Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-01-08


not willing to undertake to tell the
story for publication unless the re-
porter would come to his farm. go -
the ground on which the experiment
was made and see the thickets Of corn
stalks from which he took fifty bushels
of corn to the acre.
Because of the tremendous impor-
tance Of this subject to the people OF
York county and the state, and be-
cause Of the fact that it would be i'm
possible to find a more credible wit
ness than Mr.. Hughes, a man who
possesses the confidence, esteem and
respect of all who have even been in
close contact with him, the reporter
made no hesitation in taking the trip,
and he found the situation all that it
was represented to be and little
more, for the conditions under which
the experiment was made were ideal,
and the experiment itself was thor
ough.
1t appears that Mr.. Hughes made
two patches Of six acres each. His
part of the corn made on the planta-
ton was a little more than 1000 BUSH
els. OF this, however he made 600
bushels on the two patches mentioned,
and a comprehensive idea Of the thor
oughness Of his Williamson expert
ment involves the story Of both
patches, one of which was fertilized
entirely with S-4-4 goods and the 9TH
er almost entirely with stable manure.
In company with Mr.. Hughes, the
reporter first went over the William
son plan patch" There Is nothing
there now but the stalks; but no man
who has any knowledge whatever of
corn would have any difficulty in
reading their story. The rows stand
about 44 feet apart, and the distance
between the stalks. is from s to lS
inches, the average being close to IL
inches. They are small, few Of them
being larger than a common broom
handle. and the average height Is
somewhere close to u feet. The sur
face between the rows is almost lev
el, and 1t Is now quite clean looking;
but Mr. Hughes says that the grass
was pretty rank until it was killed by
the frost.
The soil of this patch is rather dark
and the reporters idea was that II
was naturally quite rich; but Mr.
Hughes said no. when 1 came here
three years ago." he explained, "this
patch had been planted in corn. The
stalks were about as thick as your
finger, and not more than five feet
high and the yield was only some five
or six bushels to the acre. l broke II
DIP well, sowed 1t in oats and followed
with peas. That is about all that has
been done to it previous to this year"
On this explanation, Mr. Hughes
was asked for statement as to his
manner of preparation for and cultiva-
ton Of the crop just taken off, and his
reply was about as follows:
First / broke up the patch with a
3-horse disc plow. We went down to
about what many people, without
measuring, would call ten inches.
would say 1t was not more than eight
inches. Next we cross-broke with q
3-horse disc harrow. Then we bedded
with an Avery cultivator that threw
the ridges up about eight inches high
1t looked very much like cotton land
We planted in the water furrow about
eight inches below the top Of the bed
and judge the seed was covered to q
depth Of four inches. 1 did not make
note Of the time Of planting but
think 1t was early in April. We used
no fertilizer at the time. When 1t was
about eight inches high, we worked
it with a cultivator, and went over II
again with the cultivator at about
two feet high. Nothing more was done
to it until it began to tassel, when we
plowed it with a heel sweep and ap-
piled 400 pounds of S-4-4 fertilizer tc
the acre."
Mr.. Hughes said that he did not
measure the land except with a grain
drill, which made it a little less than
six acres. He did not measure the
yield further than to weigh one load
and count the balance which was
about like the first. From the weight
of the one load and the number Of
loads he was satisfied that the CROP
was not less than 300 bushels.
From the Williamson experiment
field, Mr. Hughes led the reporter tc
the other referred to, about quarter
Of a mile distant passing through or
the way the cornfield of cropper
The corn had been worked by the old
method, and only about 100 pounds OF
fertilizer had been used to the acre
The soil was much richer than in the
other field, rich enough in fact to make
nearly a bale Of cotton to the acre;
but the corn yield had not averaged
more than fifteen bushels.
The second six acre field already re-
ferred to was one which had yielded
about six or seven bushels of corn to
the acre the year before Mr.. Hughes
took charge Of it. 1t had been worked
by a cropper. But the soil, SEEM
ed to be sour" or something and II
did not produce as it should. This
field, however has since been the ben
eficiary of nearly all the stable ma
nure afforded by the plantation, and
this was all the fertilizer that the corn
crop taken off of it last year had. The
preparation and cultivation was prac-
tically the same as in the case Of the
Williamson patch. The yield was
about the same as in the case of the
other, about fifty bushels of corn to
the acre.
Any farmer after making an exam
ination of the corn stalks as they now
stand would, II asked for an opinion,
say that the yield of the stable man
ure field must have been at least 30
per cent greater than the yield Of the
Williamson plan field. The stalks on
the stable manure field average nearly
twice the size of the other and are
Snmewhat ta Her