The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1908-05-07
Corn And Its Uses.


| Southern CultiTator.
Corn is king, in the United States;
! it leads all other farm poducts, with
| a value of of 81, 35O,O0O,OOO. While
we call cotton king in the South, its
value is only half that Of corn. To
our mind the most significant fact
| thai recent years has developed for
the ultimate prosperity OF the South,
is that we can grow as large yields
of corn per acre as any section on
earth. With a record of 265 bushels
per acre and an annual yield in vari-
Gus sections approaching the 200
bushel mark, it is clearly demonstra-
ted that we have only to adopt the
most approved methods to grow all
the corn we can use prOfitably. We
can not only grow the corn necessary
to feed our pillow animals but can
grow enough to feed our cattle, hogs
and chickens and to carry out any
plan OF Diversified farming that we
may desire to follow. Now let us see
just what a plenty ofcorn means:
1.-YOu can eat it for bread.
2.-You can feed it to your hands
3.-It will keep your mules and
horses fat.
At will feed your hogs and give
you plenty of meat.
5.-When ground cob and all you
have and excellent cattle feed.
ct enables you to raise plenty
of chickens and turkeys.
7.-Having the above mentioned
things, you can grow cotton as a
surplus and reducing our need for
SO much money.
The wet winter has curtailed the
acreage in corn. Plant more corn
than ever, and endeavor to secure a
larger yield per acre 1'ou can grow
from 80 to 100 bushels per acre just
according to your work and fertili-
ling. The question is-do you want
this yield sufficiently bad, to do what
is necessary to get it. We do not advo-
cate any reckless buying of fertilizers;
but it is simply matter OF arithme-
tic. You farm to make money. Now,
corn is worth 80 cents per bushel.
$40 worth of fertilizers judiciously
used will increase your yield 40 bush
els of corn, then you have:
40 bushels, $1O-25cts. per bushel.
cts.-25cts--equal So cts. profit.
You will have profit of So cents
in every bushel which beats growing
cotton. You can feed this to hogs,
and by transforming this corn into
meat, you cin add a value of twenty
cents to every bushel, while the ma
nure, if properly saved is worth an
other twenty cents.
Personally we like corn. we like to
see it grow-we like it to feed on the
cob-we like to give it to horses,
COWS, hogs and chickens. We glory
in the independence it brings to the
farmer who has an ample supply
we rejoice in the profit it yields to
the grower. Corn is valuable in itself
and makes valuable in things it rem
ders possible for you to raise on
your farms. 1t is not like cotton,
giving you one leg to stand upon,
corn and the stock it feeds, gives
you four or five. Corn gives a farmer
strong, broad, solid base upon
which to build a true success. Last
week we were talking with Mr.. Will
liam Everhart, one of Georgia IS most
successful farmers and he said: eff
you will find farmer in any section,
who has made it habit to grow
plenty OF corn, us IA rule you will find
he lends money-if not, you will find
a man who has the confidence of his
merchants and banker, and who can
always get any help he needs This
is true, because business men know
such farmer has resources, that he
is building upon the right foundation
that he has more stability than a
cotton grower and has double the
chance to receive clear money from
his cotton and a years work.
We have read with pleasure MANY
poems, that have been written upon
the growing corn, as the lover of ma
ture has tried to catch the whisper
lngs OF the gentle zephyrs as they
played with the tassels. rustled among
the blades or fondly caressed the
tinted silks, but our interest in corn
has a deeper significance, it goes down
to the intrinsic value. We realize |
that feed must come before clothes.
We talk of farmers being the "mud-
stills" and "backbone' of our civil
zation, but corn is the mud-sill and
backbone of farming itself. We
have neglected its culture and prop
er scale too long. We have given it
second place, when it should have
been first. The farmers of Iowa have
increased their yield of corn so per
cent. per acre, in the last two years.
by awakening to the Importance of
seed selection and better culture
methods. Let our Southern farmers
wake up and do better. We can
double and triple our yield. If you
have tenants let them grow the cot
ton and you grow corn. If you
want "to know for YOURSELF the
value of the Williamson plan, try one
acre, if you fear to risk high featiliz-
ing on large scale. Do not let the
year OF 1908 pass without making a
worthy effort to increase the yield of
your corn.