The Bulletin. 5 



Transylvania Farm. — This farm is located at Blantyre, on the west 

 side of the French Broad Eiver, twelve miles directly west of Henderson- 

 ville, and is situated on both sides of the Hendersonville and Lake Tox- 

 away Branch of the Asheville and Spartanburg Division of the Southern 

 Bailway. The farm embraces both valley and mountain-side soils. The 

 valley soil consists of a dark, heavy loam, containing organic matter and 

 a liberal supply of plant-food constituents ; it is known as Toxaway loam. 

 This soil, which is typical of large areas of soil in the French Broad Val- 

 ley, is deep and fertile, and generally produces large yields when not sub- 

 ject to too great overflows during the growing season._ The mountain- 

 side soil consists of a grayish to dark red loam, underlain at from 6 to 12 

 inches by a stiff clay loam ; it is known as Porter's loam. Both soil and 

 subsoil contain some rock fragments. This is one of the typical soils of 

 the mountains of western North Carolina. It washes badly if not cov- 

 ered by forest or carefully looked after when cultivated. This soil, when 

 not too steep, is devoted to some extent to general farming and fruit 

 growing. 



I. Variety, Variety-distance and Distance Tests of Corn. 



Preparation and Cultivation. — The plats were all broke alike with a 

 two-horse turning plow 8 to 10 inches deep and harrowed. Soon after 

 the rows were run 4 to 5 inches deep and 4 feet apart in variety tests and 

 the several distances in the distance tests. The stalks in the variety tests 

 were reduced to a stand of 2 x /2 feet in the row. 



The fertilizer materials were applied uniformly in these drills and 

 covered, the application being at the following rate per acre in all tests : 



Three hundred pounds of a mixture of acid phosphate, dried blood and 

 manure salt, 1 which contained 7 per cent available phosphoric acid, 1% 

 per cent potash and 3 per cent nitrogen (equal to 3.64 per cent ammonia), 

 costing $3.12, were used. 



The slight ridges formed in covering the fertilizer were opened and 

 the corn planted a little below the level, all tests of the same kind at the 

 same farm being given the same treatment as to time of planting and 

 otherwise. All cultivations were as nearly level as possible and rather 

 deep early in the season, with the small hoes of the Planet Jr. Cultivator, 

 but became shallower, using the large hoes as the season advanced and 

 the roots extended towards the middle of the rows and nearer the surface. 

 This system of cultivation afforded pretty thorough breaking of the land 

 early in the season and prevented the disturbance of the root systems of 

 the plants later. An effort was made to cultivate every ten or twelve 

 days, as far as the weather would permit, and especially immediately 

 after rains, in order to produce a fine dust mulch with the shallow-run- 

 ning plows, to retard the evaporation of the recently, added moisture. 



The varieties of corn were harvested and shocked on September 16 at 

 the Edgecombe farm, on September 14 at the Iredell farm, but were not 

 husked until December 3 and 4 at Edgecombe, November 7 at Iredell. 



RESULTS OF VARIETY TESTS OF CORN. 



The results of these tests are contained in the following tables : 



1 Manure salt is a potash compound containing about 20 per cent potash, princi- 

 pally in the form of muriate. 



