Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1929-02-07

10 ucCSSSdIy IL CIle 1dIIleT Is W MAKE
the most of his land, according to R.
I. Greer, who follows this system on
his farm between Boone and Blowing
Rock.
Mr.. Greer began by saying that
he did not want his article captioned
by Real Farmers" because, he
maintained that he was not a real
farmer, though everyone knows that
few farms in the county are more
successful than the Greer farm.
Before the plow ever touches the
ground in the spring." Mr.. Greer
said, "the farmer should know ex-
actly what he wants to plant and
exactly how much acreage he wants
to put in each crop. This is always
determined by the capacity for cul
tivation. Most of us are too am
bilious; we like to think of our
selves as going into farming on a
large scale, and, as a result, we
often plant more than we can cult
Vate.
THAT is one of the greatest mis-
takes of the farmers in this section,
in my opinion. 1t is better for the
farmer and better for his land to
raise 500 bushels of potatoes on two
acres of land than to raise the same
amount on five acres. 1t is better
to let the land lie fallow than for it
to be only half cultivated. We have
enough acreage under cultivation; !;
what we need most is greater pro-
duction on each acre.
"How much land a farmer shall
put under cultivation each year
should be determined by three fac
tors: first, how much money he has
for buying seed and other supplies
second, how much fertilizer he has;
and third, what proportion of fair
weather he can count on for cult
walton.
''As for the first factor, it stands
to reason that farmer should not
put himself too much in debt in
planting his crops. The very first
thing l do in the spring before l
plant a crop is to. see how much
money have in the bank and to cal
culate how much. l can spare for a
particular crop, when all other ne
cessary expenses are considered. A
careful calculation of this kind will
often save some financial embar-
rassment later in the season.
"Opinions differ in regard to the
second factor, fertilizer, because
some farmers favor one kind of fer
tilizer, and others prefer another.
Hence, this element will have to be
determined by the kind of fertilizer
used and the funds available for buy
ing it. | am not condemning any
other mans fertilizer, but person
ally l find that all in all manure is
the most satisfactory fertilizer. Con-
sequentiy, | do not plant to put into
cultivation any more land than | can
cover with the manure available.
'The third factor, the amount of
fair weather to be counted on, is
not by any means the least import
ant. A crop needs a certain amount
of cultivation, and it will not do we'll
unless it has it. In this county,
a farmer can calculate that at least
third of the growing season is
rainy weather when he cannot work
in the field. Now, if he plants
crops that will require enough cul-
tivation to consume three fourths of
the days in the growing season, he
is going to lose money, because the
crops will almost certainly be under
cultivated.
Il want to insist upon these three
points, because | am firmly con-
vinced that what we need most is
not more acreage, but better pro
duction on the acreage we have. A
business-like plan for the crops, so
that all growing plants can be well
cared for, will do more toward in
creasing the general farm income
of the county than an increased
acreage, involving a corresponding
ly increased expense and labor.
eff you will pardon an illustration
from my own experience, last year
We raised $500 bushels Of potatoes
on nine acres, an average of little
more than PIT bushels an acre. We
might have planted twice that acre
age and got not much better yield,
because we should not have been
able to cultivate it properly.
eve raise our own seed potatoes.
1t is all right to buy the certified
seed, but farmer may certify his
own seed if he has the necessary
facilities. We have special field of
bottom land on which we grow our
seed potatoes-about two acres. We
find that by selecting the best po-
tatoes from this crop we have an ex
cellent supply of seed potatoes for
the next spring.
zone mistake that l have noticed
among some farmers in this county
is plowirg the land while it is wet.
Along in the latter part of March