The farmer and mechanic., 1915-06-15
NORTH STATE POSSIBILITIES
ONLY JUST BEING DISCOVERED
North Carolina AS Yet Only Knocking at the Doorway
of Investigation, No One Mind Having Fathomed the
Measure of It's Prospect, Declares B. r. Rice.

the hotter and more intense tne Hie-
This fire also creates a rich ash de-
posit, thereby making an ideal sur
face condition for crop growing.
After this cut-doWn timber land mas
been thoroughly swept by fire there is
no more labor or expenditure IN lhe
way of land clearing or GcVelopment
in the making ready fo1 planting.
Not a stump, stick, or fog is removed,
not a cent spent for labor of any
kind on the entire plantation. The
land is ready for planting in first crop
corn. A gang Of men, with sharpened
sticks as their only implements. go
over all the newly burned area, make
holes promiscuously among the
stumps and logs, drop the seed corn
in these holes, and cover with the
foot.
When the corn begins to come up
it looks as though it had in reality
been planted with a shot gun. About
two kernels are planted to the hole.
and by not being in rows, but scat
tered here and there, nearly double
the number of stacks can be grown
upon an acre, than as if the land was
handled by cultivation methods.
Strange as the story may seem, this
crude StOne-age method of planting
is the only labor of any kind that is
expended on the crop until it is time
to gather the corn in the fall. There
is no cultivation of any kind, either
| by hand, hoe or team work. The
| method is known as growing stuck
corn"
| The crop is usually gathered by
| contract at cents per buShel, from
| standing corn to crib. The ears are
| taken from the stalk in the condition
| known as "Slip-shuck," and are crib
bed with a considera BILE portion of the
husk still remaining on the ear.
Getting at "WOnder" Meaning.
When we stop to consider that an
| acre of land that is in q thick timber
and jungle condition one year. will
present to the development or own
ing company a full crop of corn the
following year, and at Il growing cost
of about ten cents per bushel for pro-
duction, then the real meaning of the
word wonder becomes apparent. The
| wonder becomes more emphatic, how
ever, when we realize that the ever
age selling price of this corn is at
least 90 cents at the farm.
Stuck corn can be planted at a cost
of from 81 to 50 per acre, and the
crop yield will average from 40 bush
els to 60 bushels per acre. There are
: several instances where measured
! I acres have yielded from rs to 1Ot
bushels and other solid tracts of 20.
to 300 acres of stuck corn, com binin.
all varying conditions, have yielded
an average crop exceeding so bushel
per acre.
, ! In verificatiOn Of results obtainet
= from land Development by stuck corr
Y methods, we cite one instance Wher
fTa 9O-acre timber tract was fenced
4 ditched, cut down, burned, planted t
O corn. the crop gathered and cribbed
t all at a total cost of $2,74S The GRO
q yielded 1864 bushels of shelled corr
IS an average Of nearly SO bushels pc
s acre. The net cash returns from tn
" sale amounted to s3.25O.OO. exceedin
!, the entire cost of land develop
p ment and operating by over s50'
IS After making this one crop of corr
the owner then sold the Ian
e Tor more than double il
d original purchase price On
e hundred per cent, plus $500, for
= one-year investment
= Banner Corn Country
e western corn growers would be III
l. willing to cOncede to North Carolir
Il the honor of wearing the laurels fl
Sc greatest per acre production in tt
p United States, but facts are alreaf
ne against the west. In 1911, Nor,
E Carolina had an official record vie
T. OF 226 bushels of shelled corn D.
T. acre. In 1912 one county in the drai
ST age belt, overlooking Albemar
IA SOund, MADE the record of 223 buShe
yield per acre. In 1913 one of Il
% North Carolina corn club boys ma,
es the record of 1872 bushels per acr
Z, grown at a cost of only 19c. p
81 bushel. rank third in worli
record. Another boys record W
1877 bushels per acre. fourth in wor
w record production at minimum co
VI VI On my own farm, at Wenona, n.
~ ~ we made a yield record of ia bush.
IA of shelled corn per acre at a produ
- ~ ton cost of only 12c per bushel. 4
o. of these quoted records are in t
Xe C,o liz, VI .<oi
or dh.! dioiE tHe lhe ci
n Norfolk Southern Railroad.
NJ While the characteristic loca Ii
ge OF the black soil in the coastal pls
lly region is on the elevated or water-sh
ie- areas, the lands lying nearer the v
of terways are usually of the lighter