Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-09-12
THE DRAKE FARM
Many Marvel at Changes Anderson
Man Has Wrought.
WILL MAKE A BALE To The ACRE
conquers Boil WeevI Washing Sol! and
Other Foes-Piedmont Farmers In
spected Farm Last Friday.


spected Farm Last Friday.
Out of the red hills four miles south
of this city has been carved farm, the
making Of which comprises one Of the
brightest pages in the romantic anc
agricultural history Of Anderson coun-
ty, says an Anderson special of Fri
day to the Greenville News.
Romance and energy are so blended
that it is impossible to tell where one
ends and the other begins, for where
huge gullies once held sway. farm
that is among the most productive in
the state and rural home with every
modern convenience now greets the
passers-by along the general road.
]. Wade Drake has forever earned a
high place among the builders Of the
Palmetto state, if the expressions OBJ
tanned today from the 400 farmers OF
this section who visited the Drake
farm maybe taken as an Indication.
The state of South Carolina has pro-
duced number of illustrous Sons, but
probably none have so effectively
blended energy and brains as has Mr..
Drake on the farm which today was
visited by 400 farmers from the coun-
ties of Greenville, Spartanburg, An
derson, Pickens, Oconee, Laurens,
Union, Abbeville, Greenwood, McCor-
mick, Cherokee, Newberry and Chester.
Ten years ago a rolling tract Of red
hills, as full Of washing gullies as a
vaudeville is of ragtime, was purchased
by Mr.. Drake. At that time some Of
the neighbors are said to have express
ed the. opinion that Mr.. Drake was
"off" in his mentality as the farmers
of that immediate section were having
a hard time of it making a living on
the farms which they possessed
more by circumstances than by
choices.
From the outset Mr.. Drake made
things hum on the tract Of several
hundred acres. He worked almost day
and night, rotating his crops and en-
deavoring to bring down from the air
and out of the earth the fertilizers
which would take the place Of those
made in factories and shipped in sacks
to the consumer. And the advantage
of nature made fertilizers over chemi-
Gals has been demonstrated by the
waving fields Of corn and the white
fields Of cotton, tang with the spirit of
Dixie, that have been grown where
clover and velvet beans once grew.
To get down to the meat of the
story, Mr. brakes methods have sue
ceeded so we'll that n. E. Winters,
specialist in soil fertilizing and farm
crops Of Clemson College, has pointed
out the Drake farm as a model in his
trips over the state. Some time ago
he started a movement to have the
farmers Of the Piedmont visit this farm
and to see for themselves what could
be accomplished out of what once was
a mass of washing bitches and poor
red hills.
Four hundred farmers, not from the
valleys of Hall or the hills Of Haber-
sham, but from over the entire Pied
mont Of South Carolina, came here to-
day and witnessed fight that has been
going on for ten years-a fight made
more difficult by the presence this
year Of the boil weevil. But in spite
of this insect, Mr.. Drake has con-
quered and the yield on the Drake
farm is expected to be from three
fourths to one bale per acre this year
with the cost of fertilizers kept down
to about Sc to the acre.
With megaphone in hand, Mr..
Winters today headed the procession of
interested spectators that .wended their
way over Che Drake farm. Each point
of interest was explained in detail, in
Guiding the method of cultivation, the
time of planting and other informa-
ton.