Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-07-20

Second best yield on four acres, 1856
bushels and 40 pounds, grown by
Mrs. NJ. E. Nelson, of Spalding
county. Third best yield on four
acres, 1921 bushels, grown by J. NJ.
Tanner of Washington county.
Best yield on one acre, 40 bushels
and one pound, grown by w. P.
Walker.
The best yield on four acres was
at the rate of 81 bushels per acre
the second best was at the rate of
Sd bushels, and tho third best at the
rate of 33 bushels. All these are
good records, and speak we'll for
Georgia farming, and it is especially
to be noted, to her great credit, that
the second best crop was made by q
woman.
The best yield on one acre, as re.
ported, w..s 40 bushels, made by Mr..
Walker who also made the best yield
on four acres, and an interesting CO.
incidence is that our Yorkville cor
respondent reported yesterday, Mt the
same time that the results of tho
Georgia contest were announced,
that farmer in York county, S. O.,
Mr.. +. b. McClain, had just har-
vested patch of wheat that yielded
at the same rate.
A Georgia farmer and county arc
doing well, to be sure, when they
can match the best record on this
side Of the river for the Same season.
We congratulate Mr.. Walker and
Spalding county, accordingly. The
Macon Telegraph's prize of $25 in
gold was a liberal and handsome one,
of course, but the distinction of
having made South Carolina record
on Georgia land is not to be COM
pared with mere pecuniary rewards.
There is more to Mr.. McClain's
credit, however, than the fact Of
having made at tho rate of 40 bush
els Of wheat to the acre. There is
this very much more that he planted
80 acres in wheat last winter, giving
n large part of his cotton land to the
crop, and made thousand bushels.
The average yield was over eleven
bushels, although only a part of the
tract was "good" land ten to fifteen
acres being "poor," and the rest of
"averagc" quality. Moreover, the
work of planting was not completed
until the middle of January, sowing
to continued wet weather which rem
dered it impossible to prosecute tho
work of seeding without Interrupt
tion." A thousand-bushel crop un-
der these circumstances was IL good
record, certainly, and it goes very
far to prove that South Carolina
cannot only and easily make itself
independent of the rest of tho coun-
try in the matter of this most i'm
portant of all food crops, but can
grow the crop for profit as well. 1t
is more profitable than cotton at re-
cent and current prices, at any rate,
as our correspondents further &C.
count Of Mr.. McClain's venture
plainly shows.
Tho wheat, it is noted, weighed &C
pounds to the busbel, and was pro-
nounccd by experts, who examined
it, cas- fine, if not the finest" ir
quality they had ever seen. Its
value was placed at $1.00 n bushel
On this basis the value of the cror
is 81, 900. "rho total cost Of pro.
ducing it was about $425, including
expense of preparing tho land, fcrti.
lizers, seed, sowing, harvesting
twinc, hauling, fuel used in thrcsh
ing" etc. "The net profit is at least
$475," without counting the market
value of the straw, which is esti
mated, however, at 800. Taking
$500, then, as fair statement of th'
. "net profit of the whole CROP" thu
, net profit pcr acre was $3.50. Thi
represents the average, of course
for the ninety acres. The profit O,
many of the acres was much more
and for the acre that made 40 bush
els was about 500. Even at $5.5
per acre, however, wheat cvidentl,
pays better than cotton, in Yorl
county, and the fact holds as goot
for any other county in the State a
for York. Any farmer in the Stat
can make the calculation for himself
comparing "average" results, o
:. course, bearing in mind that tn
average crop of cotton is about %
pounds per acre.
1t is to be noted, finally, tina
"there was no rain of sufficient vol
umo to wet tho ground thorough