The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1911-12-14

Yes, sir; he mas made it," en-
phatically replied Prof. o. B. Had
den, Of Clemson College, when the
editor Of The Herald asked him
the other day IL it were really true
that young Claude Mcdonald. of
the Pleasant Hill section had pro-
duced 210 and four-sevenths bush
els OF corn on an acre of land
when the yield was reported by
Supt. of Education Rogers" contin-
ued Prof. Haddon, "the information
was so surprising that the govern
ment ordered me to investigate it
and have just returned with Supt
Rogers from a visit to young Nc
Donald's home where | made a
thorough investigation of the yield.
and l am satisfied beyond a shad-
ow of doubt that he really pro-
duced the amount of corn he claims.
This is the record breaking yield
Tor the State and the first
prize will go to Mr.. Mcdonald"
In company with Supt. Rogers
Prof. Hadden went to Mr.. McDon-
AIDS place Wednesday and submit
ted the witnesses who measured the
corn to a thorough and exhaustive
examination. Supt. Rogers was pres
ent when the corn was gathered and
gave further testimony which great
ly aided Prof. Haddon in reaching a
decision in the matter. Before the
wonderful production of Claude
Mcdonald was brought to the at
tention of the authorities it was
conceded that the prize for 1911
would go to boy in Spartanburg
count who had produced about 2O2
Dushels and 1t was only through
the efforts of Supt. Rogers that an
investigation of Claude's yield was
made and the proper credit given
! A Modest Young Man.
Claude Mcdonald, who holds the
States record for corn production
fol the year 1911 is only II years
OF age. He Is a modest young fell
low, and when told that his
achievement would be known all ov-
er the world he did not appear a
Dit enthusiastic over the fact that
he would soon come into the lime
light. He received the information
with as much indifference as if
the production of 21O bushels of
corn were an every day matter. He
stated that he had no idea of pro-
ducing so much corn when he plant
cd and cultivated the acre. The
seasons were against him, and at
one time he had given up hope of
making more than 100 bushels to
the acre. He was not looking for
notoriety, and his only object in
planting the prize acre was to see
for himself just how much corn he
could make by applying his own
Ideas to the method of cultivation.
Born Near Dillon.
Claude Mcdonald is a son of the
late Jas. Mcdonald and was born
one mile northwest of Dillon on the
Dillon and Little Rock public road,
Sept. goth, 1894. When he was 8
years OF age his mother purchased
> place near Pleasant Hill church
aid the family moved over there
where they now reside-the same
place on which the remarkable acre
or corn was grown. He attended
the Dillon Public Schools, then un-
der the direction of Prof w. w.
Nlchels, and ism ow a pupil at Pleas
ant Hill school. He is a step-son
of A. w. Grantham.
How He Did 1t.
When asked how he had manag-
ed to produce so much corn on one
acre of land Claude modestly replied
that almost anybody could do the
same thing if they would work it
right and stay behind it," His
methods he explained as follows
II cut the stalks and then har-
rowed the land thoroughly before
breaking it up. Early in the spring
/ broke the land abont IL inches
deep; then l scattered about eight
two-horse wagon loads of stable
manure and narrowed the land
thoroughly again to cover up the
manure. Then / laid off my rows
A l-2 feet and then two two furrow-
ed with q Dixie; then l bursted out
boan with middle burster, then
planted the corn six inches in the
drill. Then l narrowed the corn
with a Dixie two burrows to the
row. Then / narrowed corn 4 1-2
times with sweeps, very shallow.
Then 1 layed the corn by. l used
1890 pounds of fertilizer, 8 2-horse
wagon loads of stable manure. The
pounds STD; 500 pounds fish
scrap; 700 pounds nitrate of soda.
My total expense was SO"
3S- Is Cents, Per Bushel.
A statement of the expenses sub
mitted by young Claude Mcdonald
showed that 1t had cost him 33 1-3
cents per bushel to puroduce 210
bushels of corn. This was gone ov-
er carefully by Prof. Haddon who
pronounced it to be correct. This
would leave net profit Of $40 at
the present price of corn which is
so much more than the proceeds
from an acre of cotton at present
prices that between the TWO there
can be no comparison.
Dillon county Is PROUD of the
record made by this young Pleasant
Hill farmer. 1t keeps Dillon right
in line with the great corn produc-
ing counties OF the world.