North Carolina Newspapers

1 J FARMERS ARCH 16, 1887. THE PROGRESS ! 5 I I - i 1 5 i ! 1 1 1 0 ft! i if 1 Iffl 5 1 u 1 IS Mil : Li m of II M If progressive drmcrL I TroLK - ED1TOK. P. F. DUFFY, ASSOCIATE " SUB S CR I P TI OA' : S2.00 FOR ONE YEAR. $1.00 FOR 6 MONTHS POST-PAID. Invariably in Advance Subscribers will be notilk d two weeks before their time expires and if they do not renew the paper will be stopped promptly. Liberal inducements to clubs. Active agents-wanted in every county, city town and village in the State. Write for terms. Money at our risk, if sent by registered letter or money order. Advertising Rates quoted on application. On all matters relating to the paper, Address THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER, Winston, N. C. o To Correspondents. Write all communications, designed for pub lication, on one side of the paper. Rejected communications will be numbered and tiled, and the author will be notified. II not applied for in 30 days they will be de stroyed. To secure their return postage must be sent with the application Answers to en quiries will be made through our " Correspon dents Column " when it can be done with pro priety. We want inteligent correspondents in every county in the State. We wantaesol value, results accomplished of value, experi ences of value, plainly and briefly told. One solid, demonstrated fact is worth a thousand . theories. Address all communications to The Pkookkssivk Farmer, Winston, N. C. Wiiiston, JSf. C, 16, 188T TJiis paper entered as second class matter at the Post Office in Winston, X. C ENDORSED BY THE CONVEN TION. The following resolution was passed by the Farmers' Mass Con vention H Raleigh. January 2Gth, 1887: lii'Rnlvpil . That "The Progressive Farmer," published by L. C Polk, Win ston. N. C, be declared the Official Or gan of the North Carolina Farmers' As sociation and that its Editor, L. L. Polk, be admitted to the privileges of the floor as an honorary member of this Conven tion. JBWe ask every Grange and'iBQ Farmers Clul in the State to send us at once, the number of members in the organization together with the name and Postoffiee address of each officer. THE CROSS MARK. The cross mark on your paper in dicates that the time for which you subscribed has or is about to expire. It is to give notice so your subscrip tion may be renewed. If the sub scription be not renewed the name will be dropped from the list, but w want every one to renew and bring1 a friend along too. A bill has passed the Legislature oi Tennessee to submit the question of liquor prohibition to the voters of that Stat p. . The Wilmington Star calls attention to the fact tlrA farmers down in that section buy cabbage imported from Swe den. The street railways of Philadelphia carried last year 128,000,000 of passen gers, the fares collecte'd amounting to $f,700,000. Capt. James B. E ads, the celebrated engineer and leading spirit in the pro posed ship railway across the isthmus, 'died last week of pneumonia. We desire to express our thanks to that able agricultural journal, the South ern Cultivator, for its frequent kind men? - tion of The Progressive Farmer, which is the more appreciated coming from such a distinguished source. $ Next Friday will be the 50th anni wrsary of President Cleveland's birth day. Only three other presidents have celebrated their half century birthday in the White House Polk, Pierce and Grant. V The Richmond Dispatch of 7th inst. publishes a telegram to the effect that James W. Reid, ex-Congressman from this district, h is made arrangements to pay up his indebtedness and will shortly begin the practice of law, probably, in New York city. The misdemeanor of carrying con cealed wpapons is now within the juris diction of Justices' of the Peace. The punishment prescribed is not less than thirty days' imprisonment, or a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars. - Mr. W. A. Coe, one of Guildford county 'a thrifty farmers, is the owner of ahorse, which, though it has reached the age of 31 years, works regularly and is spry and nimble. The horse is a war veteran also, having served during the late "on pleasantness" between the States. uris r The farmers in the countrv si; rounding Clay Center, Kansas, are or izinr a co-onerative association with a capital stock of $50,000. Rev. Thos II. Law, pastor of fa Pres byterian church in Spartanburg, VS. C, has been appointed agent of the Ameri can Bible Society, for North and South Carolina. A decision has been rendered by the Supreme Court of the United States de claring the drummers' tax by States un constitutional, on the ground that it interferes with inter-state commerce, which is within the jurisdiction of Con gress and not of the States. Henry Ward Beecher, the distin guished preacher of Brooklyn, N. Y., who had obtained a world-wide reputa tion, died of apoplexy at his home Tues day morning, 8th inst. He was' 74 years old but a man of remarkable physical and mental vigor up to the Friday before he died, when he was stricken with apo plexy. The editor of the Durham Tobacco Plant is of the opinion that Walter Bing ham, the slayer of Miss Turlington, put an end to his life by jumping from the suspension bridge into Niagara river last December. The description of the man who threw himself into the river corre sponds with that of Bingham, though the body has never been recovered. Messrs. Louis Bagger & Co., Solicit ors of Patents, Washington, D. C, write us that for the week ending March 8th, 18S7, there were granted to citizens of Southern States thirty-three patents, among them one to J. M. Flack, of Sha ron, N. C, n mechanism for operating churn dasher. MONUMENT TO MAJ. T. N. CKUMPLER. The friends and old comrades of Maj. T. N. Grumpier, will unveil a monument to the memory of this brilliant man and gallant soldier, at Rockford, Surry county, the place of his birth and burial, on the 10th of May next. He was Major of that splendid Regiment, the istN. C. Cavalry, and Hon. W. II. Cowles, Lieut. Col. of that Regiment, and the editor of The Progressive Farmer have been in vited to deliver addresses on that occasion. It is expected that an immense i 1 1 i d. ennvu wni ue present. . j THE FARMERS' INSTITUTE. a To-day the Farmers' Institute at Asheboro opens, aVothe indications are that it will lurCa grand success both in the woik naapped out and in the numbers that attend. To Trinity Club we think the honor belongs of originating and carrying into effect this movement, which promises much, if carried out in the spirit in which it was conceived, for the farmers of Randolph county and of the State for it will doubtless result in the establishment of a number of similar institutes in other counties. We hope to give our readers a full account of the pro ceedings. J The Raleigh Chronicle pays the following just and merited tribute to Mr. II. E. Fries, for his work in the Legislature: The good old Moravian town Salem furnished one of the best and most useful and laborious mem bers of the House in the person of Mr. Henry E. Fries'. Besides work ing on all lines, he especially gave his attention to the Agricultural De partmentand the Agricultural Col lege. He was elected a truster of the College and is worthy to fill that or any other position where brains and worK are needed. COUNTY ROAD FUND. At a joint meeting recently of the Board of Road Supervisors and the County Commissioners the road fund was apportioned as follows among the various districts: Abbotts Creek,. 225 00 Belews Creek,. 225 00 Bethania, 202 00 Broadbay, 300 00 KernersAille 300 00 Lewisville...... 262 00 Middle Fork, 450 00 Old Richmond, 300 00 Old Town 450 00 - Salem Chapel................ 225 00 South Fork 375 00 Vienna,:.. 300 00 Winston, 150 00 . Total,.,......... ..,.$ 3,824,00 A WRONG IMPRESSION. Our esteemed brother of the Green ville Reflector has an editorial, called forth by some remarks in this pa on the convict labor question, which it may be worth while to notice, be "cause it was evidently written under a misapprehension, and may convey a wrong imprestion to those who are not readers ofifTiiE Progressive Farmer. Wemairo the statement, that in the SoAthenStatcs since the war the convicts were worked for the benefit of private enterprises and corporations, and not for the benefit of the people. Is this not true? In connection with this statement we called attention to the act of the Legislature granting 325 convicts for an indefinite time to drain swamps and cut roads through property oi' private individuals in eastern coun ties, which our esteemed brother finds fault with and construes as an evidence of opposition to the people f the east, and of sympathy with Richmond M. Pearson, because Mr. Pearson led in the opposition to that measure. Our friend was nevermore mistaken in his life than in both of these impressions, if he really enter tains them, as between the people of the east and of the west, or cen tre, we know no difference. They are all our people, and they will have our hearty co-operation in the efforts to better their condition. But are the men for whom these swamps are to be drained, and roads cut the "peo ple" of the east? As for being in sympathy with Richmond M. Pear son an interrogative insinuation which must have sprung from want of thought we deem it necessary only to say that neither he nor any other man who stood in the halls of the last Legislature was large enough in body to cast a shadow over this paper, nor potent 'enough in influ ence to swerve us from the course we believed to be right the one-tenth part of the diameter of a hair. Our comments on this and other ques tions affecting the interests of the people are made utterly regardless of the existence of any real or would be leaders of parties or factions in side or out of the legislative halls. Among the active opponents of that measure was Dr. Worth, of Randolph, (whom the editor of the Reflector would not, therefore, indi rectly charge with being a "Pearson ite,") and who as State Treasurer for a number of years had ample oppor tunities to learn something about the practical workings of this swamp draining, and how much benefit the State or people derived from it. He stated in debate that the State had expended some 8250,000 or $300,000 and got back less than $50,000. It was not near $50,000, but we put it at this because we have not the exact figures to refer to. Our recollection is $28,000. Many miles of swamp lands are drained at heavy expense to the State, and when drained and put in condition to be serviceable at little cost they are put up at public sale in 25,000, 30,000 or 50,000 acre tracts or niore and sold to the highest bidder.generally atfigiireslittle more than enough to pay the costs of sale. The buyers reap the benefit while the State pays the bill. We don't object to draining swamps when the swamps are worth draining, but we want to see it done in a way that the State who does it and the peo ple for whom it is supposed to be done derive some benefit from it, and not a handful of individuals or a few speculators who stand about to watch opportunities and take advantage of them. GRASS CULTURE. 1 1 is a gratifying sign to sec that our farmers are giving. much more atten tion to the subject of grass culture this year than heretofore. Our mer chants and seeds dealers have or dered heavily and have found nt) difficulty in quickly disposing of all on hand. The acreage in the grasses this year will be undoubtedly much larger than ever before, and the indi cations are that grass has come to stay. This is a move in the right direction, and we hope to see it con tinue until every farm, not only in the Piedmont section, but in North Carolina, can show flourishing mead ows. Oui1 farmers spend annually large sums' of money for hay raised in other States, a poorer quality than they could raise on their own farms at an insignificant cost, forgetful of the fact that they are not only fool ishily spending their hard-earned and much needed money, but are injuring themselves in other ways. The farmer, who gives no attention to the grasses, is necessitated to pur- chlse fertilizers to grow his crops, an1 this must be done year after fv t.hnaftntailinira heavy expense Mm whilo his lands derive no permanent beneht. wun gra uu intelligent rotation oi crop.- nmir hn nut into and kept in gooi -mid it ion. trrowinir better and richer year after year, with correspond ingly little labor, little expense, ahd without going into debt. J But another consideration, anil a very important one, is the fact that the farmer who grows no grass fcan not raise stock, nor properly provide for those he has when he has tolbuy the feed they eat. Working s ock, and all other stock should be well fed to develop the best results and to feed them well there must le an abundance of food, costing ittle money. When this is,not the base, when feed must be bought at prices which the farmer cannot affortl to pay, the stock will be stinted land thus suffer. A half fed horse or njule cannot render the service that it should render, and it accordingly takes two to do the work that tine should do, and they will not doit as well. The farmer loses in th and loses heavily, though he ma not see it. The halt led cow yields but little milk or butter, and provides poorly for her oitspnng, when a well-fed cow would yield an abundance and give a profit to her owner. Aside from the work done by farm animals, or the milk and butter furnished, they more than compensate for liberal feeding by the manure they furnish manure which is worth as much to the farmer as anything he uses on his farm, and which should be looked after by him with as much care. With grass culture, and stock judici ously managed, there is no telling what the agricultural possibilities of North Carolina may be. A GOOD IDEA. On Saturday we had the pleasure of attending a meeting of the Lemon Springs Farmers' Club. The club now numbers about 20 members, and this was its second meetini;. The meeting was called to order by G. W. Smith, President, and after adopt ing the regulations and by-laws, as prescribed by the editor of the Pro gressive Farmer, they proceeded to the discussion of farm topics, among other things, "What should be the aim of the Club?" On this subject Rev. James McQueen and Maj. J no. W. Scott made pertinent remarks, and impressed upon the members the advantages of paying cash for all supplies and not to use these so called commercial fertilizers. From the opinion generally expressed on these subjects, we are sure that the club will adopt the cash system as its mode of purchase. We say that it is a good idea, and if, by joining a farmers' club our farmers may be brought to that system, we say give us farmers' clubs throughout the entire country. And we have no doubt but that it can be accom plished. For instance: suppose 30 farmers belong to a clubhand 20 of them are necessitated to buy meat, by putting their cash together and' buying a quantity they can buy at a much smaller price and get the usual per cent, off for cash, and of course the purchase of all other sup plies mjght be made in the same way. Nothing has ever proven a greiiter curse to the farming class of North Carolina than the credit system, and yet our farmers continue to attempt to live under it. We think the farm ers of this club are determined to adopt the cash system out and out, or allow themselves to be taxed and establish a club store. Wo hope this will be a general move with the farm ers throughout the country, and that they will determine never to buy or sell on a credit. It will be better for them and better for the merchant. Carthage Blade. HOW IT PAYS A man up here sold his crop of tobacco for enough to buy two sacks of fertilizer and had twelve cents left. Another up the south side of the mountain had forty-five cents left after paying for his fertili zer and hauling. Two others after paying all expenses except what work they did had five cents each left. Two more bought 400 lbs. of fertili zer each, one made 397 lbs. of tobac co, the other about 400 lbs., about a pound of tobacco to every pound of fertilizer used. Who says it will not pay to grow tobacco with which to get money to pay for everything we require 1Ddnkury Reporter. ' A VOICE FROM ANSON. LlLESVlLLK, X C ) March 12, 1887. Editor Progressive Fitui. j it Allow me to congratulate you Um ! the successful issue of your earnest etforts to secure a bona fide Arii-iii tural College in North Carol hm Your demands that the laiuUerjn be used in the interest of the farm ers of the State have at last met vitl the endorsement of the people and provoked definite and commundabh action on the part of the Legislature Now let the people demand' that the' affairs of the college be kept from under the control of politicians that there be nothing hidden and tricky about its management and that it be conducted on such princi ples as will enhance the interests of the class of citizens whom it is in. tended to benefit and the school can be one of the biggest and best things controlled by the State. ft Your paper which came to-day contains the first copy of the bill as it passed both houses of the Legisla ture, that I have seen and, although 1 take several other secular papersj the Progressive Farmer is the first to give me the exact information that I wanted on the subject. V Farm wagons are coming to th. depot daily, loaded with cotton and carrying back loadsof bacon,cornand guano. The financial condition of the farmers of this section is distress ing. If they would put into cattle and clover what they spend in one year for commercial fertilizers to make cotton they would soon he in a condition to save their meat and guano bills both. It is sad to see the merchants receiving corn and bacon. by the car load to sell to farmers who buy commercial fertili zers on time, and this, too, in one of the most fertile countiesof the State. THE WORK OF THE FORTY NINTH CONGRESS. The New York Herald enumerates the following as the most important bills passed by the late congress: 1. Settling the succession to the Presidency. 2. Regulating the counting of the electoral vote. 3. Repealing the tenure of office act. 4. Forfeiting and restoring to the public domain about fifty millions of acres of land. 5. Prohibiting the ownership of j land by aliens. i (J. Effectively dealing with the crime of polygamy. j 7. Referring all private claims to j the Court of claims. 8. Ordering a thorough inquiry into the affairs and management of the Pacific railroads. 9. Authorizing the President to deal with the fishery troubles. 10. Regulating inter-State com merce. 11. Reducing the fees on postal money orders 12. Extending the free delivery system to cities of 10,000 inhabi tants. 13. Relieving the merchant marine of a number of vexations i?nd need less burdens. 14. Redeeming trade dollars. 15. Prohibiting the use of convict labor on public buildings. 16. Ordering the adjustment of railroad land grants. 17. Allotting lands in severalty to Indians. 18. Authorizing the issue of wniall silver certificates. 19. Giving money for congression al library. FREE PASSES. The inter-State commerce bill pro hibits railroads from issuing five passes to any outside their own om cials and employees. As far back as 1873 a director of the Pennsylvania railroad asserted that the free passe distributed by that corporation m one year represented $500,000. Charles Francis Adams, president or the Union Pacific railroad, within a year told a committee of the United StatesSenatethat the losses incurred by the company which he represent ed, through the free pass abuse, amounted to $2,000 a day, and that a reduction of 10 per cent, in t ne passenger rates could be made if ij passes were abolished. No one doubts but the distribution of free pas among legislators has been a fruiw source of "favorable "legislation tor corporations.