Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1921-04-13
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i. COUNTY AGENTS NOTES. !.
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"You Tell 'Em, Winters''--Valuable


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"You Tell 'E1m, Winters'-Valuable
Advice Given.
A summary OF the talks made 1ast
week by N. E. Winters, Extension
Agronomist of Clemson College, the
BILLY Sunday Of Modern Agricul-
ture,' should prove interesting and
OF great value at this time. At prac-
tically every place visited by Mr..
Winters good crowds of interested
farmers turned out and followed his
advice very closely.
His talks summed up the follow
Ing: Soil building should be the
greatest thing attempted by farmers
or South Carolina and Oconee this
year. Why? South Carolina soils are
notably poor In humus and nitrogen.
Fifty-three million dollars was spent
last year in this State alone for fer
tliizers, and thirty million Of this
was for nitrogen. How can this thir-
~ million be saved? BY pulling
down this nitrogen Of the air, Of
which there exists an enormous SUP
ply, approximately $4,000 tons over
every acre. What will pull down this
nitrogen? Legumes IS such as vel
vet beans, GOwpeas, soy beans in the
summer, and vetch and clovers in the
winter. These should be plowed un-
der for the greatest benefit.
G 90
did this stunt successfully? Yes, a
living example-Wade Drake, Of An
derson. What did he do, and how
did he do it? Started about ten
years ago, when he bought an aver
age rundown farm. Rotates over
each third Of his land as follows:
Cotton, corn, grain and hay. What
else does he do? Plants velvet beans
every year in every acre Of his corn,
and plows practically all Of it under,
after gathering corn and bean seed.
What else? In his cotton middles
he plants hairy vetch and rye every
fall, and turns under most Of It in
the spring. He also plants crimson
clover in part Of 1t. Can he use lime
to advantage? Yes, farmer like Mr..
Drake can use lime profitably, for he
has plenty Of humus in his soil, and
then his legumes and grain are ben
ef1ted greatly. He has lined about
two tons to the acre twice, and is
starting over third time on his 800
acres, and says he will now try to
lime rs acres a year.
Has he succeeded In getting nitro
gen from the air with his legumes?
III say he has! His soil Is so rich
in nitrogen that 100 pounds of nj
trate Of soda was put on an acre OF
corn last year, and positively there
was no difference, according to Mr..
Winters, who witnessed the esult.
Did he come out" this year? An
swer it yourself. On his 800 acre
farm he produced all feedstuffs and
some to sell. He had 100 acres in
cotton and produced 180 bales; had
about 100 acres In corn and produc-
ed an average yield Of 9S bushels to
the acre.
low much fertilierz did he use?
Only 200 to 500 pounds Of acid
phosphate per acre. Did it pay him
to use rotation with plenty of leg
umes and lime, and to turn the leg
umes under? Figure it out for your
self.
Why did Mr.. Drake use potash
In his fertilizer? Because in the ton
six inches Of average clay soil in An
derson and Oconee counties there is
about $4,000 pounds of potash in
every acre, enough to grow 5000
bales OF cotton If we will use our
soil properly.
How should we use our soil to get
this potash Exactly like Mr.. Drake
and other good farmers have done
incorporate plenty Of humus or vege"
table matter with the soil and use
lime then. Your soil will then be
teeming with bacteria beneficial to
the growth OF plants, and the potash
OF the soil will be available.
Another thing to consider about
humus or vegetable matter: 1t holds
seven and one-half times as much
moisture, or plant food, as a pound
OF the average clay, and it holds it
three and one-half times as long.
Velvet beans are the greatest soil
builders from Texas East" accord
Ing to Mr. Winters. They will grow
anywhere. They make large
growth. They take large amount