The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1910-10-08
.RUGE CORN CROP
RAISED BY CAPT. J. w. BUNCH AT
g. THE ASYLUM FARM.

RAISED Bf, .GAPF. y. w. nUNSn n
THE AsYLUM FARsf.
WIN Gather 40. Average of One Hun
dred Bushels Per Acre on One
Hundred Acres.
| .Tne Columbia. Record OF Thursday
tells Off wonderful corn crop made
.byt Capt. ]. w, Bunch on the farm OF
the State Asylum in Columbia. Here
are the facts as ssgiven BY the Record:
| -Cant. zWs=Bnnch has grown on
the farm of:the State Hospital for the
tIrsane "a sf0sacret crop of corn 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
festimate of the yield. So many tests
have been made. and these have been
so; distributed over the fields as to
indicate on their face q production
considerably in excess Of, the amount
Imentioned: but Capt. Bunch prefers
to err on the side Of conservatism
tard.seyss'' ''.:Let it,,stand 100 bushels;
Fat; that, it is probably the best corn
crop in. South Carolina"
And the value and interest of Capt
Bunch's exemplidcation Of the gentle
art Of corn culture is-the greater for
the reason that itiis on large scale
Capt. Bunch has not.taken selected
acre. Of special fertility, spent money
eXtravagantly upon artificial manures
and. endeayored to force 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 sproblem; such as every far
mer faces; he.Shas had in mind, just
as.;the: private planter has, the show
| ing of balance. on the-right side OF
the: ledger at harvest time, and he
has worked it out with just labor,
tools, machinery, seed and fertilizer
az the average farmer planting on
this scale has. 81
1t may be urged that the lands
Capt Bunch used as in fine tiltn
rich, well drained and in good me-
chanical condition. This may be suf-
fciently answered by saving. that
EWhen& Capt. Bunch took. charge OF
these lands they were considered OF
low value for agricultural purposes
typical Richland sand, with a clay
subson, their fertility low and consid-
cradle tracts swampy. If now they
are among the most productive lande
in the South, rich and well drained
it is simply because they have been
we'll used. Capt. Bunch has mixed
brains with his fertilizer-apd his
knowledge Of farming was not ac-
quired in college either. He is nc
mere .dabbler: in agriculture. Last
tyesrshesmade this flNn, with its 25O
facres under cultivation, yield s2o,.
aoo.ss
"%Capt. Bnneh, you do not let your
LAND rest even at night" visitors have
frequently said, after an inspection
Of the farm. It is true that every
acre: is required to yield its maximum
and that constantly, but then Capt
,Bnnch. fors>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. It 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.
"I would not be understood as con-
demning it, though" he said Thurs
tday "For the lands on which it
was originated, level, sandy, Pee Dee
soils, it is, I believe, the, best sys-
tenn; but to use it would be mis-
take on lands OF such filth as these
here. We tried it and found that
on our farm it caused decrease of
rs to IS bushels per acre below the
normal yield"
It is figured that the ear 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. Rats of Raleigh is said to have