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THE ETOUSIRIAL AID EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF QUE PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY.
Vol. 13.
RALEIGH, I?. 0., APRIL 26, 1898.
ITo. 12
I I II ."M
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A' M ULAJf J IS I M KJJ
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ALL AROUND THE FARM.
EDITED CY BCNJ. IKBY. N. C
Prof. B nj. Irvy lat P ofesso- of Asricnl-
B X II A. - - k
aGaIcUuI Ukal libaib.
HARROWING SPRING GRAIN
Now tht time for sowing spring
grain has come, there is one caution
which every grain sowing farmer
ibould beed That is, to harrow th
oil where the seed has been cast, not
enly when it is sown, but after every
rain heavy enough to compact the sur
face and m tke a crusted soil as it dries
out. If this is done once or twice be
fore the grain c mes up, the grain will
grow rapidly and will itself prevent
further p-c.neri thepurfaceby rains.
PLANTING BEANS WITH CORN
It used to Du tne practice more than
it is now to plant one or two beans in
each hill cf corn that is eaten cut by
the cut worm. It makes much extra
work to harvest these beans. But the
plan is perhaps better than to plant in
late some more corn that will net be
ripened with the other, and can be used
only for feeding as soft corn. The corn
shades adjoining corn too much. Bans
of the busn variety will not shade it at
alL The exira t-unlight which gets
downto the eoil where a hill of corn
has been destroyed makes the corn
hills on either side mere prolific than
they wouid have b?en.
EXTRA FEED FOR YOUNG LAMBS.
The.youu iano grows very rapidly
the first few weeks of its life. But un
less given sometxtra feed besides what
its dam furnishes the lamb will soon
get too little, and its growth will be
stunted. A little clover hay to begin
with may be fed to each lamb, and if
this is followed by a gill of whole oats,
the lamb will thrive so well that its
growth will never be checked. Even
less oats than this will be enough if the
lambs have all the clover hay they can
eat. This feed may be varied by giv
ing wheat bran fed dry in the troughs
which should be made for that purpose,
and so protected that lambs cannot
put their ftet into them.
EPRAY APPLE TREES EARLY.
The tint tpraymgof the apple or
chard ouht to be made before the buds
have bur-t into leaf. At this time
fuEgicidea may be safely used much
stronger than would be safe after the
tree id in leaf. There are many spore
of fungus not yet developed on the
braEcnes reaoy to burst forth and de
velop their t-porcs so soon aa the leaves
appear. I; this early epraying is thor
oughly done, it may make it unneces
fiary to epray for fungus until the
leaves have become so hardened that
the lighter applications that will then
be net ded will do no injury. While
the tries are being sprayed now, it will
be well io put in some Paris green to
head cil tn ycung larva of the bud
moth, wnicn always begins by boring
into the tuds sometime before they
burst into h af.
CLOVKK IN STRAWBERRY BEDS
One ot ifjt wui-fet pests to careless
strawberry growers is that their beds
on rich lands bo rapuly grow up with
clover. The white clover is much the
orst, as it, like the strawberry, prop
agates b runners, which will make an
ameziog large spread in rich land in a
Binglo season. The only consolation
the s:rawoerry grower has is that the
white clover plants help enrich the
soil, though they do this much less
effectually than red clover. Not only
the wme clover plant much smaller
Ifcan red clover, but its numerous
runners rub the soil of moisture
T&ey are besides, too small to produce
foenoatl-aon the roots which enrich
6 8oil c.y decomposing the air which
Boii contains. This does not of ten
taPPn o clover plaLts till in the sec
er of their growth. American
Cultivate. " -
TRUCKING IN CRAVEN COUNTY.
""GLdt-nce of the Progresslre Farmer.
T&q truckers of this vicinity have
been much feared, but little hurt re
Cenily. on Lcjcunt of the cold snap of
eek b f .re last. The thermometer
reK s erea 3 ) degrees two mornings and
fnd 1Cn f rmed nearly a quarter of an
lrich thick in exposed places; the frost
as q ate heavy two mornings, besides
Wo olber 1'ght frosts, and yet some
ery tender plants escaped with little
ilffh haetoma rrrtilar co t ibntor to this
ienftnnient. All qut-tion relating 'o the fTm
rardenor rcha wil. be answered by Pr r.
Irriv.
injury. Beans were up in some places
and are not vqry seriously injured,
though they are hurt more, perhaps,
than any other truck except cucum
hers; these were killed generally, un
less covered. Some farmers covered
up their beans and potatoes with plows
but those covered are not much better
looking now than the ones not covered.
In some instaLcas the cold seemed to do
good.
The strawberry crop was not hurt
seriously even where not covered with
straw, and they are now ripening and
being shipped. Fruit is not hurt, and
the peach crop, especially, is now too
large for good fruit; not even enough
Killed to thin the crop to a proper
q iantity.
One farm near New Berne used, it is
said, 25 cords of wood about the farm
smoking the crops to keep iff the frost.
3wdust and kerosene were used freely
for similar purposes. Cabbage are be
mg shipped; the crop seems now to be
an average one.
We can only account for the little
damage under such low temperature,
from two prevailing conditions: 8car
city of moisture in the ground, and
there having been so much warm
weather early that the ground was
warmer than usual and kept the frost
from entering the soil.
We huvo had no hard rains this win
ter, and the showers this spring are
very nice and gentle. It is cool now
and bt autiful weather for work. Farm
ers, notwitnstanding the great scare,
and some hurt are hopeml, thankful,
and earnestly pressing their work. We
have had fewer days hindrance on ac
count of rain and wind this spring,
than any we remember heretofore, and
some of us can remember more than
half a century back. D. L.
Ballair, N. O., April 16, 1898.
ARTICHOKES.
Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer,
1 have seen several articles m your
valuable paper in regard to raising ar
tichokes for hog feed. I am convinced
that artichokes is the proper feed to
fatten hogs on. Last year I saw ad
veriised in an Illinois paper French ar
tichokes for sale; so I sent and bought
25 cents' worth from which to raise
Beed. I received them in bad order.
All were rotten except enough to plant
eleven hills. I planted them two feet
apart and dug them this spring, as I
let them stay in the ground all winter,
and the yield surprised me. I dug
from eleven hills three bushels of good
sound artichokes. I planted them the
first of April at the rate cf one and a
half bushels to the acre. I cut them as
I would Irish potatoes. Every piece
had an eye. I am satisfied that they
will fatten my hogs this fall. Our
farmers should plant them for hogs,
and save their corn for other purposes.
Respectfully,
J. L Coopeb.
Gum Neck, N. C.
STUDY YOUR SOIL.
Every farmer, and especially every
one who is trying to raise fruit, says
the North American Horticulturist,
should be well posted as to just the
condition of his soil, so as to be able to
select intelligently the varieties which
are suited to his particular locality.
Bulletin No. U of the New York Ex
periment 8tate contains the following
suggestions, which will enable any in
telligent man to tell with a fair degree
of accuracy what his soil chit fly needs
in the way of plant food. When he
finds out what is needed it is a very
easy matter to pre c are the necessary
fertilizer:
1. A a rule lack of nitrogen is in
dicated when plants are pale green in
color, or where there is a small growth
of leaf or stock, other conditions being
favorable.
2 A bright, deep green color, with a
vigorous growth of leaf or stalk, u, in
case of most crops, a sign that nitrogen
13 not lacking, but does not necessarily
indicate that nitrogen could not not be
U3ed to advantage.
3 An excessive growth of leaf or
stalk, accompanied by an imperfect
bud, flower and fruit development, in
dicates too much nitrogen for the pot
ash and phosphoric acid present.
4 When euch c rops as corn, cabbage,
grass, potatoes, etc. , have a luxuriant,
healthful growth, an abundance of pot
ash in the soil is indicated; also when
fleshy fruits of fine flavor and texture
can be successfully grown.
. 5 When a soil produces good, early
maturing crops of grain with plump
and heavy kernels, phosphoric acid
will not generally be found deficient in
the BoiL
THE VALUE O? CO W PEAS.
Dr. Stubbs, of the Louisiana station,
in summing up the advantages of the
cow pea, gives these points:
1. It is a nitrogen-gatherer.
2. It shades the soil in summer, keep
ing it in condition most suitable to
rapid nitrification, and leaves the soil
friable and loose, in the best condition
for a future crop.
3 It has a large root development,
and hence pumps up from great depths
and large areas the water, and with it
the mineral matter needed by. the
plant.
4 Its adaptability to all kinds of
soils, from stillest clays to most porous
sands, fertile alluvial bottoms to barren
uplands.
5 It stands the heat and sunshine of
Southern summers.
6 Its rapid growth enables the
farmer to grow two crop3 a year on
the same soil.
7. If so wn thickly it will by its rapid
growth and shade effectually smother
all weeds, and thus serve as a cleans
ing crop.
8 Ic U a gocd preparatory crop;
every kind of crop grows well after it.
9 Ou the alluvial lands of the Mia
eiseippi bottoms it serves to pump off
excessive water, evaporating it through
its great foliage, thus keeping the soil
in a condition for most rapid nitrifica
tion during the entire growing season.
10. It furnishes a most excellent food
in large quantities for both man and
animals. With all these advantages, it
is no wonder that it is c Uled the clover
of the South,7' and were it used regu
larly, as one of the crops in a regular
but short system of rotation, the soils
of this section would soon rival in fer
tility their primitive condition.
MANURING WITH SUNSHINE.
Prof. Gerald McCarthy, who is so
well known in North Caroliua, talks
pleasantly in a recent iseue of the
American Cultivator on the q testionof
manuring with sunshine He say s :
The fertilising power of summer sun
shine is not fully appreciated by farm
ers. Sunlight striking a bare or fallow
field does not add to its productiveness,
neither does it improve the quality of
stable manure exposed to its direct
rays. Yet the sun is the original source
of all terrestial energy of whatsoever
kind.
It is generally admitted that the food
which growing plants get from what
are called arable soils is usually lacking
in three elements. These three element
are phosphosic acid, potash and nitro
gen. The first two exist in nature only
as solids or liq lids. Nitrogen exists in
inexhaustible quantities as a gas in the
air we breathe. Potash and phosp nates
we must dig out of the rocks or buy of
these who dig them. Nitrogen exists
all about us, and we only need to set
traps to catch it. We cm buy phos
phoric acid and potash f or from four to
five cents a pound. For nitrogen in
commercial fertilizer we have to pay
fram 15 to 18 cents a pound. Nitrogen
is necessary for growing plants, but so
is moisture and warmth. For certain
crops, such as early vegetables, it is
often profitable to provide moisture,
hoat and nitrogen by artificial means,
but for staple crops this policy would
be ruinous.
We can draw upon the stock of nitro
gen in the atmosphere by means of
sunlight acting upon and vitalizing
leguminous .crops, such aa clover,
vetches and peas. All of these can be
grown as 'between crops," so as not to
interfere with the regular crops.
Clovers can be sown in the stubble of
small grain, or even with the grain
seed. Vetches and peas can be sown
in standing corn at the last cultiva
tion. The selection of a crop to be used as
a nitrogen trap depends largely upon
the locality, soil and system of rota
tion. For States south of the Ohio and
Potomac rivers, the cow pea, crimson
clover and sand vetch are the three
most satisfactory. For more Northern
States red clover, Canada pea and win
ter vetch promise most.
In general, any legume known to
thrive upon the soil will be satisfactory
as a nitrogen trap. When such a
legume is once found and adopted, it
should be continued year after year,
as these crops never give the best re
suits until they have been grown upon
the same field for several seasons, the
longer the better. Bye, turnips and
other non leguminous crops which are
sometimes turned under are of no value
as nitrogen gatherers.
All the legumea named, except sand
vetch, make valuable fodder, and their
use aa fodder does not detract from
their value as fertilizers, if fed upon
the farm and the resulting manure re
turned to the land.
For soils too sandy to produr e good
clover or winter vetch, blue and white
lupines and sand vetch are recom
mended for all but the coldest parts of
the United States. These latter three
are worth less as fodder.
To secure the best results, these crops
must be abundantly supplied with
phosphoric acid and potash food. From
100 to 200 pounds of muriate of potash,
and from 2oO to 400 pounds of acid
phosphate per acre is a good applica
tion. Nitrogen of ammonii is not
needed. The purchased food given re
mains in the soil, if the green crop is
turned under, for the next regular
money crop, so we get doubieservice
from it and can aC rd to use it with a
liberal hand. This is the best and only
rational way to enrich both farm and
farmer.
MILLET AS FEED.
Dr Galen Wilson says that millet is
liable to have disastrous effect upon
the kidnsy s of animals. ''There eesms
but little danger if cut before seed
forms, and then fed green, or properly
cured, and fed as hay ; but a large ma
jority of farmers are so careless that
they will not heed this warning, and
illness of animals and veterinary calls
ensue. A few farmers grow and feed
it with apparent advantage; but they
are of a class who always do things
timely and in order."
So it 86f ma that the fault is not with
the millet, but with the farmer. A
writer in Wallace's Farmer says:
41 The Farmer cost some doubts some
time ago as to the value of millet hay
as a feed for horses. In my opinion
the trouble was that it was cut too late.
Millet hay should be cut when the seed
is in the dough state. I have fed it for
five years, and sometimes exclusively,
and my horses are in good condition,
better than when kept on wild hay. I
know a man who has fed millet hay
-three years and has never had a
lean horse, but he has some fat ones.
If the seed gets too ripe, it will have a
bad efftjet on the kidneys, but cut in
time and cured in good condition, when
you feel a forfeful you will not have to
rake half of it up to bed with, as you
do with wild hay "
A SIMPLE CLOO CRUSHER.
A very cheap and effectual clod
crusher, writes M. L. Bell, in an ex
change, can be made by connecting a
number of round heavy poles together
with chains. Staples are driven into
the end 8 of each pole by which the pole
is fastened to the links of a chain which
connfOthem all together. Toe ends
of the chain are furnished with a ring,
to which the clevis of the double tree
is attached. Being flexible, the drag
conforms itself to uneven surfaces.
Such an implement will be fouDd very
useful for leveling Corn stubble, break
ing clods in heavy ground, fining
lumpy manure end smoothing ground
in the garden where the seed drill is to
be used.
LIM.
Applying Lime. Our best agricul
tural authorities, including our best
farmers, are recognizing more and
more the value and necessity of an
abundance of humus in the soiL Where
ic is, there usually is fertility. A heavy
clover sod is one of the best sources of
this element, out clover does not al
ways come when wanted Excepting
an aouudance of stable manure as a
top dressing, which cannot always be
had by the iirmer, I. believe that a
dressing of lime is the best agent for
securing clover. This is the experience
of thousands of farmers. Formerly it
was the practice to use" 200 or 300 bush
els of lime to the acre, and an applica
tion was out of the question for all ex
cept those who could burn and apply
their own lime. The expense was too
great for the man who did have the
8 tone on his farm. It has been found,
however, that these heavy dressings
are not the best, unless possibly for the
ssiffest limestone soils that, qneerly
enough, rtq lire more lime. than other
soils. Many farmers now apply from
25 to 40 bushels of lime to the acre,
with most satisfactory results. Such
an amount is within reach of the
farmer who must buy his lime, pro
vided the freights are not too high. -
When to Apply Lime. The old time
heavy applications were usually made
; to grass land the summer preceding
breaking for a tilled crop. There was
lime enough to waste, and any way
was a sufficiently good way. In case
of a light application, according to
modern usage, I should prefer to make
it as a top dressing on an inverted sod,
if benefit to a spring crop was wanted,
but preferably to land broken for wheat,
if clover is the chief object. Lime sinks,
and the application should be kept near
the surface. It must be borne in mind,
however, that it should not be left ex
posed to the air, but needs immediate
mixing with the surface soil. When
exposed to the air it reverts to the
original chemical form in which it
existed before burning. Tnoiough
mixing with the top soil by use ol the
disc harrow in preparing the seed be d
for wheat puts the lima where it will do
the most good in releasing plant food
in the ground.
The Action of Limo. Limo is rarely
needed as a plant food, it is said, but it
breaks up tough plant food in the soil.
For this very reason ic should be used
to grow such a crop as clover, which
restores organic matter to the soil.
Lime, without sods or manure, impov
erishes land beyond a doubt. It
makes available the store in the soil,
and that means good crops so long as
the store lasts; but good farming de
mands that wekeep the supply of organ
ic matter renewed, therefore the nec
essity of sods with lime. Where clover
is failing throughout some of our States,
I incline to the belief that applications
of lime in moderate amounts offer a
surer road to more clover than do our
commercial 'fertilizers, though such a
rule would have its exceptions. Agri
cultural lime may be bought at kiins
for six or seven cents a bu3hel, while
builders' lime is 50 per cent, higher.
Where a 'farmer has the stone and fuel
for burning on the farm, the cost a
bushel is trifling The prevailing pre ju
dice against lime is largely due to its
unintelligent use in the past A heavy
application, while somewhat costly,
brought crops for a few years, and
when they dimished, other applica.
tions followed, no thought being given
to the necessity of giving the land an
abundance of vegetable matter to re
place that which the lime was break
mg up and preparing for use of grow
ing plants. In time the organic por
tion of the soil was used up, and steril
ity followed. A light application 25
to 40 bushels every five or six years,
to secure good stands of clover, is a
rational and profitable use of lime.
Western dealers sometimes allow only
70 pounds for a bushel of unslaked
lime, but I have in mind, when giving
these figures, the old tirne honest
bushel of 80 pounds. Air slaked lime
is not as valuable as water slaked. The
buyer should bear in mind that lime
absorbs moieture in slaking, thus in
creasing the weight, and he can afford
to buy and draw only the unslaked.
David, in Frm and Fireside.
c0iT10UI-iTUJbiE
HORTICULTURAL HINTS.
K?ep all ashes for the trees.
Peach trees do better when well cul
tivated. An orchard un cared for will surely
be unprofitable.
The gooseberry flourishes best in
deep, moist, but not wet, soil.
Generally there is no advantage in
cultivating the orchard deep.
When it can be avoided do not prune
the grape vine after the sap starts.
Potash is the food material that or
chards are most likely in want of.
Pears need a rich soil. Lack of f er
tility is often the principal cause of
failure.
On the production of an overcrop it
costs the tree more to ripen seeds than
to make the fruit.
Pop corn will mature if planted late.
It pops best if kept until the second
year after it is harvested.
Tomatoes, it has been found by ex
periments, ripen sooner when exposed
to electrical influences.
Give trees plenty of room ia you
would have them thrifty and vigorous
and bsar large, well matured fruit.
Potatoes may be planted quite early,
as it will take sometime for them to
make an appearance above ground.
Western Plowman.
Plant your orchard on strong soil.
Use two year old stocky trees.
Potatoes will go higher and and high
er before the next crop comes.
The Downing gooseberry ia consider
ed the best American berry.
SOME HINTS FOR GARDENERS.
The garden, like the farm, to be at
its best, demands a rotation, writes a
Clark county, Ga., farmer, Mr. H. B.
Mitchell, in Practical Farmer.
No crop can thrive and do as well if
continuously occupying the same spot,
as if changed ab ut. While all crops
exhaust the soil, it is not in the same
degree. One plant will take up a larger
per cent, of some element than another,
consequently rotation playa an import
ant part in keeping up the soil's fer
tility.
Then some crops are so favorable for
the propagation and growth of weeds,
that if continued long upon the sama
ground the labor of cultivation would
be greatly increased. N
Again, insects which feed upon cer
tain plants deposit their eggs in the
ground during the occupancy of it by
that species of plant, ready to injure.
if not destroy, the succeeding crop,
when by changing its locality they dia
from lack of proper food.
8 hallow rooted plants draw their
nutriment mainly from the eurface,
while deep rooted plants depend upon
lower strata, hecco to derive the full
benefit of the entire soil, a change cf
crops is essential.
We also must have a succession of
crops each year. As fast aa one is re
moved another should occupy its place.
One fourth of an acre thoroughly
manured and cultivated, upon which
a constant succession is practiced.
yields more than an acre as ordinarily
managed.
Every garden should contain a hot
bed for starting early plants and cold
frames for hardening eff hotbed stock
preparatory for sotting in the open
ground, as well as for wintering the
more hardy kinds.
In each case these should front to
wards the south. Among the principal
implements needed in the garden may
be mentioned the turning and subsoil
plows, harrows, roller, marker, seed
drill, cultivator, spading fork, horse
hoe, wheel hoe, rake, transplanter,
trowel, dibber, hand-weeder, reel and
line, watering pot, sprayer, wheelbar
row, numerous plant protectors to keep
off frost in early spring, or the heated
rays of the sun after transplanting,
and lastly, a water barrel cn wheels,
in which water or liquid manure may
be conveniently conveyed to the gar
den. After all the foregoing suggestions
have been carried out, a gcod garden
is still anything but an assured fact ;
one of the most important steps yet re
maining. This is the selection of seed.
Unless sound, well matured seeds of
good quality are planted, disappoint
ment will be the result. The seed sup
ply should be procured of a seedsman,
?fho is backed by a reputation for re
liability. They should be planted 03
their nature demands, neither too deep,
too shallow, nor in a soil too cold, too
wet, or too dry, an exercise of judg
ment being necessary to determine just
how and when. More seed should bo
planted than required for a stand, tho
excess of plants being thinned out after
growth has well begun. Seedsmen
often got the blame, when the entire
fault rests with the planter.
Cultivation should be often enough
to kill the weeds and grass before they
get their heads above the eurface. Thia
lessens work, preserves moisture and
increases the crop. The successful
gardener .has constantly to wage war
against insects as well as weeds in his
efforts for supremacy.
These insects are ever on the increase,
partly from the continued growth of
the gardening industry, in many in
stances no means being taken for their
suppression, causing them to multiply ;
but more particularly from the ex
termination of the birds, go that tht
gardener to succeed has to be diligent,
studious and watchful. If for market,
after his crops are made, hia work does
not end here. He muss now get hia
produce in such shape as will pleasa
the eye, as well as the palate of hu
customers, success depending as much
upon appearance as anyone thing. He
must be attentive and prompt in hia
efforts to please his patrons, treating
all with equal fairnes3 and considt ra
tion, whether the order be to tho
amount of five cents, or aa many dol
lars, making their interest hia.
There ia no portion of the farm when
rightly managed that will pay so well
for time and work expended, or from
which more real pleasure can bo de
rived, than the much-abused and still
of tener neglected garden.
Apple treea should be planted about
25 feet apart.