The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1909-12-22
GOOD BOY FARMER
HOW BAsCoMB USHER WON cAE
CORN PRIZE CONTEST.

How He Prepared His Land. Ferti-
Lied His Soil. Cultivated s,:h
Gathered His Crop.
4 Columbia dispatch says the an
roupceneut 10 the eIc-t that Eas-
comb Usher. the ha.l.oro coLmiJ
boy who raised l52 L-shcls on lis
acre. had won the State prize IN
III. national CORE contest has caused
grea, dea! OF comment here.
Many are wondering just f.w be
did II. 4 glance a. the following
Will give some idea as 10 JUS; how
the phenomenal yield was produc-
ed:
The land OF which the corn was
! produced Is II S.ishtsr!lie ;owc-
ship in Marlboro county and IS
sandy loam soil! There was a sub
| soil OF 10 inches. The land s!oped
| 10 The southeast. The land was
ars, cleared in 1907 and was plant
| ed In corn and peas. The sam"
crop was planted in 1908 and S.
| bushels OF corn was produced. P1!-
| or 10 the large yield cotton seed
| neal and 100 pounds OF nitrate O!
soda were used.
The acre was we'll fertil!Eed this
year. The following being used;
zoo pounds OF commercial teEts-
lize-. 100 pounds German kaDt.. 500
pounds second grade Peruvian qua
no. 500 pounds cotton seed meal
and 500 pounds nitrate soda Th-
land IS considered worth SIS per
acre.
| On March 90 the land was orok-
en-. I. was subsoiled with a Boy
Dixie psow. There vas 20 barn
yard manure used.
Great care was exercised IN the
selection Of seed. which Is one o,
the most important points about the
contest. Gar-ett's prolific corn seec
we're used. This seed was secu:et
from B. E. Moore. who won ID"
State prize n 1908 by producing
l27 bushels OF one acre and whr
won third prize n the national con
,es, In 1908 with l25 bushels. This
corn has been used since 1900.
The seed we're planted on ApCi
! by hand. in rows Eve feet apart
| There were 60 hills and only one
peck O. seed was used. The seed
were carefully hand picked befort
| planting :. No time was spent ic
terminating them. The cultivation
commenced on April %. Boy-D.xte
piow being used. The ground war
stirred TO a depth Of 10 inches. The
acre was cultivated ave times OF
April IS. May Il. June i3 aEc
July 9. The corn was th!nned b,
hand. one stalk being left to tho
hill. eish. inches apart Hand Ia
bor was used IL removing the weeds
The weeds were the rag weeds and
The morning glory. which were re-
| moved in one day.
Oa October l3 the crop was bar
vested The corn was pulled sroC
,he stalk by hand. The stalks were
not cut aaG shocked. The corr
! was husked By hand
TIE boys corn club work was in,
t.oduced In sbis State last spring
Oaly Eve counties could be organic
ed. Marlboro. Lee. Florence. C!aren,
don and Newberry. The results have
already been reported IN detail from
each Of these counties. Prof. Ira
". Williams. United States Farm
Demonstration Agent: o. B. Martin
/ and Prof D. y. Barrow. OF Clmsor
college. are now actively engaged IN
stimulating the work IN various 10
cai!ties %. the State With the co
operation OF the different county su-
pcr!ntendeats o: education. the rural
school improvement associations
State Superintendent OF Education
| SwearI1sen and Commissioner Wat-
! son. Active efforts viii! be made
to organize boys corn clubs IN every
| county. Means and methods viii
be discussed az the coming meet
Ing OF the State teachers associa.
ton. and those IN attendance will
learn definitely OF the scope OF this
work for 1910.
This work has. up to the present
been Independent OF the contest
conducted by the State CORE contes,
onm!ss!cn 70! both boys and men.
though many OF the boys partic!pat
.,g n the above contest have also
participated In the State contest.
During the coming year It IS the
purpose o: the commission to CON-
b!ne its efforts and prizes with the
Few work that has been !naugurate.'
under the direction o: o. B. Ior-
tin.
There has been a great Increase
IN the corc production n South Ce.
DINA II the past severa! years a?t
the corn contest commission Is 0:
the opinion tha, the work OF N-.
Usher will encourage other boys o!
the State In agriculture cot cnly IL
producing corr 5u; II al! other lines
Of agricultural work.
One Of the mem bers Of the CON-
mission in speaking oe the young boy
said Why De Is great man and
does not know &. There are tcw |
boye ,ha; have done what be has
His record !s most euveniable. He |
has demonstrated most strongly ths, |