The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-01-03

Drill Planted Potatoes Twice as Productive as Hill
Planted Sorghum Excellent Feed for Stock-Moun-
tain Corn-Another Good Cow Shed.


Messrs. Editors: 1 have been slow about report
ing the result of my experiments with potatoes
this year Worse than that, I cannot report ex-
actly, being so pushed in digging that 1 did not
get an accurate measure of the two tracts.
Exactly half of excellent piece of land was
planted in hills three feet apart each way; the
other half was drilled eighteen inches apart in
rows three and half feet apart. Each part was
cultivated exactly the save that the check
roUed end was plowed cross way twice and had
more fertilizer than the drilled end.
We dug the rows through the long way, so did
not keep the two parts separate, but made several
tests that showed the difference in yield One row
produced bushel and peck on the hill planted
half while the drill planted made three bushels
and half. Against this, seven rows that were
drilled clear through at side made ten bushels
to the row. These seven rows were of Michigan
seed The drill planted was native seed While
the hill planted also Michigan seed. Other
tests did not show quite so large an advantage IN
favor of drill planting, but all showed over twice
the potatoes to the ground. But twice is enough.
The hill planted did show a slightly smaller
per cent of small potatoes, but incline to think
that was partly due to the fact that the seed on
the hill planted end was uniformly large. On the
other mixed, from very large to very small
The four acres made little over four hundred
bushels Of this seven rows made seventy bushels.
Of the remainder l know / will not miss 1T tive
bushels when I say that one-half In hills made
one hundred bushels while the other half in drills
made two hundred and thirty. I shall make nc
more experiments with check Planting.
I am very thankful to the venerable Brother
Watts. of South Carolina, for his advice about
seeding clover l am fully convinced that he Is
right: 1 have some clover seeded on wheat tina
is good but his plan is sure.
had small tract of sorghum this year tina
opened my eyes to the possibilities OF that crop
shall never attempt to farm and feed stock again
without it. l drilled it early but too deep. Dl
not get stand. Prepared the ground thorough
ly, fertilized heavily and redrilled quite late LII
ssed heads began to ripen the last days of Angus
and commenced feeding them. Have had twer
ty head of. cattle and about as many hogs on
from then until now. Fed it green until nea
frost; then cut it up and shocked it. Have bee
feeding shock day ever since and have abor
twenty shocks left. They still clean it up and
as well on it as / ever had stock do. l wal
nothing better to carry stock over that dl1hcu
period between pasture and feeding.
Our corn crop is excellent all over, but
far the best corn we have grown on hit
mountain field of third year land that IS as stet
as an ordinary house roof. By good care SUI
land can be kept producing well for years IL
commonly it is kept in corn as long as 1T Will M
corn; by that time it begins to wash and Is wort
less, as such land generally cannot be manur
except with green crops.
1 have been very busy of late trying to prepa
shelter for all my stock and Implements 1t W