.2
Thursday, May 2, 1906.
MAKING CORN CHEAPLY.
Mr. French's System of Cultivation and Preparation Set Forth No. 27
of the Sunny Home Stock Talks.
Messrs. Editors: The corn crop be
ing the greatest stock food produce
we have, merits better treatment
than it gets at the hands of most of
us. Yet I believe the great ma
jority of farmers are making ad
vancement along the line of better
preparation of the seed bed for this
important crop and are also giving
more attention to the later cultiva
tion of the plants.
; Holding on to Old Systems.
Still we see altogether too many
fields yet which give evidence that
their owners are not troubling them
selves with any "new-fangled no
tions" regarding corn cultivation. I
pass such a field frequently. The
field has about twelve corners, is cov
ered with rocks, contains several
flourishing patches of thorn and
blackberry bushes. The land was
plowed rather early while altogether
too Wet, but as the furrows were not
over three inches in depth the main
body of the soil wasn't injured great
ly. This plowing was deemed suffi
cient preparation for the crop, so
along in the first days of May the
shovel plow was started laying off the
rows. Then followed the boy with
the bucket of seed corn, dropping
one, two or three kernels, as was
most convenient, at distances apart
ranging from one foot to four. The
other man then came along with the
double-shovel, shaking the clods up
good and I think there was little
doubt about the grain being covered,
bu "what will the harvest be?"
.
Is It Cheap?
Was this a cheap preparation of
the soil? Let us see. The plowing
because of the irregular-shaped
field and the many obstructions, cost
not less than $2.50 per acre, or
enough had the field been cleaned
of trash to have plowed it well and
harrowed it thoroughly both ways
with a spring-tooth riding cultivator.
So if conditions had been right the
land, could have been made ready
and in fine condition for the two
horse planter at no more cost of la
bor than has been incurred with the
almost no preparation that has been
given. The planting of this little
piece of land cost, as near as I could
figure, about $1.10 per acre, whereas
the work could have been done with
the two-horse planter at about sevenr
teen cents per acre.
We will see that this was a case
where the so-called cheap prepara
tion was not cheap after all, and is a
good Illustration of the worst form
of patch-farming. In the one case a
poor crop is assured whatever the
season may be, while had the other
method of preparation been used a
fair crop was almost sure to follow,
no matter what the season may have
been. -
How Mr. French Prepares His Land.
On our place, while we make no
pretense of doing any fancy farming,
we are trying each year to do our
work some better than it was done
the year previous, and'I think we are
succeeding in this. Our corn land
was Well-plowed before Christmas to
a depth of not less than eight inches,
and along in April was cross-plowed
in an equally thorough manner.
Then a light roller was passed over
the fields, crushing the soft clods
very effectually. The spring-tooth
cultivator was then used in the har
rowing of the fields both ways, when
we thought the land in condition to
plant. The planting of a corn crop is
a very small matter when we use a
machine to do the work that covers
nearly a rod in width at every round.
And I tell you truly I wouldn't trade
I one two-horse corn planter for a doz-
J en boys with their corn buckets, be-
I cause we can regulate the Dlanters.
but not the boys.
How the Crop Should be Cultivated
Now. ! : -
Since planting,' our fields have had
two thorough harrowings with the
short-tooth, iron harrow and now
(May 14th) the corn plants are
breaking through fine mellow soil
at a great - rate. After, we have an
other rain and when the plants are
three or four inchea high, the light
roller will go over these fields again
at the rate of fifteen acres per day.
Then the sulky cultivator with its
ten spring teeth, 2 inches in width
and equipped with, the dirt guards,
will begin its work. For the first
cultivation the shovels will be set to
cut four inches deep, afterward 2
inches will be the rule.
We have found the , foregoing
treatment to be good medicine for
the corn crop in years past, and we
are banking on it and our stable
manure to carry us through the pres
ent season. A. L. FRENCH.
R. F. D. 2, Byrdville, Va.
GROWING SWEET POTATOES.
Mr. Powell Also Has Something to
Say About the Matter of. Crop Di
versification and Farm Tools.
Messrs. Editors: I intended to say
something more about the potatoes
before this. It is now time to begin
to set them out and this may yet be
in time to reach some. I never broke
my land till late and try to do it with
a good season so the land will break
finely; if I do this and before I set
out it rains, I harrow the land and
try to keep it flush. By so doing it
will stay damp. Any one can set out
potatoes. I have set when dry, but
the air was damp, and that is when
to do it. I use nitrate of soda in
the mud, and would mud the roots.
I have done this at 12 o'clock, -and
when the sun sets ninety-five in every
one hundred would be standing up.
When, ten days old, I would side them
with a- cotton plow with a No. 3 mole
board, which would nearly get all the
grass. When they have run from
row to row I take a turn plow and
hill up, running a cotton plow. I
pull grass out with my hand, but if
I do have to chop, I am very careful
not to cut the roots. Some people
use hoe before they plow, Imt too
much chopping is not best. You chop
the roots off. The first roots that
come out near top of ground are the
ones that -make the fruit, so if there
are five roots to the hill, and you
cut three, it will not make but two
potatoes. I run rows three feet and
three inches. I plant after corn.
One man wrote me the same week
that my article came out on handling
and hilling last fall, urging me to say
more about the potato. I think his
name is Mrl J. M. Bunch, Columbia,
S. C. He stated that his vines were
very thrifty, but his potatoes very
stringy; though he made, I think,
one thousand bushels. I think if Mr.
Bunch will use only acid' phosphate
and potash he will make more pota
toes and less vines on such land 'L
something .like four or five hundred
poflnds of phosphate and twenty-five
pounds of potash. Plantings are best
raised from vines.. They sprout bet
ter and have less rotten leg on draws.
They keep better and you. have few
er rotten germs in your bed, which
cause the rotten leg that is, a poor
draw or sprout. The rotten, sprout
you can notice, if it lives, will raise
potatoes with a black rusty look on
the stem of the potatoes when housed
which carry the rot back to hill.
I highly approve of Mr. R. . M.
Scott's letter this week. I think if
more of the big farmers would take
up his mode we little fellows could
buy us a little home and pay foi
it quicker with the cotton and to
bacco, as it would bring better prices.
About half the farmers are buying
corn now and expect to pay for it
with cotton.
I'm with Mr. P. A. Hoyle on the
farm tool question. We little farm
ers would have to quit if we had to
buy corn shredders, etc. But let me
say that we can buy some such as the
Cole Planter and Guano Distributor.
I run rows with the distributor, then
run an Iron Age cultivater with the
wings on behind, then the Cole
Planter comes and the Work is done
three times to the row. These are
about as good tools as a small farm
er could have, as the Cole planter
plants corn, cotton, peas, cane, and
does it well, unless the land is very
wet.
Raise plenty of potatoes for the
hogs. One acre will make more feed
than anything else that a small farm
er can plant. Plant cantaloupes to
feed in summer to your hogs, and if
you don't mind, you will have meat
to sell. D. POWELL.
Rocky Mountain, N. C.
Third Annual Meeting Virginia State
" Farmers Institue, Roanoke, July
10th, 11th and 12th.
Messrs. Editors. The Third An
nual Meeting, of the Virginia State
Farmers' Institute will be held in the
Casino, in Roanoke, on July 10th,
11th and 12th. This decision was
reached at a recent conference of the
sub-committee appointed by the Ex
ecutive Committee to determine on
the time and place for holding the
next meeting. Application has been
made to the railroads for a fare and
a third rate, which it is confidently
believed will be granted. For the
convenience of farmers who may not
be able to spend the three days away
from hdme, a request has been made
to have the rates good going on the
9 th, 10th and 11th, and returning on
the 13 th inclusive. Assurances have
been given that a special train will
be available to carry the delegates
to the Experiment Station at Blacks-
burg, where they will have an oppor
tunity to inspect the various lines of
investigation in progress there and
see the equipment of the College of
Agriculture free of cost.
The last institute was highly suc
cessful, more than 500 farmers being
in attendance, and the organization
is in a thriving and vigorous condi
tion, as is shown by the publication
of a creditable reDort containing
more than 150 pages. The following
are the names of the officers and vice
presidents:
President, J. Hoge Tyler, Radford;
First Vice President, T. O. Sandy,
Burkeville; Second Vice President,
John T. Cowan, Cowan's Mills; Secre
tary, Andrew M. Soule, Blacksburg;
Assistant Secretary, J. M. Williams,
Roanoke.
The following are the vice presi
dents for the several Congressional
Districts:
First Congression District, A. Jef-
fers, Norfolk; Second, Jos. Ryan,
Eagle Point; Third, Jos. R. Ander
son, Goochland; Fourth, C. N. Stacy,
Amelia r Fifth, Dr. J. R. Cuerrant,
Calloway; Sixth, S. C. Coggin, Rust
burg; Seventh, J. G. Martin, Coves
ville; Eighth, W. S. Lewis, Leesburg;
Ninth, W. B. Robertson, Saltville;
Tenth, Joel Flood, Appomattox.
Any farmer in the State is eligible
to membership on the payment of
$1.00 and every person is cordially
invited to attend, as the sole object
of this organization is to have an
annual gathering of representatives
of the agricultural interests of Vir
ginia, at which various topics of gen
eral concern to the farmers may be
discussed. -No effort or expense will
be spared to make the program
superior to those of previous j meet
ings. Announcements in reference to
this and other matters of interest
to farmers who desire to attend the
meetings will be made from time to
time. Every farmer interested in
better methods of agriculture, insur
ing a more permanent prosperity for
this State should make it a point to
paste these dates in his hat and so
adjust his farming operation that he
Will have sufficient leisure on the
dates indicated to attend the insti
tute. ANDREW M. SOULE,
Secretary.
Blacksburg, VaJ
A Kingdom in a One-Mule Farm.
The following communication is
sent us by Mr. Raymond L. Griffiss,
35 Wall Street, New York, whose experience-as
president of the Southern
Immigration Society has brought him
into close touch with the agricultural
problems-of the South and with the
possibilities which that section of
fers to immigrants. Mr. Griffiss adds
that he can prove every word of his
story - (we do not doubt it, for we
know what can be done in the South)
and offers to" send the name -of the
"King" of the little "Kingdom" and
other information in regard . to what
has been done by others to any who
will write him:
As . an illustration of what can be
accomplished on Georgia land by
studying the; soil, supplying it with
the necessary plant food, diversify
ing crops, using brains as ' well as
hands, and superintending every
thing personally, a Southern farmer
has year by year added to his pos
sessions, until his one-mule fam has
become one . of the largest in the
wnrlH. nnvprin? thirfv snnnrft ttiIIps
. . 0 -.7 -!- -
of land, and giving employment to 1,-
r er A 1'. . ii j .liij
His average for years has been
twenty-five bushels of corn per acre
and one thousand pounds of seed
cotton. Some acres yielded sixty-five
bushels of corn, thirty-five of ! wheat
and two bales of cotton. His Jand at
first was worth $10 per acre, now
$60. His cattle now number 500,
beside his one hundred thorough
bred Jerseys and Holsteins, which
have produced each year 20,000
pounds of butter at eighteen to twenty-five
cents per pound. With agri
culture he has combined manufactur
ing, and his raw material has been
turned into valuable manufactured
articles by means of the steam gin
nery, oil mills and fertilizer factory.
He has employed negro labor only.
His saw mill cuts his lumber for his
houses, etc.; his brickyard turns out
his brick; his wagons . are made in
his shop. His own railroad, j seven
teen miles long, hauls materials to
his factories and his marketable
products to the outside world.
The average production of lint cot
ton is one bale to two and one-half
acres on good, bad and indifferent
farms, but it is not at all uncommon
for a good farmer to raise a bale to
the acre by good culture and abund
ant fertilizer. Intensive farming,
which applies the lessons of science
and experience, has achieved some re
markable results. . !
The following is the average an
nual product of this farm: 1 2,200
bales of cotton, 120,000 gallons of
cottonseed oil, 3,000 tons of ferti-.
lizer, 20,000 bushels of corn, 10,000
bushels of wheat, 1,000 bushels of
rye, 5,000 bushels of oats, 6j600 ,ot
peas, 20,000 pounds of butter, 100,-
000 pounds of fat cattle, 5,000
noiinds nf harnn nnrl hams, besides
such crops as sweet and Irish pota
toes, watermelons, ground peas, sor
ghum, etc. Country Gentleman.