Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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WADE DRA1 A.VDEltSON, 8. C. If a man can preach n better sermon, write a better book, build a bet- ' ter house or make a better mouse j trap, even though lie live in the woodS, j the world will make a beaten path to ! his door." Raisins better crops\will sometimes lead to the same result. Hundreds of practical farmers, and ^representatives of agricultural experiment stations of several Southern States, treked north, j east and jjouth last mouth to a farm | in Anderson county. South Carolina to ! see for themselves some of the things J they had read about, and heard so | much talk about?how a farmer, starting with very little money and poor equipment, and a farm that twenty years ago could not be rented on account of its run down condition, has built up his land so that he can raise better crops than other farmers and paying crops, at that?how ho has beat tlie boll-weevil this year, and will make a fine crop of cotton, along with plenty of feed ?r livestock and supplies for home u.-,e We have headed this article, "Wade Drake?Farmer," for Wade Drake is the man wo refer to, and he is a real farmer. He is not in the woods?he has been "out of the woods" for r long time? but people who visit his farm to see how he managed to do so many wonderful thimrs. would I'i? nnvu'hnw. In study sfccli object lessons, making beaten paths through jungles, if necessary . Is it any woiuler? There are tens of thousands of Tanners in the cotton hcli^toduy who will have short crops of cotton, owing to the work of the boll-weevil?who will have poor crops of corn and hay, or none at all, owing to many things?who find their lands poorer than when crops were planted last spring?who are in debt for supplies, and, in many cases, perhaps, would be found here and there some are floundering in a slough of despond of tholr own making. Naturally there with hearing ears and seeing eyes, and a desire to know how one of their number had managed to forge ahead under difficulties, remove the obstacles in the way to success over which others have been taking annual tumbles, and make his farm not only self-supporting, but farming a moneymaking business. Referring to the recent meeting of Tarmcrs county agehts'aiul others held there, one newspaper states in its headline. "Hundreds Marvel at the Work Performed on Drake Farm." Having all the facts before them, as w?'.ji as mo nourishing fields of Krain and hay and cotton, of course they r The package Your taste c The sales pr Over ^ billio * > Xjocktt & Mvm Tobacco Co. SCE, FARMER | * marvelled. Ten years ago most of this farm was a Railed and, gullied waste?some of the fields cut with such deep washes that it was impossible to drive a wagon across them. Since that time Mr. Drake has raised two bales of cotton per acre on 1!>S acres of this "worn out" land. He raises more wheat and oats per acre than most farmers in that section? and has wheat and oats to sell each year, as well as cotton. Alfalfa and other legumes tire grown in proper rotation. He sells hay, and has green crops to protect the soil in winter and to turn under. In fact, green manuring, with the liberal use of pulverized limestone and commercial fertilizers, has built up his land to its present high state of fertility. He lias been liming this land for sixteen years and his system of rotation has supplied the humus which his soils required and given liim more than one money crop. Much of the credit for this excellent example in successful' diversified farming in a co- ton section, that had nothing better to- a foundation than worn and abandoned tields. belongs to Mrs. Drake and to Mr. S. M . Byars, county agent of Andcrsop j county?one of the best agents in the j South. We gather from reports that! Mr. Byars planned the woik ami that I Mrs. Drake <11(1 considerably more j than heln boss the toh Rut iti- . Drake Is the farmer, and the following front the Anderson (v. C.- Daily Mhil is a good story of the meeting held (tn his farm with additional facts about his work thrown in, that will be read with interests. Says the Mail: Metltods of Scientific Farming Demonstrated . "Were it treated with a master's pen. the real significance might be revealed of the story of ho\V an Anderson county farmer, J. Wade Drake, struggling against innumerable odds and confronted by untold obstacles in the pursuit of the apparently simple j profession of tilling the soil, has demonstrated the necessity of scientific methods of farming, sought out the most efficient and effective methods of improving the soil of his farm, and has come to be recognized by many agricultural experts of the south as an authority on soil improvement, which is described by many experts as the basis of all successful farming. In a comparatively short time, the efforts'of Mr. Drake have' converted' what was once a poor, run-down farm, portions of which could not be rented to tenants because of the poor quality of the soil, into what is now recog- i nized as probably tho most productive j plantation in Anderson* county, prosuggests it. onfirms it. iBMl 11 S?^ 'fei&ISS jb ^%:.:>, 1>: im | ducing annually yields of cotton, corn, outs, wheat, alfalfa and various other crops in quantities well a1*pve tho average. Scarcely llud Chance. , It is a significant fact that the productivity of the land tit the time Mr. Drake begun Its cultivation analyzed a great deal less than that of tho ave-l rage Anderson county farm, it might | be said, in the parlance of the sport- I lug world, that Mr. Drake, "didn't have an even break," and further that* the extremely poor and run-down con(lit wir nf hiu lit twl niilv iitinvnuu<wl upon aim the more, the necessity of increased efficiency, and greater production on his farm. i The most forcible example of this farmer's resourcefulness is probably i to be seen today, when under extremely unfavorable conditions, with the bo I lweevil to contend with and an-al- I together unfavorable season in, many 1 respects, Mr. Drake will yet make a j fair yield of many crops and what 1 might be considered splendid as compared with that of many farmers of < the south. What lias been done on < the farm of Mr. Drake within the past i few years, has attracted widespread < attention throughout the south, and 1 yesterday afternoon many farmers as < well as agricultural exports from ] various states gathered at the hom^of 1 Mr. Drake and for a period of some < three hours or more were taken t about the farm and shown in detail what has been done by Mr. Drake, in ] the upbuilding of his place.- ] Upward to 2f> farmers of this slate, * representing a number of the leading ' agricultural counties of South Caro- i linn, and others from other sections 1 were present at the meeting yesterday i afternoon. Mr. N. !?. Winters, of < the soil building department of Clem- ] son College, took the farmers over a < great portion of the largo farm of i Mr. Drake, showing that part under < cultivation, what will be made this year, and the various methods used by Mr. Drake, one being compared i with the other. It is a fact worthy <. note, that Mr. Drake, although he ha. ' I gone much further into sclentifi methods than the average farmer, is not sitting idly and operating his farm < on a one-method basis, so to speak. Where one method might suffice for the production of any one. crop,* on Mr. Drake's farm each year there will he , found several different methods of the production of one crop, thereby offering an alternative in the event of unexpected obstacles presenting themselves. Today Mr. Drake has under i his observation, certain patches of cotton being produced by different methods. For Instance, one patch of tJoW" ton might follow a cover crop, whil4 In another some ether form of vegetation, is supplying the necessary elements for the coming season. The greater portion of Mr. Drake's farm was covered yesterday afternoon ______________________________ r . i? mm. / h&ik'i Convenient package ?glastine'Wrapped. TTES $forl0 " V.:- ' : \ \ ?.V by a crowd of (armors estimated at around 150, headed by Mr. W. 13. Winters. They were first taken to a field of cotton of early pluntinK that will produce a bale to the acre, and this was compared with 41 later plantins of the crop. WL.cn Mr. Drake boUKht the land he now lias under a high state of cultivation, very little of it was in sood condition, and it has been suid thut much of it was so poor that it could not be rented. He made a half bale to 'the acre, about 15 bushels of corn, and from X to. 10 bushels of wheat to the acre. Mr. Winters referredjo the fact that many people lauKhcd at Mr. Drake at the time he purchased his land, and thought him a prospect for the insune taylum. Loss Infection. 'Mr. Winters said that out of many farms that he had observed during '.he past few weeks, Mr. Drake hae ? l higher percentage of* uninfected boils than any he has seen thus far. The farmers were then taken to another field where* they were shown motion following clover and where there had been no clover, showing a iiffer'jnce of ubout a quarter bale, in [avor of the clover. While both fields pf cotton were splendid as com- | pared with a great deal to be seen in this section, the stand produced without clover was poor compared with hat where clover had been used. "In preapring his land for cotton, Mr. Drake uses approximately 300 pounds of acid phosphate, 100 pounds pf soda and 100 pounds of fish scrap. This he has found to be a well balanced fertilization. Mr. Winters then showed the farmers a field of cotton following velvet beans, and ather fields where late and early planting were compared, showing a difference of a quarter bale to ihe acre, with but only about three weeks difference in the planting. The Biggest Qustlou. "Mr. Winter oxpl&ined that probably the greatest obstacle with which Mr. Drake had had to contend hus been the improvement of the soil, wherein lies the secret of the unusually fine results which he has produced. Numbered among Mr. Drake's accomplishments ulong this line, is the filling of sixteen of the seventeen gullies formerly in a state that prohibited cultivation entirely, and now hardly to be recognized as the uncultivated wastos they once were. Due to the rolling, and in some instances, hilly land on Mr. Drake's farm, the conservation of soil has required drastic action. What he has accomplished in doing this has been by means- of winter cover crops and teracing. An unusually fine system of terracing is that on Mr. Drake's farm, and one which lias been the virtual salvution of many fields, which otherwise would probably be in a poor state of cultivation." Mr. Drake raised in 1021 the following number of bushels of grain 11l>r fl prp ('nvn V " rtfr - " . v,?.?.>, n iii-ai outs uv; rye 30. He produced 150 bales of cotton on 100 acres last year; his highest yield was two bales per acre. Cotton on the Drake farm was planted this year on April 3 and April 2?lh. The first planting is expected to yield a bale to the acre; while the later planting will not turn out so well. T^ere has been no difference in cutivation and treatment, but it has been donionstrjited that early planting itj best where boll-weevils are at work. Speaking of Mr. Drake's efforts to defeat the weevil, the Greenville (S. C.) News says: "Mr. Drake dusted his cotton with calcium arsenate four times during the month of July, the total cost being $2.5 per acre. He would have dusted during August als obut there has beer, no rain on the Drake tarm since July 7, making it impossible to use the dusting method to any advantage. "Mr. Drake did not leave the dust- i ing operation to "some negro" but the owner of the farm, with tho aid of a son, did the work. Tjvdvc nightf during the month of July the dusting operation went on, the owner and his son attempting to catch a little sleep. during tins day that they might fight I the weevil hv > >;<? >?? "The. \yeevil oame but it did not stay, "It. might have been that far away the fields looked green, as they sometimes do to humans, and the insects left. But the more probable reason is that tho dusting method literally I smothered the boll weevil out of house | and home, causing the invader to 1 throw up the sponge and quit in disI gust. Today the Drake farm is said I to have less weevil infestation than I anv ntViof r. ...?. t? *"' ? ....... iii me neamont if 1 not in the entire state." And it is a farm on its own feet, raising its own supplies. "So you still keep in touch with Alice? Is she interested in theosophy as she used to be? * "No; Bhe married a poor man and is now studying dishpanthelsm \ ' 1 $ Where You Get Value. ===111 ' 1 i| Clothing and Gents' Underwear U SOMETHING OF QUALITY AND STYLE, | i t| that will "dress you up", make you comofrtabie, look \ 14 better and feel better. See me at Mimnaugh's. H JOHN M. STUART. ] t233gaBgg33gaa^gaaBir-j t r-l ,^.^.,-HauaitE. ?nrrra2:EECErZ= I DODGE BROTHERS j ANNOUNCE A Business Sedan of steel with a new and practical 4 ararngement of the seats j ASBILL MOTOR CO., INC. 3 1309 Hampton St. . Phone 6121 Columbia, S. C. | rrriTJXSai iqxstiirixrrr: a.a.ii -h,h -h t R 'I | BATTERIES?Ford, Overland, etc., $17.50; Buick, ! i Chalmers, Essex, $18.75. Dodge and Franklin, $24.90, j />?Un vi/>r. ^ J ? 11- ' |_J c^nciii^c. 1-uiiy guaittiiieeu lur lc monins. ViaiTlCK'8 g H Battery Service, 1035 Gervais, Columbia, S. C. Phone j| I 3235' ' I t-TT-^-r; ! I 1-i ; ; it.? : : ; iTrrm ; ; ? : >tt ? i - t i {H t-nr-rnrrarra 3 fi Whitton Auto Wrecking Co. Save 25 to 50 per cent on your Auto Parts. New and I Used Parts for ALL CARS AND TRUCKS. Mail orders I given prompt attention." Columbia, S. C. j rrrtr --n? re yr it: r i -r -rT-rt T-T-r-rr-T-rtr; ^rru.-.t tto ?.- 4. i- ^ J ;, CLLUaUU 1 "t^Tr T t t-i-2X. 333333X3 2IL?S23 - W. P. MATHEWS r ~ "THE AUTO TOR MAN" Hf^EP AIRED REASONABLE 1 IKssx?" Ksissr* j S% I Automobile and Limousine Bodies Reupholstered Door Open Curtains and Slip Covers M&de to Order | H 825 Main St. Phone 3747 '* Columbia, S. C. i4H11W* n'/iiminiiifl' _ \ ' ' I Carolina Auto Co., Inc. | I Distributors M'f MAXWELL AND CHALMERS AUTOMOBILES |J 1 2000-2002 Main Street x Columbia, S. C. | ?...n^V-Irl-.1 .i~rr%~rrpS Globe Dry Goods Co* I Moncton's : 1620-22-24 Main St., Columbia, S. C. Office Tel. 5428. | I A complete line of Dry Goods and Notions. Gent's Fur- h - nishings and Clothing, Millinery, Ready-to-Wear, h 4 Crockerv. CJIass W#rM ofn u0223x:r.-rx:2i.irnTxaaxasr^zrTi-.i u.-t-iV! if- .. ^3LTixia'i33'n2r52TJ33sxcn..}^ J iJ^2iLari2^x2xr-^rrTaj-u^ R MISS NAN CUMMINGS HAS OPENED j I | The Hollyhock Tea Room, h 1221 Gervais St. Columbia, S. C. ; *"t " ' I j4 Next-door to New Post Office. ij Evefett-Harvard-Davtni* **?*! P'?v?*> Pi? I VICTROLASand VICTOR RECORDS. EMERSON | I \ OKEH. I ^ The John Church Company, 1 608 Main Street, Columbia, S. C. 1 Mail Orders Receive Special Attention -i 3+i ^E?3ai i-?:. * -o?.. #