"The Progres- 1
We Farmer is a
lood paper-far I
fbove the aver-
-and possibly ;
toe best advertis- !
iaz medium m N. i
q printers' Ink.
"The Progres
sive Farmer is a
good paperfar
above the average-
-and possibly
the best advertis
iog mecium in N.
Printers' Ink.
THE. 11 MISTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE A;LICY.
Vol. 11.
RALEIGH, N. C, OCTOBER 27, 1896.
No. 38
Ann
.
--'S "iATIOWAL fARUERS" ALLI
VjicE AND INDUSTRIAL
UNION.
president Mann Page, Brandon,
Vjce-.Preaidant H. C. Snavely, Lob
Urary-Treasurer-B. A. South
wortli. Denver, Col.
XXSOUTIVE BOARD.
P It Loucks, Huron, S. D.; W. P.
Rrkcr Oogan Station. Pa. ; J. F. Wii
EtSrnsi; W. L. Pecke, Ga.
JUDIOIAKY.
i .. Southworth, Denver, Colo.
V7. Bock, Alabama.
ii D. Davie, Kentucky.
tt rAHOUSA FARMERS' GTAT2 ALLI
'" " ANO.
evident Dr. Cyrus Thompson,
Vic -..'resident Jno. Graham,Ridgo
V "wy-Treasiirr--W. B. Paraes,
ESJ:t. B. Uoover. iCJ.ro City,
Steward Dr. V. N. Seaweil, Villa
2Chcpia?n-Bev. P. H. Ma?sey, Dur
Door keeper Goo. T. Lane, Green -j-
vorc. N. C.
Assistant Door keeper Jaa. t. Lyon,
Durham, N. C. r
f-er.wit-at-Arms A. D. K. v ahace,
Buthorfor.ton, N. C.
ct-v.e Business Agent T. Ivey, Hi la
br'-i N. C.
Trustee Businesy Agency Fund -W.
A. Graham, Machpelaa, N. C.
s'SrvnvX COliMITTEE 0 TIIE NORTH
i'llDloiNA E-ARJiEia STATS ALLIANCE.
A. F. Hilernan, "record, N. C. ; N.
Fnelish. Trinity. N. C. ; James M.
n
Hewoorne, Kins on, in. .
STATS ALLIANCE JUDICIARY COM3HTTE2.
John Brady, Gatesville, N. C. ; Dr.
J.tT. Harrell, Whiteville, N. C; T. J.
Candler. Acton. N. C.
r- " -r
Sltii Carolina Reform Press Association.
OZter-J. Ramsey, Resident;
ihon Builer, Vice-Fresulent ; n. 6.
Bsme3 Secretary,
PAPERS.
WMlTe Fanner. State O W. RggJ; N; C.
-iv11 Hlcfeory, N. C.
v mJ WMtakers , N. C.
Pk'ime Beaver Dam. N. C.
Tie Populist, w,11' n
Tie People's Paper. Charlotte. JS. C.
The Vesti Mule, Concord. N . G.
he Plow- Boy. V adeehoro, N. C.
Carolina. Watchman, fcaslsbnry, . C.
lacn of the above named paper 8 art
Plotted to keep the list standing on
'4 .1r.- page arid add others, provided
vy are duly elected. Any paper fail
:Uo advocate the Ocala platform icih
Wd'-'ovped from the list promptly. Our
: can now nee what papers are
i:,id in their interest.
AGRICULTURE.
Eirly ftorn wicter rye m?ikes a good
fall an--? spring pasturage for all kinds
of ?t:ek.
Birnyard and stable rnanurea will
aiow their effect much longer than
CDrrmrcial fertil zre.
Tn s are the last days of grace for
repairing the farm buildings before the
approacLi of cold weather.
iVim ra must prepare to live at
homo by raising everything they pos
sibiy c in for home Bus'.enaiice.
iljv'ible fences are very bandy at
this tr;e of year, to fence away the
cattle from the young orchard.
Chinch bags winter ovrr ennng
i: id irrasi, iD corn thocks, piles ot rub
biahar.d along fences, especial jy hedgp.
The girls on the farm sbould have
some cnance to en j 3y life. When they
ors hrd at housework they should
have a regular weekly allowance.
D:ti C begin now to brag of the crop
you wji row nexn Feaaon. Q liet thick
is more to the pint, while fall
P'Cuj;ijing and manuiiug i3 vastly b3t
ler th-AU enher.
Is your neighbor making money in
tfce bu.-iaess which fails to paycu?
Too contrast should stimulate your
curio.,ny to know the reason wdy. In
vestis?ute and compare.
bTtiks8 a man has business ability, it
i.ot help him much to have a head
iJN of theories about farming. But if
te han tnergy, ttiorcugh knowledge
Wlu lu-lp htm wondetfuUy.
Coijtrury to general belief, the 3a
k'-r; h not a barren and worthless
B.ms time ago there were nine
mHijn theep in the Algerian Sahara
alonr, betides two million goats and
' 1 ) camels. On the oases there are
1,51,0 t,.J(j Qate pamg
runng ig certainly much better
ltltin jt WL8 teQ or twenty years
ago, aud the farmer himself has im
Provea as fast as his methods of farm-S-
Some of this improvement ia
Nearly traceable to reading agricultural
pers. in the multitude of counsel
ther
e is wisdom.
CROP CONDITIONS.
OfTiciala returns to the Agricultural
Department for October make the gen
eral condition of corn 90 5 per cent.,
against 91 for the month cf September.
The returns of yield per acre of all
wheat indicate a production of 11 9
bushel.-, which 13 six tenths of a bushel
188 than the preliminary estimate for
1895. The indicated quality for the
country at large is 84 4 per cent.,
against 85 7 la?t year. The wheat crop
is generally ehort in quantity and poor
in quality, owing to the unfavorable
weather, drought at seeding time, de
ficiency of enow protection, and exces
sive rains after harvest, producing
scanty growth, sbrivled grains and
ru?t. The wort is in the great region
from Ohio to Ernsts and adjoining
States. Crora are fairly good in New
Jeraey and Maryland, and adjoioicg
pariH of Pennsylvania and Now York;
aio in the Rocky Mountaiu Vailey.
Tao preliminary estimate ol the yield
of cats ie 24 3 Dus-hela por acre, against
29 0 a year; quality, 74 9, ranging
from 55 in KantoS to 104 in Montana
The average j ield per acre of rj eis
13 3; of barley, 25 G. Condition of
buck vhest is 8t5 per cent ; Irish pota
tees, SI 7; tobacco, 76.9.
No class in tbo community ia wholly
unpucce?sf ul. It would be unreasonable
to exotct that farmers should consti
tuto an exception. A manufacturer
with Ecant capital has a hard time
Agriculture supports more people with
limited capital and skill than would
any other kind ot business.
LOSSES IN LIQUID MANURE.
An English chemist poiDts out the
face that in every ten gallons of urine
there will be found as much nitrogen
as is contained in seven pounds of
nitrate of eoda, thirty-four pounds of
none meal, or 712 pounds of white tur
nips. Tnis puts, in a comprehensive
way, the loss that occurs when liquid
manure is permitted to drain or soak
away.
When cattle alone are kept, and are
supplied with but little bedding, there
is a considerable loss of liquid manure.
Even where there is a barn cellar,
many dollars' worth of the liquid will
drain out and soak into the ground
But when hcrse manure, mixed with
bedding, is thrown upon the same heap,
most of the liquid is absorbed. When
the heap becomes larp.e and fermenta
tion takes place, a great deal cf water
goes t ff in vap r, and the heap becomes
capable of abaeroing fresh amounts oi
liquid. In barns where one well bedded
horse ia kt pi fur each six cows, and the
manure mixed together in a cellar,
there will not usually be any great loss
of valuable material. After cleaning
out the cellar in the spring, nowever,
the cellar flxr should ba thickly cov
ered with loam to prevent waste btfore
the new heap grows large enough to
ferment.
Tno currant roots more readily from
cuttings than most otner fruits. Its
wood is, however, very eoft, and if set
late in the fall the outings will be con
siderably injured before spring by
frez ng and thawing. Wnile the cur
rant bush is reasonably hardy on its
own root, its cuttings will not get root
to hold them from b.ing thrown
out. They should be heeled in during
the winter, and t e planted where they
are to remain in spring.
APIARY NOTES.
Fom the results of an experiment
made at the Cornell horticultural sta
tion it would appear that bees are not
inclined to work out of season. A hive
of bees was wintered in a vegetable
houee filled with tomatoes plants. Not
oaly did the bees fail to fertil ze the
flowers, but they made frf q ltns tffjrts
to escape from the house, and were
found to be useless as carriers of pollen
in the winter.
Care should be taken to protect combs
from moths. Comba ehould be sul
phured and kept in close boxes, or hung
so as not; to touch in .a light airy room,
or elne kept in supers on the hives so
that the bees can enter them from be
low. In the latter case the openings
between the hives must be so arranged
as to pr serve the heat in the brood
chamber. Tnere may be a small open
ing at one end of the hive in the honey
board cloth or paper that separates be
tween the hive proper and the super of
second story containing the combs to
be protected.
16 is best, both on ground of econ
omy and time, and keeping the bees
amiable,, to handle them as little as
need be. In all work with bees, the f
motions should be blow and gentio.
Quiet, gentle movements make gentle
Ammonia has long been recognized
as one or the best antidotes for bee sting
poison. There ia reason in this. The
poison is acid, and the ammonia in
neutral zing the acid, seems to neutral
ize the poison as well. In a iate num
ber of Nature it is suggested that an
ammoniacal equtractof quinine is even
more effective than ammonia alone.
Beekeepers who are much troubled
wiih sthg8 may well try this uewrem
edy. Canadian R iral.
THE IwE HOUSE.
Among ether things that a writer in
the Rural Yorker Fays about an
ice house is the following: If thrice
houeo can bo bmlc upon a side hill, I
wouid plan to b.uve one side and part
o two ar j icenfc sides? under ground. I
would have the cool-room d jor on the
lower tide, the ico bolide door on the
upper, and plan to have gravity put
the ico to a high a point as ia needed
in the icd housj. Handling ice is hard
work, and I would, if possible, avoid
lifting it. About 800 cubic feet of ico
space will be needed to hold 20 tons.
This, with aa allowance for air space,
packing and cxil room, will require a
building about 1012x16 feet. I would
use 2a 6 ctudding, and board both inside
and out with matched lumber, or if
rough boards are pl?nty, would u-jo
them and a good watar proof paper
This will give a eix inch air epaee, and
aeeist materially in keeping the ico.
For fl joring over the cool room I would
use two inch chestnut plank, caulking
well with oakum, or double board with
matched spruce or white pine. It will
pay to coat well the floor and sides with
coal tar. I do not think it practicable
to try to pack ice around the room, as
such a small quantity of ice will keep
better in one mass. When ice is packed
on fl jors of different levels, air is likely
to get in and waste ice badly. We find
that ico keeps best when put in one
mess, tilling the cracks with enow (or
sawdust if slo k cannot be had.) allow
ing a foot at the sides for sawdusD, and
a good coating of the same on top.
BEES AS MESSENGERS.
In England the use of bees as mes
sengers is being seriously coneicered.
The man who suggested it took a few
bees from his own house to that of a
fiiend four miles away. He waited
several days so that the bees might be
come famiiiar with their surroundings.
He then let a few of them loote in a
room in which was a plate of honey.
Tae bee3 settled upon this and while
they were busy eating, mock dispatches
were fattened on them by the apicul
turist's trained hand.
The thinne.-t of all thread bound the
little packets, which were of the flimsi
est of paper, to the bees' backs. Great
care was taken to leave the head and
wings absolutely free. The windows
were then opened aid the bees thrown
out into the air. With the certainty
of carrier pigeons, they smarted t ff at
once for home, arriving there in an in
credibly ehort time with the packets
secure upon their backs.
Naturally this project would only bo
possible in the summer and in warm
climates for the reason that the bees
would be unable to endure severe
weather. Bees would have the advan
tage over pigeons or birds because of
their invisibility. Nor would there be
any difficulty in going through the
enemy's Hues The apiculturist says
that they could travel fifty mile? quite
an eailv as they could make four.
hd.ORrX,JLOCri-,XXJR.K
PLANNING FOR BERRIES.
For the strawberry crop matters
should be planned out soma years in
advance. If the plants are set out in
new ground they will suffer great loss
from the white grub. Strawberries do
well af cer corn or potatoes. Tnus three
years are required, one to prepare the
land with a hoed crop, another to grow
the plants and the third to manure the
crop.
But rather than set no plants next
spring, plough grass sod now, let it
freeze over winter and work very thor
oughly with a disc harrow in the
spring. Upon land so prepared, the
plants will usually do well.
Winter protection is often neglected,
but the practice pays. It keeps the
plants safe and the covering materials
remain to keep the berries out of the
dirt. Meadow hay is as good as any
thing for the purpose. Massachusetts
Plowman.
HE DAIRY.
BUTTER PROFITS.
Correspondence cf The Progressive Farmer.
It cannot be denied that dairy prod
ucts have the preeent year been very
low in price, especially cheese. Now
that the filled cheese law is in opera
tion cheeee ought to do better in price,
and doubtless will.
. But butter, low as it has averaged
the pre sant year, has paid better than
most farm products, provided the yield
per cow has been up to the standard or
near it, viz , at the rate that will pro
duce 300 pounds per cow per annum.
Now is a good time to make resolves
for better methods for the coming y ear.
Sort out your poor cows and either sell
or fatten them. Lock around for a
thcrou2tbred male, of a butter breed,
if eiitaged in Dutter-making, and ar
range to get one in tima for next year's
service. Phil Crosby, eou of the late
A. L Crosby, says: "Sixteen to one ia
what is wanted sixteen good grade
cows to one thoroughbred bull." If
ou wili start in with determination to
improve your herd and make more and
better butter you will find it will pj.y
in the eud.
Dairying can be made an important
faster on any farm whero mixed farm
ing practiced and to keep land in
fertility it ehould be practiced on all,
or nearly all farms.
Toere is an individuality iu butter
and cheese making that aoes not at
tach to most farm products. The
maker's reputation goes with and is in
a certain sense a part of the product
This makes dairying an interesting
branch of agriculture.
Dairy products are in concentrated
form. Many bushels of grain can be
marketed at little expense for transpor
tation if first converted into butter or
cheese.
The by products of the dairy are of
considerable importance, especially in
butter making cn the farm; for in
c -nee, skim milk and butter milk
The skim milk can be used to raise
heifer calves for the dairy and both
can ba fed to pigs The manure is an
important item on a dairy farm, all
such farms increase in fertility. On
the whole dairj ing is good business
when intelligently and faithfully prac
ticed.
F. W. MCSELKY.
Clinton, Iowa.
VALUE OF FEED.
Dj.iry animals re q'lire two thirds of
a full and generous ration as food to
carry on the ordinary functions of life.
A gain only can be made or a profit ra
turned when the other third u present
in like quantity ar d quality. Whether
it is there or not the animal functions
of life will be supported first and what
food remains will go toward making up
the prc fiss which the animal ia capable
of making. All the food the animal
can be induced to eat and that can be
properly digfsted will go directlv to
profit. What a cow eats beyond the
cost of keeping is what determines the
profit in ber keeping. Beware of the
cow with a email appetite, especially if
the pail ehowo a email fijw of milk.
Tedt her at once.
COWS THAT LAST LONG.
The manner in which the Jersey
cow, or that of any of the other dairy
breeds, has passf d the early y ears of her
life, or rather the treatment that has
been accorded her, has much to do
with determining her years of profit ia
he milking herd, writes Gio. Jackson,
in the Breeders' Gazette.
If this has been humane or generous
at all seaeous of the year, old age in
firmitiea will be slow to appear. Sue
will be as good and as profitable at
twelve or thirteen as another of equal
capabilities to begin with will be at six
that he s suffered neglect under a mis
taken policy that it does not pay to
provide liberally for the dairy cow's
wants even in winter, when the milk
fl jw is lessened bacauso of a long, hard
t train in milk-giving for months, and
inclement, changeable weather, and
that it ia unprofitable to feed much,
and that the straw ttack U good enough
Such treatment will bring on old age
and a breaking down of the constitut
ion, with a consequent weakening of
the powers of production, and the les
eeniDg each year of profitable produc
tion is much more rapid in its progress
than the years themselves would justify
under bfst conditions, proper care and
humane attention.
A mistake may be made in the oppo
site direction, however, and the years
rn
of usefulness reduced by too liberal
feeding overdoing tfye matter by
forcing the digestive functions beyond
their natural capacity for producing
extraordinary results, tau3 eericusly
and permanently causing mischief that
can never be repaired.
Tne prudent owner of a herd of good
dairy cows will therefore be guided by
discretion and judgment in their man
agement and care, catering to their re
quirements in a common sense and hu
mane manner from the beginning to
the end of the year. This will bring
him success in business, will prolong
the U8ef ulnees cf hia good cows and the
maximum income and profita from fii?
invi stmenc of capital and care. It is
about the only road through which
best results can be expected.
All fowls get too much corn in fall
and early wiute-r, especially if they are
on a farm that produces corn. This i
bad for them, not only because corn is
in itself a fattening ration, but because
fowls can quickly fill themselves with
it and without auy exercise whatever.
It is this lack of excrciee, a3 well as too
much fat forming food, that makes
fowls l&zy, fat and unproductive of
eggs at just the time when eggs
are likely to bring their highest prica.
SPOILING CHEESE.
Hoard's Dairyman correctly says
that an immense amount of fine cheese
is ruined by the ignorant, careless and
unskillful handling it receives at the
hands of the men who etsnd between
the maker and the consumer. The
wholesale jobber does not give it good
handling. The cheese will reach him,
say thirty days old; much of it is
j oucgr. It has hai dly commenced to
cure. Ha slaps it into a cold storage
ico room, checks the process of curing,
which rf quires a certain steady tem
perature or amount of heat fur at least
ninety days to become established, and
the cheese comes out with a sharp, bit-
in?; taste on the tongue It does not
taste rich, mild and real cheesey. Then
it is shipped to the grocer, who has
about the stupid idea of how a cheeee
should be handled, and he keeps it in a
hot, dry store, lets i-. dry out, crack
open, and, when the consumer buys it,
he thmk3 back on the delicious cheese
he used to get thirty years ago, and
swears ho will never buy another
pound. When a cherss comes from
the pres, it fhould b3 kept steadily
curing for at least three to six months.
Tnen it can be put into cold storage at
abour, 35 to 40 degrees and held for
some time. But the right stage of fer
mentation or curing must first be had.
Then it should always be kept si ffiient'
ly moist. What men usually call a
rich, buttery cheese is generally a moist
cheeee.
A large horse farm visited recently
by the editor of the Massachusetts
Piowman had this way of di?p :sing of
the manure. The solid portion was
forked into the cellar in the usual man
ner, but the liquid part was led c ff by
pipes set in the gutter and leading to a
big cesspool in the barnyard. When
the pool became full a pump was placed
on top and the contents pumped into a
tight box cart, from which it was dis
tributed into the fields. In this way
nothing is lost and the premises are
kept eweeter than by the common
method.
. .
SAVING CHOKED CATTLE.
I have never known my method of
relieving choked cattle," says a writer
m an Englieh farm paper, to fail in
giving instant relief. I cut a slick
about four feet long and ona half inch
through at the large end, with prongs
like fork-tines about one inch lorg at
the small end. The etiek wants to be
straight and emo3th. I generally cut
a email gray birch. Then wind the
prongs with yarn until well covered,
and se w over and through thi3 a piece
of cotton cloth, making a ball some
inches in diameter securely fastened to
the small end of the stick.
"Grease the ball well with lard, In
sert in the animal's throat, and push it
down the length of the stick if need be,
or until the substance is forced into the
stomach. Then withdraw the stick
and the creature will be relieved. I
have been calied in the night to go four
miles to relieve an animal that had
been choked for hours. I relieved her
in two minutes after the stick was
ready, so that she commenced eatingf
immediately. Two or three men had
tried every way they knew for hours
without success. The creature was
choked with a potato."
PQULTEY YARD
WHAT IS AN EGG?
To the above question cur contribu
tor, H. B Geer, in Texas Farm and
Ranch, answers: There is no single
production more fruitful than an egg.
It ia the centralization of most wonder
ful vitality. If left to the hen, thera
is blood and bones and feathers, tieeue
and fibrous substarce in it, that comes
forth as a thing of life at the end of in
cubation.
To the invalid tbere is comfort,
strength and returning vigor in an egg.
To the housewife tbe egg cmbodiet
richness and lightness for her cakes
and bread, clearness for hcrc.ff e, and
a dish of especiul richness and good
flavor for her table, when perhaps the
meat has run short.
Tne druggist finds need for the egg
in his business and the wine maker
could scarcely succeed without it.
The artist finda need for the egg in
embellishing things cf beauty. Tha
eld folks used to seal their fruit jars
with the white of the r gr, and fruit eo
sealed always came forth fresh, and
free from mildew.
Applied to a ecald or burn, the white
of an egg is cooling and healing and
brings relief to the eufferer by the
effectual exclusion of the air. The
paper manufacturer has use for the
egg and eo has the laundry man. Severe
caees of disentcry have been cured by
eimply swallowing the white of an egg.
Indeed, the virture of the egg is great,
and its production a neceeeity.
MOLTING AND LAYING.
It is not too soon to select the winter
layers, for one can be guided by pres
ent circumstances and avoid retaining
any member of the flock that may not
prove profitable after cold weather eeta
in. As has been f r quently stated be
fore, the hens must finish molting be
fore December or they will not lay in
the winter. It requires about threa
mouths from the time the hen ceases to
lay in order to molt before she begins
to lay again. Molting U the prepara
tion for colder weather. The old feath
ers, which may be broken, are dropped,
and new ones grow in their peaces.
While the growth of new feathers is in
progress tbe hen does not lay, as her
system is drained of mineral matter in
order to produce the feathers. If a hen
does not fioieh molting before cold
weather sets in, ehe will not lay before
next epriog; but if ehe completes the
molting process by November, or even
as late as December in some climates,
she will be ready prepared for work
and should make a good winter layer.
About feeding such bene: It is usual
to give them plenty of grain. What
they really require is meat and bone.
Occasionally a little eulphur in the
food ia beneficial. Grain makes them
too fat, and they will not give satis
factory results when molting is com
pleted. Grass, seeds, milk, meat, bone
and linseed meal are the beet foods.
These foods will hasten molting and
shorten the time a week or two. If
any of the hens should not begin to
moit by September, they will probably
be too late to finish in time to be win
ter layers, and should be dipofed of,
as it will not pay to keep them ever
until epring. Farm and Firejtde.
C02SPARAT1VE ANATOMY.
I'd hate to have to eat corn the way
you do," grunted the pig through tha
palinga of his incloeure. "You can't
get much satisfaction gobbling it down
liko that, and you can't chew it be
cauee ycu haven't any teeth."
'H'm" clucked the hen in the ad
joining coop. 'You have to chow your
corn because you haven't got nDy giz
zard !" Chicago Tribune.
PAMLICO COUNTY MEETING.
Correspondence of the Progressive Fanner.
Oriental, N. G, Oct. 15, 1896.
Pamlico County Alliance met second
Thursday in October. Two Subs not
represented ; one forgot the day, the
other a Free Will Biptist Conference
in the neighborhood. We had a pleas
ant and profitable meeting. I was
called out as delegate to the 8tate Alli
ance to mako my report. In eo dciog
I pressed the claims of tbe shoe factory
with all the earnestness and devotion
I possess. We endorsed Bro. Ivey 'a
plan. Delegates promised to do all
they could with their Subs to raiso
eunda. My Sub of 8 male members
has promised $9 00 in thirty day a
Brethren, it's our property, let's sus
tain it. Yours fraternally,
Jchn W. Aldbidge.