North Carolina Newspapers

"The Progres sive Farmer is a good paper far above the average--and possibly tne best advertis ing medium in N. C." Printers' Ink. "The Progres sive Farmer is a good paper far above the average- -and possibly the best advertis- ing mecium in N. i lll ffNB IK C. Printers' Ink. THE INDUSTRIAL ANJ .DUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY. Vol. 11. RALEIGH, K. C, AUGUST 4, 1896. No. 26 ijlinj rM IWP Si i lT THE NATIONAL FARMERS' ALLI ANCE AND INDUSTRIAL UNION. President Mann Page, Brandon, Ya Vice-President H. O. Snavely, Leb anc'retary-Treasurer R. A. South worth, Denver, Col. EXECUTIVE BOARD. a L.Loucks, Huron, 8. D.; W. P. Thicker, Cogan Station. Pa. ; J. F. Wil letts, Kansas; W. L. Peeke, Ga. JUDICIARY. B A. Southworth, Denver, Oolo. B. W. Beck, Alabama. i. D. Davie, Kentucky. eOBTH CAROLISA FARMERS' STATE ALLI ANCE. President Dr. Cyrus Thompson, Richlands, C. Vice-President Jno. Graham,Ridge way, N. C. , Secretary-Treasurer W. S. Barnes, Hillsboro, N. C. Lecturer J. T. B. Hoover, Elm City, N8?eward-Dr. V. N. Seawell, Villa now, N. C. ,, rx Chaplain Rev. P. H. Massey, Dur ham, N. C. m r Door-keeper Geo. T. Lane, Greens boro, N. C. T Assistant Door keeper Jas.K. Lyon, Durham, N. C. Sergeant-at-Arms A. D. K. Wallace, Rutherford ton, N. C. State Business Agent T. Ivey, Hi 18- boro, N. C. Trustee Business Agency Fund VV . A. Graham, Machpelah, N. C. axrcuTivE committee or the north OAEOLINA FARMERS' STATE ALLIANCE. A F. Hileman, Concord, N. C. ; N. C. English, Trinity, N. C. ; James M. llewborne, Kins on, N. C. 81 ATI ALLIANCE JUDICIARY OOMMTTTEE. John Brady, Gatesville, N. C. ; Dr. J.F. Harrell, Whiteville, N. C; T. J. Candler. Acton. N. C. fisortb Carolina Reform Press Association. Oncers J. L- Ramsey, President; Nation Butler, Vice-President; W. S. Game. Secretary, papers. rrreive Fanner, State Caucasian, Mercury, Battler. Our Home. - TUsFopallsu - Tne People's Paper, The Vestibule, Tbe Plow-Boy. Carolina Watchman. Organ, Ral9igh, N. C. Hickory. u. Whitakers, N. C. Beaver lis.ni, JN. U. L-"Tn?,erton, N. C. Charlotte, N. C. Concord, N. C Wadesboro, N. C. Sa-isbury, N. C, FsLr.h nf the above-named vavers are requested to keep the list standing on he first page ana aaa ciners, prowaea ihey are duly elected. Any paper fail ing to advocate the Ocala platform will a dropped from tne ixsz promptly . uur people can now see wnai papers are tatlished in their interest. AGEICULTUEE. TO PROCURE A LARGE YIELD OF WHEAT AND IMPROVE THE LAND. Correspondence of the Progret-elve Farmer. If stubble land is to be sown, it should be turned and subsoiled after the weeds ripen, say from Sept. 20 -h to Oct. let. If st ck land, the corn should be re moved as soon as fully ripe, and the land turned and eubsoiled, the corn etalka being placed in the furrows and covered up. Four hundred pounds acid phosphate and an equal amount of kainit should then be applied broadcast per acre and wheat at the rate of about 1 i bushels per acre. The whjle may then be worked into the soil by means of a diec harrow or any other proper mode. The revolving wheels, or blades, of the disc harrow will give it an advantage in filthy land, as they will not choke. After the frost has gone out of the ground, say about the 15th of March, sow about eight pounds of red clover seed per acre and harrow in with a common iron-tooth harrow. Some ad vise croeeing with the harrow, thus giving a double harrowing. Tne har rowing will improve the wheat, more than making up for what may be de stroked, and will at the same time plant the clover seed. At a proper time, toward fall, the clover may be mown for hay. The following spring the clover may be again mown for hay. Tne third crop of clover should stand until ripp, which is usually toward fall, and then be well turned for corn the following spring. No pasturing should be permitted, however tempting the clover may look for calves, or other stock. Ths first season you procure a crop of wheat and clover. The second sea eon you procure one crop of clover, worth more than an ordinary corn crop, and turn the next, being the third crop of clover grown. The above plan ought to yield at least 25 bushel3 of wheat per acre, and then, with proper rotation, the land will not only hold its own, but will factually grow richer for the next 20 years without any further application fertilizars. Tne rotation should be i I wheat and clover, followed by corn and peas; then by wheat and clover. If desirable, rye or oats may occasionally ba substituted for the wheat. " As the land becomes richer, as much as one and a half bushels of wheat may be sown per acre. It requires nitrogen, phosphorus and potash to make a complete fertil'z r. The above ingredients furnish the phos phorus and potash only. The clover and peas will provide the nitrogen much more cheaply and practically than can be done by a direct applica tion of nitrogen (usually nitrate of sode). To those, however, who may prefer a perfect, or comple, fertilizer, the following formula is submitted: Nitrate of soda 00 pounds Acid phosphate 11,00 " Muriate of potash 400 ' The above will make a ton at a cost of about 25 for ingredients, but if bought on the market ready for use, it will cost about 135. High grade in gredients should be procured. In either case the largest quantity that can be used without injury to the crop will be the cheapest in the end, as a largo crop will not only be procured but the value of the fertil'z irs will be multiplied many times over by reason of chemical action not necessary to state here. If farmers could only be induced to try the above plan on a couple of acres of wheat, the prospect by spring would doubtless be such that they would strain a point to try the other two in corn. The cost of the first formula (acid phosphate and kainit) will be about $7 per acre. Bryan Tyson Ollie, N. C. FALL PLOWING. To prepare the ground for the seed, it should be deeply plowed in the autumn, and cross plowed, as the land cannot be plowed in the spring without expcsiDg a large surface to the strong, drying ff acta of the spring winds, and thus occasioning the less from the soil by evaporation of a quantity of water proportioned to the increase of surface exposed. By the reciprocal action of the atmosphere and the soil the latter keeps up its store of available nutritive matter. The silicates soluble with difficulty slowly yield alkalies, lime and magnesia in soluble forms; the sulphides are slowly converted into sulphates, and generally the minerals of the soil are disintegrated and mixed under the influence ot the oxygen, the water, the carbonic acid, and the nitric acid of the air. Again, tho atmospheric nitrogen is assimilable by the soil in tho shape of ammonia, nitrates, and the amide like matters of humus. Tne rate of disintegration, as well as that of nitrification, depends in part upon the chemical and physical charac ter of the soil, and partly upon the temperature and meteorological con ditions. Moreover, the soil lying in rough inter furrows has been subjected to the action of frost ; it is in its upper layers so broken up and divided in all direc tions by tbe powerful expansion of the water when converted into ice, as to be reduced to the condition of the greatest possible fineness, recognized and so much desired by the farmer under the term mellowness. PLOWING UNDER CROPS. Experience has shown that one of the best, as well as one of the most economical ways of building up the fertility of the soil is b plowing unler green crops, and this plan of fertilizing can also be used to good advantage m maintaining the fertility, so that on the average farm it will be found a good plan to take every opportunity .of plowing under a green growth. But in doing this we would hardly advocate the growing o weeds, espe cially to plow under as a green crop But at thesitne time, if there was a good growth of weeds already on the land and it were possible, we should certainly uso all reasonable care to plow under. An with ail other work on the farm. however, ic will always pay to do the work at a time and under t-uch con ditions as is bet calculated to make the mnot r.nfc nf it. Fr thia reason, when it is possible, a green crop should be plowed under wnen tne piui uuv maH a their hpftfc errowth. When the plants are in full bloom is generally when the best stage oi growta u rf.nchF.ri and when the plants will con tain the largest amount of plant food, and the nearer the most satisfactory way and with the least or. enon. Tne day for economy in the Opera tion ft fnrma ia herfl. and the farmer ftfTnrd to employ old fashioned and expensive methods. One of the essentials to gooa itrujiue ororJ nltoMncr and to accomplish thl8 there ia nothing so effective as a first class gang plow. N. J. Shepherd. WEATHER CROP BUL LETIN For the Week Ending Saturday, July 25, 1896. Central Office, Raleigh, N. C. The reports of correspondents of the Weekly Crop Bulletin, issued by the North Carolina Climate and Crop Ser vice, for tho week ending Saturday, July 25 :h, 1896, indicate that the past week was generally very favorable for the growth of crops, which have im proved materially. The temperature was above the normal every day except the 19th, and the latter part of the week was very warm, with maximum temperatures above 90 degrees; rain occurred on four days, which was beneficial, and there was too much in only a very few localities; there was an abuudance of sunehine. Cotton, corn, sorghum, tobacco, 8 weet potatoes, field peas and rice are all on the aver age and in excellent condition. Fuit is poor, except grapes, which are fiae. Eastern District. Nearly every correspondent reports past week favor able. The weather was very warm to ward the end, with plenty cf sunshine and little ram, but sufficient to keep crops growing. All crops are doing well and have improved, In the north ern poriion of the district it hss been one of the best weeks since May. Farm era have been killing grass, and laying by is about done. Cotton ia recov ring from the effects of excessive rain and it is much improved ; weed large and boiling well. It is Bhedding e quares at a good many places, but not badly. Corn also improved ; earing finely and much of the crop made. Some fodder ripening on early corn and being stripped. Some firing reported on lowlands. Tobacco curing in full pro gress, with better cures than last week. Grapes are ripening and very fine; vines loaded. Central District A fine, warm week, with few showers, generally very favorable for crops, which are trowing fast, except bottoms, which were drowned out Abundant sunshine caused late corn to grow well; some reports of corn firing on light, sandy soil. Upland corn looking remarkably well end lowland crop has improved in many places. Fodder-pulling will soon begin in the sooth. Cotton is shedding squares and leaves in some localities and yellowing in others, but plants are generally large and healthy. Some correspondent report bolls n?ar ly open. This very advanced stage places the crop in considerable danger of damage by the usually heavy rains of August, as cotton needs dry weather after it begins to open. Tobacco im proved, but flea bugs are numerous Rain Deeded to make tobacco just topped spread. Some good cures are reported. Peas and potatoes good ; some turnip seed planted. Grapes good. Western District. Past week more favorable, warm with a few beneficial showers, but too much in portions of Mitchell and Buncombe counties. Prospects for corn good ; dryer weather enabled farmer j to clean fields and lay by ; corn earing well. Corn on creek bottoms was too much icjiired by the freshet to improve much. Cotton shows seme improvement since the rains ceased and is boiling nicely; noshed ding reported. Tobacco dcing very well. Sweet potatoes and gardens good ; pea crop tine and large quantity planted. Some turnip seed planted Grapes ripening. Some thrashing still to be done; the wheat seems to turn out better than expected EFFECT OF DETASSELING CORN At various times it has been thought that the removal of the tassel of the corn plant would result in a larger yield. This was based en the admitted fact that a large amount of energy is used in the development of the flower and the production of pollen. A num ber of tests were made to determine tbe facts in the ca9e. Ot course it was necessary to allow enough pollen to be produced to fertiliza the silks In most of the tests, therefore, the tassels were removed from every alternate row- pulled out as soon as they appeared or three rows were detas32lled and one left untouched. At the Cornell Station detasseled corn produced a slightly greater yield during the first two years, but the third year there was practically no benefit In Nebraska, detas3eling resulted in decreased yields. Here the tassels were cut off instead of being pulled out, as was the case in New York. In Mary land tho yield was decreased by the practice. In Kansas the detasseled fields produced slightly the most corn. WEEKLY In Illinois, tests were made during two years. In both cases it was evident that no greater yield was produced by rows that had been detasseled. It will be seen, therefore, that the question has by no means been decided, but must be more fully investigated. One thing, however, is certain the ordinary farmer can with profit leave the matter for experiment station men to determine. There evidently is not enough beuefit in detasseling for the commercial grower to practice it, and if better seed can be produced, let trained investigators prove it. Ameri can Agriculturist. WORKING YOUNG COLTS. It is the custom nowadays to break and use colts at a much earlier age than in former years. There can be no doubs that the practice is overdone, and that many valuable horses have been iuiaed by improper use ft an early age. On this subject the Ameri can Cultivator truthfully says that the three year old colt should not be put at hard work. He should have enough to do to exercise his muscles, but with out the danger of straining them. Tho young colt should be put beside an old and steady horse, and thus used it will not be apt to do much. If worked witaout injury during the year they are three years old, they will not be strained by any task in later years after bone and muscles have hardened FEEDING OATS TO FARM STOCK Oats has been long recognized aa one of the very best grains for most classes of farm animals. This is especially true of horses and young stock of all kinds, unless it be pigs. The weight of evidence of many careful feeding ex periments is against the profitableness of feeding oats to young pigs except es a email part of their ration. One year with another oats are relatively higher in price than is corn in most parts of the United States. It is not alone a comparison of the price per bushel, but ot. the relative weight of a bushel of oats and one of corn that must be made. This year, however, with the largest crop of oats ever gro wn in this country, the pries is exceptionally low, lower than f jr many years. There is no reason why farmers should not feed oats freely at present prices, except in localities in which the crop WuS a fail ure or very poor. How, then, to feed is a question about which there is much difference of opinion. For horses and colts, calves, sheep and lambs the writer would feed grain unground For cows, steers, and hogs it is an advan tage to grind it. Good oat straw is a valuable food, and if the feeding is carefully done there is much to com mend the plan of feeding sheaf oats. If large quantities are fed at once much of the straw will be left uneaten. Where there are convenient facilities for cutting the sheaf oats, a large per centage of straw can be utilized by so doing. The greater danger of injury by rats and mice if the oats are lef c un threshed is about the only reason which can be nrged in favor of threshing the crop in many cases. There are horses which do not properly masticate oats, but these are rather exceptional cases. If the grain is mixed with cut straw, hay or stover, it will be better eaten. Young animals pretty thoroughly mas ticate their food, and the writer has not found sufficient gain from grinding to repay the cost of the work. This does not apply to pigs, however. It is better to have oats ground if to be fed to hogs of any ege. In many cases a mixture of oats and corn will be better than either grain fed alone. The younger the stock the larger may be the proportion of oats. Many insist that oats alone aro much better than any mixture of corn es food for colts. The writer has a higher appreciation of the value of corn, reasonably used, as a food for even young animals, than have many feeders, but he ussa oats freely in present conditions. It would be a consummation much to be re j Diced over if the present low prices for oats would lead to the much larger uae of this grain as food for the human arJ mal. Its use for this purpose has greatly increased within the last quar ter of a ; entury, but it may widely be come more general Farmers' Friend. Says an eminent authority: "The telegraph 'frank' is the ring in the Con gressional nose, and the sooner it is abolished the speedier will the people get down to honest and disinterested legislation." Ask your C ngressman, when he next solicits your vote, whether he has accepted free service from the telegraph monopoly, and if so, what justification he has to effer for such action. Typographical Jour nal. FACTS WORTH REMEMBERING. 1 5 is worth while for all farmers, everywhere, to remember that thor ough culture is better than three mort gages on their farms. That an offensive war against weeds ia five times less expensive than a de fensive one. That good fences always pay better than lawsuits with neighbors. That hay is a good deal cheaper made in the summer than bought in the winter. That a horse who lays hia ears back and looks lightning when anyone ap proeches him, is vicious. Don't buy him. That educating children is money loaned at a hundred per cent. That one evening spent at home in study is more profitable than ten in country taverns. HORTICULTURE HOW TO SUCCEED WITH EARLY STRAWBERRIES. Correspondence of tbe Progressive Farmer. The very early strawberry fighting for life amid the quickly alternating extremes of heat and cold of early spring is apt to be generally inferior to varieties ripening later and under more favorable conditions. Laboring under so many disadvantages from weather it must have all the advantages that soil can givo to attain any degree of excellence. With all these advantages many more early strawberries prove failures than any other kind. After many years' experience, and the testing of many hundred varieties, I find that the Murray and the Improved West brook are the best. I have tested them fully. Both ripen their fruit before Crescent, or euch varieties usually called early, begin to ripen at all. As experienced growers know, this is very early indeed. Both are very prolific, of the most perfect and brilliant red, and about the firmest and best ship pars I ever saw. Their sfz 13 good, averaging with Cre cent. Baing pistilates, tbey should have Meeks' Early, an extremely early staminate, planted every fourth row as pollenizers. Eleanor I have not yet fully tested, but experienced and re liable growera pronounce it the earliest and most valuable berry known. But like all very early varieties, the above must have rfch soil and clean culture. One hundred bushels of cot ton seed or half a ton of cotton seed meal, or 250 pounds nitrate of soda, or 25 good loads of stable manure, and 300 pounds dissolved bone or acid phos phatf , and 250 pounds sulphate of pot ash or 100 bushels unleached wood ashes per acre, thoroughly plowed and harrowed in, make splendid crops of them on almost any soil. R pening so eariy, and being so firm and highly colored, they command very high prices. O. W. Blacknall. Kittrell, N. C. LIVE STOCK. HORSE NOTES. An authority was that bran is an ex cellent ration for horses if fed with cut hay, and that bran and ground oats mixed make an excellent summer feed, but some authorities claim that more cases of colic result from feeding bran than any other cause. Not long since a cumber of Canadi ans interested in the exportation of horses to Great Britain interviewed the dominion drpaty minister of marine and fisheries, and urged that the ship mont of horses should be supervised by the department of marine, in the same manner as the shipment of cattle is now done. They pointed out several changes in the accommodation of horses on shipboard, the inspectation of fod der, etc , which would tend to keep the animals in good condition during the voyage and render them more saleable on landing, and urged that more care should be taken to foster thia trade, which was a growing one, and capable of great expansion a3 Canadian horses get better known on the other side The minister expressed sympathy witb their desire to enlarge the trade, and assured the deputation that the matter should be brought to the attention of the minister of marine and fisheries at as early a moment as possible. The People's party cannot, and will not, lie down inside of either a Repub lican or a Democratic lion, but it will gladly unite and act with either Re publicans or Damocrata outside of the old Care aes 38. Progressive Farmer, Mt. Vernon, 111. POULTRY YARD A PAYING INDUSTRY. The Ohio Poultry Journal, speaking with reference to the South, says that the poultry business ia a great and growing industry, because it ia a pay ing one, and yet the majority of South erners think that it is ridiculous to com pare the raising of poultry with cotton growing ; and yet it is a well known fact that almost anyone can make more c ff of four acres of land devoted to the raising of broilers and fancy poultry than he could c ff of twice as much land planted in cotton. It is true, th6 farm ers find little trouble in marketing cot ton, but at such a low price the profit on eight acres of good cotton would not support a family of four were it not for the most rigid economy that is prac ticed. He cannot better his position by saving his cotton; his bess friend will not pay him more for it ; the price is the s ime every where. It ia there fore greatly to the farmers' interest to let cotton alone, and turn their atten tion to truck farming, fruit culture, and especially the raising of poultry. They can find a ready market for chickens at all times of tho year and at a good price; ar-d, unlike cotton, the price on poultry is not t'ae same every where, thus allowing one to ship his chickens and get a much better price for them than if sold at heme. The average price of cotton for tho past ten years has been about 7 cents. It costs fully 4 cents to raise it, a profit of 3 cents per pound. It costs about 10 cents per pound to raise a broiler which sells for 20 cents per pound, a profit of 10 cents per pound, or 20 cents on a two months' old broiler. It takes about seven months to raise a pound of cot ton, and about one month to raise a pound of chicken. Fruit and poultry culture go together, and any man can take a small plat of land, put up a small poultry plant, eet it out in plums and peaches, and by working industriously make an independent living. THE UAIKY; FARM DAIRYING. Correspondence of tbe Progressive Farmer. In the Eastern Stutes there are but few farmers who are not to at least a limited extent.'already engaged in dairy ing. By this it is meant there are but a very small par cent of Eastern farm ers who do not keep anywhere from three to thirty cows. The Eastern farmers milk all they do keep, none be ing allowed to euekle their calves. In the Western and Southern States conditiona are different, and the num ber of cows kept by a farmer does not indicate tbe number he is milking or intending to milk. Therefore, it would in some cases be simply increasing one's dairy interest, while in others it would be starting in entirely new. Then again there are every year men starting in as farmers who have no cows of any kind. That class will, as a rule, find it to their interest not to stock up the first year with the full number of cows they expect to keep. Thia ia because it will be found almost impossible to buy the best cows out of auy herd. It is better to raise a herd of dairy cowb, better for several reas ons. First, by using males of improved dairy breeds a better claa3 of cows can be raieed than can, as a rule, be pur chased ; second, they will be more gentle if properly trained from calf hood to maturity; third, they are more contented, and contentment counts. At the bottom of all successful dairy ing, whether conducted entirely on tho farm, or partly as associated dairying, is dairy education, dairy habits, and sometimes it may be called dairy in stinct. Instinct ia said to be the sum of inherited habit3. Thia ia doubtless the beat definition that can be given of it. Hence the best dairy cemmunitiea are those where dairying has baen car ried on for generations. Kindntsi, patience, painstaking, keen observation and steadfastne S3 of purpose are all important factora in producing good reeulta. If dairying ia not thought to b3 worth your best ff jrta, let it alone by all meana. Let it alone if it ia irksome to you. Devo tion and application to an enterprise begefs a love for it, or it should, and if it doea not, there is something wrong. ihere ia a moral side to aairymg. Regular habits are acquired. Men who feeep cows must be at home at milking time home ia a good place Very few good dairymen are whiakey drinkers. Dairying communities, as a rule, fur nish but little business for lawyers. Dairying is educating and elevating if intelligently followed; thia ia especially true of home dairying. If. W. MCSZLEY. Clinton, Iowa. r