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E. M. Williamson's Corn Method "Southern Corn For the South" pensive nitrogen. The needs of our soil are such that the South can never reap the full measure of prosperity that should be hers until this is done. I give this method as a farmer to the farmers of the South, trusting that thereby they may be benefited as I have been. E. M'lver Williamson. For a number of years after 1 be gan to farm I followed the old-time method of putting the fertilizer all under the corn, planting on a level or higher, six by three feet, pushing the plant from the start and making a big stalk, but the ears were few. and frequently small. I planted much more corn the next spring, until final ly I was driven to the conclusion that corn could not be made on uplands in COSTUMES AND THE TRAITOR. plenty of nerve is required to hold , . . . M ...... back your corn when your neighbors, Difficulties of Costuming a Mod r who fertilized at planting time and Play Are Greater Than Imagined, cultivated rapidly, have corn twice The costuming of any play requires : the size of yours. (They are having much care and thought and in some their fun now. Yours will come at ca8e j, when the scenes are laid in the . harvest time). The richer the land ; distant past, weeks of research are; the more necessary it is that the necessary before absolute accuracy j stunting process should be thorough- j S attained in design, cloths and , ly done. : colorings. The theatre-goer who has , When you are convinced that your no t made a etudy like “The Traitor" | this section, certainly not by the old I corn has been_ suffldently humiliated, [ by Channing Pollock and Thomas ( method, except at a loss. ** I did not give up, however, for I knew that the farmer' who did not make his own corn never had suc ceeded, and never would, so £ began to experiment. First I olanted lower, aad the yield was better, but the stalk was still too large; so I discon- tiaued altogether the application of fertilizer before planting, and, know ing that all crops should be fertilized . as a side application, and applied the'the other middle the same way. With-1 j)i a y f 0 r the simple reason that newly , more soluble nitrate of soda later, i in a few days side corn in first mid- tailored clothing would be too new. i being guided in this by the excellent 1 die with sixteen-inch sweep. Put all of course the gowns worn by the la-1 you may begin to make the ear. It nixon. Jr., it would be comparatively should now be from twelve to eight-1 easy to provide the proper costumes.! teen inches high, and look worse This is not the case. Often It is more i than you have ever had any corn to | difficult to correctly garb characters | look before. ; who lived in 1872, the period of this , Put half of your mixed fertilizer play, than those who lived hundreds ot | (this being the first used at all) in | years ago. In the case of ancient cos-, i the old sweep furrow on both sides , tumes they are made from old plates ; of every other middle, and cover b? an d drawings. In this case it is neces- breaking out this middle with turn sar y to hunt up clothing that was plow. About one week later treat; actually used during the period of the results obtained from its use as a top dressing for oats. Still, the yield, though regular, was not large, and the smallness of the stalk itself now your nitrate of soda in this furrow, If dies are made new but the garments less than 150 pounds. If more, use worn by the men are more effective ; one-half of it now. Cover with ona j if they are the old clothes that were i , furrow of turn plow, then sow peas ( actually worn during the period of, suggested that* they should be plant* | in the middle broadcast at the rate of the play. ed thicker in rhe drill. This was done 1 at least one bushel to the acre, and one of the most difficult problems j the next year, with results so satis-i finish breaking out. 'was to procure the proper costumes i factory that I continued from year toi I* 1 a few days side corn in other for the bogus Ku Klux Klan. It was, vear to increase the number of stalks ; middle with same sweep, put balance hard enough to get the right idea for 1 and the fertilizer with which to sus-!‘>f nitrate of soda in this furrow if it | the white robes of the Ku Klux Klan | tain them; also to apply nitrate of j has been divided, cover with turn in “The Clansman" but these difflcu- soda at last plowing, and. to lay by plow, sow peas, and break out. This ties were Increased a hundred fold early, sowing peas broadcast. This method steadily increased the yield, until year before last (l!t04i, with corn eleven inches apart in six-foot L/- lays by your crop with a good bed j when it came to costuming “The and plenty of dirt around your stalk.; Traitor." After all the reason is This should be from June 10th to simple. The original Ku Klux Klan 20th, unless season is very late, and : saved the South and now that secrecy rows, and $11 worth of fertilizer to j corn should bo hardly bunching tor is no longer necessary there are some 1 the acre, I made eighty-four bushels ! ,asse l- ! who will show some of the old cos- average to the acre, several of my ! I* a y by early. More corn is ruined tumes that have been carefully pre , best acres making as much as 125 :l a,< * plowing than by lack of plow-; served. It must be remembered, bushels. ing. This is when the ear is* hurt, however, that the imitation Klans Last year (1305) I followed the Two good rains after laying 'by should were not only pursued by the Nation-' samt- method, planting the first week make you a good crop of corn, and al government but by the original ' in April, seventy acres which had '* "’ill certainly make with much less; Klan. They were traitors even to' rain than was required In the old, i heir old comrades. Of course they! way. are held In detestation by everyone , sandy upland. somewhat rolling.! The stalks thus raised are very and naturally It is extremely difficult Season^ were vi-ry unfavorable, owing small and do not require anything , to find one of the red robes that they' to th< . remedous rains in May and] like the moisture even In proportion , wore to serve as a pattern. It was the dry and exiremely hot weather j to size, that is necessary for large only through the wide acquaintance la 4 er. From June 12th to July 12th, sappy stalks. They may, therefore. * the time when it most needed mois-; be left much thicker In the row. This ture, there was only live-eighths of an j is no new process. It has long been Inch of rainfall here; yet with $7.01, a custom to cut hack vines and trees cost of fertilizer, my yield was fifty ; in order to increase the yield and two bushels per acre. Rows were six i quality of fruit; and so long as yon paly the roles of negroes feet and corn sixteen inches in drill. I do not hold back your corn, it will j the stage negro is produced the year before 1,000 pounds seed cotton per acre. This land Is With this method, on land that will ordinarly produce 1,000 pounds of seed cotton with 800 pounds of fer tilizer, fifty bushels of corn per acn* should be made by using 200 pounds of cotton seed meal, 200 pounds of aetd phosphate, and 400 pounds of Kiiiuft mixed, or their equivalent In that Mr. Dixon has throughout the South that this original red robe was found. Another difficulty is to get the j proper costumes for the actors who As a rule negro is rarely ever go, like mine so long went, all to'dressed like a real colored man. A stalk. man or woman who plays in black- Do not be discouraged by the looks face is generally satisfied to put on of your corn during the process of any nondescript costume which is cultivation. It will yield out of all i hardly ever true to life, proportion to its appearance. Large . if anyone doubts the difficulty of stalks cannot make large yields, ex-1 finding out about the costumes of crept with extremely favorable sea- i even so recent a period as 1872 ask other fertilizer, and 125 pounds of i sons, for they cannot stand a lack of i some old gentleman about the cloth- nitrate of soda, all to be used as side application as directed below. On land that will make a bale and one-half of cotton per acre when well fertilized, a hundred bushels of corn moisture. Karly applications of man ure go to make large stalks, which you do not want, and the plant food is all thus used up before the ear, which you do want, is made. Tall should be produced by doubling the!stalks not only will not produce well themselves, but will not allow you to make the pea vines, so necessary to the improevement of land. Corn rais ed by this method should never grow ov?*r seven and one-half feet high, and the ear should bei near to the ground. I consider the final application of nitrate of soda an essential point in this ear-making process. It should al ways be applied at last plowing and unmixed with other fertilizers. I am satisfied with one ear to the stalk unless a prolific variety is plant ♦id, and leave a hundred stalks for every bushel that I expect to make. 1 find the six-foot row easiest to cultl- amount of fertilizer above, excenl that 200 pounds of nitrate of soda should be a**. '• In .each case there should be left -^o-the land in corn stalks, peas, vines and roo^ from $12 to $16’worth of fertilizing material per acre, beside the great benefit to the land from so large an amount of vegetable matter. The place of this in the permanent Improvement of land can never be taken by commercial fertilizer, for it is absolutely impossible to make lands rich as long as they are lacking in vegetable matter. Land should be thoroughly and deeply broken for corn, and this is the time in a system of rotation to vale without injuring the corn. For deepen the soil. Cotton requires a more compact soil than corn, and while a deep soil is essential to its best development, it will not produce as well on loose, open land, where corn does best on land thoroughly broken. A deep soil will not only produce more heavily than a shallow soil with good seasons, but it will stand more wet as well as more dry weather. In preparing for the corn crop, land should be broken broadcast during the winter one-fourth deeper than it has been plowed before, or if much vegetable matter is being turned un der, it may be broken one-third deep er. This is as much deepening as land will usually stand in one year fifty bushels to the acre, I leave it sixteen inches apart; for seventy-five bushels to the acre, twelve inches apart, and for one hundred bushels, eight inches apart. Com should be planted from four to six Inches below the level, and hid by from four to six inches above. No hoeing should be necessary, and middles may be kept clean until time to break out, by using harrow or by running one shovel fur row in centre of middle and bedding on that with one or more rounds of turn plow. I would advise only a few acres tried by this method the first year, or until you are familiar with Its application. Especially is it hard, At ing of that period. See if yqu can get a detailed description from which a tailor could reprdouce that cos tume. It 18 dOUbtftfl if any managT spends as much time and care upon costuming a modern play as George H. Brennan has spent upon “The Traitor” and before that upon “The Clansman." In fact this same care and atten tion has been extended to every de tail of the production of “The Trait or.” So when this thrilling play of the decline and fail of the Ku Klux Klan comes to the Harris Theatre at Spartanburg, S. C., on Saturday night, December 5th, those who see the stirring scenes will witness a pro duct ion that is a perfect reproduction of the period portrayed. No detail has been overlooked that would make for accuracy. Every scene breathes of the balmy atmosphere of the South. The sale of seats for this big pro duction begins Tuesday, December ist. Address I, H. Greenwald, man ager, Spartanburg, S. C. first, to fully carry out the stunting * Agricultural Commandments. At an early period it was found of ethical teaching, a few general necessary to evolve from the mass rules for living, called “The Ten Com mandments," by which a man could be moral without going through a course in theology. Just so, in order to instruct the average farmer how to successfully conduct his farm operations so as to secure a greater net gain from the farm, it is neces sary to first deduce from the mass and produce well, though It may be | process, where a whole crop Is in volved, and ihis is the absolutely OT* sential part of the process This method I have applied, or seen applied, successfully to all kinds ot land in this section, except wet lands and moist bottoms, and I am confi dent it can be made of great benefit throughout the entire South. In the middle West, where corn is continued each year, so long as much dead vegetable matter is being turn ed under. It may, however, be sub soiled to any depth by following in bottom of turn plow furrow, provided no more of the sub-soil than has been directed is turned up. Break with two heavy plows, if possible, or, bet ter, with disc plow. With the latter, » i _ cotton stalks or corn stalks as large, so 'prolific and profitable, and where as we ever make can be turned un-, unfortunately for us, so much of ourt der without having been popped, and in pea vines it will not ™oke or drag. Never plow land when it is wet, it you expect ever to have any use for it again. Bed with turn plow in six-foot rows, has been produced, the stalk docs not naturally ftrow large. As we come South its size increases, at the ex pense of the ear, until in Cuba and j Mexico it is nearly all stalk (witness Mexican varieties). The purpose of this method is to leaving five-inch balk When ^ady j eilminate this tendency of com to to plant, break this out with scooter, following in bottom of this furrow deep with Dixie plow, wing taken off. Ridge then on this furrow with same plow, still going deep. Run corn -planter on this ridge, dropping one overgrowth at the exnense of yield in this Southern climate. By this method I have made my com crop more profitable than my cotton crop, and my neighbors and grain every five or six inches. Plant i who J 18 ' 6 ^ ^ av *’ early, as soon as frost danger is past, Mhmit exception, derived great bene- say first seasonable spell after March therefrom. 15th, in this section. Especially is early planting necessary on very rich lands where stalks cannot otherwise be prevented from growing too large. Give first working with harrow or Plant your own seed. I would not advise a change of seed and method the same year, as you will not then . * know from which you have derived so ’ 1 i^ en ? ‘ armB i of agricultural teachings a few gen eral rules of procedure. They are called “The Ten Commandments of i Agriculture,’” by the practice of j which a mau may be a good farmer | in any state without being a grad- \ uate from a college of agriculture. The Ten Commandments of Agricul ture. (1) Prepare a deep and thoroughly pulverized seed bed, well drained; break in the fall to the depth of 8, 10 or 12 inches, according to the soil,! with implements that will not bring | too much of the subsoil to the sur- i face; (the foregoing depths should be! reached gradually). £2) Use seed of the best variety, 1 Intelligently selected and carefully: stored. (2) In cultivated crops, give the j rows and the plants in the rows a space suited to the plant, the sou and the climate. (4) Use intensive tillage during the growing period of the crops. (5) Secure a high content of humus in the soil by the use of leg umes. barnyard manure, farm refuse, and commercial fertilizers. , (6) Carry out a systematic crop rotation with a winter cover crop on Gold Watches TO BE Given Away BY Gaffney A Solid Gold Watch (gentlemen's size) will be awarded to the most popular male mill operative in Cherokee County, and a Solid Gold, Watch (ladies’ size) will be awarded to the most popular female mill operative. One of these Watches is now on exhibition in the’show window of the Gaffney Jewelry Co., and the other in the show window of T. H. Westrope, where they can be seen. Vote early and often. The Conditions of The Conest are Simple Cut out the coupons printed in each issue of The Ledger and mail or bring them to this office. At the expiration of the time set for the closing of the contest, December 22nd, the votes will be counted and the awards made to the persons re ceiving the highest number of votes. C O U R O N i I vote for as the most popular mill operative in Cherokee County. the benefit. I have used three varie- any plow that will not cover tha, ties, and all have done well. T liave plant. For second working, use ten or twelve-inch sweep on both sides of corn, which should now be about eight inches high. Thin after this working. It is not necessary that the plants should be left all the same dis tance apart if the right number re main to each yard of row. Corn should not be worked again until the growth has been so retard ed. and the stalk so hardened that ft will never grow too large. This is the most difficult point in the whole procetA. ^Experience and judgment are required to know just bow much the stalk should be stunted, and never used this method for late plant ing. In fact, I do not advise the late nlanting of corn, unlesa it be neces sary for cold lowlands. The increased cost of labor and the high price of all mareriai and land are rapidly making farming unprofit able, except to those who are getting from one acre what Ihey formerly got from two. We must make our lands richer by plowing deep, plant* ing peas and other legubea, manuring them with acid phosphate and potash, which are relatively cheap, and re turning to the soil the resultant vege table matter rich in humus and ex (7) Accomplish more work in a day by using more horse power and better implements. (8) Increase the farm stock to the extent of utilizing all the waste products add idle lands of the farm. (9) Produce all the food required for the men and animals on the farm. (10) Keep an account of each farm product, in order to know from which the gain or loss arises. S. A. Knapp. —The most popular lady, the dim mond ring. Gaffney Jewelry Co. —We have nice selections of furs W. J. Wilkins A Co. / In Addition to the Above every person subscribing: or renewing will be permitted to cast votes for his choice as follows: A two months subscription entitles the subscriber to 25 votes; a three months subscription to 40 votes; a four months subscription to 50 votes; a six months subscription to 75 votes; an eight months subscription to 100 votes, and a yearly sub scription to 150 votes. Vote early and often and give your favorite a nice, hand some and servicable Christmas present. The Contest Closes December 22nd Mail or Bring all Votes to The Ledger, Gaffney, S. C. frla .-w . , L \