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THI NDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY RALEIGH, N. O., MARCH 26, 1889. No. 7 Vol. 4. DIRECTORY OF FARMERS' OR GANIZATIONS. NORTH CAROLINA FABMERS STATE ALLIANCE. President-S. B. Alexander, Charlotte, cVPresident--T. Ivey Ashpole N.C. Secretary-L. L. Polk, Ra eigh N. C. Treasurer J. D. Allen, Falls, N. C. lSSSUt. D. ReidParker, Trimly slani'Lecturer-D. D. Mclntyre, p: Carr Moore, Towns- ViDoorkeeper-W. H. Tomlinson, Fay- etteville, N. 0. p , Assistant Door Keeper R. T. Rush, Mt. Gilead, N. C. Sergeant-at-Arms J. S. Holt, naiK StateBusiness Agent-W. A. Darden. KECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE NORTH CARO LINA FARMERS' STATE ALLIANCE. EliasCarr, Old Sparta, N.C., Chair man; Thaddeus Ivey, Ashpole, H. O., J. Johnston, Ruffin, N. C. THE NORTH CAROLINA FARMERS' ASSOCIATION. President Elias Carr, Old Sparta, Edgecombe county. B F Hester, Oxford, Secretary; S. Otho Wilson, Vineyard, and W. E. Ben bow, Oak Ridge, Assistant Secretaries. VIRGINIA STATE ALLIANCE. President G. T. Barbee, Bridgewatar, VlWc President T. B. Massey, Wash ttl Silvey, Bridgewater, V T?eurer--Isaiah Printz, Luray, Vir- gILectarer G. H. Chrisman, Chrisman, Virginia. T Asst. Lecturer J. S. Bradley, Luray, V Chaplain Wm. M. Rosser, Luray, V DrKeeper B. Frank Beahm, Kim ball, Virginia. Asst. Door Keeper G. E. Brubaker, LUSeTg'tVitrSt-C. H.Lillard, Wash inffton, Virginia. State Business Agent S. P. A. Bru baker, of Luray, Virginia. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. . E T. Brumback, Jas. E. Compton and Geo. H. Chrisman. GRAPE CULTURE DRAINAGE. Mr. Editor : Sobby natured land will not do for the grape unless drained. Mildew here makes its first appearance. Where it is necessary to have an open ditch as outlet for the mains it should be cut wedge-shape three and one-half feet deep, three feet wide at the top, one foot at the bottom. This will draw water rapidly and will not cave. Cut the ditches to be blinded in the usual manner. Ob tain, all the fall you can regarding one-half inch in three yards as the minimum. Use a small spirit level, costing fifteen cents, fastened on the centre of the cross-bar. The span level is not reliable where accuracy is required. If the bottom of the ditch is solid, use drain-scoop, made of steel, one foot long, half circular, bent at the shank, so the person using it can stand on the bank; shank hollow handle fastened by a bolt and tap, shank to be eight inches in length. Excavate the bottom of the ditch to depth re quired three-inch scoop for the main one and one and one-half inches for the laterals. Cover with pine poles or plank resting on half-inch strips across the ditch. Drains three feet deep, laterals thirty yards apart; enter the main quin que or intermediate. Last four feet of outlet of the main must be made of brick or rock bottom, also, to resist atmospheric changes. Guarded by an iron grating to keep out reptiles; put pine brush or trash in the ditch before replacing the earth. This allows to go on what is known as capillary attraction, the rising and falling of the moisture in an excess of rain. The water sinks below the roots of the plants. In a drought the mois ture rises, bringing with it some of the inexhaustible supplies of the sub soil, improving the fertility of the soil. Where the bottom of the ditch is soft a gutter drain is best. W. H. Hamilton. CURE FOR CHICKEN CHOLERA. Mr. Editor: As chicken cholera is raging in some sections of the country I send you a simple and effect ive remedy. I have tried it in several cases and it cured every time. Take a piece of fat meat about the size of a partridge egg and put down the throat of the fowl. After this operates take a quid of the bark from young peach sprouts or limbs about the same size and force down the throat as you did the meat and you may expect a cure. Respectfully, Mrs. S. A. Houser. A man should never tell his suspi pions as facts. jP . .. . vvl; J I c" jl THADDEUS IYEY, YICE-PRESIDENT OF Our worthy Vice-President, of Ashpole, Robeson county, was born June 27th, 1855. It is gratifying to the progressive Farmer to be enabled to pre sent to the brotherhood of the State the portrait of the man who was the first in the State to make application for membership in our noble order. He is one of the charter members of Ashpole Alliance, No. 1, and .has been the President of both his Sub-Alliance and County Alliance from the dates of their organization. At the organization of the State Alliance, October 4th, 1887, brother Ivey, though absent, was of Vice-President. In attestation of his of his efficiency as one of the chief officers, he was re-elected to the same position at the annual session of the State Alliance, August, 1888. He is one of the Executive Committee of the State Alliance, and his earnest devotion to the nrincinles of the Alliance, his intelligence and high character as a j- Christian gentleman, renders his service in this, as in all capacities w.here they have been employed, of high value. He is one of the young champions of the Alliance cause, whose brain and heart and conservative progressiveness shall establish the institution as one of the indispensable necessities of the age. IS IT NOT TIME TO BEAT THE Mr. Editor: The defeat of the Railroad Commission bill was a great surprise to the people, for it was con fidently asserted that when the mem bers of the Legislature were fresh from the people they were in favor of a Railroad Commission. The methods by which corporate power changed the views of a majority of the Senate may never be known to the masses of the people. Here and there corpo rate power ' developed an aide came from classes that heretofore take little interest in politics. President Crowell's rushing into the arena and denounc ing the Railroad Commission was un looked for. The South Carolina and Georgia law was more than he could stand. He could not sit still and see the people subject railroads to the con trol of a Commission. In his opinion South Carolina and Georgia laws were not healthy for North Carolina rail roads. President Crowell had a right to do this, but I am suppressed at the beit of his mind. It is strange that he should have become so agitated in be half of corporate powers and not the least agitated when the school bills were under consideration. The United States census part 2, page 1,649 states that North Carolina had in 1880 one hundred and ninety-two thousand and thirty-two white people over ten years old that cannot write their names being thirty-one and five-tenths per cent of white people over ten years old. This black cloud of ignorance that envelopes this mighty host and blackens the name of our State did not agitate worth a cent. Neither when the Senate was passing a Geor gia and South Carolina election law that virtually disfranchised 44,420 white men who cannot read and write (see United States census part 2d, page 1,649) of their votes no agitation was felt. These poor white people are a small factor in comparison with corporate powers. " The poor make no new friends. But the few our Father sends." The United States Treasury may remain full of idle money. The Blair Bill (for the education of the rising generation) may sleep the sleep of death and ignorance increase in the land and produce no agitation? These poor people who cannot read and write are no more responsible for it than they are for coming into this world. But North Carolina is res ponsible for it, and you who believe it not go look over the muster rolls of the late war and see the names of thousands of soldiers that were un THE N. C. FARMERS1 STATE ALLIANCE. unanimously elected to the position fidelity and zeal as a member and able to write soldiers who came at North Carolina's call, and many of whom died in obedience to North Carolina's laws. Is the cloud of ignor ance that is enveloping the children of the old soldiers no cause for alarm To educate them is the duty of North Carolina and not to hand any old soldier a pension with one hand and deprive him of his vote with the other. Education is in the line of duty of college Presidents and the people naturally look to them for sug gestions as to the best methods of education. But when their bugle is sounded only m behalf of corporate power is it not time to beat the long roll. Old Soldier. FARMERS. Lemay, N. C. Col. L. L. Polk. Dear Sir: A vast amount has been said in regard to the depressed condition of the farmer. This universal depression of agriculture has been attributed to various causes; most prominent of which are a high system of taxation, the extortion of merchants and the oppression of railroad corporations. Now I shall not by any means assume that these several causes have not severely oppressed the farming in terest of the country, because they have; but I shall take the position, and most emphatically, that they are not all, nor indeed the principal causes that have brought the farmer to his present condition. In my honest opinion, the main cause of the deplor able condition of agriculture to-day is the result of the injudicious and sui cidal management of the farmers themselves. There is no occupation known to man that is conduct ed with so little system and judg ment. Farmers, as a class, are pro verbially careless in reference to the various details of their affairs. If men engaged in other pursuits paid no nrore attention to the management of their business, they would fail as much and even more than farmers. While it is a matter of impossibility for a farmer to accumulate a fortune rapidly, there is no earthly reason why a man With a good farm should not steadily improve his condition; be cause some men have done so, and what one man does another can do, who has equal energy and judgment under similar circumstances. The farmers of this State have lost immensely in the reckless manner in which they have purchased and used commercial fertilizers. Besides pay ing enormous prices for them, it is exceeding rare that a farmer ever uses them judiciously; it is the most unusual thing imaginable, that farmers ever take into consideration the adaptability of a fertilizer to the soil on which it is used. ' A vast majority of them never think that a fertilizer to accomplish the greatest possible good, must con tain the ingredients of which their land is deficient. Another great im pediment to the progress and pros perity of agriculture in North Caro lina is the unreliability of the labor that the farmer is dependent upon. This is one difficulty, however, that he seems almost powerless to remedy, in consequence of the scarcity of labor. In order that the success of agricul ture and the general prosperity of the country may be promoted, it is neces sary, absolutely, that farming be con ducted upon correct principles of economy and science. Farmers should study the science of manipulating, as far as possible, their own fertilizers, and thus obviate the tremendous expense, at. least to some extent, of buying them. The advancement of the agricultural in terest, so heartily desired, does not depend so much as some seem to think on any system of legislative enactment as it does upon an energetic and intel ligent management of the farm. We might have the best government the wisest statesmanship could devise, and have it administered upon broadest principles of economy, and still, if farming was not conducted with more judgment than it generally is, the country would be far from prosperous. I do most heartily desire and earn estly urge upon every member of the Farmers1 Alliance in North Carolina that he resolve and firmly comply with the resolution to manage nis affairs with such judgment as that he will not only live fully within his in come, but have something above the expenses of living. In this way, and only in this way, will prosperity and happiness ever dawn upoa our im poverished country. J." M. Turner. ORGANIZATION IN VIRGINIA. Centreville, Norfolk Co., Va., Mr. Editor: I take pleasure in sending you the report for Norfolk county, Va., for the month of Feb ruary: Organized Cornland Alliance on Feb. 10th; Good Hope Alliance at Bartee on Feb. 16th, and Great Bridge Alliance on Feb. 18th. On Monday, Feb. 25th, State President, G. T. Barbee, organized the County Alliance at Centreville. Brother Bar bee arrived here by the Norfolk & Southern Railroad on the 10:15 tram He found the delegates and a large number of the brethren from the different Alliances awaiting him. The use of the hall had been kindly ten dered the Alliance by Mr. G. W Wilson. At 11:15 the Alliance was called to order by brother S. W. San derson of Hickory Alliance, President pro tern., Bro. L. M. West, of Corn land Alliance acting as Secretary. Prayer was offered by Chaplain W. A. Jackson, of Centreville Alliance. Brother Barbee was then introduced to the delegates and brethren by the President with a few pleasant remarks, and he delivered a very able and instructive address, reminding the brethren that the watchword of the farmers at the present time was organ ization and co-operation, without that the farmers were helpless in the toils of monopolies and trusts. Brother Bar bee then touched upon the guano ques tion, recommending that home-made fertilizers be more extensively used; that cheap guano was killing the land and impoverishing the farmers that used them. The address was listened to with the greatest attention by those present. Brother Barbee proceeded to elect officers. The following named brothers were elected for the county: D. L. Wright, President; S. W. San derson, Vice-President; L. M. West, Secretary; John Fentress, Treasurer; W. A. Jackson, Chaplain; J. W. Car ter, Lecturer; J. W. Hutchings, Asst. Lecturer; Doorkeeper, J. J. Fisk; Asst. Doorkeeper, J. M. Williamson; Sergeant-at-Arms, J. H. Mills; County Business Agent, H. W. West. The county officers were installed into office by Organizers Thomas Topp and Sheppard Mercer, who were appointed to that office by brother Barbee. The Alliance adjourned to meet at Hick ory on Saturday, March 14th. I shall continue my work in Accomac, Northampton and Norfolk counties. I am, Yours fraternally, Thomas Topp. Deputy Organizer. Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and the angels know of us. AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANI CAL COLLEGES. The Theory and Management of the Mississippi A. & M. College. No. 6. ' By Gen. S. D. Lee, of Mississippi. I will continue, in this article, to meet other objections against the college. 6th. It is claimed, the graduates don't go on the farm Although such colleges are intended to bias students in favor of agriculture, still it was not intended as an ironclad rule. The law says " to promote the liberal and prac tical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life " If only farmer boys are de prived of the privilege of selecting a life pursuit we might not have had fifteen out of twenty-one of our Presi dents, who were the sons of farmers, working small farms or farmers. The law intended equal latitude of choice. It is a fact of statistics, that only 1 per cent, of the graduates of literary colleges'go to the farm. There are 75 living graduates of this college. Of this number 1 0 are farming, 1 1 more are farming and also engaged in other pursuits, 3 are horticulturists, 3 are assistants at agricultural experiment stations, 1 is a dairyman, 6 are pro fessors or teachers of agriculture, making 46 per cent, of graduates en gaged in farming or teaching agricul ture; 2 more are engineers, 11 are teachers, balance physicians, lawyers, merchants, ministers, etc. We should bear, in mind also that farming is greatly depressed, and this wrong is in face of statistics, showing that the half of population not farming in the last twenty years have made over 500 per cent, more money than those en gaged in agriculture. It will take time, education and patience to restore to the farmers equal advantages which they have lost by their indifference to education, while the other classes have gotten so far ahead of them in worldly prosperity and wealth. 7. It is 'claimed' that too much money is spent in Oktibleha county. The one college could not have been located in 74 counties in the State. 8. It is claimed that the denomina tional colleges and normal colleges afford cheaper education. All these institutions are most excellent in doing good educational work. The facts show they are not cheaper; besides, they are colleges giving classical and general education, not education "to benefit agriculture and the mecnani cal arts," as the A. & M. College is required to give by law. The com parison, then, is not a fair one. No private institution can afford the out fit, apparatus, &c, which the State gives her colleges. 9. It is claimed that too much money is given the colleges and too little to the common schools. It is an mcontro vertible fact, sustained by experience and statistics, "that schools in which the elementary studies are to be taught can exist and accomplish their work successfully only when colleges and universities as educational stand ards and as sources ' of stimulating, shaping and elevating influences in all the lo wer grades of educational work. The States of the Union which have the most perfect common school sys tems have the most and best equipped colleges and universities sending out good teachers to the common schools Mississippi gives her colleges about $95,000 a year, and the common schools about $1,000,000. 10. It is claimed that only a few boys can attend the A. & M. College. This is true also of the University and all colleges. The mass of boys must go to the common schools. Enough, however, can go to lead the farmers. At Oxford, for instance, the law class does not average 20 young men. Yet the lawyers lead in the law-making in industrial and social reforms. There are law schools in every State, and the lawyers are one-tenth of the entire population of the United States.- Yet they are leaders in every -movement ofjhe people. They see the necessity of a technical school in Mississippi and elsewhere to teach law. They believe in special training and they have been friends of this college in all its trouble. The farmers cannot expect to better their condition till they educate themselves as the other classes. When they do this they may expect to prosper and be able to com pete with them. , It is claimed that the farm makes no money. It is a fact that it has used no part of the appropriation voted by the Legisla ture for over four years except student labor. The fact that with less money the college educates one-third more students than attend the University, and also pays $5,000 annually to students for their lafior, should be a sufficient answer to his ob jection. It might answer as many more objections. There is no getting around the fact, so well established by statistics and observations, that the influence of the farming class is wan ing in making laws and in all public affairs. As their wealth decrease their influence also decreases. In nearly all counties the farming classes have sunk into ignorance, serfdom and contempt. First comes loss of wealth, then loss of comforts, luxuries and the elegancies of life; their loss of education, influence and power. Unless the farmers of the United States and of Mississippi realize these conditions, even in our republican form of govern ment, we too will be "hewers of wood and drawers of water" to the other wealthier classes who are better edu cated and can cope better with ad vancing civilization and discovery. In the face of all this, many farmers are trying to pull down the only college that can elevate them in their indus try and are content to see the other classes continue to be better educated and consequently reap the golden har vest. The lack of education in their business is the cause of trouble with the farmer. Senator George says: The people who, by their industry and skill create one great wealth, allow it to be enjoyed by others. This too exclusive enjoyment of their created wealth by non producers, comes from ignorance and want of education in the producers." In these articles I have frequently alluded to the State University at Oxford. I have done this because it is one of the oldest and leading insti tutions of learning. Its record and experience is the history of the State. We look to it for precedents. It is the only companion we have. Her "alumni" are on the Supreme Bench, and in all important positions in the State. Her faculty second to none. I would not take one cent from her appropriation. I know by experience that she requires $32,640 to properly sustain and support her. It requires this much and more in other States. I do not desire the A. & M. College to be sustained or lifted up by putting down the University. There is enough work for both in Mississippi and more than both can do. Our lines of work are separate and distinct. But I do claim, that, with a larger attendance, the A. & M. College should have an equal support. The obligations of the State, after accepting the bonus and establishing the college, is as binding to support it liberally as it is to sup port the University.- All that is asked is equity and justice. continued next week. NEBRASKA ALLIANCE AND THE NATION'S LAW-MAKERS. . Wash. Cor. of Farmers' Friend, Feb. 26, 18889. "Yesterday Mr. Paddock presented the memorial of the Nebraska State Farmers' Alliance in favor of further legislation for the better protection of agriculture. The petition says that the present economic condition of the State of Nebraska and the country generally is anomalous, inasmuch -as while the production of wealth is un precedented, the condition of the pro ducers of wealth is not improving, but is, on the contrary, retrograding. While no period has witnessed a greater aggregate increase of wealth than the past twenty years, at the same time the farmers of Nebraska are sinking deeper and deeper in debt. It is becoming rare to find farms which are not mortgaged, tenant farmers are rapidly increasing, and failures of country merchants are becoming more numerous day by day. A conserva tive estimate places the amount of farm mortgages in this State at $150, 000,000, which at 7 per cent., takes $10,500,000 annually out of the State While the farmers of the country are becoming involved, in debt, the arti sans and laborers are finding the con ditions of life harder. Meantime, there are two classes of men who seem above the reach of adverse financial fortune money lenders and railroad owners. Of these the former are reaping a harvest of wealth unprece dented in the history of the world. The volume of the currency furnished by the government, the petition says, is insufficient to transact the business of the country upon a cash basis, and the people are therefore forced to do it upon a credit basis. An increased issue of money, it is thought, would have the effect of improving the finan cial situation. When it is too storm v to work but of doors, make love to your wife. If you have been married ten years or more, make love all the harder.
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 26, 1889, edition 1
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