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10GRE AttlE V SSITE i 77 INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY. - " ' Vol. 2. WINSTONrN. C, MARCH 9, No. 4. ' ' ' i i 7 i V OUR FARMERS' CLUBS. What our Farmers are Doing and How the Work of Organizing is Progressing. barshavia club. Editor Progressive Farmer : The farmers of the northwestern part of Vienna Township held a meeting on the evening of Feb. 22nd, for the purpose of forming a farmers' Club. On motion, .made by Mr. Peter Sprinkle, Mr. Henry Y. Hauser was made President of the meeting. Af ter considerable discussion, nineteen of the persons present signed the club roll, adopting the constitution and by-laws published in The Pro gressive Farmer. The meeting was harmonious throughout, all seemed to think that by working in concert that they could do more than they could single-handed. The Club finally organized by electing Mr. Jno. Y. Long President and W. II. Goslen Secretary, term of office to hold for one year. The club also adopted the name Barsha via, a& most of its members live on or near its waters. The next meeting was appointed for Saturday evening of March the 5th. We are all young hands in the cause, but we mean business. We believe in The Progressive Farmer and hope to have an address fromts Editor at no distant day when we think the entire community will join our Club. The following is the list of members: J. W. Speas. Henry J . Hauser, Jno. M. Long, B. Hendrix, J. A. Apper son," J. D. Anderson, P. A. Sprinkle, J. W. Waller, II. C. Pub, J. P. Sprinkle, Ellis W. Hauser, P. F. Pe tree, P. F. Holder, J. S. Anderson, C. A. Long, J. W. Whitman, L. G. Long, George II. Hauser, W. II. Gos len. We adjourned, after requesting the Secretary to furnish the proceed ings for publication in The Progres sive Farmer. W. II. Goslen, Sec'y. cedar grove club. There was a large attendance at the last regular meeting of the club, President A. W. Bevel presided. The subject under discussion was, "How can the South-east compete with the North-west?" which wTas partici pated in by President Bevel and others. Mr. Bevel said it presented a broad field for thought and discus sion. He referred to the time years back when the high price of cotton brought money in abundance to the South, and begat a spirit of lavish ness and of fast living which the people have not entirely gotten over yet. Wall street now controls the price of cotton and fixes months ahead the price the planter shall receive for his growing crop. Our dcople are not careful in the man agement and disposition of their property as they should be. He illustrated -by referring to the fact that many . of them sell hickory timber at from three to seven dol lars a cord, which is worked up into handles and sold at sixty dollars a hundred. The finest white oak is sold in the same ratio. When you sell your timber see that you get something like its value for it or keep it. It will keep and will pay lor the keeping. The timber supply i the W est is about exhausted and timber handlers must look to the South for their supplies. We must learn to live within our means, raise less tobacco and only fine tobacco. The farmer should do his own sell mg. The middleman sells tobacco at 2 cents; the cost of manufactory is 2 cents. The price of the lowest grade manufactured is 40 cents, tax 8, leaving a profit of 27. He spoke of the methods of farming in the West, where the lands are made to yield 1,250 bushels of turnips to the acre, while we never thought of the turnip, which would grow well here and find ready sale at 30 cents a bushel. He made many other inter esting points and suggestions. jf One of the members of our club, who brought his crop of tobacco to town "which cost him fifteen cents a pound to raise" and soldfit for six cents, became so disgusted that he came home and tor& down his tobacco barns. J. I. Craft, Secretary. new club inecklenburg. Editor Progressive Farmer: A portion of the farmers of Morning Star Township, Mecklenburg county met at the Grange Hall, on Satur day, February 26th, 1887, for the purpose of permanent organization. Said Club is to be known as Morn ing Star Township Club. The fol lowing officers were elected: President -T. J. Kenfrow. Vice President D. E. Hooks. Secretary and Treasurer J. W. Hood. A permanent committee of 5 were elected as follows: E. J. Funderburk, J. W. Philips, E. M. Matthews, A. C. Fisher, and T. P. Pyron. Fifty-four names were enrolled. Short addresses were made by the President and others. The Secretary was instructed to send the proceedings to The Pro gressive Farmer for publication, when we adjourned to meet on the 2nd Saturday of March next, at 1:30 o'clock, p. m. T. J. Henfrow, J. W. Hood, Sec'y. President. NEW CLUB IN JOHNSTON. Clayton, Feb. -28, 1887. The formers around Clayton met on Saturday, February 12th, and organized a Farmers' Club, with the following officers: President, N. G. Gulley ; Vice-President, Ji. II. Gower; Treasurer, J. B. Smith. N. R. Poole, J. R. Harrison and W. R. Poole constitute the executive committee. The regular meetings of the club are every second Saturday at 2:30 p. m. R. II. Gower, Secretary. CATAWBA COUNTY ORGANIZATION. The Farmers' Meeting, appointed to be held at Conover on Saturday last, was well attended notwith standing the unfavorable weather. A County Agricultural Society was organized with John Robinson, Esq., as President, Col. II. A. Forney as Vice-President, M. J. Rowe, Record ing Secretary, F. L. Herman, Corre sponding Secretary and J. M. Miller, Treasurer. The Society will meet semi-annually. The subject of the Co-Operative Store was not taken into consideration, and probably will not be, as a large number of the members are opposed to the under taking. Piedmont Press. AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. Mr. James Burns, a Scotch black smith of Verona, Pa., says the Pitts burgh Commercial Chronicle, has dis covered the long lost process of welding copper. If correct, and there seems no doubt of it, Mr. James Burns has a fortune in his grasp. This is the class of working men the country stands in need of. With a little vial of chemicals (the combination and names of which are Mr. Burns' secret) a hot fire, an anvil and a hammer the Verona blacksmith shows how in ten- min utes he can do all that overcomes the difficulties heretofore in the way. He has already welded nearly a dozen different articles in copper with as much ease as baser metals can be handled. Wherever he can get a fire and hammer he can weld copper. By the old process fourteen or fifteen heats, in a furnace is re quired to fix copper, but by his welding process only one heat is necessary. The weld being the pounding .of the pure copper to gether, makes it so strong that it will never give put like brazed parts, Our farmers are now busy plant ing their early truck. Prospects point to a very favorable season so they say. Elizabeth City Economist. THE AGRICULTURAL AND ME- CHANICAL COLLEGE. The following is a synopsis of the bill which passed the Legislature on last Thursday, establishing the Agricultural and Mechanical Col lege : Section 1. That the Industrial School be denominated "The North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts," and shall be located on the lands donated by R. Stanhope Pullen, near the city of Raleigh. Sec. 2. The leading object of this college shall be, without excluding other scientific and mechanical studies, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and profes sions of life. Sec. 3. The management and con trol of the said collego'and the care and preservation of all its property shall be vested in a board of trustees to be composed of the board of agri culture of North Carolina, and five other persons who shall be apppoint ed by the Governor, by and with the consent of the Senate, who shall have power to appoint its president, instructors and as many other offi cers or servants as to them shall appear necessary and proper; and shall fix their salaries and prescribe their duties : Provided, That the board of trustees shall be composed half of each political party. Sec. 4. The certificates of indebt edness of this State for $125,000, issued for the principal of the land scrip fund to the trustees of the Universit' of North Carolina, shall be transferred on the 13th day of June, 1888, or as soon thereafter as it shall appear that the Agricultural and Mechanical College is ready to receive the interest on the land scrip fund, and that the principal of the fund will not in any way be compromised by such st transfer to the said board of trustees for the benefit of the said North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. Sec. 5. That the directors of the North Carolina State Penitentiary shall be required to furnish free of charge all brick and stone requisite for the necessary buildings of the said college, and to furnish convict labor for the preparation of the grounds and the foundations, the erections of the said buildings, and for such other purposes in connec tion with the establishment of the said college, as they may be able. Sec. 6. That the board of agricul ture shall turn over the board of trus tees of the said college, as provided in this act, to be applied to the establishment, maintenance and enlargement of the said college, all funds, land, material and other pro perty which have accumulated in their hands for the establishment of an Industrial School, under chapter 308, laws of 1885, and annually here after the whole residue of their funds, from licenses on fertilizers remaining over and not required to conduct the regular work of that department. The agricultural ex periment and fertilizer control sta tion, already established under the management of the said board of agriculture, shall be connected with tho said college and the board of agriculture may turn over to the said trustees in whole or part, for the purposes of the said college, any buildings, lands, laboratories, muse ums or other property which may be in their possession, as in their judgment may be thought proper. Sec. 7. The use of the three hun dred acres of land, more or less, known as the Camp Mangum tract, belonging to the State of North Carolina, and situated one-half mile west of the state fair grounds, 'is hereby given to the said board of trustees for the benefit of said Col lege of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, or the Experiment Station con nected therewith. Sec. 8. The board of trustees shall admit to the benefits of the said college, free of any charges for tuition, upon proper evidence of good moral character and of the inability of their, parents or guar dians to pay their tuition, a certain number of youths, to be determined by them, not to be less than one hundred and twenty, and shall apportion the same to the different counties applying according to their relative number of members in the House of Representatives of North Carolina. The said board are here by empowered to make the neces sary regulations for carrying this into effect and for the admission of other students. Sec. 9. Every student in this Col lege of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, shall be required to take a course of manual training or labor, together with the other courses of study and exercise, as the board shall direct. RESULTS OF INTENSIVE FARM- ING. We have heretofore written about the method of intensive farming practiced by some of the best farm ers in Georgia following the lead of Furtnan, the thinker and experimen ter,who demonstrated its possibilities and achieved such remarkable re sults. Furman, unfortunately, died before his work was well begun, but not until he had demonstrated the truth of his theories, and pointed out to his brother farmers the road to success. His theory was this. He held that the productive capacity of soil was practically unlimited, and that the acre which yielded one bale of cotton, with proper treatment and intelligent culture, could be made to yield three, five, seven or more bales. He showed his faith by his works. He took a wTorn out old farm which was so poor that it would hardly sprout army beans. He an lyzed the cotton plant and learned its constituent elements. He then analyzed the soil of his. fields and learned their constituent elements. Those elements in which they were deficient, necessary to the full and vigorous development of the cotton plant, he supplied with a compost formula of his own composition. With this he fed that hungry soil, and the result was, in a couple of years three bales of cotton to the acre where one would not have grown before. He expected to increase the yield every year, and said he would not be satisfied until he had reached seven bales per acre. Had he lived he doubtless would have done it, for others since him, following his methods, have come very near doing it. A few years ago a fertilizing company in Atlanta offered pre miums for the best yield on one and five acres of corn and cotton, and about two hundred planters in Geor gia, Mississippi and South Carolina entered in competition for the prizes. The Atlanta Constitution in publish ing the result of these contests gives the names of the fourprincipal com petitors and the figures each reached thus : Lbs. Lint Fertilizer Cotton. Name. Post Office, used fcs. 5 acres Geo. W. Truitt, La Grange, 3 600 7 898 Daniel H. Ponder, Hampton, 3 500 7 557 G. M. Davis son, rope s erry z ww K. w. xerry, rairDurn, 1 500 6 877 Total on 20 acres, 10 600 29,876 Average per acre, 530 pounds of fertilizer, 1, 493 pounds of lint cotton. This was 66 J' bales on 20 acres, an average of 3 J 450 pound bales to the acre which everybody thought mar velous and the highest notch that could be reached. But in the con test the year following four Georgia farmers made 92 bales on 20 acres as follows : Lbs. Lint Fertilizer Cotton. Xame. Post office, used ft. 5 acres. J. C. Sims. Hoeansvllle. 2 000 .10 887 R. G. Ray, Palmetto, M. C. Pyron, Palmetto, G.W. Truitt, La Grange, 2 000 10 879 3 200 10 973 7 550 8 833 Total on 20 acres, 15 350 41 572 Average per acre, 767 pounds of fertilizer, 2,068 pounds of lint cotton. Here are 66 1 bales on 20 acres in'85, 3 bales to the acre, while one year later, from 20 acres, we hear report ed 92 bales, a little less than 5 bales to the acre. There were about 200 contestants, altogether, and the av erage yield of these in 1885 was 732 pounds of lint, something over 1 bales, while in 1886 it was 960 pounds, considerably over 2 bales. These may look like fancy figures and doubtless would be so regarded if they did not come supported by names and proof which leave no room for doubt. What these two hundred planters did other planters can do; what these seven planters did other planters can do, with the same methods, the same determina tion. They simply cultivated their land well and supplied it with the plant food necessary to give the enormous yield that they reached, which may be and will be reached by many others who see what can be done when intelligence directs and industry accompanies it. A NEW PROFESSION. From all portions of the country, but especially from the South, there comes a demand for men of scienti fic training and practical experience to manage farms. Capitalist engaged in other branches ofbusiness are owners of farms kmr country seats which they have neKher the leisure, nor the knowledge toultivate at a profit. Fancy farming for mere oc cupation, involving a wasteful ex penditure of money, is at a discount. Even men of the amplest means are anxious to have their amateur agri culture prove a financial success. To realize such aspiration a class of men of specific qualifications is now called for. To the young men now studying with proper zeal and energy in our agricultural colleges this demand opens a brilliant prospect. Those of them who have the requisite capital will, of course, own and work their own farms; but there are others, without farms and without capital, who can exercise their scientific and economic skill only in combination with the farms and capital of others. With such as these the non-professional land holders will be well satis fied to share the profit of farming enterprise. It is a healthful sign of the times that our large estates, especially in the South, are in process of subdivi sion. Let the good work go on until the mass of the farming inter est is in the hands of small proprie tors, a true yeomanry, working their own patrimony and cherishing those ideas and babits of independent manhood which are essential to true manhood. But when this subdivi sion shall have attained its full legi timate development, there will be still a wide scope for farming on a large scale, requiring men of specific agricultural training for their man agement. The young men without capital now studying scientific agri culture, if found possessed of these qualifications, will find a noble and lucrative sphere of activity. Amer ican Cultivator. SPECIAL LEGISLATION. By a system of legislation grant ing special privileges we have seen in this country hundreds of millionj aires created during the past twenty five years, who have been permitted to absorb th,e profits of agriculture, which is not only robbing the farmer of the just rewards of his labor, but the commuuities in which it was produced as well. And while farmers under this system, have been com pelled to contribute largely toward making the rich richer, they them selves have gained but little in pro portion to the wealth they produced, ft is true there are many who have ' made reasonable additions as profits, and it is also equally true that many more have gained but little thou sands have not gained one per cent per annum on labor and capital employed. Mo r timer Whitehead Grange Lecturer.
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
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March 9, 1887, edition 1
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