The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-10-13
NORTH CAROLINA ON VERGE OF
AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION
And When the Transformation Has Occurred Corn, the
Democrat, Will Take Off It's Hat to No King on Any
Throne.

a lot more of the South
To make a corn crop reQunfes
three things. These are water. warmth.
and fertility of soil. The rainfall OF
the season determines the abundant
yield Of the corn crop. Government
records kept for a considerably period
show that the yield of corn in any one
year corresponds with the available
water Of that year.
North Carolina has abundant rain
fall, and 1T is so distributed that
drouth, as it is known in the western
part of the corn belt. is never known
in this tate. We have some dry sea-
sons, but never a drOuth. Crops are
affected by a rainfall smaller than
normal. but never ruined as they are
in the West some years. Because or
shortage of rain last year the average
yield of corn in Kansas was but a
trife over three bushels to the acre.
Kansas has the reputation of being a
great corn State. In 1912 the State
raised ia, 900, 900 bushels Of corn, or
about three times the crop of North
Carolina. Last year it raised less than
half the crop of this State. DrOuth
did it.
Better Yield Than Kansas.
Here we have no drouth. In the
last four years the average yield to
the acre in North Carolina was nearly
three bushels more in this State than
in Kansas. But Kansas plants three
times as many acres, and makes as a
rule a much bigger corn crop. KAN
SaS makes corn because she cannot
make much else, and on that corn,
in spite of all the drawbacks Kansas
has grown to be one of the most pros
porous States Of the Union. North
Carolina does not make much corn
because she can make so many other
things that she makes other things.
but nothing that is more profitable
than corn in this climate
Rainfall is not all. North Carolina
has the corn climate In this State
corn has a long growing season, and
a better variety can be planted. In
the North frosts come SO late in the
spring and SO early in the fall that
quick maturing varieties must be de-
pended on, and much of the North
plants corn that ripens in ninety
days from planting. Much of North
Carolina can give the crop twice
ninety days to ripen, or can have corr
follow other crops, or have other
crops follow corn. l have on my
place a crop of corn following oats.
and 1t is as certain to get in out of the
frost as the Pennsylvania mans corn
is likely to escape the frost although
it is planted at the earliest possible
day that is safe in the spring.
Two Winning Features.
The decided advantages Of climate
and ainfall give to North Carolina
two winning features in corn culture
that WOuIO be worth millions to any
of the States North and West. The
man who will ride Over the roads in
a Lee county and see the sample corr
y crops in every direction out Of San.
ford can understand hat here is 9
part of the real corn belt of the world
+ | say this with full knowledge of the
actual production of ocrn as we'll as O.
the climate and the other conditions
Thousands n thousands Of acres o
corn l haVe seen from the Hudson
river to the head Of the Arkansas anC
Platte rivers in the foothills of tn,
o Rockies. I know corn when l see it
From Pennsylvania to Kansas ar
great corn crops But l have ais,
o seen in North Carolina in the las
few years cor crops that tell Of tn
possibilities OF this State.
l. A theory has been prevalent tina
here is a defective soil. The cor
n crop of Lee county tears that theOr
to t%atters, as the corn crop in nearl
l. every county of the State does. Fo
Is the sake of argument we may let it z
1t that some Of the sandy land Of tn
State is thin and lacking in ~fertilit,
d although in some Of the sandy land
the counties below Lee enormou
l. crops of corn are raised every yea,
le But letting that go past the censo
I'd there still remain in the State million
rs Of acres of ground that can be mad
to produce corn of such quantity thu
he the question of soil need not ente
the argument. 1t is likely tina tn
lie fertility OF the decOmpOSed rOck whic
n makes the clay soil of the State
at greater in the long run than the sed
nj mentary soil Of the prairies, whic
rich for a time. have not the reser,
eS to draw against that the broke
down GRANTEES of North Carolina hav
an Lee county is quite typical of II
is soil Of the State. There is a substal
e tia1 clay, with considerable of a sar
and gravel mixture to make the sc
at reasonably loose to work. The lor
se growing season makes it possible
provide for the ground an abundan,