Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-26
Charles Greer, Corn Wizard.

Charles Greer, Corn Wizard.
The field agents are particularly in
terested just now In corn. They have one
man with them. Charles Greer Of eastern
Texas, who. they declare, is the Luther
Burbank of corn.
Greer was over in the courthouse ex-
aiming some samples and did not talk
about his own work. Some other agents
raided suit case he had along and pro-
duced some ears of what they said was
corn, but that looked more like ammuni-
ton for q three-inch gun.
w. N. Proctor. one of the agents, told
about Greer's work.
Ordinarily" he said, cit takes 100 ears
of corn to shell a bushel. These ears will
shell bushel from forty-three cobs The
corn grows just one ear to the stalk.
But Greer can do anything he wants
with corn. He can produce a corn that
grows two ears to the stalk or one that
grows three ears. He is trying now to
see whether the single big ears will shell
more corn to the acre than the smaller
two and three cared varieties.
He crosses breeds, selects seeds and
seems able to make corn develop any
way he wants.
'All the corn that he has raised this
year and is willing to let go out is already
spoken for. There are applications from
all over the southern country for lust a
single ear. for which the farmers are
willing to pay any price.
There are about 5000 more applications
In now that can be filled. He could get
as many thousand acres of land as he
wanted and make fortune just raising
seed corn, but he keeps on working for
the government.
That man is married to corn. He
lives it. He dreams 1t. He has not time
for anything else.
There has been some 'stufr written
about his work. l will ask you not to
give his address. because 1t just results
In getting him swamped with mail.
why. at one time they had to send
special mail sacks on the r. F. D. route
where he lives 1t interferes with his
work, which we are all interested in
Old and New Methods.
There was another story told after the
meeting. In one Of the Texas counties
there was a well-to-do old farmer who
was raising about thirty bushels Of corn
to the acre, and that is a good crop for
the region. Two of his sons Joined one of
the corn clubs and raised eighty bushels
to the acre, using what the farmers are
getting to know as government meth
DDS
After the crop was harvested they were
bantering the old man. One of them
said:
Dad. why don't you raise good corn
like we dor"
That's all right" replied the old man.
You stole the most of the barnyard
manure. You didn't plant as much as 1
did. anyhow. No wonder you raised big
crops"
well. IL you had only planted half as
much" replied one Of the boys, there
would have been manure enough to go
round. You would have raised more corn
than you did. and you could have put the
rest of the land in cowpeas."
That" said Mr.. Proctor, 'fs the secret
of the whole thing-intensive farming
Put twice as much work on half as much
land and raise more than twice as big a
crop.
Greer can raise 100 bushels of corn to
the acre and not spend any more money
doing II than the average farmer would
spend raising twenty-five. Any man who
wants to can raise eighty bushels I tell
you it is the salvation of the country
Take farmer that Is struggling along
and making bare existence, and the tone
and surroundings of his family are low
cred. Let him make twice as much
money and he not only helps to feed the
country. but he is a better man himself
and he raises the tone Of his family and
of his whole community.
"He is the sort Of a man the country
wants to fall back on If it ever needs to
fight and wants real men.
Corn Clubs Organized.
1--WE got 200 corn clubs in my part of
the state. The boys who are In them are
going to make real men.
1T is not every old farmer who will
take to the new methods at first. But
when he raises twenty bushels of corn
and sees a field separated from his by
only a barbed wire fence where a man is
raising sixty bushels he wakes up.
They have said all along that the
south was not q corn country tell YOU
that heretofore we in the south have not
been a corn people.
Intensive farming and diversified farm
ing. such as the people are being taught
now by object lessons. are the things that
are going to put the south on a new in
dustrial level They are putting her
..Take the boil weevil. When II first
anpeared in Texas the people thought it
mas going to ruin the whole state
~ have seen farms and communities de-
serted. In towns where there were TWEEN
~ stores I have seen il drop to one
'.put where the weevil first struck the
neonle have mastered 1t. They are rails
INC more cotton and better cotton on less
.creage than they did before.
.ff Mr.. weevii shows his head they hit
II. That's all.