The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1907-09-04
YIELD OF OATS.
Valuable Information as TO Great
Yield.

In 1880 the yield Of oats on an acre
OF land in Lancaster county attracted
national attention. Commissioner
Watson in trying to get data for the
South Carolina handbook, after much
difficulty, secured information con-
corning the preparation Of the land
for this crop and the following letter
from Mayor r. f. Wylie, the son Of
the farmer who made the record, will
be Of great interest to the agricul-
tursts:
Mr.. j. f. Watson, Commission Of I'm
migration, Columbia, S. {.
Dear Sir: Your favor Of 18th in
stant received. 1 will gladly give you
all the information 1 can, which was
derived from my father many years
ago.
l. The yield of oats per acre-1s2
bushels.
2. Kind Of oats-Red rust proof
variety.
.. Kind Of soii-yGray top soil with
red clay subsoil. The lot where the
oats We're raised contained fraction
over three acres and is the lot now
owned by Col. Leroy Springs, upon
which is located the Roddey boar.-
ing house.
4. Time of sowing-Early fall.
think in October
.. Time of reaping-I think in May.
1879 or 1850.
6. Manner Of preparation-The
land had been planted in cotton sew
eral years previous, and each wear
had been thoroughly subsoiled bv
long subsoil plow drawn by ;wo large
mules. Each year 1T manure from
the back lot and ditvhe: nf the town.
as well as stable manure, was broad
casted over The field and pln,ved un-
der with two horse Oliver chilled
plow. Before the cotton was planted
compost preparation of cotton seed,
acid phosphate and stable manure
thoroughly rotted was put in the drill
and after the cotton was up, one or
two. side applications.
At this time the lot was in fine con-
dition. the top soil for Is inches i'm
depth being practically made earth"
The spring before the year the oats
were plarted, think in May. the field
was broadcasted IN cowpeas which
were cut in the fall. When harvested
| remember they resembled a dense
matted Wilderness of vines A two
horse Oliver chilled ploY was used to
turn them in. And it will be noted
that the vine as Well as the root was
turned in. 1 remember a large heavy
log chain was attached to the beam
Of the plow to drag the vines down to
prevent the plow from clogging.
Z. The manuring-This has been
partly answered under above. Af-
ter the peavines had been plowed un-
der, lot and stable manure were broad
casted over the field and plowed un-
der.
Six bushels per acre were planted
in the following manner: A man went
across the field sowing two bushels
with the hands, then came back in
opposite direction with two bushels
more, and then went perpendicularly
across the field with the two remain
ing bushels. The oats grew to a
height of six feet. They were cut
with a cradle by hand. L remember
that there was only one hand who
continued work in reaping and he
could not make a full sweep with his
cradle as it would be full before he
could make half swing around. The
oats were threshed and measured by
Mr.. w. Med. Brown, of this place,
and Mr.. VIM. L. Edwards, (now
dead), who owned the thresher. The
large yield created a sensation at the
time and was written up by the pa
pers.
I regret that I cannot give you an
approximate amount of the cost of
raising the oats. but I am confident
there was handsome profit in the
yield. r. e. Wy,ie
The information above will be Of
considerable value to farmers who
are now studying intensive farming
methods and Commissioner Watson
will give it the widest possible pub
licity.