Newspapers / The progressive farmer. / May 26, 1887, edition 1 / Page 1
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. : .., ... ;. ..- . . , . THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY. V JJ Vol. 2. RALEIGH, N. C, MAY 26, 1887. No. 14. OUR FARMERS CLUBS. What our Farmers are Doing and How the Work of Organizing: is Progressing. ' PANTHER BRANCH Farmers' Club, Panther Branch township, Wake county, organized March 19th. New members, 22., C. E. McCullers, President ; . Vice-Presi-; dents, J. J. Penny and Dr. Dowd ; 1 Secretary and Treasurer, M. F. Tur ner. Meets once a month, and' is J growing rapidly. Executive commit- tee, J. J. Penny and W. S. Turner. EAGLE MILLS FARMERS ORGANIZING. The farmers of Eagle Mills town ship met at Andrews' school house on the afternoon of the 7 th inst. and organized a farmers' club. J. M. Smith .was elected President, E. H. Powell Vice-President, P. B. Kennedy Secretary, J. W. Chamberlain. Treas urer.- Executive Committee : F. G. Tharpe, ,1. W. Reavis, Thos.; Heath. The meetings will be held monthly. ! This is the second club organized in this township with ' prospects of doing much good. ' YADKIN COLLEGE CLUB DAVIDSON CO. This club was organized on March 12th, 1887, and elected the following officers : President, J.- S. Phillips ; Vice-Peesident, Gaither Walser ; Sec retary, Ed. L. Owen, Treasurer, Jno. E. Walser. Post office, Yadkin Col lege, N. C. This club is young, but it is in earnest," progressive, and its members realize the importance of organization and co-operation, not only for their own interests, but the interests of the farmers of. North Carolina. By mingling together, and giving each other the benefit of practical ideas and experience, we are all the gainers. Ed. L. Owen, Sec'y. MORNING STAR FARMERS7 CLUB. Our club held a most interesting meeting on the 14th mst We dis cussed the best methods for cultivat ing corn and cotton, and a lively interest was manifested throughout. Mr. J. S. Funderburk was added to our number by a unanimous vote, and Rev. J. B. Richardson and Daniel Mullis were elected honorary mem bers. Mr. Richardson made us a capital talk, in which he gave us a sketch of Mr. Sampson's model farm near High Point, and his plan for making fertilizers, &c. It was ordered that the proceedings of our meetings be sent to The Pro gressive Farmer regularly for publi cation. Our club meets again on the second Saturday in June., P. J. Renfrow, Pres't. J. W. "Williams. Sec'y. Matthews, N. C. MAKING FERTILIZERS COTTON. FOR F, 'om a Paper read by Afr. Hansom Hinton at the Raleigh Farmers', Institute. I have but one suggestion to make about farming, and that is, make all of the supplies you can at home and make your own guano. Last year I made my guano and made 24 bales of cotton on 28 acres and also made guano for my tenants, ; This year I exchanged the 600 bushels cotton seed I got from the 24 bales of cotton for 9,000 pounds of cotton seed meal, and mixed 6,000 pounds of cotton seed meal with acid phosphate and kainit, making in all 7 tons at a cost of $43.50 after deducting $34 for 3,000 pounds cotton seed meal I had left over after making guano, which I sold to my tenants. . So you see that makes it cost $6.21 per ton, besides the seed made on the 28 acres last year. I made 25 tons of this guano this year for myself and my . tenants, and have been using, it three or. four years. I sent two samples; of .this guano to Dr. Dabney to be analyzed, and he gives me the analyses copied be low. The cost of this guano per ton, when you buy the cotton seed meal, acid phosphate and kainit, is $20.75 for sample No. 4,439 and $20.30 for sample No. 4,440. Hoping you farm ers may succeed at farming better than I have for the last ten years, I am, Yours respectfully, - ' Ransom, Hinton. Analyses : No. 4,439, mixed by Mr. Hinton, as described above, from acid phosphate and cotton seed meal, contained 729 per cent of available phosphoric acid, 4.31 per; cent, of am monia and 1 per cent, of potash,, valua-; tion, as fertilizers are valued this year, $24.27 per ton: No. 4,440 made from acid phosphate, cotton-seed meal and kainit, contained 5.02 per cent, of available phosphoric acid, 3,30 per cent, of ammonia and 3.72 per cent, of potash ; valuation, $20.94 per tori. f For the Progressive Farmer. RiT.vmn "NT H Mav 17. 1887 I wish you success in your enter prise. Never did a class of people need information more than the farm ers of this State. It seems to me that they have been made the burden bear ers by the : government, corporations and monopolists. It is vain to talk about a realization of. any great pros perity in North Carolina until our farming interests become more pros perous. To say that the farmers are doing badly, is to say that the State is not prosperous, for at present most of our people are engaged in agricultural pursuits. Intelligence is the great panacea for all -economic ills, and I hail with pleasure any instrumentality in makiner the best thoughts of the best minds wide spread amons: ou people. "With every good wish. A. D. Jones. THE DAIRY. If you are in debt and your land plastered all over with mortgages, we know of no branch of agricultural in dustiry that will enable you to pay off those encumbrances so surely and so quickly as the breeding of the dairy stock and the marketing of dairy pro ducts. The dairy brings you in cash money every month in the year, which will enable you to pay up as you go Out of the sale of dairy products you can pay cash for your supplies of every description, pay your labor, buy your farm implements and then save month ly, something over to lay up in the bank as a net profit. : ' " Your surplus stock will be all profit. This can also be paid on debts, or en tered to swell your bank account. The surplus milk of your farm (if you sell only butter) can be fed profitably to pigs and enable you to make all your meat at home. When you make all vour meat at home vou are then. well on the road to profitable farming. ' The manure from vour stables and scrapings from your ' cow and horse and vis lots can be saved and judiciously applied to enrich your land, and richer land will enable you to raise larger and better crops, and en hance the money value of your . land. You can raise your corn and oats arid hay and potatoes, and all other food crops for man and for beast- you can raise all on the farm. Besides this you ought to be able to sell yearly one or more bales of cotton, potatoes, fruits peanuts, vegetaples, small gram and other crops. If the cash coming in from the sale of dairy products pays for the raising and har vesting of these crops, the money they bring in will be, clear profit to pay more debts or to help again to swell the bank account. - Don't be stingy a stingy man is a riaean man. But you can study strict economy in every detail of your busi ness; and you can soon, learn to prac tice that economy, and the habit will grow on you as you cultivate it. Southern Live Stook Journal. ' Lamp chimneys will not break easily if they have been put over the fire in a pan of cold water, with a cloth between them to prevent break-' ing, and' : boiled for a half-hour' or longer. FRUIT ORCHARDS. Delivered beore the High Point Farmers' Institute, April, 1887. BY J. VAN LINljLEY. I Mr President, ladies and gentlemen of the Raleigh Farmers' Institute : Plow deep, drain and. manure well is our motto, if we wish to find gold. That is a true saying. Keep your or chards in a thrifty condition, properly pruned and you, will have long lived trees and plenty of fruit. Where to plant a peach orchard and all other early blooming fruits is best learned by observing what orchards bear often iri ' your, neighborhood and note the elevation and situation. Late years the common opinion is that peach trees are short lived. What started such an opinion ? Are the trees planted in thin land and allowed to bear heavy crops and nothing adde to keep up vthe ground. In 8 to 10 years they begin to die out,, the cause is they simply starve to death. Keep feed to vour peach trees sufficient to keep them in a thrifty condition and you will have long lived trees. I The best paying market kinds ac cdrding to my observation for the past fdw years are the June, July and Oc tober varieties. The August and Sep tember kinds are best suited to can ring and drying. f it is not so particular where vou plant an apple orchard and other late blooming fruits as they rarely get killed bv late frosts, but further Northern States for winter apples. November and February are the best months for planting: but trees can be successfully planted any; time during the winter or from November 1st. to April 1st., provided the frost is out of the ground and it is not too wet. March is a good time, but February is better. How to plant a tree is the most import ant question, and thousands of trees are lost and allowed to die annually for the want of knowledge on this point. If the ground is properly sub soiled, a small hole is sufficient. Run off the rows with a two horse plow and then check it with the same will often be sufficiently deep to plant a tree if the cross is well cleaned out. Many trees are planted too deep. If the ground is of a high and dry na ture plant not more than two inches deeper than the tree grew in the nur sery. If the land is wet or of a wet nature the tree should be planted very shallow and earth raised around about the tree. If the holes are to be dug, which is generally the best, dig them two feet square and eighteen inches deep, then fill up the proper depth with the best top soil before plantation. Never put sta"ble manure about the roots of a tree while planting, it is good, to mulch with after planting. Take up the tree in the left hand and the knife in the right, let the top hang down and trim off bruised and broken roots, cutting them from the under side which will cause them to heal up better than if trained from , the top sides if they have been daihaged by freezing or any other cause, if by freezing they will look black and you should keep cutting them off till they appear fresh and sound, every root that is not fresh and sound must come off: or they will die. T have often seen trees planted when all the roots were cut away but the main stem on; account of being damaged and it look ed riiore like a walking stick than "a fruit tree and in nearly every instance they throw out new roots and grow off finely, when if the damaged roots had not been removed they; would have died certain. The Magnolia Grandiflora dies worse than any other tree and yet if proper ly managed it is easy to make live. Apply the knife to the roots until every bruised or damaged one is cut away. If the leaves begin to look dry cut them off and wait for sometime and if the tree looks shriveled cut off all the branches and shorten back the top,; if necessary 5 cut it back to the ground -it ; will only grow up that much stronger and more beautiful. Cutting back fruit trees when first M : planted is quite important especially the peach, the later remove every limb if it has any and cut the top back to a strong bud two or three feet from the ground, many cut lower I often do so myself. Served in this way they will be more sure to grow, start stronger and make larger "trees the first year than if all the top had been left on, so it is easy to see the impor tance of thorough pruning fresh plant ed trees. ' " The common distance for planting apple trees is thirty feet apart each way. Peach, plum and pear twenty feet is sufficient. Were I asked to give a selection' of fruits for an acre lot for a beginner T would say about , 20' apple, 20 peaches, 10 standard pear, 8 dwarf pear, 10 cherry, 2 crab apple, 2 pecans, 2 Japanese Persim mon, 12 grape and 12 each Gooseber ry, raspberry, currents and pie plant and 100 strawberry plants. . These pro perly planted on the borders will give plenty of room for garden vegetables and if the selections are properly made will" give fruit the year round." The Japanese persimmon should be planted on the south side of a buildiner. If I were not limited to space for simply an orchard would plant 100 apple, , 100 peach,' 25 pear, 25 cherry, 20 plum, '25 grape and from six to twelve of other fruits. Grape, strawberry, &c, should be in every garden, they do not get killed by late frost and are a sure crop and how delicious is a dish of straw berries all smothered in cream, too much praise can not be made of this noble fruit. We are far ahead of ve olden tunes when the varieties of strawberry were very limited and the garden was carefully supplied with material for new planting from the woods. OldTusser, m his "Five Hun dred Points of Good Husbandry," points out where the best plants of his time could be. had, and turns them over with an abrupt, farmer-like con. tempt of little matters to feminine hands: "Wife, into the garden, and Bet me a plot With strawberry roots, of the tfeet to De eot: Such prow ing abroad, among thorns and the wood, w en uuutteu auu picKeu, prove exceueui goou. What a country we have. Not hardly a fruit in the whole catalogue of fruits but what succeeds well with us, but they will not do well without some attention as the poet says "We know the right but yet the wrong per sue." The apple in the most remote periods is the subject of praise, among writers and poets, and the old mythologies all endow its fruit with wonderful virtues. The allegorical tree of knowledge bore apples, and the celebrated golden fruit of the orhards of Hesperus, guarded by the sleepless dragon which it was one of the triumphs of Hurcules to slay, were also apples according to old legends. Among the heathen gods of the north, there were apples fabled to possess the power of confeiring im mortality, which were carefully watch ed over by the goddess Iduna, and kept for the especial desire of the gods who felt themselves growing old. As the mistletoe grew chiefly on the apple and the oak, the former tree was looked upon with great respect and reverence by the ancient Druids of Britain; and even to this day, in some parts of England, the antique custom of saluting the apple, tree in the orchards, in .the Hope of obtaining a good crop the next year, still lingers among the i farmers: Qf z portions r of Davonshire and Herefordshire. This old ceremony consists of saluting the tree witb a portion of the contents of a wassail bowl of cider with a toast in it, by pouring a little of the cider about the roots, and even hanging a bit of toast on the branches of the most barren, the farmer and his men dancing in a cicle round the tree, and singing rude songs like the following: i "Here's to thee, old apple tree,' v"'i Whence thou mayst bad, and whence thou mayst blow: And whence thou mayst bear apples anew, Hats full, caps ran, ; ' . Bushels and sacks fall. y. ; ( Huzza. . Lard, if applied at once, will removo the discoloration after a bruise. 1 GRASSES. Read before the Farmers' Institute, Raleigh, May 12th, 1887. BY B. P. WILLIAMSON. , At your request I give you below my experience with . grass and clover in this section : Ten years ago I commenced to sow orchard grass and clover, with poor success. Up to four years ago I be lieve all the hay I ever made cost mo $2 or more per 100 pounds, since which time I have given the matter much thought, believing we could grow as good grass, and as profitably in this section as in any section. How to do so was the question I kept asking myself. I tried poor preparation of the land, fertilized poorly, seeded thinly, and my stands of grass were thin. The weeds came thick, the drouth came heavy, but the grass did not come to stay, and I was out myimoney and my time, as many of my acquaintances have been, who did the same way. I don't do that way now, but I do this way : I take any land, either clay or sandy, with clay subsoil, that will make four bar rels of corn or six hundred pounds of seed cotton to the acre, I plow it deeply and closely upon the plowing I put on ten loads of good . stable manure, or five hundred pounds of good ammoniated fertilizer to acre, and harrow it into the land, and con tinue the harrowing until the land is put into good tilth. This harrowing' is of great importance, because grass and clover seed are very small. When the land is made friable and smooth, stop the harrow and sow the seed and' brush in with a light brush. Before sowing is commenced, divide the seed as near as you can into two equal parts, sow half one way of the land, and the other half the opposite way. If seed are sown this way a much better stand will be had, and a stand from the very start is a matter of great importance. What is a suffi cient quantity of seed ? It is said, "In a good, pasture or meadow there should be an average of not less than seven plants to the square inch. To insure this number, at least ten seeds should be sown. In an acre there are 6,128,400 square inches, therefore it takes 61,286,400 seeds to sow one acre. My favorite mixture, to secure a good stand, a good crop of hay and fall and winter pasture from the mid dle of September to January is : Orchard Grass Seed, 14 lbs. Fall Meadow Oat Grass, 14 lbs. Red Top Seed, 14 lbs. Red Clover Seed, - 14 lbs. ; Total, - - - 56 lbs. Mix the whole together thoroughly well and sow as directed above, either about September first or March first, as most convenient. I have had best success sown in March. Don't sow with grain, or in a drouth. Watch and sow with a season in the land, or just before a rain. v Any man who owns his land, by following the above directions, can have one or more acres in good grass with just as much certainty" as he can have one or more acres m cotton or corn. ' ; My reason for using the mixture re ferred to above is : Orchard grass and meadow oat grass are the first grasses to start in the spring, and with clover give early grazing, and can be grazed with safety from March 1st to April 15thl; and being the two tallest grow ing grasses, make the , largest yield of hay, and with the clover make hay of; the hrst quality. 1 hnd that , orchard grass and iall meadow oat grass both have a ten dency, no matter, how thickly sown, to grow in tussocks. I sow the red topr grass with them to - fill up the - spaces, thereby making a close and, thick sod that keepsthe sun from killing out the stand of grass during our hot dry suria- mers. .' I use the clover in the mixture, riot only to improve the hay, but be cause it isa tap-rooted plant, and feeds froiri the soil below the other plants, ., and actually brings up plant food for the grasses that feed near the surface. ' u I V i i t t ' ! . i ' I -' i . r i -1.
May 26, 1887, edition 1
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