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r Ira aOT n I0G1ESSITE i&BMEB. The Progres sIrs Farmer is a cood paper far above the aver age and possibly the best advertis ing medium in N. Printers' Ink. 'The Progres sive Farmer is a good paper far above the average- -and possibly the best advertis ing medium in N. C." Printers' Ink H jj E 1 THE INDUSTRIAL MD EDUCATIONAL -INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY. Vol.12. RALEIGH, N. 0., MARCH 9, 1897. No. 5 X I I I I . i i I i I j f i 21 .A A 1 W SLUCK AND INDUSTRIAL UNION. President Mann Pago, Brandcn, ! VicePident-O. Vincent, Indian- Secretary Treasurer W. P. Bricker, Cogan Station, Pa EXECUTIVE BOARD. Mann Page. Brandon, Va ; R. A. South worth, Denver, Col.; John Bre nig. W. Va ; A. B. Welch, New York; J. W. Stokes, S C. JTJDICIABY. a. A. Southworth, Denver, Colo. P, W. Beck, Alabama. U. D. Davie, Kentucky. JCSTJ3 OABOLINA FARMEKS' 8TATS ALLI ANCES. President Dr. Cyrus Thompson, RIchlanda, C. Vice-President Jno. Graham.Ridge ay, N. C. Secretary-Treasurer W. S. Barnes, Hillshoro, N. C. Lecturer J. T. B. Hoover, Elm City, NT C Steward Dr. V. N. Seawell, Villa- aov, N. C. r Chaplain Rev. P. H. Maseey, Dur ham, N. C. Door-keeper Geo. T. Lane, Greena- soro. N. C. Assistant Door-keeper J aa. K. Lyon, Durham, N. C. Sergeant-at-Arms A. D. K. Wallace, Butherfordtcn, N. C. State Business Agent T. Ivey, Hills boro, N. C. Tn. j txt tv-,, v PnoinMoi Apfinpv iruna w. Graham, Machpelah, N. C lXECunvr com2httze ct the north ; CAROLINA FARMERS' STATE ALLIANCE. A. F. Hileman, Concord, N. C; N. O. English, Trinity, N. C. ; James M. Hewborne, Kins on, N. C. TATS ALLIANCE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. John Brady, Gatesville, N. C. ; Dr. J.F. Harrell, Whiteville, N. C; T.J. Candler. Acton. N. C. figrta Carolina Reform Press Association. Q$cers-J. L. Ramsey, President; e&rion Butler, Vice-President; W. S. Barnes. Secretary, PAPERS. ?raraslve Farmer. 8Ute Organ. N. O. ivnrV Hickory, N. C Onr Home. Beaver Dam, N. . The Populist, Lumberton, N. C. The People's Paper, Charlotte, N. C. The Vestibule, , Concord, N. C. rhe Plow-Boy. Wadesboro, . C. Carolina Watchman, Salisbury, C. Each of the above-named papers are ee quested to keep the list standing on 'h9 first page and add others, provided My are duly elected. Any paper fail ing to advocate the Ocala platform will U dropped from thelist promptly. Our Staple can now see what papers are -MUhed in their interest. AGRICULTURE. The etable doors should swing out ware s so that the animals can bo more easily gotten out in case of fire. A redaction of acreage, thorough cultivation and green manuring is tbe remedy of ali remedies in most locali ties. Eneilagp, cr any food with a pro nounced odor, should not be fed just before milking. Milk readily absorbs cdcia. The largest onion reported this year wps on exhibition at Los Angeles, Cal. It wa thirty six inches in circumfer ence and weighed seven pcuuds. Don't buy poor land. Profits are none too large on good Eoil. Lmd which is merely run down may be a bargain, but poor land is poor property. It is said that if seed corn is soaked for twelve or fifteen hours in water containing May apple root, say half a gallon of the roots to ten gallons of water, moles will not eat the corn after planting. Arrange to exchange seed corn and -it -i - ii : t l. u otoer Betas occasioBUiiy wivu ucuei farmers. Such exchanges should be effected now. during leisure time in f rchis and next month. If not done now ';it is not likely to be done at all. J Don't take it for grantod all general agricultural teachings are intended for Jyour conditions. V&e judgment in ap 'plying directions to your circumstan ces. Study out the fact for yourself. instruction i3 meant to be chewed, not i ' swallowed. J Breeding up the poultry stock is just f.a important as the same process ap Vlied to the milking herd. There is a ast number of different breeds and of individuals of the s:me breed. Judi piou3 selection and breeding will per form wonders. I The hired man ehould aim to make pimself indispensable to his employer. !The cheapest men are the most easily ipared. An indispensable man will tot long need to wo: k for low wages, Wt the cheap man can be replaced in m hour, and will never be missed if 19 goes on n. Rtrikfi COLD FACTS FROM A FREEZE. Thoughtful people now agreo that tt the greatest freeze of T95" was a good thing for Florida a blessing in dis guise. It was a costly lesson, however. A hundred thou sard citizens, more or les", paid 13,000,000 or $4,000. OOD to find out that the 44frost line" that had been recognized since the 'cold winter of ?32'' was not permanent, and was likely to be changed, like railway time tables, without previous notice. They were taught that it was not good policy to put all their eggs in one basket, and that the single crop plan of farming was a failure. Many were discouraged and left the State. Those who had more courage and wisdom remained, and while they were resuscitating their frozen groves, they di?covered that they could make f 400 or 500 an acre by truck farming, by raising peas, beans, cabbages, cauliflower, lettuce, celery, oniors, cucumbers, potatoes, strawberries and other fruit3 and vegetables for the Northern winter markets. The demand for thi3 sort of produce during the winter months is practically unlimited, and the prices unnaturally large. It costs no more to raise a bushel of potatoes in this warm, bandy soil in December than in July, yet they can be sold for f 4 a bushel in De cember, and for only 40 cents in July. The supply of unseasonable vegetables formerly came from Bermuda and the Bahamas. 'Tne great freeze" taught the farmers of Florida that they could have a monopoly from December to March, when the early crops of south ern Georgia are ready for market. So tbe wise ones stopped . boasting about profits of $2,500 an acre from orange groves. They stopped telling the familiar story about a box for oranges on the plantation, twenty five boxes to the tree, and 100 trees to the acre all clear gain," and began to plant and weed vegetables, which are not so profitable as oranges, but are1 reasonably certain of paying from $400 to $500 an acre net. Down in the southern part of the State the cultivation of pineapples was found to be even more profitably, and somebody blundered upon the discov ery that the be$t ones were grown un der shelter. So all the pine fields are now covered with lattice work, just high enough for a tall man to walk under without stooping. This lattice is made of rough strips of pine, three inches wide, nailed three inches apart on .rough scantling, and ccsts about $500 an acre. It not only furnishes perfect protection against all possible frosts, but the fruit thus protected from the heat of the eun is more juicy and of finer fibre than that grown in the open air. Industrious farmers are now raising G.0C0 pineapples to the acre, and selling them on tho planta tiocs by tho thousand at 25 cents apiece, while the shoots that are plucked from the plants are worth from $2 to $3 a dczen to those who are starting in the business. Another industry that can be at tributed to the "freez?," and is bound to be permanent and profitable, is tho cultivation of Cuban tobacco. The scarcity and high prices caused by the revolution have given it a decided stimulus, for the tobacco plantations in Cuba have been very generally de etroyed, and if the island ehould ever be at peace again it will require several years to get back to the magnitude atd the quality of its former product. B2fcre the war of the rebellion, up in Gadsden county, bstween the Gulf and the Gaorgia line, where the people still hunt wild cats for sport, a good deal of tobacco was raised. At one time it was considered the finest of the country, and the average value of the crop was $400,000, but after the big plantations were broken up and worked on shares by negroes, who formerly worked them as slaves, tobacco cost too much labor and was abandoned, until H R Duval, President of the Florida Central, got eeed from thecelo bratea Vuelto Absjo, district of Cuba, and distributed it free of charge to all tho farmers who were willing to make the experiment. Many failed, as is always the case, but some are succeps ful, and the result was tho establish meat of a factory at Qaincy by a New York firm, to consume the local prod uct, which is now the largest in the State, and this firm annually plants a large acreage on its own account. After the "freeza" the public took up tobacco generally. Mr. Duval again sent to Cuba and not only got seed, which he distributed free, but also brought over a numbsr of experienced planters, who worked up and down the line of his read, superintending the planting and instructing the farmers in the art of cultivation, for tobacco is a good deal like children its value depends j upon the manner in which it is brought up. Thus the industry has become general. Sumatra as well as Cuban seed has been introduced. With proper cultivation, it is claimed that crops from 600 to 1,000 pounds to the acre can raised anywhere in Florida, and there is a steady demand for it from the cigar factories in the State at from 25 to 80 cents a pound, according to the quality. It rc quires experience and a peculiar knack to raise good tobacco. There are som9 Cuban refugees down iu this end of the State who produce a leaf that is rated as high as the best that comes from Havana, but the ordi nary farmer doesn't 83em to get the hang of it. Tnero is plenty of Cuban iabor to be had this year, and much is expected from the next crop. Chicago Record. GROWING SUGAR BEETS. The Ohio Experiment Station, in a newspaper bulletin in relation to the sugar beet, makes the suggestion that as the beet is a very valuable stock food, and is cultivated by many farm ers for this purpose alone, the experi ence necessary to its successful culti vation may be secured by cultivating it for this use without loss even when no sugar factory is Jccated in thenoigh borhood. Wherever there is a prcs pect of securing a beet sugar factory eventually, it would be wise for farm ers to go to work and learn how tocul tivate the beet, the crops being used for stock food until a market for the purpose of sugar making can be secured for it. One of the serious difficulties in the extension of the beet sugar in dustry is the large expenditure of cap ital necessary in establishing the plant, and the hesitation to make the invest ment in localities where producing an adequate supply of sugar beets of good quality hah' not been put to actual practical tesst. There is no doubt but that if a beet sugar company were looking for a location, and were hesi tating between two different, points, one at which the farmers had learned how to grow the sugar beet and had demonstrated their ability to grow itt even though it be only for the purpose of feeding stock, would secure the fac tory in preference to another location where the beet had not been grown. A NEW USE FOR ALFALFA. Among the recent petty swindles with which these who live by their wits have sought to victim z 3 the farmer has been the sale, at an exor bitant price per pound, of soy bean seed under the name of the "coffee berry." The fraud was detected almost at. once, and the public was warned through the agricultural press.and now, while it is pretty generally known that the soy bean, when properly roasted, makes no mean substitute tor ceffee, no up to data farmer ould be betrayed into the purchase of eel at any ex travagant figure, or on auy other basis than the admitted fact that the seed was soy bean seed. This cheap home grown suppiy for tho breakfast table is now within easy reach of everybody who cares to try it. Now comes Mayor Du Bois, of Den ver, with the discovery that aifalfa, when properly picked and cured, is a splendid substitute eupply for the tea table, "equal to the beat in Japan." Those who have tried it say that its continuous use is a great bent fic to the system, eerving as a tonic and correc tive of irregularities of "various kinds, and maintaining a splendid condition of health without recourse to the doc tor, all of which must, of course, be taken with some grains of allowance Our annual imports of tea now amount to from $13,000,000 to $15 000,000 a year, and if alfalfa is a reasonably good substitute, it would be possible to keep the greater part of this money at home. If one could come to like eoy beans and alfalfa ior coffee and tea, it would be easy to reduce grocery bills very con sidorably. The experiment of E E. Page, whose home is near Dixon, 111., and who has engaged in the cultivation of ginseng, will be watched with interest. Mr. Page spent two years among "'seng diggers" of tho South, and has a vast fund of information upon the subject which will aid him in his attempt to make the root succeed in this northern latituda The seed is worth $2an ounce, and an acre of good crop Bella for $1,000. IMPROVED MAMMOTH WHITE FRENCH ARTICHOKE. The yiold is' so enormous that one saho has never seen them grow, can scarcely believe the quantity that can be grown on an acre. Those who have given them a thorough trial the past year report a yield of from 350 to 1,500 bushels to the acre. CHEMICAL ANALYcIS OF ROOTS. ROCT3. Flesh Fat Formers Foi mers Wtite TurnlDS 1 6 9 4 9 10 40 65 79 103 136 188 Carrots , Parsnip3 , -angoids Sutrar Beets Artichokes Here let me quote part of an article written by Col. John Scott, of Iowa, to the Western Stock Journal. He is one of cur progressive farmers, and after digging, measuring and weighing a pnrt of his crop, found them to yield 900 bushels per acre, and says : "This ia but a medium yield, accord ing to reports that seem truthful, and I do not doubt that as many as 1,500 or 2,000 bushel have been raised per acre" lie gives this table showing the chemioal analysis of roots. Raf erring to this, he says: "Practically, how ever, aa a food for swine, the chemical analysis tells but a part of the story. The nutrition in the artichoke is in the form of sugar in solution, and ready for use. If the hog is any judge of what is good for him, his sense can be taken when these roots -are offend to him ; he not only prefers the artichoke to all other roots, but will scarcely touch corn; and they do so well on them that my neighbor remarked, 'Artichokes beat anything for feed I ever saw.' " I cin grow them ready for my hogs at 1 to 2 cents per bushel. m Never allow a cross word or blow in the stable or anywhere. The horse or cow cannot be scolded or pounded without losing value. If the children or hired hefb have bad tempers and arw;rosa to th9 animals, fire the hired help, and if the children refuse to do better, hire a kind man and put the children to work they like. CORN SMUT. Recent experiments with corn smut, reported in Bulletin No. 62, of the Kan sas Experiment Station, show that the loss in the weakened ears in smutted corn amounted to nearly 25 per cent. The total damage in any field will, of course, depend upon the proportion of smutted stalks, which i3 a very variable quantity. In the case of the experi mental field, out of a total of 2 984 stalks taken as they run, 724 were more or less affected by smut, with losses in grain as stated. During three years over 200,000 corn plants have been examined by the station force, in about 500 fields. The time of most fre quent attack was in June and July. Infection, however, may take place at any time duriDg the growing season, it does not depend so much upon the season as on the stage of develop ment of the plant. Infection may take place in any part of the plant where there is growing tissue, and at any time in its life, but tearcely ever before the plant has attained three feet in height. After the tissues harden, the smut cannot penetrate these, and con sequently infection does not take place in the older parts of the plant, but only in the growing tissues. This growing condition is found in the young leaves when the first smut appears in the field, and later on mostly at the junction of the leaf and sheath. Then it appears in the flowers and young parts of the ear and tassel, while later in the season the only parts open to infection are the rudimentary ears which develop after the larger ear on the joint at the lower part of the stalk. The period of incu bation between the infection and the appearing of the smut boils is about ten days. It is regarded as probable that the early infection comes from the spores of the previous year, which germinate on the ground at the first favorable weather, while the later and more abundant infections proceed from the now spores developed in the field early in the season Smut appears to be more abundant in dry seasons and in tho drier localities. It is usually abundant, too, where the soil has been recently manured, and upon corn growing near stables and barnyards. Such patches often show a greatly in creased percentage of smut. The fungus cannot be prevented by soaking the seed in fungicides as ia the case with oat smut and the stinking smut of wheat, but since manure forma a favor able breeding ground, fresh manure should not be applied to corn ground, especially in damp soil, nor should corn be planted too close to the source of manure. It is thought that by proper care in this respect, and by burning as many of the smut boils as possible, the disease can probably be kept within limits, which will not cause more than 2 per cent, of damage. It seems scarcely practicable to dolnore than this, as the exponso would be greater than the eaving. To thia we would only add that as as tbe early infection seems to ecme from spores of the previous year, which germinate on the ground, these earlier infections furnishing the new spores for the later and mora severe attack, a rotation which would prevent corn from being grown on the same soil two years in succession would probably do much toward decreasing the losses Ttie natural food for hogs in the state is gra?s, mast, roots and bulbs of plants. They never forget their root ing tendencies. Acting upon our knowledge of their fondness for these things we shall do well to now and then give them rations of potatoes, turnips, beets or artichokes during the winter season. THE FUTURE OF HAY FARMING The desire to cultivate as much land aa possible in order to get the most possible from it, has led to general ncg lect of meadow and pasture lands, says American Cultivator. Only when it was found that the soil had lost so much fertility that it would not pay for cultivating was it seeded down or left to grow up with such herbage, both weeds and grass, aa nature provided. The result is that mo3t of the land now in grass i8 by that very fact dis credited as b9ing presumably fit for nothing eke. Yet there is in all grass land a constant tendency to increase in fertility. It is so even when the land ia left to grow up wih weeds and bushes. These shelter the surface, hold the leaves that fall on the land from being blown away. The decomposition of these leaves gradually builds up soil, and to this must be added the excre ment from animals fed on the herbage which the soil is still able to grow. Usually when the improvement of grass land is determined upon the sod to be turned under and rot ia regarded as an important part of the soil assets Improving tbe land as meadow or pas ture by manuring it and still keeping it unplowed is hardly ever thought of. Yet as in most cases this grass land is, even with manure, not quite rich enough for prcfitable cropping, the ex periment is worth trying of applying to it such manure as can be bad and see what the iL creased grass or hay product will be worth. This i3 done succcs3fully in England. Why msy it not be also in the older part3 of this country ? The demand for hay is generally good in all Eastern cities. Will it pay to fertilize grass eo as to make the growing of hay profit able. If it will not pay to maintain fertility in grass land, the logical sequence is that all hay or grass taken from it helps to reduce fertility so that tho soil will ba worth nothing for the production of any kind of crop. It is likely that in the future as in the past, most of the hay crop in this country wiil be produced in the years when the rotation between cultivated crops and grass requires that tho land be seeded. Our climate is not moist like that of England. Hence it cannot keep a good sod many years without plowing and re seeding. This also is so much the best for cultivated land that there need be no fear that the profits of cultivated crops will so lessen te amount of land in grass that there will not be hay enough to feed with grain and coarser fodder, nor that it will fail to be sup plied at reasonable prices. Peas, in common with all plants of the leguminous order, have the power to disintegrate air and utilize introgen for their own growth, and also to en rich the soil. But they need some fer tility to start with, as it is only when the planta are grown large that the nodules appear on their roota, by means of which air in the eoil is disintegrated. Toere is probably no better way of ap plying manure, unless it ia to clover, than to use it for peas. WAVE OF PROSPERITY HAS REACHED MAINE. Trout, tongue, salmon, whitefish or chuba taken in payment for subscrip tions at thia office. We have not yet decided to take any suckers or "horn pouts," but may be driven to it later on. Ashland (Me.) Headlight HORTICULTURE PURCHASING FRUIT TREES. This ia a subj'HJt which concerns every one who contemplates setting trees or plants this spring. One baa only to let it be noised abroad that he is intending to buy and he is at once harrassed by anv number of o cents who represent firms of both known and unknown reputation. If all agents were honest, and repre sented honest firms, it might do to pat ronize them occasionally, thoueh ono is only helping to pay the agent's salary or commission when he does. ' This is not saying that all agents and firms are dishonest, for there are many hon est and reliable ones, says tho Farmers Voice. Many times we think we have found an honest firm and placed an order with their agent, yet, after several years tending and care of the trees, we find, cn their fruiting, that some are inferior stock, or not true to name, or both. I have in mind several of my friends who ventured into purchases which re sulted similarly, one in particular who purchased, five years ago, 500 peach trees through an agent of a nursery supposed to be reliable, which the past season fruited nearly all white varie ties, though none but yellow ones were ordered. Although reliable firms guarantee their stock true to name and, in case a mistake ia made, would make repara tions, thia does not begin to repay the planter for the loss of his time and use of the ground to grow more remunera tive cropa, to say nothingjof the inter est on the money invested. Then the stock ia sometimes stunted, or have poor roots, which make them mere un certain to live. Another thing to be thought of is the protection from the sun and wind which they usually receive from the agent when he delivers them, if he should happen to do o. Most of ;tha agent8 care little furtherthan to get their pay, and consequently are care less in handling the stock. They are apt to leave them in some place where the rays of the sun may strike them, and if the wind is blowing, that will be aa injurious aa the former. Two yeara ago an agent received quite an order from this vicinity, and when the trees came they were all packed together in one box in good shape; but he separated each order, and placed them where they were expos ed to a dry,hot wind.and thero left them for each one who had ordered stock. Some of the trees came into my neigh borhood, and I took particular notice of the results. Out of 200 trees which I noticed, less than 100 were alive in the fall. I think many could have been saved by the purchaser had he protected them on his way home with a damp blanket or some damp straw, and taken reasonable care in setting them out. There are a number of reliable firms who sell directly to the grower, at less rates than through an agent, thereby eaving the agent's salary. Where there is an honest, reliable nursery near, it is a good plan to go there and select what stock is wanted, using the nur seryman's judgment as to varieties, if one is new in the business. I have fol lowed this plan for several years, and have never yet had reason to regret it. These who are not so situated should send for the catalogues of some of tho nursery firms advertised in our lead ing farm journals, select what they want and order; or, if they are uncer tain what varieties would do best in their vicinity, leave it to the judgment of the nurserymen, stating the soil, location and exposure, and ho will sel dom be disappointed in the results. FRANK LESLIE'S POPULAR MONTHLY FOR MARCH. The widespread interest in the com ing inaugural ceremonies at Washing ton gives timeliness and value to tho article entitled Ninety seven Years in the White House," which forms the leading feature of Frank Leslie's Popu lar Monthly for M&rch. It is written by Joanna R. Nicholls, and is profusely illustrated .with portraits and interior views reproduced from new photo graphs. Then there ia a vigorous de scription of the great Lincoln Inaugu ration, by Hon. A. Oakey Hall, who was a participant in the ceremonies. Thia ia illustrated with a reproduction of a sketch of the inauguration made at the time, and a picture of some of the costumes worn at the Inauguration Ball. There are many other interest ing and important articles in thia num ber, and some clever stories and poems.
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 9, 1897, edition 1
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