The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1899-09-19
UIle N5eralA and Menps
THE BANNER CORN FIELD.
1t is IL Patch OF q 900 Acres In Illinois and
Will Produce 600, 900 Bushels.
(St. Louis Globe. Democrat }

tho Whito mans vision has rested
since tho timo tho Pilgrims landed
and learned to know tho mcrits OF
maize in hasty pudding. Tho Sop
tcmbcr sun is putting tho golden
color upon 5000 ucrcs Of corn in ono
great body. This is tho banner corn.
licld Of the world. 1t will give GO0,-
600 bushels Of corn, an average OF
100 bushels to tho acre. Tho state
ment will be questioned. And the
people who know most about corn
outside Of the American Bottom will
DO the first to challenge. Even
tho Egyptians of Illinois look askunt
ut such claim. But those who
have seen tho extraordinary spcctu
clio agree that nowhere in the world
is there such Il crop Of corn maturing
on tho same ground space.
Even from the nearest hilltop this
field appears to bo Il solid mass. As
far as the vision reaches tho corn
extends without apparent break. On
closer approach the spectacle is even
moro impressive. The corn stands at
nn even height Of fifteen feet So
heavy is it that Il man four rows
from the outer cdSo cannot be seen
At little distance the cdgo Of the
great body presents an unbrokcn
line Close Wow shows an occasional
dividing boundary in tho form Of Il
narrow road or lame. On either side
Of these lanes the corn rises like Il
wall high above In" wagon. Having
once entered tho lano the traveller
finds il impructicablo to turn around.
Tho only thing to do is to drive to
tho other sido Of the great field.
Nobody who has tiddcu through the
5000 acres questions the estimate Of
100 bushels to the acre. And nobody
who has visited the field since the
present crop began to mature can rc-
member to have seen the like OF it
before
Even the cultivutors Of this cX-
ccptional field admit that they have
never had such Il crop as this years.
10 them thcro is nothing unusual in
yield Of seventy fvo bushels TO the
acre. In unfavorublo seasons they
can safely count on fifty to sixty
bushels. But ono hundred bushels
for tho entire tract is the record
breaker. y capitalist from the great
est corn. raising section Of illinois,
lhr vicinity of Springfield, last week
bought six hundred acres Of this ban
ncr field OF corn. He paid SlS,ONO.
4 cash uIrrr Of 100000 for ono
thousand acres was refused. Bv
way OF interesting contrast il mvy be-
stated right hero that loss than ton
years ago the ground upon which
stands tho banner corn crop Of the
banner corn year chungcd hands at
81 an aero. Where the banner crop
is dontinS Nnl hardening, within
half q dozen years wild ducks had ;
summer nesting and hutchimg place
The banner corniicld Of tho United
States occupies what was rcccntl,
Big Lake, in the American Bottom
Water stood at II depth OF two Zee
over an irrcgularly formed tract, per
haps two milos wido and four milc
long in its largest measures. Long
ago an abortivo attempt at draining
was made, but it fnilcd of it's pur
pose. Big Lako continued to furn
ish sport to tho du"N hunters, bu
was worthless in all other respects
Mr.. Whitney Gilbrcath, Of Ava, be
gan to speculate upon tho possbli
tics Of reclamation. Tho follow cit
iZens Of Mr.. Gilbrcath aro now
rathor loath to recall tho uncompli
montary things they said about his
want Of sound scnso in wasting his
timo with Big Lake. They saw
him put into tho ovcrllowcd land his
money until no owned thousands O.
acros. They saw a drainage dis
trict formed. a steam drodgc cut ,
channel twenty five feet wide from
the Lake to tho Mississippi River
This ditch ranges from eight t.
thirty feet in dopth Tho citizcn'
commented sarcastically and coult
hardly bo patient until the timo tc
say, 81 told you So" That timt
mover camo for thom. Tho water
drained from tho lako into the cut