Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1913-08-13
MIR. P. N. Lott Made instructive
Address at Greenville Farm.
ers' Institute.
ers' Institute

ers' Institute.
The farmers Institutes over the
state are being more largely attend
ed than they were several years ago.
We hope this will be true OF the
institute which is to be held at Har-
mony, this county, on August IL.
At an institute which was held last
week in Greenville county, Mr.. Z.
N. Lott of Johnston, the county
demonstration agent was one OF the
principal speakers. The Greenvllle
News m .de the following reference
to Mr.. Lofts address in it's report
of the meeting:
THE first speaker introduced was
Mr.. P. N. Lott of Johnston, Edge
field county, who represents the
farm demonstration work Of the
United States department of agrl-
culture and of Clemson college IN
that county. The subject assigned
him was 'Soil Building Els
text was: 1T is a sin to starve
your soil" Mr.. Lofts talk dealt
principally with the value of winter
cover crops for building up and
preserving the heaIthfulness of the
soil. Said he in beginning: L
believe the soil in Greenville coun-
ty will produce, with proper man
agement, as abundantly and profit
ably as any other land in this latl-
tude." The strategic position oc-
cupied by the former in the fabric
of human society he stressed with
telling force. At the very basis OF
intelligent and successful farming
he stated, had to be good soil.
The speaker then took up the sub.
ject of soil building. Commercial
fertilizers, he stated, would not
build up soil but would only act as
an auxiliary in producing a crop.
IF you use 5OO' pounds of fertil-
izers this year to produce a bale OF
cotton" he declared, you will have
to use seven or eight hundred
pounds next year to produce a bale"
How winter cover crops would con-
serve the strength of the soil after
crops have been gathered and built
it up was explained in an interest
ing and intelligent manner. Let
ting lands lie idle during the win
ter months and deteriorate IN
strength. when the planting of
these cover crops would enrich the
soil, he characterized as sin as
great as one starving his mule, his
COW or his pig.
In Greerville county, he said, he
had observed a regrettable state of
affairs in the manner in which cot
ton was planted-the rows being
entirely too close together and the
plant too close together in the
drill. Thousands of acres of cotton
with rows 80 inches apart when they
should be four and six feet, he said
he had seen in this county. The
planting of cotton in rows this wide
apart, he said, would result hene-
fcially in three days, he stated, as
follows: (1) will give room for the
planting Of winter cover crops
while the cotton is maturing, ~
will make better grade of cotton
and (3) will result in bigger yield
of the staple. Cotton, he explain
ed, is essentially sun plant and the
quality of the staple depends upon
the amount of sun light that gets
to the growing cotton. He drove
home the truth of his statement by
citing a farm in Saluda county
where farmer sold a tract of land
because he could not make living
off it. This land was purchased by
another farmer who planted cotton
upon it in rows seven feet apart.
Last year, be stated, this farmer
made two bales of cotton to the
acre on this land.
The latter half of Mr.. Lofts
talk was given over to the answer
ing of questions from the audience
as to the planting of winter cover
crops. The scores of questions put
to him by members of the audience
the many farmers who recited
briefly their experiences with win
ter cover crops and the general
round table discussion INDUCED IN
in highly intelligent manner, was
Il 1rI1