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' i V v : The Progre dre Farmer it a 20od pper far Jbove the aver--yeafld possibly Jbe best adTertis cg medium in N. Printert' Ink. Has the largest circulation of any family agricultu ral or political paper published between Rich mond and Atlanta THE IffDUSTEIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY. Vol. 13. RALEIGH, N. 0., MARCH 29, 1898. No. 8 If HE A orrtmlfiirp 1 Ji. m. AViHia i,iHna w - TD rv E EN J. !XEY, R.VEIQri, N. C. Prof. B-nj- IrVy. lat P-ofesso cf Agrlcul rTl c u ultnralAnd Mechauical (College. Rai- i -i. J fcome a regular contributor to this 5-"RmucuT. All questions relating to the farm. ardt-n or uicnuu win De answereu Dy rxci. l I i. 1 . - i t k m TEST5 OF BROAD AND NARROW TIRBS. Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer. The Missouri 8tation in a recent bul letin gives details and reaulta of experi meats at that station to test the rela tive merits of broad and narrow tires In order that these tests might cover every possible phase and condition of r:ada and fields, they extended over almost an entire year, and took in dirt, gravel and macadam roads, plowed fields, meadows and pastures, eta The draft was measured bp a Qid dings self recording dynamometer. The narrow tires were an inch and a half wide and the wide ones were six inch cast eteel wheels, which can now be bought about as cheap as the nar row wooden wheels with wrought iron tires. In every trial the load was the same-2,000 pounds. Following is a summary of results : 1. Oa macadam streets it was found that a load of 2,518 pounds could have been hauled as easily on the wide tires &3 2,000 pounds on the narrow tires. 2. On a gravel road it was found that taking an average of dry, wet and sloppy, 2.182 pounds could be drawn on the wide tires with the same force required to draw 2.000 pounds on the narrow tires. 3. Tests on dirt roads involved many different conditions, (a) When dry, hard and free from ruts and dust, 2 530 pounds drew as easily on the broad tires as 2.000 on the narrow ones. 00 When the surface was covered with very deep, dry, loose dust the narrow tires drew more easily than the wide ones. (:) Oj a clay road, muddy arid aticky on the surface, but firm under neath, the narrow tires drew more easily than the wide ones, (d) On clay road with deep mud, drying on top, or dry on top and epongj beneath, the wide tirea carried 3 200 pounds with the same draft required to pull 2.000 pounds on the narrow tires. (.) Clay road, surface dry, with deep ruts cut bj the narrow tires in the ordinary ue of the road. In every trial the first run of the broad tire ever the narrow tire ruts has shown a materially increased draft when compared with that of the nar row tire run in its own rut. The sec ond run of the broad tires in the same track where the rut is net deep com pletely elimated this disadvantage, and showed a lighter draft for the bread tire than the narrow tire showed in the fir.-t run. Where the ruts were eiht icchea deep with rigid walls, tirea rum of the broad tire in its own track over tie ru'8 were required to eliminate the disadvantage. Three runs of the broad tire over thistrtck tavern all cae3 been SLfficient, how ever, to to improve the road surface that bjth the broad and narrow tired wager s p i.gt.cl over thi3 road with less draft tuia the narrow tires did in the criinr.! rurs. In addition to the eav mg of unite, the road was made very much more comfortable and pleasant for th - u3tb of light vehicles and P'-eaaurv carriages by the few runs of tix v c l tire. Sum jj-j.g up all the te3t3 on dirt roac n appears that there are but toree c, ri uiions on which the broad tirc3 dre.v heavier than the narrow tire;, ntlj : (i) When the road is 8lCPP7, muddy or sticky on the sur kce an J aim or hard underneath; (2) when th - surface is covered with a y2ry df py. loose dust and hard under fceath; (3 when the mud is very deep &-d to hiioky that it adheres to the whei3 of both kinds of wagons. It aPPeara that the dust nust be extra iiiriiy deep to show a higher draft the broal than for the narrow tires, -stare conditions just named, there oroi Lre somewhat unusual and of capara-vvely short duration. Through -j niy of days in the year and at UG8 v,bcn tQe dirt roads are most au(i when their use is most im rative, the broad tired wagons pull atcniiy lighter than the Darrow llr wagons. -argo number of tests on mead g 8" Pturee, stubble land, corn Utd and plowed ground in every condition from dry, hard and firm to very wet and soft, show without a single exception a large difference in draft in favor of the broad tires. This difference ranged from 17 to 120 per cent. 5. It appears that six inches is the best width of tire for a combination farm and road wagon, and that both axles should be the same length, so that the front and hied whoels will run in the same track. 6. Narrow tires were much more de structive to all kinds of roads. Indeed, the wide tires improve most roads. It is estimated that the public roads of the United States aggregate 1,500, 000 miles in length. Conservative esti mates place the total wagon transpor tation in the United States at approxi mately 500,000,000 tons. Tne average distance of haul ia placed at eight miles, and the average cost of transporting one ton this distance is assumed to be $2, making the total yearly cost for wagon freighting $1,000,000,000. It ia claimed that this freight could be trans ported the distance of eight miles over first class roads at an average cost of 80 cents per ton. On this basis, a sav ing of $600,000,000 a year in the cost of wagon transportation could be c fleeted with fir8tclas8 roo d in all sections of the country. The magnitude of this saving will be better appreciated when it is real ;z 3d that it amounts to about one fourth of the value, on the farm, of all the farm products of the United States. In round numbers the sum of $20, 000,000 is paid out each year for the maintenance of our public roads out side of the cities. This estimate does not include the cost of permanent im provements. Thus at the end of the year, after an expenditure of $20,000, 000, the roads of the country are no better than they were at the beginning of the year. The tax payers may go on paying this enormous sum for the maintenance of the public highways under the present system for an indefi nite time without securing improved roads. All improvement must come from expenditures above this amount, from changes in the methods of repair ing the highways or from the more careful use of them after they are repaired. The maintenance of our public high 1 ways is therefore a serious problem in volving the expenditure of large sums of money, and all means for reducing this expense without impairing the efficiency of the system should be im mediately adopted. Give us broad tires. J. L. Ladd. Bay City, Texas. CORN EXPERIMENTS. Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer. Now that time for cornplanting is here, the subject is being discussed again. Farmers want the views of ex perienced men along this line, and I do not think we can find better literature than experiment station bulletins. The G2orgia Station has recently made some corn experiments, and as experi ence means something more than mere prattle, I will give The Progressive Parmer readers an epitome of the re sults obtained. The fertil-z.r tests cor. firm results of previoi s years, that commercial fertili zrs do not pay on corn in Georgia, but if used at all the beat mixture is 1,000 pounds of acid phosphate, 50 pounds of muriate of potash and 1,000 pounds of cotton seed meal. The tests of raw bone meal led to the following conclusions: 1. It is not expedient or profitable to apply raw bone meal as a source of phosphoric acid. This conclusion was alto reached in discussing the cotton experiment of 1895. 2. That the residual effect of raw bone meal on a next succeeding crop is not sufficiently marked to justify its use on a preceding crop. 3. That, generally, it is not advisable to rely on raw bone meal as a source of phosphoric, for annual crops, unless the price is very much lower than the current market rates. In regard to disteEC?, two rather peculiar customs have had adherents in Georgia and possibly elsewhere. One is to plant corn in double rows; that is, plant two rows one foot apart, and then leave five or six feet of space and plant two more, and so on. The other peculiar method is thus statod by the bulletin: The method consists essentially in laying off the corn rows at a moderate width, distributing the fertilizers con tinuously along the rows, then spacing the hills at double the usual distance apart and leaving two plants in each hill. The theory of the plan is this: The hills being twice the ueual distance apart and containing two plants in stead of one, and the fertilizer being distributed continuously along the row, the latter will not be so readily aceeea ible to the plants, and will, therefore, be more gradually appropriated alon through the growing season, instead of all becoming accessible and being tak up during the early stagea of the crop growth. Tests of these two me- ods in com parison with planting 4; feet, after the usual way, show iu- there is no advantage in cither cf tl -se peculiar fads. Oa the contrary, eft r two years' tests, the bulletin coptrd 1. That the yiA l a cot : will not be increased by plantiu m double row, as compared with sicgia rows, the nurn ber of plants per acre beig the same iu each case. 2, The general and incidental indica tions of many previous experiments, both in corn and cotton, point to the conclusion that thajnore nearly the acre of soil appropriated to each indi vidual plant approaches the form of a equare the greater will be the yield. Subsoiling stiff red clay in Dscember gave no increase in the following sea son's corn crop as compared with ad joining plots not subsoiled. COTTON. The bulletin adds that Allen's Long 8taple has again proven to be the most productive long staple upland cotton ever cultivated at the station. If the lint were sold at an advance of 2 cents per pound over the price on which the comparisons were based in tables 2 and 3, the value of total products would place this variety easily at the head of the test. The lint is much longer than ordinary upland, and under favorable market conditions would probably fetch 2 cents a pound more. Georgia Cbackeb. SWEET POTATO CULTURE, . Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. But few crops, if any, will give bet ter results for the time necessarily con sumed in culture. HOT BEDS. Construct a box about 18 inches deep the size wanted for bed by standing boards edgewise, secured by stakes driven into the ground. No bottom re quired. Place wheat straw to the depth of about six inches and pack down. Then six inches of fresh stable manure and wet with water. Then place on the manure to the depth of about two inches well rotted chip ma nure, clean sand or rich earth (my will answer well ) Some advocate usicg green pine tops in lieu of the wheat straw. In some instances, such as melon vines when placed in the bottom of a trench, they exert a remarkable influence in resist ing drouth. I suggest a test. Some prefer chip manure for cover ing. When the vines run about three to four feet cut them off, leaving one leaf on the smb. Cut the vines, each piece containing three leaves, and set out as you would sprouts drawn in the usual way, two of the leaves being buried and one left above ground. The quan tity and quality of potatoes can thus be largely improved. Consequently no sprouts should bo set, except a limited quantity for early use. If not ready to set cut, the tops of the vines may be pinched off and let stand thus until a sucker starts out above each leaf. When theee suckers are about one inch long the vines should be cut eff, as aforesaid, and cut into pieces of one, instead of three leaves. These cuttings may be properly placed in moist earth near a branch and covered to exclude the sun. In a few days roots will sart out, when they may be in excellent condition for transplanting. I am not prepared to state definitely which is the better plan, to cut into ler gths of one or three leaves, but be lieve that one will be found preferable. In this case, the potatoes will grow near the surface where they can re ceive the benefit of the heat and air to a greater extent. Either plan will doubtless prove satisfactory. The sec ond crop of vines should be cut off as aforesaid. After sprouts start out from the stubs pull up and set out. The bed may then be torn up and the manure applied else where. Puddling. This is done by making a soft mortar of clay (not surface soil) and immersing the roots therein. Thus treated, if the ground ia sufficiently moist, the plants will grow off readily without water. But if late in the sea eon, and especially if the weather be warm, it will be better to water the plants after they have been set, in ad dition to the application of clay. A serious objection to hot beds is that when the plants are transferred to cold ground they become stunted and as a result grow off slowly. But if we let the vines remain, as aforesaid, the heat of the bed will, before the plants are removed, run down to sufficient extent to greatly lessen, if not wholly remove, said objection. At the last working do not cover the vines. Sprouts should never be set deeper than they grow on the bed. If the sprouts are overgrown cut eff the tops, leaving two leaves on the stubs. The ridges may bo four feet apart and the plants set from 12 to 18 inches apart, according to the fertility of the soil, rich land requiring the latter dis tance. Cooking Potatoes for Hogs. If pota toes be boiled and when done about one fourth the quantity of corn meal and a sufficiency of salt to make them palatable be added, I believe that the mixture will fatten hogs faster than all corn. Berore killing they may be fed for a proper time wholly on corn or dough. Keeping Potatoes. If potatoes be put away at the right time and in the right way they can easily be kept through two winters. Consequently it is an easy matter to keep them until the new crop comes in. But for lack of space, directions for keeping will be reserved for a future article Bryan Tyson. Long Leaf, N. C. P. S. Water should be used for a few days after bedding to prevent over ', heating, B. T. SEED CORN. L While "Georgia Cracker" writes on I xrn experiments this week, we give m the consideration of our readers the following timely hint from a cor respondent of Farmers' Voice: "Now is a good time to look over the seed corn and shell a bushel of the very best ears, to plant on the best ground in the field, and then to get your seed next fall Out of eight or ten bushels you ought to get one bushel of first class seed. Don't take an ear that will not give grains at least three fifths of an inch long. Let the ears be about nine or ten inches long and well filled out at ends, cob not large and of even size. Don't shell ears that have a chaffy look ; let the grains be glossy and sound in appearance. The ear should feel heavy when you pick it up. Such corn when shelled should weigh about sixty pounds to the bushel. It will keep from now till the planting if kept dry. It does not pay to change seed corn, if you have a good variety keep on im proving it. In Central and Northern Illinois corn dees best if it ripens in about. 100 days from the date of com ing up. I raieed such corn last year and it shelled out sixty-two bushels per acre and weighed fifty eight pounds to the stroked bushel, two and one six teentha feet in the crib shelled a bushel." GERMAN MILLET. An exchange says: "If you will prepare one acre of good land and make it rich with manure or fertil zsr, say 20 loads manure or a ton of good fertilizer and put in fine con dition and sow one bushel of German millet to the acre any time in May, you can make three or four tons of hay the equal of timothy. It should bo cut be fore ripe, when in full head, but before seed are ripe. Try it and you will con tinue it." Hon. Wm. J. Leary, Sr., who is well known in Eastern North Carolina, has written for the Elizabeth City Carolin ian some comments on this clipping. He say a: "I have purchased hay which turned out to be a very poor article of food for horses and mules, and of no value at all for cattle. The German millet, when treated as suggested is not only a great producer, but is full or nutritious matter. It takes something more than corn and cats for working teams. It is said that man cannot live by bread alone, and it is also true of our faithful servants, the beasts of burden, such as the horse and mule, which require a certain amount of long feed, to keep them in good condition and working order. I think from observation, I can safely say, that nine out of ten farmers will be careless about the supply of food to their team, when they have to buy from time to time, in small quan tities and it is not an unusual thing to hear the remark made that a full barn, means fine stock. It should therefore be the duty of every farmer to raise a supply of food, for both man and beast, amply sufficient, so that he may be prepared to give them all the necessary food required, and even though it may be the result of a full barn, have fine stock. "The suggestion contained in the ar ticle covers half the ground, and the other half can be obtained by the proper cultivation of the soil in grain. We are in a favored land and the fault is with us if we do not succeed. It ia of the first importance to raise corn, oats, potatoes, turnips, German millet and meat enough to supply the home de mand, and then let your surplus crops be tobacco, broom corn, beets, aspara gus or some other money making crop, and I believe coupied with energy, economy and thought the farmers will be prosperous, have plenty and to spare THE EXPERIMENT STATIONS. Our farmers have not the time to read all the bulletins issued by the ex periment stations. Hence, each week The Progressive Farmer will contain in a condensed form, the ideas and sug gestions of the various bulletins of ag ricultural experiment stations. This is a very valuable feature of the paper. It means that our readers will receive in a little space, the conclusions and results obtained from experiments by leading farmers and scientists in all parts of the United State?, The planting season is at hand. Following are the results of the corn experiments at Alabama Station last year: Seed corn from Illinois gave a slight ly larger yield than seed corn grown in the South. In 1897 the productive varieties were Mosby Prolific, Cocke Prolific and Benfro. Kernels from the middle portion of the ear used as seed failed to snow any superiority over seed from the tip or butt end of the ear. This will be a surprise to many North Carolina farmers. Topping, and also cutting corn and curing it in shocks, slightly decreased the yield of grain. The combined value of grain and stalks, valuing the stalks at 25 cents per 100 pounds, was greater by $2 95 per acre than the value of the grain from the plot where only the ears were harvested. When each plant was allowed 15 square feet of space, narrow rows and wide spacing in the drill gave slightly better average results than wide rows and close planting in the drill. Having regard to convenience of cultivation, as well as to the yield, rows practically 5 feet apart, with plant 3 feet apart in the drill, gave most satisfactory results on poor sandy land. Cotton seed meal alone was the most profitable fertil Z3r for corn in 1897. Acid phosphate and kainit failed to in crease the yield. Cotton seed placed in the ground so late as to germinate had considerable fertilizing value, t In bulletin 89 the same station re ports the following results of tests in growing cotton: The group of varieties yielding most lint were Texas Ok, Griffin, Hawkins, Deering, Mell Cross No. 15, Jones Re improved, Duncan, Hutchinson, Peter' kin, Truitt and Whatley. Seed of the same original stock, but grown for one year in different parts of the cotton belt when planted in Au bum, showed no marked difference in productiveness. The yields obtained by planting fresh one year old and two year old seed were nearly identical. With late cultivation the yield of cotton was slightly larger than with ordinary cultivation. Truitt cotton in narrow rows on up land or medium quality gave practic ally the same yields, whether the single plants stood 12, 18 or 24 inches apart in the drill. The yield decreased when the distance between plants was in creased to 30 or 36 inches. The crop matured earlier with thick planting. Topped cotton plants yielded less than those not topped. The use of C10 pounds of slaked lime, applied broadcast in 1896, failed to in crease the crop that year. But cotton following broadcast cow peas, turned under in the spring of 1897, afforded a larger yield on the plot limed the pre vious year than on the plot not limed. Subsoiling in January, 1896, was de cidedly beneficial to the first crop of cotton, but afforded no increase in the second crop, grown in 1897. A mixture of stable manure, cotton seed meal and acid pho?phate, applied without composting, afforded a slightly larger yield than did exactly the same materials made into compost about one incnth before using. Composting increased the efficiency of Florida soft phosphate, but not of acid phosphate. Slightly larger yields were obtained by bedding on all the fertilizer than by reserving one fourth and applying this portion in the seed drill at planting time. One hundred and fifty pounds per acre of cotton seed meal afforded a larger yield of seed cotton than 316 pounds of cotton seed or 70 pounds of nitrate of soda. These amounts of the above named fertilizers contained equal quantities of nitrogen; hence cotton seed meal was the source whence the most effective form of nitrogen was obtained. Acid phosphate was more effective than soft phosphate rock. Phosphate alone failed to increase the yield. Cotton seed meal alone waa highly beneficial. Kainit largely in creased the yield, because it decreased injury from black rust. POULTRY YARD. EDITED BY SS) WALTER L. WOMBLE, BREEDER OF THOROUGHBRED FOWLS, Raleigh, N. C. INTERVIEW WITH A CHICKEN CRANK. A gentleman who has made the sub ject of the' diseases of chickens a sub jsct of some thirteen years' study dropped into the office the other day and we give some of his observations, as follows: "Chickens carry mites around with them all the time on their legs. When you see chickens picking at their legs you may know that they are picking the mites. When a hen goes to hatch ing she cannot pick at the mites as fast aa they are hatched, hence, the nest becomes foul. Tell your readers to save their wood ashes and when they set a hen, to sprinkle the ashes in the nest ; this will settle the mites as far as the brooding hens are concerned. "The way to get rid of lice on the chickens is to put pure lard, that is lard without sulphur, carbolic acid, etc., on the breasts and under the wings of brood hens every two weeks until the chickens are six weeks old. The lice take up their abode on the chickens on the neck and head no place else. In dodging in and out un der the hens they get their necks greased, and that settles the lice. "Lice of different kinds will be found continually on the roosting poles. The way to settle them is to take your coal oil can, leave the spout open, and paes it along the poles once a woek; this will settle that class of vermin. For the larger lice that are found on the older chickens keep plenty of wood ashes in a wooden box where they can have free access to it at all times ; this will settle them." "Say," continued he, "do you know that you can keep egga the year around in good condition?" We expressed a very serious doubt. "Well," eaid he, "I can do it, provided I grow the egga." We asked him how. "Kill off all the roosters as soon as you are through growing eggs for hatching; you have no further use for them anyhow until next year. Gather your eggs carefully, put them in boxes, put about two incheE of plaster paris in the bottom of the box, turn your eggs on the little end, sift the plaster paris around them, then cover with plaster paria and soon until your box is full, then set it away in a cool place. There ia no need of any man selling egs short of twenty cents- a dozen in this or any other country. An egg that haa no germ in it will not spoil; the yolk may settle to one side or it may dry up exposed to the air and sun, but it will not spoil. I once made $500 in one year on a piece of land 35x40 by growing chickens, Wallace's Farmer. A good poultry man always takes a look at the chicks as the last important matter before going to bed.
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 29, 1898, edition 1
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