Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / May 25, 1897, edition 1 / Page 1
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'The Progrcs ilre F Winer is a good paper far above the aver age cd possibly tbe best advertis ing medium in N. Printer Ink, "The Presto give Farmer is a good paperfar above the aver age -and possibly the best advertis ing medium in II. C." Printers' Ickv THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OE STATU Pouci. Vol. 12. RALEIGH, II. C, HAY 25, 1897. Ho. 16 a 1 X .f? H in j ; '---.- , . . fflS NATIONAL, FARMERS' ALLI ANCE AND INDUSTRIAL UNION. president Mann Page, Brandon, Vice President G. Vincent, Indian ipf.ilis, Ind. Secretary Treasurer W. P. Bricker, Oogan Station, Pa. LECTURERS. J. P. 8oseam6n, Charlotte, N. C. Hamlin V. Poore, Bird Island, Minn. P. H. Peirsol, Parkersburg, W. Va. NATIONAL SXSUUTlVti COMMITTEE. Mann Page, Brandon, Va.; R. A. South worth, Denver, Col.; TJohn Bre aig, W. Va. ; A. B. Welch, New York; W. A. Gardner, Andrew's Settlement, Pa. JUDICIARY. &, A. Southworth, Denver, Colo. B. W. Beck, Alabama. XL D. Davio, Kentucky. CAROLINA FARMEHS' 8TAT3 ALLI ANCE. president Dr. Cyrus Thompson,1 gichlancla, n. u. Vice-President Jno. Graham,Ridge ay, N.C. Secretary-Treasurer W. S. Barnes, aillsboro, N. O. Lecturer J. T. B. Hoover, Elm City, 5 0. Steward Dr. V. N. Seawell, Villa- aow, N. 0. Chaplain Bev. P. H. Massey, Dur ham, N. O. Door-keeper Geo. T. Lane, Greens- :oro, N. C. Assistant Door-keeper Jas. E. Lyon, Durham, N. C. Sergeant-at-Arms A. D.K. Wallace, Sutherfordton, N. C State Business Agent T. Ivey, Hiils- cro, N. O. Trustee Business Agency Fund W. iL Graham, Machpelah, N. C. IXBCUCTVB COMSnTTES OT TOT NORTH CAROLINA FARMERS' STATE ALLIANCE. A. F. Hileman, Concord, N. 0. ; N. a English, Trinity, N. C. ; James M. ilewborna, Kins .on, N. G.- EA73 ALLIANCa JUDICIARY OOIDUTrOL John Brady, Gatesville, N. C. ; Dr. .P. Harrell, Whitoville, N. C; T. J. Candler. Acton. N. O. ?'frth Carolina Helena Press Astociatlca. Queers J. L. Earmey, President; isrion Bullcr, Vice-President ; & ijKws, Secretary, f " 7 - PAPiEIiS. ----- '2TKEZlva Farmer. State Organ. Raleigh, kacasl&n, Raleign, ercurv. Hickory, N.C. N.C. N.C. N.C N.C. N.C. N.C. N.C. N.C. N.C. uttler, -;ir Home, le Populist, i"ae People's Paper, r le Vestibule, lie Plow-Boy. : irolina Watchman. Whitakers, Beaver Dam, Ltimberton, Charlotte, Concord, Wadeeboro, gaiiabury. Each of the above-named papers are qu,zstedio beep the list standing on ie jlrst page and add others, provided ty ate duly elected. Any paper fail y to advocate the Ocala platform will 5 &c$ped from the list promptly. Our , irjle can now see what papers are SU&hed in their interest. A pis; ehould make a pound a day ' r every day of it3 life. If it dees this "i will be ready for the market at any t'ne after it ia eix months old. If we isire the lean pork we must begin to '-..Itiv&Le the grazing hcg. It 13 calculated that one ecre of 3ver will produce 800 pounds of pork. ' properly pastured with eight good, v.rifty, growiDg shoats. In what other could it be made to pay better, A how could pork be made more ".eapl; ? It ia net the land, but the man, ually, at fault when the crops ere For, and the man ia to be credited ' tien they are large and profitable. It very certain that the success of a sn's work depends upon the amount intelligence possessed by the man : mself. A. few papers of herb seeds, such as ge, parsley and the like, should be and in every farmer's garden. They e easily grown, and a homo supply M noi only save paying out a good &1 cf money in the course of the y ear. it the surplus may bo sold at rates iich leave a good profit. The demand - not large in any neighborhood, but ? p the amount cf land and labor re ; lied few garden products pay as Tna farmer who works so many 'Urs, and so hard with his hands, that ; i ha3 no time to read and, add to what -J learns by hiso wn experience, the ex- xienco of others engaged in the same isices;?, will be sure to work for very r all pay. There is no danger of any ; in knowing too much about his busi ' $9, bus there is daDger that, while he -' workiog with all his might, othere J,lU know a great deal more than he a, and he will be left behind, in the ' e afcer the dollar, that is the reward J the labor directed by the knowledge ined, by retding the experience of here. TO PROTECT MELON VINES FROM THE DEPREDATIONS OF INSECTS. Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer. Prepare eorne small beds six to eight inches square in the melon patch or in the immediate vicinity thereof by dig ging the ground and supplying a proper quantity of rich earth. Sow melon seed thereon, a seed for about every equare inch, cover with rich earth, and use as a final covering some well-rotted chip manure. A handful of hen manure should be sprinkled on top of the melon hills. The insects will prefer the tender plants of the beda to those of the hills. The hen manure will have a tendency to drive them to the beds, as they do not like its presence. The chip manure furnishes an additional attraction, as they can readily hide beneath it. When the beds become well charged with in sects apply suddenly about a peck of dirt, tramp down and that settles it A board placed over a portion of the beds, say one or two, may provide an additional attraction. " The insects can soon be exterminated. Other beds may be sown a week after the first. Bryan Tyson. THE BUSINESS FARMER. The business farmer is to day the one who eucceeds where a dozen others make a bare living. The business farmer knows what his resources are, and how far these are effset by his liabilities. The business farmer knows almost to a dollar how much his corn crop or his cotton crop is costing him when ready for market. Ho knows whether this and that cow in his dairy is a source of profit through a liberal flow of milk testing well in butter fat, compared with the cost of producing the product, or is "eating her head off" in c xpense of labor and feed. He keeps posted regarding market conditions; not only for the moment, and in his local town, but in the broad sense of the world's prob&ble supplies and re quirements. In a word, the manage ment of the farm is conducted as thor oughly and as - intelligently as is -he business of the backer, the merchant or the manufacturer. Compare this position with the ridiculous advice given by an esteemed subscriber who writes us that, in his opinion, to sue cessfully raise and market a crop the farmer should 'first study carefully a commission merchant's price lidt of the previous year, selecting those products which then commanded the highest price and then act accordingly." It is the up to date farmer who finds a prefic on his ledger at the end of the year; not the one who looks backward rather than forward. Farm and Home. YOUNG CLOVER. So many praises are given by most agricultural writers to young clover as a very valuable and nutritious feed that it becomes necessary to distinguish clearly what is referred to. The really valuable young clover is the second crop growth which springs up after the first cutting in June. It is at this time that the clover roots begin to form the nodules which decompose air in the soil and make use of its nitrogen. This nitrogen, apparently, to some extent, goes into the top growth, though this may only be from the increase of nitro gen in the soil, and its absorption by the roots through rains. The later this young clover is allowed to grow up to the time of seed forming, the more nu tritious the herbage will be. At seed ing time the clover stalks become hard and fibrou3, detracting from their value as feed. Early in the spring young clover is less palatable and nutritious than are any of the grasses. Its roots are strik ing downward towards the subsoil the second spring of the clover growth. So there is less plant food for the clover roots to get early in the season than there is for grass roots, which run mostly near the surface, and are quick ly warmed by the bright spricg sun shine. This is not a theory. The cow, if given a chance, will make a test that no one can dispute. If there is any old grass pasture in the field, the cow will eat that rather than clover, until the time that clover comes into head, and then will leisurely snip off the sweet blossoms, leaving the lower part of the clover untouched. It is. this which makes clover unsuitable for pasturing, unless the object be to l;t a great amount of clover Btalks go back to the soil as manure. Neither in this early growth of clover of much value as a fertilizer if plowed under. It is the nitrogenous substance which makes it nutritious for the cow that most increases its manurial valuo In fact, all through the second year's growth the richness of the soil where clover is grown increases. This is probably from the extension of clover roots into the subsoil, and also fx cm the decomposition of air in the soil, which goes on at increasing ratio until frost checks clover growth in the falL American Cultivator. A NEW FODDER CROP. The soja bean is one of the newer fodder plants that are cot sufficiently appreciated, according to The Ameri can Agriculturist, authority for the following: The soja bean is a legumi nous or clover like plant, which seems to posses great facility for getting its nitrogen from the air. The dry mattery in either the green fodder or straw of the soja bean contains twice as much fat and protein as in fodder corn, while the grain is hardly exceeded ia richness by cottta soed meal. Indeed, it is prob ably true that "these beans are he richest known vegetable substance," and as they can be raised in any climate or soil tEat will mature com, this crop enables the Northern farmer to raise concentrated feed instead of buying it. The medium green variety is best for forage, being leafy and succulent. In fairly fertile soil it will produce 10 to 12 tons of green fodder per acre. It should be sown in drills 2 feet apart, using 1 to H bushels of seed per acre. Sow about corn planting time and cul tivate freiy early in the season. It will produce a valuable fodder for stall feeding in August or early September, to be fed green or put into the silo in the proportion of one part soja bean to two parts of corn. Such silage is a balanced feed for milk cows. The black variety is a good fodder plant, but not equal io the green. Both kinds will ripen seed wherever the larger kinds of corn mature. Owing to the wonderful root development of tbe medium green variety, it has an admirable effect on the Eoil when the stubble is plowed un. der. Like tha action of alfalfa oiilci adapted to that crop, the soja bean brings to the upper strattaof soil plant food from below. GROWING BIG ONIONS. The New Method as Practiced by a Min nesota Farmer. A contributor to The National Stock man kand Farmer, writing from Free born county, Minn., says: Of all the large varieties of onions, the Pr 'z2taker has given me best re sults, but it requires a long season torn full development. In cur cold latitude the safest way is to start the plants un der glass early enough to have them of good size by the time the ground is in condition. Transplanting so many plants may seem like a big job, and it if?, and yet it is scarcely more than are the fLsS hand weeding and hceing where seed is sown in the field. There is a great gain, too, in having well filled rows of evenly distributed plants No seed drill will place the seed exactly right it leaves either too many or too few. Some of the Beeds fail to grow, and the plants come up uneven, but the transplanting plan gives evtn rows. Onion plants are hardy enough to recover from the effects of transplant ing. If the soil about the plants is dry when they are taken up, the thread like roots are apt to break off close to the bulb, To prevent this, the soil should be wet until it is soft before the plants are taken up. Before beginning to transplant I have the ground thor oughly fitted and all marked off in long straight rows. Then several hun dred plants are taken to the field at a time and kept thoroughly wet during the work of setting out, which is done with a sharp, fiat stick or dibble. I set the plants nearly eix inches apart. I used to set at four inches, but preferto give plenty of room. Even if one gets on an average a six ounce onion (many single bulbs weigh between one atd two pound?) for every half foot of space, that will give a yield of 400 bushels per acre when rows are 18 inches apart. The time to transplant is wnen the soil is moist, as it is a day or two after rain. One can then do so much better work and do it so much faster that it pays to wait and watch for the right time. When the surface soil is dry and loose, it is difficult to make suitable holes in it. When the dibble is drawn out, the soil falls in and half fills the hole. Then if the plant is inserted its roots coil up into a knot and are in dry soil and too near the surface. THE CANADA FARMER'S CREED. The Canadian agriculturists have been putting their ideas into concrete form, and at a recent convention put out the following creed, which may be read with profit by their American neighbors: "We believe in small farms and thor ough cultivation; we believe that the soil lives to eat, as well as the owner, and ought, therefore, to be well ma nured ; we believe in going to the bot torn of things, and, therefore, deep plowing, and enough of it, all the bet ter if it be subsoil plow; we believe in large crops which leave the land better than they found it, making both the farm and the farmer rich at once ; we believe that every farm should own a good farmer ; we believe that the fer tilizer of any soil is a spirit of industry, enterprise and intelligence; without these, lime, gypsum and guano would be of little uec; we believe in good fenced, good farm houses, good orch ards and good children enough to gather the fruit; we believe in a clean kitchen, a neat wife in it, a clean cup board, a clean dairy, and a clean con science; we believe that to ask a man's advice is not stooping, but of much benefit; believe that to keep a place for everything, and everything in its place, saves many a step and is pretty sure to lead to good tools and to keeping them in order; we believe that kind ness to stock, like good shelter, is sav ing of fodder; we believe that it is a good thing to keep an eye on experi ments, and note all, good and bad ; we believe that it is a good rule to soil grain when it is ready ; we believe in producing the best butter and cheese, and marketing it when it is ready." Much labor in cultivation may be saved by making corn rows straight. It is very hard to hold the cultivator so as to miss hills that are alternately a few inches cut of plumb line one side or the other." The result is that in try ing to save the hills it is impossible to cultivate the soil as it ehould be or to cpke nil thi weeds. With the cora in a straight ime earth mav be drawn from the stalk and thrown back again so as to destroy all the weeds while they are EmalL It requires not only a true eye in the driver, but an active, strong horse to draw the marker straight across the field. It is not every man or horse that can ever be taught to do it. These who can should be paid extra for the job, for their work is really skilled labor. LOWER INTEREST ON FARM MORTGAGES. Refunding operations are being con ducted upon an enormous ecale by pub lie and private corporations. The Lake Shore Railroad has recently replaced its 7 per cent, bonded indebtedness with a new issue of bends bearing only Si per cent, and running 100 years, saving in interest nearly $2,000,000 per year on the total issue of $50,000,000. The New York Centr.nl Railroad proposes to refund its $70,000,000 of 4, 5, 6 and 7 per cent, bonds by hundred year 3pi5r cent., thus saving over a million del lars a year in interest, or enough to pay an fxtra dividend of over 1 per cent, on the capital stock. Other rail road managers will probably attempt to imitate this example. The Financial Chronicle prints a list of railroads whose bonds bearing 5 to 7 per cent, interest amount to over $700,000,000. It refunded at an average of 4 per cent, it shows that the savings of these cor-, porations would be upward of $20, 000,000 a year. Now the farmer's bonds (that is, the mortgages on his real estate) ought to be refunded. The average interest cn them is over 7 per cent., ranging from 5 per cent, at the Blast to over 20 per cent, at the West and South. The total amount of these farm mortgages is about a billion dollars. If they could be refunded at an average of 5 per cent , the 2 per cent, thus saved would put $20,000,000 into the farmers' peckets every year. Refunded at an average of 4 per cent , the saving would be $30,000,000 a year. Every mortgaged farmer can see at once what it would mean to him to reduce by one-fourth or one third the interest he now pays. The necessity for such refunding operations ia even greater with the farmer than with the railroad. Farm prices and profits have declined quite as much if not more than traneporta tion rates. The farmer has economized to the utmosfto meet this cut in his receipts ; he has probably reduced his expenses in even a larger proportion than railroads have. Now the railroad goes still further, and is saving froxa one-fourth to one half the interest cn its debts, thus enabling good properties to earn fair dividends on honest capit alizations. But the farmer has not been able to reduce the rate of interest he pays on his mortgage, and is thus deprived of the saving in interest that in many cases would represent the farmer's sole profit. The nig refunding schemes above re ferred to- and others that have ahready been carried out, and the low rate of interest upon National, State and mu nicipal bonds of undoubted character, show that capital is to be satisfied in future with 3 and 5 per cent, on the same securities that formerly paid 4 to 8 per cent. This means, if it means anything, that the capitalist (whether he has $100 or $1,000,000) believes that the c ay of big returns on safe invest ments has gone not to return for many years, if ever. This is equivalent to saying that large profits in all ordinary business are to be no more. And this means, should it so prove, that farm ing, like other industry, must be man aged on a hard pan basis. Consequently it is even more imperative to the farmer to refund his mortgage at a lower rate than it is to a corporation, State or city. The latter can't afford to pay present comparatively high rates of in terest, but if they are obliged to do eo, they can raise the money or reduce dividends. But it is a vital necessity with the farmer too often a matter of life and death. He must either reduca his interest or lose his farm. Such a fate is even worse for society in general than it is for the individual alone. Other things being equal, the interest rate depends upon the security. But the mortgaged farms of America, carrying as they do an average debt of only about one third their value, and being the basis of all prosperity, nay, of existence itself, are certainly as good security as the best railroad properties. Indeed, American railways as a class are mortgaged for all they are worth their 5,500 million bonded debts ex cseds by $500,000,000 their capital stock, an3 three quarters of their escek tloesn't pay dividends. The mortgege indebt edness on all the farms in the United States is hardly one fifth the amount of the railroad bonds, and the margin between debt and value is three times as large on farms as on railroads. The obstacle to the refunding of farm mortgages lies not in the lack of secur ity, but in the absence of a feasible plan and machinery for carrying it out. Now a plan can be devised to ac comphsh this refunding of farm bonds. It must be devised Farm and Home. The duties cn farm products in the Dingley tariff bill pass for humor all right. But to take a serious view of the situation, it is apparent that the politicians and the monopolists think they can deceive the poor farmer one more time, at least. The truth is, that the farmers of this country export a hundred dollars' worth of products to possibly one dollars' worth imported here from other countries, and the benefits cf that portion of the Dingley bill will be in about the same propor tion100 chauces against the farmer to one in his favor. But, then, lots of farmers voted for it. SUBSOILING. Our ordinary prairie and bluff soil, as plowed year after year to a depth of four or five inches, becomes impacted just below the shallow, mallow surface by the treading of the horses in the furrow and the pressure of the plow in rolling the furrows until it becomes almost as impervious as hardpan, writes Prof. J. L. Budd. Sudsoiling to a depth of from twelve to fifteen icches gives a deep bed, that holds moisture even during a trying season. During the past 25 yeara we have practiced a method of subsoiling in garden, potato field nursery which has given remark able results with little increased cost. We subsoil deeply under the rows only, just prior to planting. With this plan, the summer rains run under the rows, and, if the fall is considerable, it per colatf s from the softened trenches un der the intervening spaces and eof tens the whole surface. As an instance, in planting potatoes in garden or field, we mark out the rows with the subsoil lifter, running it under each row to a depth of from 12 to 15 inches. On this deep, mellow seed bed the seed is dropped, and pressed down by stepping on the pieces. The pressure of the foot sinks the seed down in the mellow fur row four or five inches, permitting per fect covering with a harrow. Over these trenches we have grown 300 bushels per ecre, when on untrenched soil the yield was lec3 than 100 bushels. THE DAIBY. CARE OF CALVES. CorreeiKmdeiice 0f The Progressive Farmer. um id0ea notPay t0 tura calves ouV have day8 Bnd nights ar0 warm 1 " flfln Ives put in an outside pen JfSL that th8y actaUy lost flesh and strength which it took months to recover. Qiite frequently cold storms come on in May hen tho Cftlf fa apt to take cold. if overtaken by such a storm, the calf ouRht to be put into the barn at once. The minute a calf bagins to shiver it is going backward. Scours then follow and loaa is certain! " Whole milk is not so wholesome a food for the growing calf as part ekim milk to which a handful of shorts cr oil Sweet milk tends towards fatness. We do not care so much for flesh in the calf which is intended for the dairy as we do for milk giving characteristics'. These may be developed, yes, must bo brought out while the calf 'is young by a liberal diet which shall give the ani mal, vitality and capacity to eat and digest the ration which will be given it lateron. " There are many nowadays who pro fess to give us tbe key note to succes in dairying. There ia many a "lo here I" and 'lo there!" In most of these cal culations, the cow is placed first. This I believe to be wrong, decidedly wrong. First and foremost stands, and must stand the man. ' Give a man who pes sesses the true instinct of a dairyman, and success will follow. Such a man will necessarily soon gather about him a good herd and good .mechanical ap pliances. He will develop his cows and work up a good market. - This done, what'remama needful to ensure success? Rainbows are beautiful. Chasing them passes away the idle hour. But we have no use for them in dairying. Some men spend half their lives work ing up some theory only to cast it aside at the end. It is well to be ambitious, but let it be along practical lines. Butter which is put up in attractive form almost sells self. "If. offered tar eaie ia. a stained, leaky tub, with a soiled and discolored rag over the top of it, the buyer almost instinctively turns away from it. Butter is made to eat. If we "epleen" against it on ac count of - its unfavorable appearance, what comfort do we derive from its usd after it reaches the tablet It pays above all things to be neat with butter. E. L. Vincent. Broome Co., N. Y. HONOR TO WHOM HONOR IS DUE. Last week there stepped into tho Dairyman sanctum a very bright, in teresting lady, who introduced herself, in a modest manner, as Mrs. Gweniil lian Halladay, formerly Miss Morgan, of Wales. We at once recognized the lady as one of the very noted butter makers of the United Kingdom, and enjoyed, very much, an hour's talk with her. Mrs. Halladay is now a resident of Wisconsin, having married here. She is an intelligent illustration of what a plucky, intelligent girl can make of herself, in skill and reputation, in the study of dairy science and prac tice. She was raised on a dairy farm in the mountains of Wales. After winning first priza at thBrit sh Dairy Farmer's Association at the Interna tional Contest, London, in 1886, she was employed by Prof. Long, in Lon don, to make butter, from which the House of Commons was supplied, and also as a teacher of butter making. She was next employed in the Island of Jersey, to start a creamery, where she remained seven months. She was Alert Amnlovprl tia a t&nrha et tttiffAw making in England and Wales, for four years, during which time she re ceived a silver medal, and a certificate signed by Queen Victoria, as President of the Royal Agricultural Society, of England. This certificate, Mrs. Halla day exhibits with commendable pride. Among the other trophies of her ekill, is a diamond ring, appropriately in scribed, a gift of public spirited citizens of Wales, for the honor she had con ferred on that portion of the Kingdom. Hoard's Dairyman. In many parts of Europe the goat is regarded as a very important animal. Its milk is there highly valued, and considering the small amount of feed it requires to support life, the number cf goats that can be kept on tho eixno herbage will, perhaps, supply as much milk as if the same feed had been fed to co ws. But the greatest Talue of the goat is for pasturing rocky land thst cattle will starve on.
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 25, 1897, edition 1
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