v ' ; :
I I a PPAaPPftSW TATJMIRT? rimYRTiVR' -1 -.'1887.
till
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For The Pkoobkssive Faumxu.
DOGS VERSUS SHEEP. '
The dogs of North Carolina are bet
ter protected than any other property
in the State. Exempt from taxation,
at liberty to roam wherever the
please and : sometimes to feast upon
neighboring flocks of sheep "free of
"cost." No Legislature of North Caro
lina will ever tax dogs or pass any
law that will effect the liberty of the
gotul dogs (every man believes that his
dogs are good and naturally innocent.
If the sheep raisers desire protection,
it is time they were discussing some
bill, in order that they may have it
perfected by the time the next Legis
lature meets. I submit the following
as one by united action we might get
the Legislature to enact : '
" A Bill entitled an Act to protect
Sheep Husbandry.
The General Assembly of North Carolina
do Enact:
Section 1. It shall be unlawful for
the owner or harbourer of any dog
that kills sheep to permit said dog to
go upon the land of any other person,
and any plea that said owner or har
bourer did not know that said dog
killed sheep shall be no excuse for a
violation of this act. Any person
violating this section shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor and shall be fined not
less than twenty-five nor more han
fifty dollars or imprisoned not less
than twenty nor more than thirty
days. p
Sec. 2. Any dog found with a re
cently killed sheep, or found worrying
a sheep, or found pursuing a sheep,
or found in a pasture field with a re
cently killed sheep, or sheep that has
been bitten or worried, or found near
by in an adjoining field, or woods shall
be deemed a sheep killing dog, and
any dog so found may be killed by
any person.
Seo. 3. Any person violating this
act who shall produce satisfactory evi
dence that he has killed his sheep
killing dog, and exhibit the receipt
that he has paid full damages to the
party injured may plead the same as
a bar to further prosecution under
this act.
Sec. 4. This act shall be in force
from and after its passage."
The laws of our State have always
made the sheep owners "bear the
brunt that is, the sheep owner had
to see the dog actually kill his sheep
before he could complain and then
the dog was killed but the sheep
owner got no pay for his sheep. The
above act does the sheep owner justice
and makes every man responsible for
his dogs killing his neighbors' sheep.
"What better subject can be discussed
than this?
North Carolina ought to have more
than an hundred times the sheep the
Auditor's report shows.
Notes from Endekly.
For The Progressive Farmer.
what a Union county boy
has to say.
Moxkoe, N. G, Sept. 26, '87.
Well, I've been wanting to write to
Tue Progressive Farmer ever since I
have been reading it, but I haven't
had the time. Pa subscribed for your
paper last July and he has been a con
stant reader of it ever since.
Well, I think The Progressive
Farmer is the best paper I ever read,
and I want everv farmer in North
Carolina to read it. Then we can un
derstand each other better, and every
club will know what the other is do
me:.
We are all organized down here in
Union and expect to reap the benefits
of our organization in a short time.
The different clubs of the county met
at Watson. on the 8th inst. and organ
ized a couirty club, and we are ready
for business now. There were thir
teen clubs represented at the county
meeting, ana one tnat was not repre
sented, and there have been two clubs
formed since. Some people are not
satisfied with the constitution adopted
and they say we have let a " fly in the
' lock " all ready. However, we must
be on our watch and turn the key at
the right time. Nevertheless, we
ihave got a good newspaper down
here, and its clever editor, after writ
ing a good editorial to the farmers, in
conclusion says: " We offer to the
. county clubs and all the subordinate
clubs the free use of our columns for
all publications they may wish to
make."
Now. the people don't know, what
value there is in printers' ink ; if they
did, they would make more publica
tions than they do. We must, have
better farmers, and how must we be
better ? Well, we must raise our. own
hog and hominy at home. When we
see a, man that raises plenty of corn
and plenty oOtgs and his flour, and
cotton as surplus, we see a man that
is prosperous in nis Dusiness.
Caldwell.
HE CONVICTS AND THE PUB-
X y LIC ROADS,
Your views of the utility and good
policy of the law under which crimi
nals may be and are now being worked
on the public rraids meet with my en
tire approval. Twenty years ago one
of the most levevneaded as well as
thoroughly holiest citizens of this
county representing the county in the
Legislature, (1 referN to John A Rose
bro) endeavored with might and main
to get up a sentiment in the Legisla
ture that would justify the introduc
tion of a bill to do just what our last
Legislature did. Public sentiment
was then so much against it among
the legislators of that day that it would
have been a waste of time to introduce
a bill and it was given up. The time
has come when we have the law, and
as I agreed with Mr. Rosebro then, I
am an advocate of the law to-day. T
have no doubt that if steadily execu
ted it will prove much more efficient
in deterring from crime than either
confinement in the penitentiary or in
our county jail. This last is really a
premium paid by the county for the
commission of crime. A majorrity of
the class from which these convicts
come would prefer living in jail and
being fed, with a deck of cards for
amusement, to living at large and com
pelled to work for a living, As proof
of this fact the usual programme was
to serve out the sentence, lie quietly
and happily in jails fo 30 days and
swear out as insolvents. Working on
the public roads has already demon
strated that they prefer and in many
cases find means to pay up the cost at
the expiration of their term of sentence
to continuing for 30 days longer to
work; and thus the county is saved the
paying of ther bills of cost and the 30
days' board preleminary to their tak
ing the insolvent oath. The saving
along this line will go largely to reduce
the expenses of overseer and guard (or
guards, as there has thus far been
more or less of the convicts) and the
few tools and extra rations needful to
enable them to work. True, if Iredell
county alone took advantage of the
law she would labor under the disad
vantage that she is feeding and cloth
ing her own convicts and helping to
feed and clothe those of other counties
in the penitentiary. This she is doing
now, but it is not likely to be so long
if she goes steadily on in the course
she has started. Mecklenburg was the
first to adopt this plan, I believe, un
der a special law. Iredell was the
first, so far as I am informed, under
the general law, and I already see it
stated that Rowan and Davidson have
followed suit, and I have not a shadow
of a doubt that in less than five years,
unless there is some very bad manage
ment somewhare, that every county in
the State will be working her own con
victs on her own pablic roads and then
there will be none of this paying pen
itentiary expenses by one county for
convicts from others. And further, it
will necessarily improve our pubic
roads. For example: The first work
done in Iredell was on the Taylorsville
road to Statesville. Just about one
month of from five to nine hands in
the hot, dry weather has put this road
in better condition than it has been
since the war for the three miles that
the convicts worked, and if the super
visors of roads see that the overseers
do their duty as they (I mean the over
seers) are generally disposed to do, it
will remain in better condition than it
has been for many years, and so more
or less of other roads that have been
worked by the convict labor.
I grant there is probably at present
something of the element of working
the roads by taxation. Iredell county
is probably paying just now and will
probablyfor a time pay out more for
overseers and guard wages, tools, jail
board, (extra), clothing, &c, than she
is saving by the paying in of costs and
the saving of 30 days ordinary jail
board to enable them to swear out.
Still I think she can afford to pay this
very small tax to try thoroughly
whether the system will not cut down
her expenses by deterring from the
breach of law. There is another con
sideration : "Where these convicts have
been worked there has been more or
less private aid trying to better the
condition of the public highways that
are for everybody to travel. This will
likely, continue wherever they are
worked and the public gains all this
free of taxation, and not only that but
the very men who are' using or may
use their private funds for the better
ment of the public roads contiguous to
tueir iiuiues, wm ineviiaory dg assessed
for taxation at a higher value on those
very homes. T illustrate : Suppose
these convicts were worked steadily
north from Statesville, working down
all the bad hills or opening a new road
where that cOuW be more easily done
until the Wilkefine is reached, does
anybody suppose that the lands of
New Hope townshipvould stand on
our tax books at their present valua
tion ? Certainly not. They would be
intrinscally more valuable and the
honest assessors of New Hope town
ship would put them up, and the
whole county would derive benefit
from this increased valuation of the
lands in that township and just so of
all other localities.
But I have written more than I in
tended and will stop for the present.
J. II. Stevenson, in The Landmark.
THE ABUSE OF LANDS.
From the . early settlement of this
country, especially in Tennessee, the
the custom among farmers has been
to select the best available lands for
tillage, to get the most out of them in
shortest time, and then clear others
and put them through the same course.
No care in the timber, nor regard for
the wearing out of lands was exer
cised. The result is growing manifest
in worn-out fields; gullied hillsides,
reduced area of first-class agricultural
lands, and decreasing yield per acre
of the staple products of the soil. The
time has come when the farming peo
ple will find it difficult to find new
farm lands of most desirable kind and
locality in their virgin state, and in
viting to be cleared. The time is near
when increasing population and in
creased demands for increased farm
products, coupled with the decreased
extent of productive lands, will call
with an imperious voice for a halt in
the processes of farming, and reversal
of the methods of the past. Instead
of abandoning fields after a few years
of murderous cultivation and seeking
for new grounds in the dark forest,
we will have to recognize the fact that
we must take care of our present
farms, and by judicious tillage and
good treatment restore to them life and
vigor, and the fertility and productive
ness which they originally possessed,
and which they have so largely lost.
When our forests were limitless ;
when land was more abundant than
people, and so cheap as to be had for
the entry and occupancy ; when a
winter's clearing would substitute a
new for a partially worn field, there
was no thought of a possible end to
the system ; but now when tobacco
growers are looking with keen eyes
for eligible spots for plant beds, and
the owners of the best farms in the
State find rail timber exhausted and
their fields, year by year, yielding less
and less, the necessity is more and
more apparent that our methods must
be changed ; and that instead of abus
ing our landed heritage, as in the past,
we must preserve and improve it.
This cannot be done in a moment.
It will be the work of time to make it
universal ; but those who begin first
will be first to reap the fruits of the
required inevitable reform. Restora
tion will be the watch-word of farmers
in the future. We have taken from
the lands so much without recompense,
they demand in a voice that must e
heard and heeded, a return for their
liberality. Tennessee Farmer.
FARMING THAT PAYS.
lO
Every farmer should aim to raise all
the farm products needed for domestic
use first. The independence of farm
life lies right here. He grows every
supply for his table, so far as his soil
and climate permits, under his own
eye. He is dependent on no one for
the necessities of life, or even for h&
luxuries of his table. Every variety
of fruit suited to his locality should
be produced for his own use, let him
live near or remote from the city.
Then, let him increase the acreage of
every variety that pays in the market
to his ability to handle it without loss
his losses will often over-balance his
profits. It is not wise for the grower
to put himself at the mercy of others.
If he does, he will often find their ten
der mercy cruel. They will let his
perishable property go to waste, unless
they can secure the lion's share of the
profits.
Besides grain crops and stock grow
ing as a branch of farming, every farm
adapted to it should have, growing on
it an orchard of every variety of fruit
demanded by the market at paying
prices. ' Do not run so much to one
kind of fruit that . you would suffer
heavy embarrassment if it fails. All
kinds of fruit seldom fail in one year.
--New York Star.
POULTRY DEPARTMENT.
(We are pleased to announce to the readers of
The Progrkcsivk Farmer that we have been bo
fortunate as to secure the efficient services of Mr. K.
H. Weathers as Editor of this Department. He is
one of the best informed men on this subject m the
South. He desires that all communications and
questions designed for his Department be addressed:
" Poultry Column, Progressive Farmer, Kaleign,
N. C." He will most cheerfully answer all ques
tions relating: to poulUy through this column.
Write him. Editor Progressive Farmer.)
J. R. H., Charlotte, N. C, writes :
" I desire to go into the poultry busi
ness and wish to know which is the
best breed or breeds to begin with."
In reply we would say each one has
his favorites, any or all of which are
good in their places, and each naturally
claims his favorites to be superior to
all others. We would advise you to
get that breed which suits your fancy
best, letting your choice, however, be
somewhat biased by the object to be
obtained. Each or all beginners start
ing with their personal choice will,
ninety-nine times out of one hundred,
succeed better than if they buy some
thing they do not really fancy just be
cause some one else has made a suc
cess of it ; they will have and retain
more interest in what they like than
in what they are partially indifferent
to, and therefore will raise better
fowls, and will take better care of
them, make more money and be bet
ter satisfied with the results.
At market prices for eggs, I do not
think there is a great difference in
production in different varieties, if
they have been properly cared for and
handled well. For laying qualities,
the following are the most generally
bred in America : Light and Dark
Brahmas, Plymouth Rocks, White,
Black, Buff and Partridge Cochins,
White and Brown Leghorns, Games,
Houdans, White Face, Black Spanish,
Polish Hamburgs, Wyandottes, Lang
shans and Javas. For number of eggs
to the pound in weight, it is claimed
for Houdans and Black Spanish, seven ;
Leghorns, Plymouth Rocks, Brahmas,
Cochins, Javas, Langshans, Polish
Games and Wyandottes, eight to the
pound ; Hamburgs, nine to the pound.
For quality of meat, Plymouth Rock,
Game, Houdan, Brahma, Wyandotte,
Java, Polish Leghorn, Langshan. For
large size and weight of body,
Brahmas, Cochins, Langshans, Ply
mouth Rocks, Javas, Houdans, Wyan
dottes. For hardihood, Brahmas,
Cochins, Langshans, Plymouth Rocks,
Wyandottes, Javas, Houdans, Games,
Leghorns. For setters and mothers,
Plymouth Rocks, Javas, Langshans,
Wyandottes, Brahmas, Cochins. For
general purposes (size and laying
qualities combined,) Langshans, Brah
mas, Plymouth Rocks, Cochins, Wyan
dottes and Houdans will generally
produce the best results and give satis
faction, especially on the farm, where
large and clean runs are at hand.
While the foregoing classification
may not be absolutely correct, it is
approximately so.
Make up your mind what breed you
wish, then procure it and stick to it ;
give them proper treatment and you
wTill not be disappointed in the results.
POINTED TRUTH SHARPLY EX
PRESSED. The land and Fireside is bold-in the
advocacy jQitruth and fearless in the
denunciation of wrong and here is the
"way in which it talks to farmers :
"Our correspondent is correct in
his statement that the ballot has failed
to arrest our decline in prosperity, and
he also correctly states the reason for
this failure : It is because the modern
politician has become such an adept
in controlling this ballot. It is not
alone the ignorant day-laborer, the
foreigner and the negro whose ballots
are controlled by the wily politician ;
but men who rank among the most
intelligent of our people, both in city
and country, are today driven to the
polls like sheep to the shearing, and
there record the dictates of their po
litical bosses as meekly as ever slave
fell to work at the cracK of the over
seer's whip ! Until farmers set to
work with invincible determination to
possess themselves of that knowledge
and training which shall enable them
to think for themselves and to act in
harmony with the progress of the age
in which they live, there can be no
hope of disentanglement from the net
work of sophistry and trickery which
the modern politician has so cunning
ly woven about them.
But, we may be asked, how is this
knowledge and training to be obtained,
especially by those who are no longer
young, and whose daily cares are such
that they cannot give themselves up
to continuous study? Our reply is,
read and think ! Let no man say he
has no time for reading. . The man
who has not time to prepare himself
for an intelligent exercise of the right
of suffrage has no right to vote an i
the man who does not take
enough
interest in society to vote has no riL
to claim the protection which society
affords himself and his business in the
shape of law. In these days of cheap
books and cheap journals there is no
excuse for any man remaining ignorant
of the principles of political econoniv
nor of the events of daily occurrence
throughout the world by which those
principles are elucidated. But let no
man satisfy his conscience by the
reading of a single journal, represent
ing only his, own political faith. Such
a man can no more obtain a compre
hensive view of the times and their
necessities than can he, who looks only
through blue spectacles see the world
in its true colors ; and he is scarcely
more fit to vote than the man who
cannot read at all. Questions of agri
cultural interest, especially, are gen
erally either ignored in political jour
nals or treated from the standpoint of
partisan politics alone ; and this ex
plains the great difference of opinion
that exists among farmers in relation
to the protective tariff, a difference so
radical that few journals among those
exclusively devoted to agriculture can
treat this great question with thorough
independence. The interests of agri
culture are one, and the tariff is either
a benefit to the farmer or a disadvan
tage ; but if the question of its con
tinuance or removal were to be de
cided by the votes of the farmers of
America today it is very doubtful
what the result would be, because
these have been led, according to their
partisan affiliations, to espouse the one
side or the other of this question with
out taking the trouble to follow it out
for themselves to its legitimate con
clusions." BASIC SLAG FOR FERTILIZING.
An English journal states that the
Thomas-Gilchrist steel process "is
daily proving an increased source of
wealth to the English iron making
districts whose ores are of a phospho
ric nature, and the employment of the
waste slag produced in agricultural
fertilizing is proving very successful."
The Staffordshire Steel & Ingot Iron
Company, at their works at Bilston,
are experiencing "such a good de
mand for the basic manure that thev
have just concluded arrangements for
doubling their present grinding plant.'
The company is now manufacturing
100 tons of the finest grouni steel
manure per week, and if its capacity
were larger it might have orders in
hand for 2,000 tons ahead. The fer
tilizer is contracted for by London
artificial manure merchants, and finds
its way to agriculturists at 3o. to 4os.
per ton.
The manufacture of 100 tons of the
finest steel manure a week is a new, if
not sharp industry; Phosphorus in
combination with iron doubtless ex
tends as deep into the earth and as
wide over its surface as this very
abundant metal is known to extend.
Without phosphorus it is impossible
to form a seed of wheat, corn, or
human bone. Hence the unceasing
demand and consumption of South
Carolina phosphates. The time may
come when Tennessee iron and steel
will cost very little because ''steal
manuro" will cover the manufacture.
Cheap steel will be a cheap farm im
plement, farm wagons, cheap fertili
zers, cheap bread and meat for the
mass of mankind. The farmers need
cheap iron, steel, tools, and concen
trated manure at a low figure to form
cheap crops. Tennessee Farmer.
A KIND VOICE.
There is no power of love so hard
to get and keep as a kind voice. A
kind hand is deaf and dump. It may
be rough in flesh and blood, yet do
the work of a soft heart and do it with
a soft touch. But there is no one
thing that love so much needs as a
sweet voice to tell what it means and
feels ; and it is hard to get and keep it
in the right tone. One must start in
youth, and be on the watch night and
day, at work and play) to get and
keep a voice that shall speak at all
times the thoughts of a kind heart.
It is often in youth that one gets a
voice or a tone that is sharp, and sticks
to him through life, and stirs up
will and grief, and falls like a drop oi
gall on the sweet joys of home. A atcli
it day by day as a pearl of great price,
for it will be worth more to you m
days to come than the best pearl im
in the sea. A kind voice is to tue
heart what light is to . the eye. H is
a light that sings as well as shines.
Elihu Burritt.
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