The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-02-04
to be fully 10 times as much
Tried Plant Selection

Noting that certain plants produced
much more cotton than others, Mccall
was led to take up plant selection at
an early date and for number of years
has saved the seed from only the best
plants for planting purposes, in this
way developing a high yielding strain,
which Is locally known as the Sam Nc
Call cotton.
Observations made in this work soon
taught this negro that some of the bet
ter plants We're each producing pound
or more of lint, and from this he con-
cluded that with perfect stand OF
plants of this high yielding capacity 1t
would be possible to produce nine 500
pound bales on one acre. This then
became the goal at which he aimed,
and has been striving for ever since.
While He has not yet been able to pro-
duce this quantity, he has succeeded In
growing a 506-pound bale on a meas
ured one-eighth acre. This ne-eighth
acre plant contained 6t2 plants, prac-
tically a perfect stand, and the plants
each produced an average fraction
over 13 Id ounces of lint.
During the last few years, having
heard something of the advantages OF
crop rotation as means of increasing
yields, Mccall has been diversifying
his crops and growing corn and oats in
addition to cotton, hoping in this way
to still further increase the produc-
tiveness of his land, so as to enable him
to produce the desired nine bales of
cotton to the acre. He first tried vari-
GUS rotations, growing winter oats and
following these with corn and cotton
the same year, but while splendid yields
OF all three crops We're secured. the late
planting of cotton necessitated by this
system correspondingly decreased Its
yield
Gross Annual Income
The gross annual income of this two
acre farm has probably been between
$500 and $3.50 for the last 10 years. This
may appear to be a small income for
one man, but 1t is said to be far above
that obtained by the average tenant farm
er who oultivates from 10 to 90 times
as much land in the same crops. In 1898,
the first year that seven bales of cotton
were produced. the price of the staple
ranged from Az to Lie cents and the
gross income from lint and seed was
about 500.
The noteworthy fact in this account is
that productiveness as measured by cot
ton was increased from one-third of a
bale to three bales or more to the acre by
the simple process of seed selection and
the additional organic matter to the
soil.
While some of the methods employed on
this small farm would not be practicable
on farms of greater area, the principle
involved Is applicable in a general, way
TO practically every farm in the southern
states and is fundamental to permanent
agriculture everywhere. The greatest
need of nearly all southern soils is more
organic matter, and this fact was recog.
nized by this simple old darkey wher
he began work on his two acres.
On farms of more extensive area i
would not be possible, even were II prac
ticable TO secure decayed leaves and
other vegetable matter in large quantitse:
for plowing under, but the same result:
can be attained by other meanss In tn,
southern states this can be accomplished
by growing winter clover crops such a.
crimson clover bur clover and hairy
vetch either alone or with winter cereals
Too much energy is wasted by many o
our southern farmers in attempting t.
cultivate many acres, when greater re
suits could be obtained by better and more
practical efforts given to fewer acres.