The farmer and mechanic., 1911-05-30

a IA
average per acre OF less than nine
teen bushels. twenty boys produced 1
700 bushels OF corn on twenty acres
and l4o boys aged sixty-two BUSH
els. The Governors Of the differen,
Southern States are now giving d.
plomas Of honor TO all boy corn rais-
ers who can show crop OF seventy
| i've bushels per acre. and at th.s
National Corn Show at Columbus last
fall an automobile was presented u
the boy who had raised the most and
best corn on one acre al the lowest
cost
How Boy Won an Automobile.
The automobile was awarded 10
stephen G. Henry. who produced 1$s
buSheIs Of corn on one acre at a cost
Of 13.o cents per bushel. Stephen
comes from MeroSe, La. He IL the
youngest Of five boys OF A family. and
he has been raising corn for three
years by the Government directions
/ tie has won number OF premiums.
/ and last year he received 4 gold watch
/ from the governor and also 4 pig
two sheep. So in gold and a diploma.
| The club 10 which he belongs con-
| tains 200 members. and Stephens
I brother Is also q prize winner.
! / give you in brief the way stephen
! raised his last crop OF corn. He
4 broke the ground ir the fall. plowing
it eight inches deep He turned the
soil again in March and went over il
with. plow and harrow until IT was
| thoroughly fine. He put on two tons
Of stable manure at that time and
| then planted the corn. This was on
the 18th Of March. The seed sprout-
ed all right, but a part of the crop
| frOze and he had TO replant May goth.
| After that the corn was cultivated
again and again with hoe and culti-
vator, all the suckers being pulled
from the hills When he laid the
| corn by, he planted COW peas between
the rows to increase the fertility of
the land for the next year. The corn
was harvested, shelled and weigh "a.
| and at fifty-six pounds TO the Du>hel il
The Question OF Cost.
But this yield would not have given
Stephen the prize There were many
boys who raised moro. There were
100 who belonged TO the corn clubs
! Of the South who made an average Of
| 1881 bushels per acre in 1910. There
| were five who grew more than 200
| bushels and quite number who grew
$50.
No. stephen got the prize beca use
he raised the most corn at the lowest
cost. Jerry Moores 228 bushels cost
him 43 cents. and Morris Olgers, Of
Virginia, raised 16S bushels at 40
cents OF the National prize winners
who came to Washington Ira Smith,
of Arkansas, raised 119 bushels at a
cost Of cents per hushel. while Floyd
| Gayer, OF oklahoma. produced %
bushels on an acre at the same cost
Stephen, like every other boy Of
these whole $4,000 who are now work
ing, had to keep account Of every cent
snent on his acre. He had TO charge
himself So for the rent of the land.
and put down 10 cents per hour for
every hour he or any other boy worked
upon it. He charged himself cents
per hour for the TIM Of each horse
n
stable manure, as we'll as the market
prices for any commercial fertilizers
used BY adding up his accounts and
| dividing by the mum ber of bushels of
Shelled corn in the crop, he got the
exact cost per busheI to raise ii.
The Boys Corn Clubs.
The boys corn clubs Of the South
have almost doubled this year, and
they will probably double again the
year following. The boys belonging 70
them are from ten to eighteen years
old, and some of the big prize winners
are only twelve. That is the ge OF
Joe Stone. Of GEORGIA. who was 50
small that his father came with him
during his free trip 10 Washington
NeNerth elesS, he produced more thdn
, 102 bushels of corn on an acre.
, The rules of this work provide that
each boy must plant his own crop
and do his own work He must pres
ent the results to the county superin
!
!, the corn and weigh ii. and the lana
and corn must be carefully measured
, in the presence of at least two dis
inter ed with esses. who have to sign
!. | a certificate.
The boys must study the instructions
given them and follow directions.
, Each has to write the history Of his
crop and how he made it. and the
prizes are awarded not only on the
number of bushels produced. buc on
the profit and the character OF the
corn. In making the choice the yield
per acre counts so per cent, the best
ten ears 90 per cent, the best history
!, Of the crop 20 per cent. and the
: highest profit 30 per cent When II IS
rem EN- bered that all these things are
tested by the heads of the schools and
. a committee of farm experts, som =