Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-07-06
guests Mr.. Smith commenced by say

ing:
Il have been reading the Journal
these many years and always find In
it's columns something to interest and
instruct. At the same time I noticed
that you advocate modern methods en-
tirely in farming. That is all right up
to a certain point, but when that point
Is reached it is time to call halt.
Now, 1 have always been keen OBJ
server and through a long life have
picked up quite bit Of useful infor-
nation Of one kind and another. l
have also had several preconceived
ideas knocked out Of my head as re-
suit.
For full forty years l was a disbe-
lever in signs as taught in the old al
manacs, but close observation has
forced me to accept them as absolute
ly correct. l have found out that l
didn't know nearly as much as I
thought 1 did in regard to those mat
ters. After several years Of close OBJ
servation and investigation 1 decided
to throw prejudice to the winds and
accept facts as 1 found them.
Several years ago 1 lived in Scar
boro for a time and near me were two
neighbors whose farms were only sep
arated by a line fence. One Of them
was owned by old man and the 9TH
ed by a young man. The soil Of both
places was exactly alike. The old man
raised enormous crops Of potatoes while
the young man could scare raise any.
The young man couldn't understand 1t,
and going over to his neighbor, insist
ed that he was as careful in planting
and caring for his crop and could see
no reason why his potatoes should be
a failure while the other mans were a
great success.
1.-The old man told him that If he
would plant his potatoes on the old
moon he would have no trouble. The
advice was taken and the next crop
was planted on the decrease Of the
moon with the result Of an enormous
crop which continued year after year.
Again, take the matter Of weaving
calves and colts. II this Is done when
the sign Is in the belly the chances are
that the creature will die. At any rate
you will have a terrible time with both
cow and calf. When the sign Is In
either the head or feet you can wean
your calves and colts without the
slightest trouble. They do not seem
to mind it then.
"It Is exactly the same with all kinds
of grain and other crops. Take beans,
for example If planted when the
points Of the moon turn down 1t Is just
impossible to get them to run up a
pole. They simply won't do 1t and that
is all. They will tumble down and
sprawl out over the ground in spite OF
all you can do. If planted when the
horns of the moon turn up then there
is no trouble about their running up
the pole. You can't stop them from
running. You should for this reason
always plant your beans when the ends
Of the new moon point up. This know
from my own experience, for have
tried it myself many times and always
with the same result.
Again everything in the shape Of a
crop that grows above ground should
be planted on a new moon. If planted
when the moon Is on the wane that
crop Is bound to be failure, no matter
what it may be. On the other hand,
everything that grows beneath the sur
face should be planted on the decrease
Of the moon in order to insure success.
It will show a difference Of at least
from third to one-haf In the
amount of the crop raised. If you plant
peas on the new moon they will all rip
en- at once. Everything will be uniform
in size and the time Of ripening. On
the other hand, If you plant them on
the decrease Of the moon they will
straggle over two or three weeks In
coming to maturity and the peas Will
be of all sizes. The man who raises
for market had better plant on the new
moon, but II for family use when he
wants to protract the yield perhaps 1t
would be better to plant on the old
moon.
For seven years lived In Aroostook
county, and on one occasion the Press
Association Of Maine came up there.
All the editors reported big crops OF
grain, but that fall when was thresh-
ing 1 found the crop was considerably
less. l wrote a letter to the Journal
regarding the matter and corrected the
figures given. The funny part OF the
matter was that all over Aroostook
one man would perhaps raise forty
bushels of wheat to the acre, while just
over the fence his neighbor would raise
only sixteen or seventeen per acre with
exactly the same dressing and care.
"Then I began to look into the mat
ter to discover the cause Of this differ-
ence. l found no two farms raised the
same quantity. They ran all tho way
from fifteen to forty bushels per acre.
1 saw that the best crops grew on the
northerly cant of the hills while all
crops sowed on the southerly cant OF
a hill were poor. Then I set myself at
work to find the meaning Of this. The
books taught me nothing and 1 had to
dig it out myself with my eyes and
common sense The question was why
did a different cant in hill change the
size of the crop? BY close watching
! found that on northerly cants, the
wind blew more and the grain trem-
bled all night which prevented the dew
from settling on it. On the south side
of the hill the nights were still and in
the morning the grain wet with dew.
Then the morning sun came out hot,
with the result that the grain mildewed
and the heads did not fill out with