The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1915-02-17
FARM CONDITIONS
DISCUSSED SATURDAY
Hon. w. c. lrby and Rev.
Guignard Made Addresses.
CROP ROTATION
STRONGLY URGED

for "Fertilizer and Economy days,
a Large Number OF Farmers Assem-.
Died In the Court House Saturday
About one hundred farmers and 9TH
ers attended the Fertilizer and Econ
omy Day meeting in the court house
Saturday morning, addresses being
made by Hon. w. c. Irby, Jr., and
Rev. Sanders Guignard. An air of
cheerfulness as to the future pervad-
ed the meeting and for once this year
the cry Of hard times" was not heard
1t is not to be supposed, however, that
the assembled farmers were oblivlous
Of stringent financial conditions, be-
cause doubtless all of them had been
made to feel the touch Of financial
losses, but no note Of complaint was
sounded during the entire day. The
business on hand, as they seemed to
see 1t, was to take a step forward and
for the time being to allow the trou-
bles of the past and present to take
care of themselves.
Curtailment of the cotton acreage
was not discussed at any length,
though it was apparent from scatter
ing remarkstbl,at much grain had been
and would be planted instead of cot
ton. The paramount question in the
the informal discussion, was as to the
amount Of fertilizers to be used per
acre upon the coming crop. While
there was no disaparagement of the
benefit Of commercial fertilization, the
consensus Of opinion seemed to be
that the amount Of commercial fer
tilizers to be used per acre would be
reduced from last year because Of the
scarcity OF funds and the increased
prices.
Crop rotation formed a.. favorite
theme throughout the meeting, an in
structive talk being made on this sub
ject by Mr.. w. p. Harris, Of Youngs
township, one Of the most successful
farmers in the state. Mr.. Harris made
several significant statements, one OF
which was that successful rotation Of
crops could not be accomplished undo
the prevailing system Of share crop
ping. Mr.. Harris stated that he fol-
lowed this system until about thirty
years ago, when he changed entirely
by substituting partial cash payment
plan. The year following the change,
he said, he planted half OF his acreage
in cotton and half in grain and cleared
$4,000 on five horse farm. Since that
time, he said, he had never lost but
a few hundred dollars on his var!
farms, varying In size from ten to
thirty piDws. Urging the planting Of
cover crops for the winter months, he
asked that every farmer IN the county
try covcr cron On two acres per
plow at least. fc advised that they
ssecue from the Y. s. Department of
Agriculture enough "formalin" to in
oculate two acres of ground per plow
and plant this ground In peas, follow
ed in September by oats or some 9TH
er grain. Tho "formalin" Is furnished
by tho Department Of Agriculture free
of charge and can be secured by writ
ing to the department of 10 Congress
man,
The aSdisssa by Hon. W. c. Irby.
,Jy,, on ''FHNtilizers', and that of Rev.
SANDERS r. G'aignard, on Economy,
c"Atained many valuable suggestions
and tnonghts. Mr.. Irby awelt largely
on the work being done by Clemson
college and urged the farmers to take
advantage of the institutions willing
ness and desire to help in bringing
about a, better system OF agriculture
in this STATE He pointed out the fact
that large sums We're being spch1
yearly at Clemson in the interest OF
the farmers and that the farmers
must seek advice thcre In order TO get
the benefit OF this information. Point
ing out the losses that are liable tt
come about and do come about througt
lack OF knowledge as to the proper
kinds OF fertilizers to De used on dif
ferent lands, he urged that samples
Of soil be sent to Clemson for analysis
If this were done, he said, the Glen
son chemists wonld advise as to tn
proper fertilizers to be used. The ben