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il 1 "The Progfrcs tlTe Ftrtztt la a good paper far ibore the aver- d D053ibl7 "The Progres sive F&rmer is & good paper far above the average- -and possibly the best advertis ing medium ia N. C? Printers' Ink. t a- r- 1 1? 1 the best advertis ing medium in N. C' Printer!1 Ink, il M. THE IM)USTIAL AND EDUCATIONAL IMEEESTS OF OUB PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER (MSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY. Vol. 12. EALEIGH, If. C, JUF 13, 1897. ITo. 23 .- ft fB NATIONAL FARMERS ALLI AKCE AMD INDUSTRIAL UNION. president Mann Page, Brandon, Vice President O. Vincent, Indian-' r'etary Treasurer-W. P. Bricker, Oogan Station, Pa. LECTURERS. t p Sossamon, Charlotte, N. O. fiamlin V. Poore, Bird Island, Minn, p. H. Peirsol, Parkersburg, W. Va. NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Mann Page, Brandon Va. ; R. A. ath worth, Denver, Col.; John Bre SS W Va. ; A. B. Welch, New York; W.A. Gardner, Andrew's Settlement, Pa JUDICIARY. 3. A. Bouthworth, Denver, Colo. S W. Beck, Alabama. IL D. Davie, Kentucky. CP2T3 CAROLINA FARMERS' STATS ALLI ANCE. President Dr. Cyrus Thompson, VPrcaident-Jno. Graham,Ridge W ctary-Treasurer W. S. Barnes, a&T,B. Hoover, ElmCity, ?eward-Dr. V. N. Seawell, Villa-ao;aa-Bev. P. H. Massey, Dur- ia3r-keeper Goo. T. Lane, Greens- fcro, N. C. . Assistant Door-keeper J as. E. Lyon, Durham, N. C. TTTnUnM Bergeant-at-Arms A. D. K. Wallace, autherfordton, N. C. State Business Agent T. Ivey, Mills- boro, N. C. . . T-r-r Trustee Business Agency Fund W. JL Graham, Machpelan, N. C. XZ5CDTIVE OOMMITTES 03 THE NORTH CAEOLINA FARMERS' STATE ALLIANCE. A. P. Hileman, Concord, N. C. ; N. 0. English, Trinity, N. C.; James M. ttfiwborne. KinSion, N. C. HATS ALLIANCl JUDICIARY COMmTTEE. John Brady, Gatesville, N. C. ; Dr. J.F. Harrell, Whiteville, N. C; T. J. n 11 A J f uanaier. .cion. vt. 4srth Carolina Reform Press Association. t t. "&nmjLii- President : Marion Butler, Vice-President ; W. 8. PAPERS. s rliefi?-7 Farmer, SUte Organ. lUlelgh, :iticsi&n, J?.Rlwlgn frcury. Hickory, Home. EeAverDam, tie Populist, Lnmberton, Tie People's Paper, Charlotte, ishe Vestibule, , Concord, fie Plow-Boy. Wadesboro, "aroilna Watcnman, Salisbury, N.C. N. C N.C. N.C. N.C. N.C. N.C. N.C. N.C. N.C. Each of the above-named papers are tr.itprip&tn Uppt thp. list gtandirw on Crzi page and add others, provided kyj are diily elected. Any paper fail in in ftdnnrTLi e. the. Ocala nlatform Will dreppsd from the list promptly. Our tce can now see wnai paper ore tKbliihed in their interest. That man is wasting his substance who keeps a eteer after he is ready for the market." The good that eheep do the land in the destruction of weeds makes a small flock desirable even if used for no oth er purpose. Better to sell an inferior animal than to breed it, even if it must be sold at a sacr.fi 3e. It is a good thing to grade up stock, but a better to cull out all below par. A strand of barbed wire on top ttTS fence will often restrain breechy or un ruly cattle and horses better than, an additional board or rail, even if it does not make much show. Thin cut fruit where the crop is heavy. More money will be made from a small quantity of large, well grown and well colored fruit than from a large quantity of small, colorless fruit. The services of a finely bred ram or bull once a year will give results sufil cient to satisfy any farmer that his oneyiawell spent; and at present Prices of stock, the cost of introducing &ew blood into our flscka or herds ia not great. The "Farmer's Voice" says: "Let South America and Australia raise scrub ranch cattle and small sheep ; our Markets have changed. Live stock is sential to prosperity in agriculture, d to make it pay we must breed good stock which matures early. The second crop of Irish potatoes should be planted this month. This crop is one which it will pay to giv8 at tention to. The tubers thus grown are always in demand in the spring for feed for the first early crop, as they do bo much better than those raised early or brought from the North. In another column will be found full instructions tor raising this crop. Southern Plan ter.- WEEKLY DIGEST Of Experiment Station Bulletins. No. 78. THE COW PEA. Bulletin 40, of Mississippi station treats of the cow pea. As we have no record of the discovery of the wild form of this plant, its origin is un known. It has been cultivated for 3 000 years. There is even no record of its in troduction into this country, but it has been grown here for more than a cen tury. No plant varies so readily and rap idly with varying conditions of soil and climate, as the cow pea, and hence there are more varieties of this plant than of almost any other staple field crop. Borne are best for hay, others are best for grazing, and still others are best for softening and fertilizing land. When seed is very cheap and labor scarce and high, sow them broadcast, early in the season, using one to two bushels of seed per acre. But in most cases it pays to drill them with a com- planter in rows two or three feet amrt and give level shallow culturp with a five prong cultivator till thej shade the land. Use no hoes. The grass that grows in the drill will add to the quantity of hay. In this way one to two pecks of seed per acre are sufficient. For hay, plant Unknown, Clay, or Whippoorwill, not too early in the sea son. For pasture, or to be left on the ground oyer winter, plant Unknown Black or Red Ripper, and plant early as possible. For seed to use as feed, Black Clay, Unknown, and Speckled Crowder are best. For table use, the Rise, Small and Large Lady, Sugar and Blackeye are best. In all the Southern States, no other crop equals the cow-pea as a catch crop. Drilled between the corn rows at last working, or planted after oats, wheat, or early Irish potatoes, they make a fine crop of hay, rich grazing and enrich the soil for the next crop. On fairly good land cow peas need no fertilizing. On tight clays, stable ma nure or cotton seed give a heavier growth. On looser lands, acid phos phate and potash are beneficial, and if very poor in nitrogen, cotton seed meal may be added in small quantity at planting time to help the young plants t.U they get large enough to gather ni trogen from the air. On very poor land the growth will be po light as to give a small return for the labor of harvesting and curing, and "henco the most profitable uso to make of the crop i3 to plow it under in fall and sow winter oats. But when a hea vy growth is secured, the roots, stub ble, and shattered leaver will be sufil Cient to greatiyfmprove the land, and the tops should be harvested and used as stock feed and the resulting manure applied to the same or other land. In case of either, a light or heavy crop, grazing is advantageous as the result ing manure will be left on the land. At the Louisiana station it was found that a crop yielding two tons of hay, left in the soil with the roots, 6 pounds of phosphoric acid, 13 pounds of potash, and 21 pounds of nitrogen. The value of this plant for hay in creases very rapidly as the vines ap proach maturity, but if allowed to get ripe they are tough and indigestible Cut when the first pods begin to ripen. The hay is considered difficult to cure, but for four successive years the Miss issippi station has had perfect success by the following method: As soon as the morning dew is off, start the mow er and cut till noon. After the vines have wilted on top, run a tedder over them; turning the bottom ones up to the sun. The following afternoon put into cocks and if the weather is fair let these stand two or three days. If rained on, wait till the top ones dry and again run the tedder over them. A light rain does little damage to even cured hay, and a heavy rain of two or three days duration does not injure freshly cut vines. The essential points are to avoid handling the vines when wet with dew or tain, and to work rapidly. Always put in barn or in stack topped with hay and let them dry out a few weeks be fore baling. The feeling value of pea vine hay, ac cording to chemical analyses at the Connecticut station, as compared with that of other common feed stuffs, for productive acre of land is as follows: Oats, 40 bushels, $10 71; Timothy, 2 tons, $20 96 ; Red Clover, 2 tons. $22 40; Corn 50 bushels, $24 80; Cowpeas, tons, $25 20. When we consider that the pea crop leaves the land richer and in better mechanical condition than be fore it was produced, the value of this crop, especially in a rotation, is appa; rent. I The production of peas is exceedingly- variable, ranging from 6 to 30 bushels per acre. A very rank growth of vine may be attended by very little fruit age. The average is about 20 bushels. They may be left on the vines till all are ripe and then gathered by children quite rapidly. Threshing must be done with a flail, as all pea-thresUers thus far tested are unsatisfactory. Put in a tight barrel, pour two ounces bisul phide of carbon over the top and quick ly cover close, This will kill all wee vil. Examine occasionally and if wee vil begin to appear, give them another dose. The seed are often scarce and high, but range in price from 50 cents to $2 per bushel, usually,bringing $1 to $150. V , EXPERIMENTS WITH TOBACCO. Bulletin 47, of Hatch (Mass ) station, gives an account of a series of experi ments in tobacco culture carried on by that station conjointly with the Valley Tobacco Experiment Association, an organization of tobacco growers, in the valley of the Connecticut river. These experiments were carried on at three central points, for three successive years. It was found to be important to plant as early as possible in order to get the advantage of the winter moisture. It was also found that too much space be tween plants causes a coarse leaf, while too little interferes with leaf develop ment. Rows three feet apart and the plants two feet apart in the row gave best results. Frequent and shallow use of cultiva tor and hoe gave best results. Careless or daep cultivation always cnecKea growth. Fertilizers affect the quality much more than the quantity of the crop. Mineral fertilizers containing much salt makes tobacco burn poorly. Cut ton seed hull ashes and high grade sul phate of potash have been the most sat isfactory potash ""fertilizers used. " A good acid phosphoric acid. Cotton Wed meal, linseed meal, and castor-bean po mace are about equally rood sources of nitrogen but one pound of the nitro gen used should be in the form of nitrade of soda. If barnyard ma nure is ueed, it must be well rotted and must be supplemented by ascid phos phate and ashes or sulphate of potash, to balance its excess of nitrogen. POTATO MACHINERY. Bulletin 62, of Minnesota station, re views some tests of new varieties of Irish potatoes, and discusses and illus trates a large number of machines for cutting, planting, digging and sorting potatoes Several years observation of variety tests have shown that, to make the comparisons fair and instructive, it is necessary to have all the seed used of equal scundne-38 and vigor. If seed of one variety i3 firm and sound, while that of another has been exhausted by continuous sprouting, no just compari son can be made. Again, the place from which seed comes may or may not make a differenca. In most parts of Minnesota, potatoes may be grown for years without any deterioration of seed ; but in that part of the State where the experiment station is located, ail vari eties deteriorate after the second year, and fresh seed must be brought from elsewhere. Again, if seed of one vari ety carries with it the germs of scab or blight while the other is free from taint of disease, the comparison will be mis leading. Hence, at this station great care is exercised to secure seed of the different varieties as nearly perfect in health and vigor and as uniform in de velpment as possible. Of extra early new varieties tested, Ohio Jr., stood first, Vaughan 2 J, Van Ornam's Earliest 3d, Burpee's Extra Early 4th. Of second earlies, Bovee was 1st, Good News 2d, Polaris 3d, Early Fortune 4th. Of later kinds, Rose No. 9 stood 1st, Enormous 23, and Early Cyclone 3d. Of latest kinds, Country Gantieman stood 1st, Summit 2d, Irish Cobbler 3d, andPfizstaker 4 Blight was measurably controlled by spraying with Bordeaux mixture, and scab by soaking the seed in corrosive sublimate solution. While potato growing has been largely over done for two years past and low prices have caused many to abandon extensive planting, the crop is so staple and so well adapted to the soils and climate- of Minnesota that it will continue to be an important factor in many farm rotations. For . several years the station has been asking manufacturers of potato machinery to submit their implements to comparative tests at the station. In most instances, the manufacturers have responded by donating machines for permanent use and exhibition at the station. The collection now con sists of more than $60Q worth, and when these machines are put to work side by side, farmers have flocked in to witness the test to the number of 2,000. The bulletin gives cuts, "descriptions, and prices of those machines that have done satisfactory work, but makes no mention of the others. All tests have been made under averag9 field condi tions, in many instances resort for this purpose being had to potatoes fields on farms in the neighborhood of the sta tion. If a machine failed to do good work, tha manufacturer was notified and his instructions were followed carefully. Of potato cutters, mention is made of the Ai pin wall, $10; Colgrove, $8; Prairie City, $2 50. Of hand planters, the Acme, $1; Del more,, $1.50; and Colgrove, $1.50 are described and illustrated. An active man can plant one to three acres a day with one of these. Horse planters are of two classes those operated by one man and those requiring two. The latter are most re liable. A simple and good planter used in Minnesota is made by attaching a joint of stove pipe to the rear of a sulky plow so that the pipe will guide the seed pieces to the bottom of the furrow just behind and almost under the plow. A careful boy to drop the seed pieces into the pipe and a good driver operate it perfectly. The Aspinwall planter opens the fur row, drops seed and fertilizer and cov era all at one time. Price J$70, or $60 without fertilizer attachment. The Deere does same work as Aspin wall, except fertilizer. Price $60. Both operate with one man but do good work. The Improved Robbins, price $55, and Soofield, prica $36, both do good i work, but requf iwo men to operate . Potato Diggers come still higher. The good ones shown in this bulletin are the Dowden, $100; Hoover, $110; Improved Hallock, $20; Standard, $75. The potato sorters shown are Dow den and Hoover, each $15. The bulletin suggests that the farm ers of a neighborhood might buy a set of potato implements in co operation. FOREIGN WHEAT. Bulletin 141, of Michigan station, treats of tests of some foreign varieties of wheat at that station. Ten cross bred varieties were receiv ed from the originator in Australia; ten varieties came from Russia, and six from Germany. The bulletin gives names and de scriptions of all these wheats, and their behavior the first year is noted, but the reader is cautioned that their merits and faults cannot become fully known till they have been tried several years. A circular was sent to 200 Michigan wheat growers requesting them to name the ten best varieties of wheat for that state. Oaly 130 replied, and 92 of them include both Red Clauson and White Clauson; 34 name Jones' Winter Fife, 26 Diehl Mediterranean, 35 Nigger, 25 Poole, and no other va riety receives as many as 20 mentions. Red Clauson has stood first for two years in comparison with 53 of the mcst popular varieties at the Canadian eta tions. It has a hard, stiff straw, beard less head, larger at top than bottom, a brown chaff, large, dull red, rather soft berry. It is medium early. Its only superiority to White Clauson is in the st;ffer straw. The Southern Farmer says: When threshing the wheat and oat crops, see that proper care is taken of the straw and chaff. These are too valuable as feed and for bedding for stock to be wasted, as they often are. Have the straw carefully stacked as near to the barn and cattle sheds as possible, so that it may be convenient for feeding during tha winter, and have the stacks well topped up and finished off with marsh hay or rough grass, so that they will shed the rain. Let the chaff be put into the barn or be stored in pens and covered with straw. Certainly the dog has been a disas trous element in the sheep industry. The tariff may temporarily help the wool grower, but he must get the busi ness on a better basis than that, for a tariff will not last always. Whatever the price of wool may ever be, jdo not neglect the mutton side. HQBTICULTUBE BERRY BULLETIN, JUNE. Will it pay to continue strawberry beds more than one year? That de pends much on the condition of the bed at the close of the fruiting season. If the ground is rich, the rows well filled out, the crop light, and nearly free from grass and weeds, it will then usually pay to continue one, two or more years. If, however, plants are exhausted by a large yield, and grass and weeds have been allowed to grow, it will ba more work to place old beds in condition than to prepare new ones. If to be discontinued, plow at once and sow some late crop for feed or fer tility. To renew old beds, mow off plants; as soon as dry burn over, reduce rows tor six or eight inches in width with spade or cultivator. Remove all weeds, every particle of grass, apply a liberal dressing of fine manure, cultivate and keep clean same as with new beds. Right here is one of the great bene fits of keeping new beds perfectly clean. It saves a large amount of labor when beds are continued more than one year. Old beds produce berries a little ear lier, and the second year is often bet ter than the first, when treated in this manner. The bearing canes of raspberries and blackberries should be removed imme diately after fruiting. Cut out all small weak canes, leaving only five or six in the hill. The removal of old cmes leaves no hiding place for worm or bug, or eggs of same. It also allows the freecircu lation of air and the sun penetrates the canter of the bush, making canes strong and vigorous with a good development of fruit buds for the following reason. The removal and burning of all dead, weak and surplus growth is the best preventive against disease. In berry growing, remember that good work for two seasons is necessary. First, the most important, to grow, develop and mature strong healthy eahea, vines imd bud for next ssa3onst fruit. Second, to mature the fruit, which depends very much on the care and growth of the previous year. Favorable seasons for fruit are of lit tle avail if tha preparatory work has beefi neglected. , . M. A. Thayer. Sparta, Wis. The best soil for the raspberry is a warm, rich loam ; however, fairly good land of any kind, if well underd rained, will produca good crops. Prepare the soil by breaking at a fair depth and pulveriza well ; and if the soil needs it, broadcast and work in when fining the soil some well rotted or compost ma nure. Cross off at about six feet each way, if the ground admits cultivation both ways, and plant at the intersec tions. Some cultivators, however, where land is scarce or dear, plant about six feet one way and only three tbe other, which does very well, only the cultivation admitted is not quite so good nor the fruit gathering so' conve nient as in the other way. In setting, the plants should be well and firmly set, drawing the soil up well and firm ly about them, which better secures the life of the plants and against dis turbance by winds. To plant in the evening is preferable. -Southern Farm er. THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF A TOAD. The Hatch Experiment Station of the State College at Amherst has just is sued bulletin 46, which is on "The Hab its, Food and Economic Value of the American Toad." The bulletin is the work of A. H Kirkland, assistant en tomologist to the gypsy moth commit tee. Mr. Kirkland finds that insects constitute 77 per cent, of the food of a toad. To show the number of worms which a toad destroys he states that in the stomach of a single toad were found 56 army worms, in another 65 gypsy moth caterpillars, and in a third 37 tent caterpillars. He records an ex periment where in three hours time a toad had consumed between 30 and 35 full grown celery worms. He found by examination of a large number of toads that 8? per cent, of the insects they destroy are injurious to cultiva ted crops, or in other ways obnoxious to man. A toad would devour, in the months of May. June and July, the following: 3 312 ants, 2.208 cutworms, 1,840 myropoda, 2,218 sour bugs,. 368 weevils, and 368 carabids. Of these, 9,933 are injurious insccta, and 3S4 are beneficial insects. Mr. Kirkland then figures out the amount in dollars and cents which a toad may be worth. Confining his attention to but one ele ment of the food, the cut worms, and assuming that ten per cent, of these in sects would have been killed by the carabid beetles, it still leaves 1,988 cut worms to the toad's credit; and .if the damage the cut worms would have caused be estimated at one cent per worm, a figure which gardners and to bacco growers will probably consider ridiculously low, it will be seen that a toad might destroy cut worms which would otherwise have destroyed crops to the extent of $19.88 Ex. LIVE STOCK. LIVE STOCK ITEMS. WOUNDS OF LIVE STOCK. The treatment of wounds, cuts and abrasions in horse and cattle practice has undergone an entire change du ring the past decade. Farmers very rarely ask the storekeeper for "green" or "black" oils, digestive ointments and cure-alls nowadays, and the more re cent antiseptics, carbolic acid and io doform, are not used so recklessly. Farmers have been taught a more ra tional course of treatment for their an imals in general, or what may be termed up to-timea treatment. Concerning wounds of all kinds, when the skin is broken, the parts should b8 thoroughly cleaned either with warm water or cold, the former preferred; using cis tileorpure carbolic soap. When this is done a solution of bichloride of mer cury, one grain to 1,000 grains of wa ter, is the strength; that is about two drachms to the gallon of water, but it is better to have the chemists make the solution for it.should be properly dis olved. Shis solution should be sprayed over the wound above and below. When done, a sheet of medicated abiorbent cotton should be bandaged over the part carefully and left undisturbed for three or four days, the tima depending, of course, cnths nature ot th3jn;piTY. .if Then it should come oil .and ttiz parts should be ?gain well cleansed and the same treatment repeated, using the fresh medicated cotton and fresh ban dages, says, an exchange. Much earlier- than when under the old ointment or grease treatment, the sores will be found healing up nicely, and this comes about through not in terfering with nature's reparation pro cess, but just cleansing the parts and applying an antiseptic that will de stroy any germ that may have lodged in the sores to do mischief, whilst the medicated absorbent cotton (f. e, cot ton that has been treated with the bi chloride and dried) keaps germs from gubbiug xuitu tug wuuuu ur euro Ulter- ward. Nature can be assisted only by making the conditions as favorable as -possible for nature to work. The old method of employing rancid ointments retarded instead of assisting nature in healing. SALT FOR DAIRY COWS. Salt is universally recognfzed as of prime importance to farm animals, and especially to milch cows. Rock salt is not as much in favor as formerly. It is a good plan to have loose salt where the animals may have daily access to it. Prof. Robertson, of the Ontario ag ricultural department, says that salt to the amount of a quarter of a pound a day should be added to the ration of a milch cow. He says, that other con ditions being equal, a cow fed this amount of salt daily will yield 14 to 17 per cent, more and richer milk than if deprived of salt; that in hot weather milk will keep sweet several hours longer if salt is a part of the daily ra tion. HOGS AND DISEASE. Hogs in a pen or email lot are lees subject to infection when cholera ia ia the neighborhood than thosa which are allowed to run at large or in the fields. It is consequently advisable, when there is reason to fear this disease, to keep the hogs in a small inclosure, which should be as dry as possible, and disinfected once a week with air Blacked lima or a 5 per cent, solution of carbolic acid. The 8 wine grower should uso every effort to prevent the introduction of the contagion of theco disaassd upon his premises. If ha pur chases hogs from a distance or eenda his own animals for exhibition at tho fairs, he should insist upon their being transported in clean cars, which have been disenfected if they have previ ously carried ewine. Western How
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
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July 13, 1897, edition 1
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