The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-10-05
HUGE CORN CROP
RAISED BY CAPT. j. w. BUNCH AT
THE ASYLUM FARM.
Will Gather all Average of One Hun
dred Bushels Per Acre On One
II,,,Ura1 hrrnc

The Columbia Record of Thursday
tells of a wonderful corn crop made
by Capt. j. W. Bunch on the farm of
the State Asylum in Columbia. Here
are the facts as given by the Record:
Capt. j. w. Bunch has grown on
the farm of the State Hospital for the
Insane a 100-acre crop of corr that
will easily run 100 bushels to the
acre--and this within ten minutes
walk of the State capitol. No fancy
figuring is required to arrive at this
estimate of the yield. So many tests
have been made and these have been
so distributed over the fields as TO
indicate on their face a production
considerably in excess of the amount
mentioned; but Capt. Bunch prefers
to err on the side of conservatism
and says: Let 1t stand 100 bushels;
at that, it Is probably the best cor
crop in South Carolina"
And the value and interest of Capt.
Bunch's exemplifcation Of the gentle
art of corn culture is the greater for
the reason that it Is on a large scale.
Capt. Bunch has not taken a selected
acre, of special fertility, spent money
extravagantly upon artificial manures
and endeavored to force a prize yield
without reference to the cost per
bushel of the product. Such exam
pies have little practical value as
contributions to the sum of agricul-
tural knowledge. Capt. Bunch has
taken a problem such as every far
mer faces; he has had in mind, just
as the private planter has, the show
ing of a balance on the right side Of
the ledger at harvest time, and he
has worked 1t out with just labor,
tools, machinery, seed and fertilizer
as the average farmer planting on
this scale has.
1t may be urged that the lands
Capt. Bunch used as in fine tilth,
rich. we'll drained and In good me-
chanical condition. This may be suf-
f1ciently answered by saving that
when Capt. Bunch took charge of
these lands they were considered of
low value for agricultural purposes
typical Richland sand. with a clay
subsoil, their fertility low and consid-
cradle tracts swampy. If now they
are among the most productive lands
in the South, rich and we'll drained.
it is simply because they have been
we'll used. Capt. Bunch has mixed
brains with his fertilizer-and his
knowledge of farming was not &C.
CURED in college either. He is no
mere dabbler in agriculture. Last
year he made this fam, with its 200
acres under cultivation, yield $780,
900.
Capt. Bunch. you do not let your
land rest yer at night" visitors have
frequently said. after an inspection
of the farm. 1t is true that every
acre is required to yield its maximum
and that constantly, but then Capt
Bunch for his part plays fair with
his soil. Crop-making constituents
taken from it this year are faithfully
returned to it the next.
Stable manure produced on the
place goes back into the soil. The
necessity of humus Is never forgot
ten The variety of crops grown is
not sufficient to permit of a four
crop rotation, but two exhausting
crops are never required of the same
tract in succession. The swampy
low grounds are tile drained. The
asylum farms gets a square deal and
responds with bumper crops. 1t has
enjoyed Capt. Bunch's equal give
and-take policy for 20 years and the
result is that it is a farm which
gladdens the heart of any man who
ever loved the soil.
Capt. Bunch does not follow the
Williamson method of corn-growing.
II would not be understood as con-
demning 1t, though" he said Thurs
day For the lands on which it
was originated. level, sandy, Pee Dee
soils, it is, | believe. the best sys-
tenn; but to use it would be a mis-
take on lands of such filth as these
here. We tried 1t and found that
on our farm it caused a decrease of
25 to 35 bushels per acre below the
normal yield"
1t is figured that the a corn
harvested from corn tracts on the
asylum farm is clear profit, the ex-
pense being met by the fodder, and
stalks and the ensilage yielded by
grass and the peas broadcasted
through the crop. The bulk of the
corn crop this season is of the MARI
borough stock. Experiments with
the Bats corn have been disappoint-
ing. This is the seed with which
Mr.. Bats o. Raleigh Is said to have
secured a pr:ze-acre yield of 226
bushels per acre last year.