Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1909-07-21
FARMERS INSTITUTE.
Very Able Addresses, Large At
tendance of Representative
Farmers, Much Good
Will Result.

vancement or the county. to see sc
large number of the most intelli
gent farmers come in to attend the
Farmers Institute that was held
Monday morning. The meeting was
called to order and presided over
by Hon. B. E. Nicholson in the
morning, and by Hon. w. r. Parks
in the afternoon. Several similar in
stitutes have been held in the psst
but the attendance then was not
half what it was Monday. To our
mind this indicates that the far.
mers of this county are more thor
oughly aroused and are more deeply
interested those things that will
improve the agricultural conditions
than they formerly were.
The first speaker presented was
Prof. c. i. Goodrich, his subject
being Soil Fertility" He urged
rotation of crops and the supplying
of humus to the soil by planting
peas on winter crops, such as red
clover, crimson clover or vetch. The
first thing necessary to the produc-
ton of a large yield is moisture,
and in order to conserve moisture
there must be a large amount of
vegetable matter in the soil. Prof.
Goodrich had charts showing what
a small percentage of water sandy
soil held and how quickly it evapora-
ted, also showing the large per
centage hela by soil containing
humus and how very slow is the
evaporation. The quickest and best
means of supplying humus is by
applying barnyard manure, but as
the supply of this is limited, the
speaker urged the planting of winter
legumes, which not only afford a
crop of forage and store nitrogen
in the soil but prevent the washing
away of the soil by the winter rains.
Crimson clover is an excellent
covering for winter and should be
sown between September 10th and
October 10Th. About Is pounds of
seed should be sown to the, acre.
Prof. GoodricIapproyes of a liberal
application Of COMMERCIAL feftilii-
zers, showing how by their proper
use better results are obtained from
rotation and the growing of le-
gumes.
Numbers Of questions were asked
the speaker by intelligent farmers,
which showed not only their in
tense interest but their desire and
purpose to apply what they had
heard to their own farms.
The second speaker was Prof. J.
n. Harper who gave valuable in
struction upon "Fertilizing for
Corn and Cotton" He first urged
the farmers to plow deeper in order
to increase the amount of available
potash in the soil. He stated that
scores of tons of potash could be
found on an acre, and all the far
mers have to do is to go down after
it with large plows. The soil is de-
ticient in ammonia and phosphoric
acid, which if the best results are
obtained must be supplied in the
proper proportion at the proper
time.
Prof. Haper approves of the Will
Hanson plan of growing corn, ex
cept in the method of cultivation
He liked the thorough preparation,
he distance between rows, distance
of corn in drill, and the method Of
fertilizing. He says the farmer of
South Carolina do not have enough
corn on the land. By making only
one ear to the stalk, it is impossi-
bic to make very large yield with
out having large numb I. of stalks.
Prof. Harper has experimental
with corn from six to thirty-six in
ches apart in six-feet rows, and has
obtained the best results from that
which grew 10 inches in drill. He
approves of large stalks, because
less moisture is needed to grow
small than very small stalks. 1t is
estimated that 500 tons of moisture
is necessary to grow one ton of dry
corn. is easily seen then that less
water will be required to grow
small, low stalks than large, tall
stalks. The best corn that Prof.
Harper has grown at Clemson on
upland yielded IS bushels per acre,
with 500 pounds of guano. The bot
tom lands made more. He approves
heartily of the application of nitrate
of soda, using about 100 pounds
when corn begins to tassel.
Prof. Harper approves of the
side application Of fertilizers for
corn but not for cotton. He applies
all of the guano before planting
cotton, including about 25 pounds
of nitrate of soda to the acre. He
uses this to obtain a rapid growth
of the tender plant. As nitrate of
soda is easily soluble, it becomes
Immediately available, while other