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- The Prejre-C-rtt Farmer is a good paper far above the aver age and possibly the best advertii lag medium in N. CM Printers' Ink. Has the largest circulation of any family agricultu ral or political paper published between R i c h mond and Atlanta THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUE PEOPLE .ARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY "M. Vol. 13. RALEIGH, N. G, &UGVdT 23, 1898. No. 29 Meier ?' ur on - , on PUBLISHED WEEr, The date on your label tells youwtir subscription expiree. Receipts for rc 8nt)scriptlon will be given m change q label. If not ii:oierly thaccvd in f ts notify us. ft. Money at our risk if tent by rt el' fcrtwHter or money order. Please don't send stamps. Be sure to give both old and tew addresses In ordering change of poeU fflce. UBaslf of Advertising Rates: ten cents per agate ne. Liberal discounts for lime and space. We want Intelligent correspondents in every county in the State. We want fact s of value results accomplished of value, experiences of value, plainly and briefly to d. One solid, demonstrated fact, la worth a tnousand theo ries. The Editor are tot of Cerresi ondents. rtt pcnsible for the views THI PROGRESSIVE Organ of the Ncith Alliance. Farmer Carolina is the Official Farmers' State " am standing now fust behind the ttirtain. and in full alow of the coming sunset. Behind me are the shadows on iv- track, before me lies the dark valley and the river. When I mingle with its dark waters I want to east one linger ing look upon a country whose govern- stent u or tne veovie, jot ivp, am uy WC ili th, 1890. . - V.. il. . -nlm " L. L. Polk, July EDITORIAL NOTES. Of course, it remained for the Char lotteObaerver,with the narrowness and bigotry ot parxwac pnjau., tack tne Kaieign iross oecu luouugw to encourage a factory founded by the farmers. It remained for it to attach a non partisan orgamziuuu BCr.u6 better tne conaiuon oi .ao agirui.uic. class. It owes an apology to its read ere. and to the farmers. In the Sub Alliance to which this writer belongs the three great political parties are rep resented, and partisan politics is never mentioned. In proportion to numbers the Obser vpr'a nartv is doubtless better repre eented in the matter of State Alliance officers than any other party, Tha Observer is either wofully de Mrri nr a malicious deceiver. Will it tell us which! The Recorder of last wees accuses us of "attempting to destroy its cnarau ter.w" This is a weak, puny piece of misrepresentation, which we supposed to be beneath editor Bailey, for wnom we have only the highest reepect. We Biira Rvmnnred we naa a neai w IM rw imj w differ with a man without being ac cused of villifying him. While differ ing with the Recorder, every reader ot will tpntifv that we have Rimnlv given our reasons therefor, be Having that editor Bailey wished to be - - -. . , on the right side. For our part we ao j oioim tn be infallible, and we abuse no one for disagreeing with us and do not say he is attempting w m . ri-pBtmv our chai' 3ure ou";' - hia rea. SOnS. AS we " : 2 we admire the sentiment expressed b Marcus Aurelius: "If any man is , i. m that T do not think bjio "v'" . Mr,r i-iVht. I will gladly cnauge, iui the truth by which no man was ever i iired." The writer has not bad as much experience m tne uowf business as tbe Recorder editor, but we can tell him that the proper thing to do is to stick to argument and when beaten not to fall behind the baby plea "you are trying to hurt my charac ter." The Wilmington Messenger too favors -soft soap" but it doesn't want too much "lie" in it. Refermg to the tendency of the Democratic press to glory in "the numbers of voters who are returning to tbe Democratic party without giving names or producing proof, it says: -Every campaign the talk as report ed in democratic newspapers is always favorable and from everywhere. But like some wars the deeds do not cor respond with the pronunciamento. The democrats get licked at the count. Let Kn, it ho cautious and conserva- - o QVCiJ WWW J Too The tive thia vear in bwuicu u ui ioiAada all the way. etate in campaigns . kio oratpamen. consum great oratuiu, mate masters in debate. Ls . tv,o tmth will not us be hurt, and if defeat comes it will not be so un bearable." . M.ut The Messenger is glonusly right. Th.-. rwi- irq4 and agam iu loao. became considerably frightened at the reports of immense numbers or ropu- lioto r0tnrnin, to the DetttCCratlC I01O. But it will be remembered that tne election returns, to use a phrase corn el by the "visiting Statesman "lowered the aspiraUons" "rj! deilers in fiction. And history repeats AGRICULTURE. NEWS FROM JACKSON COUNTY Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer. j We are having ram. more or less 1 every day and frequently during the - . night. This has been the case all through July, and up to the present in August. It has been fine weather for improv ing corn crops that had been well cul tivated ; and we have probibly never had a better prospect for corn in this part of the State than we have at pres ent. Wheat threshing has been in slow progress among us during the last four or five weeks, and because of almost continuous rain v. weather, a m 9 great many cropa are yet not threshed. We find that a great deal of wheat is injared in the stack by careleesless in putting it up, water having found its wa7 toward the center of many of the 6iaCK8. UUr Da8tUre3 for Cattle and norsee have improved wonderfullv since tne rainy season becan. Reallv we never have seen them looking finer than at present. Q jite a sad accident occurred near Wetster last Monday. Some little children had gone cut a little distance from the house to gather up some stove wood, and in an attempt to get some from, the lower side of a large log that lay Qn a hill8idet which waa disiodged. rolling over and crushing one little ir, from the fl te f h h di d that . hL Another little Rir. WM ht . thQ j .f M ifc lod against a stump, but was released by th eff0lta of a vontr ma whoee strength was so increased by excite- mem, tnai ne s .lgntiy raised tne log, a thing which two ordinary men could not do under cool circumstances. The people up in this part of the State are not much excited, politically, yet; but if aspirants for c ffice can hare any effect, we will not stay as near zero. poiitfc we have been durirgthe summer. A. J. L.oxa. c?R Near Webster. N. C, Aug. 18. 98. A SALSPLB OF MISSISSIPPI FARU ERS' INSTITUTES. Correepondence of the Progressive Farmer. EEOOKHA"VEK,"Mi8s., Aug 18, 1898. Thinking you and your readers might be interested in a short account of some of the farmers' institutes I am attending in Mississippi, I concluded to give you the benefit of my experi ence. I have been employed by the State Agricultural College to conduct these farmers institutes throughout the State, assisted by the professors of tbe College and c fficers of the Experiment 8tation. My first institute was at the Patron's Camp grounds, near Lake. This place is known far and near as Lake Camp Grounds, and consists of a large enclosure that will seat 1.200 t( 200 to Ra t.lTr whitftwanhftd and -v .B . , " " ranging in size from one to lour rooms. These are owned and occupied throueh the camp season by citizens through the camp season Dy citizens from the adjoining country. The object of the camp is to have a good time rusticating ana at tne same .... i . i time improve the mental man, as they have some literary exercises night and day. Many hundreds of people con gregate here from all quarters and as their exercises are varied, most any one can be pleased. These buildings are nicely arranged in streets around the large pavilion. I was struck with the way the grounds were lighted. All about over this large arpa nlatforms were constructed about four feet high; on these earth was laid about six inches deep. Then at night a big fire was built on each of these platforms, of the "fat pine knots" that abound in this section. The grounds had a very picturesque annearance by this wierd light. One could easily see all over the camp by trr- - these bright lights. But I find I am taking up time de scribing the grounds ana not saying mnf.h about the farmers institute. We landed there early in the morn ing and wew heartily received by the hnard of managers and requested to hold a farmers' institute ior tne next - .. M 1 . two days, so as soon as we had put our "o-rinn" in the hotel and bruened up a little, we proceeded at the ringing of the bell to the pavilion ana set to work, After discussing "Living at Home," the "Home Acre," "Strawberry Cul turo " and the "Home Dairy," for sev eral hours, we aajournea ror amner. - ' . . - - j. . After dinner we discussed 'Com- mercial Dairying and tne itaising ot Forage Crops," especially the hairy vetch and the winter turf oat It was generally concluded after a thorough discussion that these two crops sowed together in September and lightly grazed in early spring and then cut for hay about latter part Ol May would be a verv valuable croo for anv - ' one wishing a grain crop, hay crop avd renovator at the same time. Prof. W. L Hutchinson, Director of the Ex periment Station, stated that he had a iield that had been re seeded by the waste seeds of vetch and oats for five years, and that he had grown other crops on the same land during the sum mer which came eff in time for the oats and vetch to take possession in the fall again. Thus three crops were rrmmwm Xn tVta aama lanrl rn Treat nnH ilnu uw euujw vkvv. j wm the land is actually getting better each year. Next topic discussed was conserva tion of moisture in the soil, the ccn trolling of surface water, etc. Under this head the Mangum terrace. was dis- fnne,d afc enth and T fppl BiiTft in nrfl din'nr that ing has been added to that section, if not to the State. That night we were entertained by music and recitation from the young people, which was, by the way, very fine. They believe in music at the camp, evidenced by the fact that a brass band was on hand at all of the exercises, besides tne piano ana violin music before mentioned. The next morning was occupied by discussions on farm topics until 11 a. m. . when a halt waa called and it was announced that this hour had been allotted to a candidate for U. S. Con grets who was present and ready to speak. Now something strange hap-1 pened, at least to me, beiDg a North Carolinian. Some one io the crowd proposed to do away with the political speech for the present, at least, as they consid ered the discussion of farming more in teresting and profitable. Ycu may imagine my amazement at thia&ra nouncement. Bo the prospective representative, who by the way is one of the brightest men in the State, got up and requested that his appointment be moved up on i day. So the agricultural - discubblon went on. That evening we had a very credit able mule colt shew in which twenty- one nne young muies participated. They were beauties and proved that the farmers around Lake believe in in raiairjg their own mules as well as hog and hominy. When these mules are grown that number would about represent a car load. I aeked several how much it cost them to raise a naule, and they Ad that situated as thev were thev could raise them for from 125 to 135. everything counted. Anyone will agree that this is better than sending to Kentucky for tbem. After the mule sbo we had a horae . v.:, auu came eiuiuu mm reiurucu uu more the paviiion for further lec tures on agriculture. in the evening w9 jumped into our hack after bidding hasty farewells to our kind and induigent listeners and nurried to the depot, feeling that we had had a pleasant time at Lake and that we hoped to repeat the pleasure at some future date. I am, Respectfully yours, B. Irby. DROUTH-PROOF CULTIVATION. Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer. The drouth has already seriously in jured crops in this section, with a good prosDeot for other injury. We cannot change the mode of cultivation this season ; the plans commenced, must be carried to a finish. The seriou-i effects of the drouth should, however, lm press upen the necessity of a change to a system that is more nearly drouth proof. Crops can, to a great extent, be rendered drouth-proof by deep and thorough tillage, in connection with a proper supply of humus. in a contest for a premium, cir area bv an agricultural sacietv. for the largest yield of corn, an acre of old field was given one of the contestants (they were all. as nearly as possible, I . given the same quality of land). This acre was plowed and subsoiled, crossed and ra rroaspd. until it was thoroughly broken to the depth of 16 inches. Five hundred light two horse loads of muck, 50 loads of barn yard manure and 140 nounds of euano were then i. . ' : . . .. . broadcasted and plowed m shauo. Corn was planted in drills, 86x7 inches, one grain. No re planting nor tnin ning. The acre yielded 149 bushels and 2 quarts of corn, taking the first premium. The corn kept green to the ground tna flourished throughout a spell of dry wither, white corn ctAti vated the usual w&y. havir.i? at. lpat five times the distance, fired badly, j cow PEA.S. Tne proper ieriiuzaticn r to soil should be the first object soughv with said vie w, prepare the land thorg. ly, and then, unless you have surpvq stable or other manure, apply from to 600 pounds of acid phosphate and 400 'to 600 pounds of kainit, broadcast per acre and plow in. The smaller quantity will produce fine results, but it is believed that the larger quantity, in connection with cow peas, will pro duce as good results as the above heavy fertilizing with muck, etc., and is far cheaper. About . June 1st lay off into drills 4 feet apart and plant peas, preferably the Wonderful or Clay. If the former, and you wish to raisa peas for edible purposes, single stalks in the drill should not stand nearer than 2 feet. As an experiment, try some 4 feet. Cultivate thoroughly. I prefer drillio g and cultivating to sowing, as a much ranker growth can be produced. When thoroughly ripe, say about the time of frost, turn under. The land may lay until corn plant ing time, thus giving the vines good time to decompose. If not practical to sow and subsoil befose February lit, at planting time lay eff into 7 feet drills. Hun a coulter or other suitable plow in the bottom of nhe drills and produce all the locs9 dirt possible at several times running, Then drop the corn, for 1 stalk, 12 inchas apart. As an experiment, try some 6 and some 9 inches. While the corn is small, bar it and run a coulter or other plow in the bot torn of the furrows. The deep plowing (equivalent to subaoiling) may thus be continued to the middle of the rows. -About June 1st, plant peas in drills midway between the corn rows. Fertiliza and cultivate thoroughly. Planted as aforesaid, very nearly a full crop each of corn and peas can be grown.' Peas are nitrogen gatherers and when properly stimulated and turned tinder, produce a perfect fertiliz3r, containing nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, thus enriching the land more econom ically than can be done by any other mode. Clover, and all other plants of the legume family, possess similar fer tilizing properties. But thorough preparation of the soil, in connection with high fertilization, will not alone fill the bill. Constant and regular cultivation will be neces sary to prevent damage from drouth. For the benefit of both corn and yeas, the ground should be properly stirred soon after every rain, until the corn is in early roasting ecr, unless the pea vines sooner prevent. At maturity turn the corn stalks and pea vines and follow with wheat and clover. The stalks and vines will when rotted, provide tbe necessary humus, which will make the ground loose, and will also exert a wonderful influence in pre venting damage from drouth. But few, if any, farms can be f Mind where a single acre is properly fertil ized and cultivated. Try at least e few acres according to the above, and get into the road that leads to the abandonment of the old plan of un necessary wear and tear. When you get fully installed into the new plar, labor will cease to be a task ; it will be a pleasure. Bryan Tyson. Long Leaf, N. C. OUTING. A farmer doesn't need fresh air. He gets plenty of that on the farm. Wha he needs is a change of associations, He and his wife need an outing to take them from their never ending round of chores, to lift them out of the ruts and broaden their minds. A little outing at this time and of this sort coats so little that one will never miss it, while the amount of ecjoy ment he will get out of it, if he does it for enjoyment and not to criticize and whine, cannot be computed in cold cash. If you exhibit anything and fail to capture a premium, don't get mad and make a crank of yourself, but critically examine tne premium articles and see if you can't beat them next year. The purpose of premiums is to encourage the production of the best and to stir up the spirit of compe tition. If there is any time in the year when the farmer can take a little outing it is this month. Of course, the land must be prepared for fall wheat ; but unless one is trying to do more than he can this will not interfere with his outing. lights are lengthening and growing cooler and generally are just right for camping parties and jollification. Take a good supply of provisions aioe, and eat, laugh and be merry. Don't wear a stiff white shirt, choking collar and a heavy black suit, but wear something vou can climb a tree or stand on your nd in, if you want to. And it the aaig are wise they will not array themselves in purple and fine linen, but thro will dress so as to feel thor oughly comfortable and fear neither dust nor a sprinkle of rain. Fred Grundy, in Farm and Fireside. MAKING SIRUP AND SUGAR. Valuable Talk on a Subject Which Interests Many Farmers Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer. mi . - J - 1 I xne season ior grinamg caue on m arm is ueariv nere. rmueuu iu. i i r..ii-i.; ict At l of Florida Station, tells all about plant ing, cultivating and harvesting the tropical sugar cane, aid how to manu facture, preserve and market sirup and sugar from its juice. As much of this practice is equally applicable to sorghum juice, we give a rather full report of that portion of the experi ments relating to' manufacturing, pre serving and marketing. We also ap pend a digest of bulletin No. 39, of Delaware station on experiments in developing sorghum as a source of sugar. As to grinding the cane on the farm, the Florida bulletin emphasizes the vast superiority of the three roller mill over tne two roller mui. it aiso em phas'z98 the great importance of con stant watchfulness to see that the roll ers are kept screwed tight together. Even with the three-roller mill tightly screwed, only ttrej fourths of the juice is squeezed out of the stalk, and the two roller mill fails to get more than half of it The jaico having been expressed from the cane, the first process in actual sirup making is at an end, and thejc-et;atep is that of freeing the juice as largely as possible from foreign substances. In common farm practice this consists simply in straining it through a gunny sack as it comes from the mill. This, however, although de sirable, only suffices to remove from the juice the small particles of cane that pass from the rollers. There re main many other foreign substances, the presence of which is detrimental to the quality of the sirup and the re moval of which is indispensable to securing of the best product. Chief among these are coloring matters and the so called non sugar carbohydrates and albuminoid compounds. The method which has been universally recommended by the experiment sta tions for accomplishing this removal consists of sulphuring and liming the juice. The first process being to sub- j ct the juice, as it comes from the mill, to the action of sulphurous acid fumes obtained from the burning of sulphur in a furnace constructed for the purpose, and then the removal of sulphurous acid by defecation of the jaice with milk of lime in a separate pan or boiler before the actual process .. . . ;r of evaporation begins. That the method accomplishes the object sought and results in a superior quality of sirup there can be no question. That it is comparatively expensive, incon venient and impractical for general domestic use is, however, equally true and is abundantly demonstrated by the fact that, though the method has been recommended by every publica tion issued by an experiment station treating of sirup making during the past decade, the method has not act ually been adopted by one sirup maker in a hundred. In view of these facts, a series of ex periments was undertaken. in the hope of devising a simple and practical means so inexpensive as to be within reach of all. The filtering materials tried included straw, hay, seed cotton, cotton lict, sand, shavings, excelsior, sawdust, ground excelsior, charcoal, fuller's earth and Spanish moss. The last material was so unquestionably superior to any other used that it was adopted as the best and most feasible article for the purpose, and was used exclusively after its advantages were demonstrated. Tne method of use was as follows : Dry moss, such as can be obtained anywhere in the State of Florida, was carefully picked and freed from leaves, sticks and foreign matter and thor oughly washed. A tub, or half-barrel, j through the bottom of which a hole for the outlet pipe was bored, was taken and a piece of perforated tin was placed' over this outlet on the iteide of the bottom of the tnb. The tnb was then filled with the cleaned moss, which was packed as solidly as it could bo crowded in bv tbe weight of a znaa9 until it waa fiiled. It wbb then placed under the outlet gutter from tbe mill and the juice was conducted upon the moss in the center of the tub by a tin trough. Thia j lice, therelore, sank by gravity through the entire thickness of mos3 till it found outlet through the pipe hole irAthe bottom through which, by means l a half inch iron pipe, it was conaucttd by gravity to the skim ming pan. ihe passage of the juice through the n'esa not only freed it of all coarse and heating foreign particles but filtered out & very large proportion of the non sugar contents and coloring matter so that the i tic.( naflnin? thrnn&h - th tl fc - waSnearlv as clear and " " colorless as water. The only precaution necessary in using this method is, that the moss naturally occasionally be comes clogged and requires renewing once in two. or three days of constant running, but in warm weather it was found that the juice adhering to the moss in the tub was liable to ferment over night and be sour in the morning, under which circumstances it is neces sary to replenish the filter with fresh moss before beginning work each day. A further step to insure a clear, pure sirup that will look well, taste good, keep well and sell, is to finish the sirup in a second pan or kettle never finish it in the skimming pan. Have a finish ing pan or kettle on a separate furnace alongside the skimming pan, with a space of five or six feet between them, so that one man can attend to both fires and both pans. Have the finishing pan enough lower than the skimming pan to draw the hot sirup through a pipe from the skimming pan to the finish ing pan by means of a stop cock in the pipe. v. Another purifying method tried with much success, was to use fullers earth in the skimming pan at the rate of ona pound of earth to five gallons of juice." ' On bringing the jaice to the boih'ng point, all the coloring matter and albu minous impurities ordinarily forming a scum on tbe surface, were were im mediately precipitated to the bottom of the pan, leaving a perfectly clear and almost transparent fluid behind, which is easily drawn off with a syphon or through an outlet pipe placed about one inch above the bottom of the pan. The cost of this method with fullers earth worth f 14 per ton is very slight, and the earth exists in large deposits in several parts of the State. So far as actual results are concerned, the sirup produced by this modification com pares in every way favorably with that obtained by the simple skimming of the juice, but it does not possess ad vantages over the sama. The method, therefore, possesses merit over, but is hardly yet to be recommended for gen eral use except in cases of highly col ored juices from which inferior sirup is produced by the other method. The finishing process is the test of the operator's skill. A little careless- nooi Vini.fi mill Ka fatal It the airiin 1A L ... - . . . . . A too thin or too thick it is defective, and if it is a little scorched both its looks and taste are very much injured. A very skillful man of much experi ence may be able to tell the proper density by the ropiness of the sirup, but the only sure test, and by far the best test is a saccharometer. This in strument costs very little, but the bulletin tells how to make one out of a bottle and a stick. The trouble in marketing home made sirup at a remunerative price has arisen from its want of uniformity and stability, and also largely from its lia bility to ferment, or to granulate. All methods heretofore proposed to overcome this difficulty, including the sulphuring and liming, have rested upon the introduction of some remedy into the sirup to counteract the ten dency to sour, rather than upon a re m wal of the cause of that tendency. The Florida Station has experimented on methods to remove the cause of de terioration by thorough purification and classification by the above de scribed methods, and it has scaared a fair measure of success, its sirup made by these methods having remained in open vessels in a warm room for three months without the slightest evidence of fermenting or crystalizing into sugar, and it has actually been put upon the market and stood the test CONXJJTCED ON PAGS 8
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 23, 1898, edition 1
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