Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / Dec. 21, 1897, edition 1 / Page 1
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"The Progres glTe Farmer is a rood paper far tbore the aver age and possibly the best advertise lag medium in N. C?' Printers' Ink. 'The Prorca ive Farmer is a good paper fax above the aver age -and possibly the best advertis ing medium in II. C? Printers' Ink. THE IIDUSTEIAL AND EDUCATIONAL KTTEEESTS OF OUE PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OP STATE POLICY. ... f j Vol. 12. RALEIGH, II. C, DECEMBER 21, 1897. No. 47 r.V t; MlOGlESSIYE h N " mCR AND INDUSTRIAL UNION. rrssident Mann Pago, Brandon, fa. Vice President & Vincent, Indian apolis, Ind. Secretary Treasurer W. P. Bricker, Oogan Station, Pa. LECTURERS. J. P. 8osaamon. Charlotte, N. O. Hamlin V. Poore, Bird Island, Minn. F. EL Peirsol, Parkersburg, W. Va. NATIONAL CXXOUTIVE COMMITTEE. pMann Page, Brandon, Va. ; John Bre ug, W. Va. ; A. B. Welch. New York; V. A- Gardner, Andrew's Set tlement, Pa. JUDICXAEY. 3. W. Beck, Alabama. H. P. Davie, Kentucky. 50RTH OAEOLI3A ffARMEM' STATE ALLI ANCE. President Jno. Graham, Ridgeway, N. O. " Vice-President W. B. Upchurch, Morriaville, N. O. Secretary Treasurer J.T. B.Hoover, Hillsboro. N. O. State Business Agent T. B. Parker, Hillsboro, N. O. Lecturer Dr. V. N. Seawell, Villa now, N. O. Assistant Lecturer W. B. Brick house, Mackt-v Ferry, N. O. Chaplain W. 8. Mercer, Moyock, N.C. m Door-keeper Geo. T. Lane, Greens boro. N. C. assistant Door-keeper Jas. E. Lyon, D irham, N. O. -ergeant-at-Arma A. D. K. Wallace, Raleigh, N. C. trustee Business Agency Fund W. L Graham. Maehpelah, N. C. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE SOUTH CAR it:A ARMEES STATU ALLIANOJL J. W. Denmark, Chairman, Raleigh, N.O- John Graham, Ridgeway, N. C. W. B. Fuming, Ridgeway, N. O. A. F Hiiemnn, Concord, Nf. C. Dr. J. B Alexander, Charlotte, N. C Thcm&e J Odb&m, Teer, N. C. STATE ALLlANCa JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. Dr. J. E Person, Pikeville, N. C. W. S Barnes. Raleigh, N. C. T. Ivey, Hillsboro, N. C. A CR, XCXJIL.TXJJEIE. "SAWOUSf AS A FERTILIZER" AND SOME OTHER MINOR MATTERS. Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. Ia your iaue of Nov. 231 there is an article from the pen of Mr. W. F. Combs, healed as above, setting forth the gr at value as a fertilizer of par tially rotted sawdust. "The stuff had rotted until it had no body to it " From this it is evident that to be of 36rvijo it must at least be partially rotted. Tae kind of dust is not stated, but it was presumably pine. Oak, hickory or dogwood would doubtless bo much more valuable. Tnere is an important principle in volvei in the above, to which I allude, and especially as this same principle can be made available and valuable in various ways. While sawdu3t ia un dergoing decomposition theozygen of the air, or of rain water, combines with the carbon of the wood and forms carbonic acid gas. This gas ia poesesaeo of great fertilizing properties and is taken up end appropriated by the growing crops. Mora than thia, tail g-a ia a powerful solvent and acts on certain rebellious elements m the soil, reducing them to plant food. Every peraon who turns under a green crop (when mature), such as vijver or pea vines, derives the same b nefit, and it is thia feature that m ikea them such valuable renovators c' worn soils TO TRANSPLANT FRUIT TREES. Construct trenches at aright angles at proper distances ap urt, about 2i feet deep and from 2 to 3 feet broad m the bottom by plowing and throwing out the dirt with a shovel. Then fill the trenches to within 6 inchea of the top with round green wood, bark on. Hick cry, oak or dogwood may be employed ; hickory thought to be best. A large log, say one foot thick, should be placed on top midway the logs. Then cover with dirt. When completed, the top oi the large log should proj:ct above the ground. lt each crossing a space of from 4 to 6 feet each way should receive no tin. bora. Some partially rotted sawdust, or chip manure, can be used here to groad advantage, being mixed with the soil and the trenches filled therewith. A. tree should be eet at each crossing, taking care to plant the trees no deeper, than they originally grew. The tops of the large logs being ex ?oyod above the ground will have the 'Sect to hasten decomposition. The 'oota will run out among the logs and on the gas that will be generated, thus largely improving the quantity and quality of the fruit. . For apparent reasons no logs should be placed beneath the trees. GRAPE VINES. The above plan, tested on grape vines, doubled the yield and largely improved the quality of the grapes. In this case, green red oak logs, bark on, were used. TO PREVENT DAMAGE JROM SPRING FROST Any time durmg the winter haul leaves and spread beneath the fruit trees to the depth of about a foot About April 20th remove the leaves and spread on Irish potatoes. The leaves, by keeping the ground cool, will make the blooming later, and thus save the fruit. Bryan Tyson. Long Leaf, N. O. SUGAR BEETS AND THEIR COST. Mr. Nieuwenhuyse, superintendent of a sugar factory, Rome, N. Y., and a man of large experience, both in this country and in Europe, in sugar beet culture, writes the Country Gentleman as folio W8: "Can sugar beets be cultivated by the farmers profitably, say at $5 per ton, delivered at factory !" Yes, and no Yes, if raised on good soil, tilled in rows 10 or 20 inches apart, thinned out at five or six inches in the row, and work of cleaning done at the proper time. Do not wait until your ycung beets are surrounded by weeds, but pass with the hand-hoe as soon as you can S8e the rows. Thin the plants out as soon as they have two to four leaves. Pass often afterwards with the horse noe to keep the weeds down. Thia will have the rfif ct of looeening the earth around the plants, and give the roots plenty of air, while the young weeds will be destroyed ; for, aa you will see later, the cultivation of beers is very expensive so every opportunity must be taken to have as large a crop as pos Bible. This you cannot get if the weeds take a part of the strength of y cur soil; and if the beets are tilled in rows farther than 20 inches apart, you will have larger beets but not so much weight off an acre; besides, what the sugar manufacturer wants to make it pay, is small beets, say from one to two and one half pouuds in weight. Tnese beeta will do well to cut the tops off. while large one are a great deal worse to cut ; and in large beets, the percentage of water ia too high, and toe percentage of sugar too low. Sugar bets for the factory ought to be cut off fl it at the root of the leaves, so that no green tops adhere to the beet. Thi3 ia absolutely necessary in order to manufacture a good standard of sugar. It ia impossible to make sugar with leaves. No, beets will not pay a farmer if grown on poor ground, or on musk land, cr land which has not good drain age, or if the soil ia not in a good state of cultivation. The cost of raising an acre of beets ia too high for them to be raised on poor hnd. Here is a table showing the approximate coat of rais iug an acre of beets. Cost t of cultivating well an acre of beets at 18 inches between tho rows, and thinning out to 6 inches in the ro wb, at $1 25 per day for labor : Preparation of land, plowing and harrowing $2 00 a.n extra harrowing before put ting in the seed 0 50 Tilling and rolling 1 50 Cleaning between the rows with a hand hoe 3 00 Thinning out and putting in piace the beets at distance of 5 or 6 inches in the rows, and cleaning between the rows . . 6 00 Tr-ii-d cleaning with a horse hoe 0 75 Fourth cleaning with a horse hoe, and slightly hilling up. . 0 75 One day's work to take the " weeds out near the beets which the horse hoe has left 1 25 Pulling up, cutting the tops off, putting the beets in small heapa, and covering them with leaves 6 00 Loading and drawing the crop to the factory at an average of 12 tons to the acre at 50c. per ton, for six miles distance 6 00 $27 25 Twelve tons, at $4 per ton f 48 00 Cost of cultivating 27 75 120 25 It is of the highest importance for the financial success of the beet sugar industry to mike the farmers under stand that the ?hole success of this in dustry ia in t! eir own hands and not in the hands oi the manufacturer. The machinery well put up, and run eco nomically, will do the work well, but if the first product (the beets) are not well cultivated, and are brought to the factory with green tops on the manu facturer is at a loas to extract the sugar contained in them; everywhere doub ling the expenses. As for the farmer, it is better that he should cut the top iff and leave them on his ground, as' it is in that part of the beets that all the fertilizing properties lie; so that it is much better for him to cut them ( ff than to bring them to the factory and have a dockage of 8 or 10 per cent ; and besides, the cost of labor of the men put on to cut the tops off at the factory must be deducted, for every beet of which the green juice of the leaves is mixed with the beet juico proper, is an obstacle to crystal zing the sugar, and every drop of that green juice must be eliminated before the white granulated eugar can be manufactured ; so anyone who has at heart the success of thia industry will understand that thi3 means a great loss of time and heavy manufacturing expanses, MR. WILEY ON BEET SUGAR. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Chemistry, Washington, D. C , Nov 9, 1897. 77ie Epitom8t Pub. Co , Indianapolis Ind : Gentlemen: I have your letter of the 24 inac. asking me for an expression of opinion in regard to some procees by which farmers may produce beet sugar at home in a small way for their own use. In reply, permit me to say that the production of a crude beet sugar in a small way is an extremely eimple process. Any farmer who is equipped with a cider mill for rasping the beets, a cider press for expressing th juice and an evaporator suitable for makinx sorghum molasses, can produce a crude beet sugar. As a rule, this sugar will not be very profitable, because it id not refined and contain s the salts and bit ter principles which make raw be-t sugar and beet molasses, as a rule, un fit for table uae. It will be, however, an interesting object lesson to our farm ers to demonstrate the fact that the sugar beet itself contains sugar, and that the latter can be made in the crude way I have mentioned above. In this way the making of sugar in a small way by farmers may prove a stimulus to the industry and do great good. Farmers, however, sftouid not be de ceived by the expectation of being able to make their sugar in a successful way commercially. The successful and profitable manufacture of sugar can only be accomplished in expensive fac tories, equipped with all the appliances necessary to make a pure refined sugar Only the pure rtflaed beet sugar can ever become an article of commerce In this the beet differs from the sugar cane, because the latter will give a sugar which, even in the crude state, is palatable and marketable; in fact, many people prefer crude cane sugar to the refined article on accounc of its containing the aromatic principles of the cane, which give is an cdor and flavor very acceptable to most palates. I trust that any of your readers who may undertake the manufacture of beet sugar in the crude way I have mentioned above may do so only from the point of view indicated, and not with the expectation of making it a commercial success I am, respectfully, H W. Wiley, Oh if f of Division. TOBACCO STEMS. The stems and stocks cf tobacco, which are waste products in manufac ture, are rich in potash. These stems give about 15 per cent, of ash, which may contain as high as 8 per cent, of potash. It is not, however, advisable to burn the tobacco waste in order to obtain its fertilizing ingredients. In combustion, the nitrogenous constitu ents of the waste, which are also valu able fertilizers, are lost, although it is true that both the potash and phos phorio acid become more immediately available after incineration. In order to promote the absorption of the fertil izing ingredients of tobacco waste, it should always be finely ground before applying it to the soil or mixing it with other fertilizing materials. Western Plo wman. Patronize those who advertise in The Progressive Farmer. It never knowingly admits a numoug ad. You will also do us a favor by always men tioning The Progresstyb Farmzb in writing an advertiser. LETTER FROM DR. ERNEST T. BYNUM. A short time ago we published a let ter from Dr. Ernest T. Bynum, of the State University. This we clipped from j the Chatham Citizen. Prof. Bynum has now written for the same paper a longer article in which he describes his visit to a millionaire farmer in Ger many. Prof. Bynum says : ' The development of agriculture in Germany and Austro Hungary in re cent years has fully kept pace with the industrial growth of those countries and must be regarded as one of the most interesting phases in the advance of European civilization. In the prov ince of Saxony a great many farmers during this period have become mil iionaires. It was my pleasure a few weeks before leaving Germany to be the guest of one of these more fortunate farmers and to become fairly well ac quainted with the methods which he had employed in amassing so much wealth. "I was invited by a young man whose acquaintance I had made in Halle to come up into Anhalt and spend a day with him on this celebrated estate known far and near as Gerlebog. Tnis young man had been a student in Halle, but had at that time completed his studies in agriculture and was a volunteer inspector in Gerlebog. "I was a little surprised on my ar rival at the nearest station to find a coachman in elegant livery, with one of the finest conveyances I have ever seen, enquiring for an "Amerikaner" who was to be a guest of the Geheim rath Sinberhct. I readily satisfied myself that I was the person sought for and was conveyed in style to the castle of the Gr3heimrath. 'To my surprise I was met in the court of the castle by the old gentleman himself, who conducted me into hie dining room where he had provided lunch for me consisting of a bottle of high wine, carviare and some fresh blood sausage, which the old gentleman seemed to priz3 very highly: He was 84 years old, seemingly enjoying good nealth but complained of rheumatism and was limping slightly. He assured me that I was the only American he had ever known who had such a com mand of the language as to render a conversation easy or interesting, and so he plied me with every conceivable question about America and American farming He couldn't understand our landlord and' tenant system and seemed to be especially interested in the negro. "The old gentleman was drinking a4 bottle of champagne and as he warmed up he became rather witty and ac tempted to chide me by eaying the American farmers didn't have sense enough to raise their own sugar, but were dependent upon the Germans for their supply of this article, but when I replied that I confidently believed that he would live long enough to see American farmers not only supplying their own needs but sending their sur plus product to Germany as they were already doing in respect to many of the cereals, he laughed heartily. 4 'Mr. Snberlict is reported to be worth about $25 000,000, the bulk of which he has made 'out of the ground' and thia, too, was rented ground. Ger lebeg is one of five farms which he has under his control, one of which he owns and four are crown domains, en tailed estates belonging to the Duke of Anhalt. Together these estates com prise about 6 000 acres, if I have calcu lated correctly, and the domains are leased for 25 years. The Geheimrath informed me that he had leased them 20 years ago for $9 250 a year and had already bargained for a renewal at the expiration of the 25 years at the rate of $22,500. He sai4, bia highness, the Duke had been offered $30,000 but in asmuch as he the Geheimrath, had caused the lands to increase to such an extent in value he should have them for $7,500 less than their real rent. "My fries d, the Inspector, intimated that the Geheimrath had managed to lease the domains at first for a sum very much smaller than the price they would have brought on the market. By this means he thought Mr, Sanber lict had grown wealthy so rapidly. "The court of the castle was a rec tangle in shape; at one end was the castle, on either side .were stables for oxen, cows and horses, and at the other end were the pig sties and sheep en closures, or rather houses. In the centre of the court is a very large hole 50x100 feet in size and about 8 feet deep walled about with brick and filled with straw and stable manure. All the buildings on this quadrangle were connected by a high brick wall through which en trance was t ffected by means of a mass ive iron gate. This presents in general the appear ance of almost every German country seat, only it may be well to bear in mind that there are no insolated farm houses in Germany and such a castle is always situated in a village seldom as small as Pittsboro. Such villages, however, are very different in most respects from Pittsboro. The houses are uniformly alike in almost every particular. They are low, thatched cottages, ugly and uninviting. There are no front yards and seldom any space between the houses. The villages are therefore very compactly built. The inhabitants are nearly all employed Dy ine owner ot tne estate, une or a. . a. . a a two taverns, a snoemaRers snop or a small Jew store are the only features not distinctly rural. I have frequently been asked if it were possible for us in North Carolina to attain even approximately to the high standards of farming prevailing in Germany. My answer is that to this there seems to be three obstacles which taken together would render' agricul tural success of the kind I have indi cated well high hopeless. "First and foremost, I should like to refer to the inefficiency of our farm labor, then to the ignorance, or rather illiteracy of our rural population and lastly to a lack of any systematic or genuine encouragement. "Now as to the first of these I think there can be no clearer demonstration than the fact that a landlord finds it more profitable to rent cut his farm in parcela to ignorant tenants who, from the ver; nature of their position, can not be expected to contribute anything towards the proper keeping of their lands than to employ these men as laborers and so conduct his farming operations aa would otherwise not only yield him a larger net income as the result of more uniform management and better judgment but enable him to have an eye single to the permanent improvements cf his lands In discuss ing this anomalous condition with a farmer quite recently, I was informed that although his tenants worked only four months a year, il their labor be considered as steady and continuous, the annual production of hia farm was much in excess of that which it would be if had hired them as laborers at a minimum wage. He assigned as a reason their general indisposition to work if it could be avoided. Our land lord and tenant system ia, and perhaps always will be, a mystery to the Ger mans and the reason is obvious. ' Of course as long as this state of things continues any considerable im provement in agriculture is impossible. 1 am inclined to think that the ineffi ciency of our laborers is due in large measure to the amount and quality of their food, I might almost say to their gluttony. Speaking from observation, I should say that a North Carolina laborer eats at least twice as much as a German of the same class. The Ger man subsists very largely on an essen tially vegetable diet, and I don't re member ever to have seen one suffer ing from dyspepsia. To illustrate this I need only to describle the food of a German soldier, who constantly per forms the hardest labor and is fed by the government for the sole purpose of fitting him for the hardships of war. As to rations, he receives as much un leavened rye bread as he wishes and this he keeps in his room. The amount is, if I mistake not, 3 loaves in two weeks. Most of them, however, sell at least one of these. For breakfast they get nothing but a pot of black coffee; for dinner, a large wooden dish of soup made thick with vegetables and a little chopped meat ; for supper they have only their bread. The allow ance of 5 cents a day generally suffices to buy a small quantity of oleomargar ine and a glass of beer. Occasionally they are given a cigar and in Russia the privates are given a cigarette once a day. "Now in America food has always been abundant and easy to obtain, while the other necessities of life have been dearer. In Germany these con ditions are reversed. There wearing apparel ia so cheap that I don't remem ber ever to have seen the poorest work ing man wearing patched clothing, and on 8unday it ia surprising to see every one so well dressed as to render it quite impossible to distinguish between rich and poor." j POULTRY YAKD SASSAFRAS AND LICE. In every experiment made with tho use of sassafras in any form as a rem edy againat lice, it has given excellent results. One who tried the method gave a teaspoonf ul of oil of sassafras in the mixed food of ten hena twice a week, and claims that lice left the bodies of the fowls. The use of sassa fras root, steeped in boiling water, the water being used for drenching the roosts, proved excellent, and even poles of sassafras, as roosts, are better than any other to prevent lice. A mixture of one part sassafras oil and four parts swegt oil, applying a few drops on the head, comb, face, wattles, legs, under the wings and around tho vent, is excellent, and when well rub bed into the skin of the head and neck is a sure remedy for the large head lice. Bear in mind that when using oil or grease ot any kind on fowls only a little should be applied, as grease will sometimes destroy chicks. As a spray the poultry house use kerosene emul sion (or kerosene), adding a gill of sas safras oil and half a pint of crude car bolic acid to a gallon of the kerosene or emulsion. Two or three applications will destroy not only the lice, but tho "nits and eggs. Mirror and Farmer. ' If all poultry houses were lathed and plastered with two coats of mortar, tho lice problem would be solved and the cold drafts in winter shut c ff. To de stroy lice, it will only be necessary, once a week, to burn enough eulphur in the poultry house to fill it with dense fumes, keeping it shut for an hour, and the work is done. When the house is not lathed and plastered, it is not close enough, and too much fresh air comes in while the sulphur is burning. White washing will also be easier on a plas tered wall, and the poultry house will be warm in winter, and the hens mono comfortable and profitable. Poultry Keeper. POULTRY AMONG FRUIT. While poultry raiding and gardening or orcharding are often disappointing when carried on in cor junction, a sub scriber evidently made a success of poultry and small fruits. In relating his experience in this line he says: "It is likely that extreme advocates of spraying have found the spray pump wasteful. It is of great value as a de stroyer of such insects as the codling moth, but when it is used to kin insects that narbor on the t ground it use is wasteful. Nature balances her forces by making some of them the foes of others that become destructive. It is within the province of man to assist in restoring this balance andrlo it not in a wasteful cr wanton way, but econo mically both as to profit and material at hand. During the past season I placed a yatd of White Dramas in the center of 10 acres of fruits consisting of all kinds of small fruits and a considerable vine yard. I put the cooping places and house in a plum orchard. The pen was increased from five hens and a-"--male to nearly 200 fowls. These wero sold for broilers early. I watched the results very closely during the entire season, firat, to see if there was any profit in harboring poultry among small fruits, and second, as to their value as destroyers of insects. I fed the small chicks with their mothers in the plum orchard and if the trees were jarred before feeding in the morning and wheat whs then thrown under the trees the curculio were gath ered up with the wheat. The curculio, as well aa the plum gouger, will, when the trees are jarred, double up and drop. My plums were the freest from these insects they have ever been. When cultivation was begun nearest the chicken house, and many crops had to receive frequent cultivation, it gradually drew the fleck of chickens to any portion of the 10 at res under cultivation. When from 100 to 200 chickens lined along the freshly stir red ground behind the cultivators, I found that-an incredible number of in sects were destroyed. Farm and Home. TO MEASURE CORN IN THE.CRIB, - J Two cubic feet of sound, dry corn in the ear will make a bushel of shelled corn. To get the quantity of shelled corn in a crib of corn in the ear, meas ure length, breadth and height of corn crib inside the rail ; multiply first by second and producii by third; divide result by two, giving bushels of shelled corn, uorn enrinrs mucn in winter and spring and ccti!c3 down.
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 21, 1897, edition 1
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