.
Flowing and planting were done at the
same time. When we had finished our
field it looked like a lake on q breezy day.
There was q succession Of little ridges
about three feet apart, and their crests
rising foot above the burrows which
ran between them. In the bottoms Of
these burrows the corn grew, and when
it had attained height Of four or five
inches the crests Of the burrows were
narrowed of and the earth thus disturb.
ed fell into the burrows and covered the
plant completely. The surface Of the
field was now perfectly level again, and
no corn could be seen. In a short time
the bright green blades reappeared, and
when they had grown up six or eight
inches the cultivators were set to work
shoveling the earth toward the plant.
Twice afterward the cultivators went
through the field, and when the corn was
up Is or 10 inches, and again when it
was about 80 inches. Then the crop was
laid by to make ITSELF"
"And how did the crop do!" asked the
secretary Of agriculture, now thoroughly
interested.
"How did it do? Just wait till you
hear the figures. Every grain Of seed
seemed to have fructitied. Every stalk
bore good ear, many two ears. When
we came to harvest we found great
deal of corn. 1t seemed as if the heaps
never would stop growing in my cribs.
1t was aperfect mountain of corn. Why,
from the 500 acres devoted to this crop
~, 800 bushels of first class corn were
gathered, shelled, measured and weighed
From l4O acres of oats, the remainder ol
the section, the yield was $500 bushels
giving us total of 44,00O bushels OF
grain-the largest crop ever gathered
from one section. Of land in America.
"Just think what quantity of grain
that is, Mr.. Secretary" continued DIR.
Wolfe, with the genuine enthusiasm OF
farmer, statistician and an economist
combined in one. SIT would load nearly
a thousand wagons and would fill three
freight trains, each composed Of thirty.
five cars. 1t is greater quantity OF
grain than was imported by the United
States in the last fiscal year. What
would the farmers OF Germany, of Hol-
land or England think OF crop like thati
And this must the more amaze us when