Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-03-17

|
ply the corn with plant food. When
corn is raised on the same land year
after year. insect enemies get to max
ling their homes in the land; and they
are there to destroy the next crop as
far as they can. Depredations from
insects are accepted by the average
farmer in much the same way that
rains and drouths are, on the supposi-
ton that these things are sent by ma
ture and that man can do nothing about
them But the farmer can rest assured
] that If he raises corn on the same land
year after year he is turning his field
| into a hatchery of enemies that will de-
your his crop. and this injury Is far
more serious than generally supposed.
| If the crop does not do we'll, the matter
| is dismissed with the Supposition that
the weather or the soil was unfavorable.
The corn grower should certainly be a
grower Of clover or peas. and one OF
these crops should be grown on the
land the first year preceding the corn.
The time will come in the south when
corn will be planted in checks and cul-
tivated both ways. as it is in the great
corn states. Many things may contri-
butte to make this impracticable now,
but some Of these things can be done
away with by a man who goes at II
right. Very shallow plowing that IS
broadcast or blowing in narrow beds
make it impracticable to check corn
and cultivate it both ways: so may
steep hillsides or bitches, also irregular
outlines of the field, or stumps or trees
on the land, and the land may be so
Door that thicker seeding will be pref
erable 1t will be noted. however, that
really good farming cannot be done
with such drawbacks: and they ought
to be done away with even if the corn
is not planted in checks. Some OF these
drawbacks seem more serious than they
are. because checking is rare in the
south and those who have not seen 1t
done successfully conclude that 1t Is
impossible. Here and there corn is
checked with success in the south, and
under conditions which other farmers
say make checking corn impracticable.
Corn is grown cheaply when checked;
and a somewhat smaller crop would
make as much money as larger crop
grown by more expensive method.
The Williamson method Of corn
growing has it's advocates; but 1t re-
mains to be learned whether the same
amount Of plant food and labor used by
more common methods will not get as
large q yield. If not a larger one Food
the crop must have: and cultivation
makes plant food that Is not yet avail
able turn into available forms. In 9TH
er words a good cultivation is some
thing Of a substitute for fertilizer; and
working the soil we'll before the crop
comes up is another substitute. That
is one reason that narrowing corn Is
so helpful 1t makes grass and weeds
sprout and then kills them; but 1t al
so prepares food for the crop, and that
is the important thing. The cry Will
go up that so much working Of the soil
Is expensive but that will depend on
whether the working is of an expen-
sive or an inexpensive kindly men or
by mules Working with mules can be
made expensive, too. If the implements
are of a kind that one must keep going
around and around the row, instead OF
kind that will finish one row or one
middle at each trip across the field.
Much cultivation at SO small an eX-
pense that the cultivation can be re-
peated frequently should be the aim
Of the corn grower.
When the corn is cultivated in ridges
more surface is exposed for the sun and
air to draw moisture from: and the
rule will be that if the previous work.
ing of soil has been what it should have
been. fiat cultivation will be better.
Still, this is conditional. it should be
noted. For the same reason that culti-
waiting a crop in ridges is detrimental,
planting in narrow beds is detrimental
in dry weatherAit dries out more than
is good for the crop. Deep plowing
would be worth more than narrow
beds. provided the field is otherwise
well drained, in the opinion of the wri-
ter: but there are many good, practical
men who hold the opposite view. and
only the future will show whether all
cannot succeed by methods by which
few are succeeding now.
cotton
farmers make no money: but who can
point to a year when corn raised by
rational methods did not pay a reason
able profit? There is always market
for ii, and bears do not manipulate the
market to the loss of the grower The
market is found right on ones own
farm and on the surrounding farms.
Bears cannot mix up with it, When
the stover is saved by rational meth
Ods-nOt by pulling the leaVes-the
stover has as much feed value as the
grain; and the south IS slow to realize
this If that idea is made one or the
working rules Of the farm management
| il will not be difficult to see how corn
crop VIII Nlelu HlDIe Hel ploill tiit'i Z"
cotton crop. More net profit, mind
you: we do not care for the gross pro-
fit. 1t is the money that farmer can
lay away that he should be interested
in. A cotton crop makes big income.
but the big outgo is right there beside
the big income. With corn under
good management, there is relatively
more profit left behind: so much profit
that while corn will not replace cotton
as the great southern crop. it ought to
be a close second and help to make
cotton raising more gainful. AT least
there will be none to dispute that the
raising of more cotton BODIES i'll for the
south. while the raising of more corn
gives bright promise Of a more pros
porous south and more thrifty farmers.
Home raised corn will keep money at
home. that now goes to enrich other
sections; it will keep money right on
the farm where the corn is raised In
the south.-PrOgresSve Farmer