The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-09-06

the soy Dedn anu lie ioNS1
proper rotation. It would be just as
unreasonable to expect our lands 70
produce good crops year alter yea
without putting into it the proper
| plant food, as it would be to eHpecl
a child to grow into a we'll
manhood by breathing the air alone.
The next in Importance TO TINS
comes the preparation of the e BED
which should be done in the fall or
early winter to a depth OF Il 70 10
inches, according to the nature OF the
soil. Then we should find a thorough
bred. prolific variety Of seed corn, for
as you SOW, so shall you reap. The
corn should be cultivated about every
eight days, not Over two inches deep,
for this shallow and frequent cult
walton retains winter moisture and mas
the advantage of leaving many weed
seed where they will not germlnate'
and leaves the corn roots intact. Corn
cultivated in this n upon TINS
deep seed bed hardly ever suffers
from drOuth.
Il will answer any question thai
can which may be brought out in the
discussion of this subject concerning
the details Of my acre of corn.
Following his address the lad stood
ready to answer questions and stated
the value of his having broke the
ground IL inches, rows 4 feet ~ 4
inches. Mr. L. b. Parker called at
tention to the advantage of break
ing deep, that the average of farmers
in the State vas about three inches
with a yield of about 16 IL bushels
to the acre, while Phillips went in
twelve inches and raised 1874 bushels
owe t Randolph Boy.
At this time there was a pretty
event. Col. J.. Bryan Grimes came
onward with a lovely bouquet of star
lilies, and presented them on behalf
Of Mrs. E. E. Moffitt, formerly Of
Randolph, whose father, Governor
Jonathan Worth, was a Randolph
man. In presenting the flowers Col.
Grimes said: Il present these bowers
from a Randolph county lady to the
most progressive farmer in North
Carolina"
Master Lee Blackwell.
The next to be presented was
Master Lee BLACKWELL, Of Granville
county, about Il years Did. weighing
rs pounds, who raised rs IA bushe
Of corn on his acre and won a valua-
BILE scholarship. The young farmer
is small, but bright and active, his
rank and open manner making a
hit with the convention. In his ad-
dress he said:
Gentlemen Of the Farmers Con-
vention: You would scarcely expect
a little boy like me to tell you how
to raise corn. [ shall tell you, how
ever, how l won the second prize in
the corn contest of Granville county
last season.
"First-I. regard the Seis<tian Of
soil as very important, hence 7 chose
an acre which had been soWn in an
nual clover, it was we'll set IN clover.
| broadcasted over this lot IA loads Of
stable manure which made a magnifi-
cent and splendid lot Of feed, which
l cut, in fact the feed more than paid
for the manure including the cost Of
labor up to this time.
NOV as TO my preparation Tor
planting. L broke 1T up 8 inches deep
with an iron beam two horse pillow,
after which | thoroughly fertilized it
with a disc harrow, by going over it
four times, being assured that the
land was we'll prepared for the plant
ing of the seed.
"On the 18th day of May I began
to plant, by running off my rows four
feet apart l planted it with a corn
planter, seven inche apart in drill,
using three hundred pounds of phos-
phoric acid and potash.
"As soon as it began to peer up I
began to cultivate it by running a disc
harrow once up each row. This /
started the young plant growing.
After this narrowing I went over it
and cut out every other stalk, leaving
it to a stand of IA inches apart.
Il then plowed it each week for
three successive weeks, with a three
tooth harrow, to Keep the land loose,
till the fourth week | ploWed it twice,
because the corn and grass, too, was
Owi SO fast. The result OF this
test as that l got 1000 pounds of nice
sweet fodder and rs bushels Of corn,
on which | won the second prize in
the Boys Corn Club Of my county,"
In telling how he had cleared up his
n young Blackwell stated that it
was very rocky and that he used a
sled, pushing the rocks on this and
with a mule hauling the rocks to fill
up a gulley. In removing trees, he
said he then cut away the ground and
then with the aid of his mule pulled
over the tree and cut the roots on
one side. repeating the operation to