Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / Sept. 20, 1898, edition 1 / Page 1
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Tbt Prcgjrei gfrs Farmer it a good paper far gbore the aver se and possibly Use t advertis ing dium in N. C"- Inters' Ink. r Has the largest circulation of any family agricultu ral or political paper published between R i c h mond and Atlanta it ASM' v U J U 1 THE INDUSTRIAL MD EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY. "' ?ol. RALEIGH, N. C., SEPTEMBER 20, 1898. Ho. 33 7 . wBO GEE S SITE H H 1 f I I II 2 0 PUBLISHED The date on your labl tells tou when your subscription expires. Receipts for money on subscription will be given m change of date on label. If not pxoptrly changed in two weeke, notify us. Money at our risk if tent by regi" ered letter or money order. Please don't send stamps. Fe sure to Rive both old and new addresses in oidering change of postifnce. I Basis of Advertising Rates: ten cents per agate line. Liberal discounts for lime and space. We want intelligent correspondents in every county in the fc?tate. We want facts of value results accomplished of value, experiences of value, plainly and briefly to.d. One solid, demonstrated jtaCX, is worth a tnousand theo ries. The Editor? are lot responsible for the views of Correspondents. The Progressive Farmer is the Official Organ of the Ncith Carolina Farmers' State Alliance. t ir?t tandina now rust behind, the vrtain, and in full glow of the coming i inset. Behind me are the shadows on i ie track, before me lies the dark valley and the river. . When I mingle with its lark waters I want to cast one linger ing look upon a country whose govern ment is of the people, for the people, tad by the people, L. L. Polk, July ith 1890. EDITORIAL. NOTSS. The News and Observer sent a man down to Craven county to find out About neerro road overseers. He should have gone to Chatham county under Democratic rule. There he could have found three in one township. Oh ! consistency;" etc. m m We have never said that a Democrat hired the negro editor to write the fa mous and infamous editorial in the Wilmington Record, but such language as the Morehead City Herald Dit patch uses in speaking of the editor in-chief of this paper convinces us that there are animate claiming to be Democrats who are not io good to hire negroes to write such rot. When the Hypocratic leaders who have howled themselves hoarse over the "Jim Young Inspsction" scandal found their hypocrisy exposed in last week's Progressive Farmer 'They spak3 not a word But like dumb statues or breathless stones, Stared on each other and looked deadly pale." They suddenly became as ilent as the tomb as to thi3 question. It was a great scandal as long as they could make people believe it "fusion" work; and these most righteous advocates (?) of good government could never sup port a party guilty of such things. Bit as soon a3 we proved it to be the work of the Hypocrats they concluded to swallow "nigg r and all" for the sake of "white supremacy." Ask the News and Observer, Rileigh Post, and your county Hypocratic sheet if this is not correct. They can't deny it. Mr. Bailey has writcen us a card in reply to a paragraph in our last issue. He says: "In the first place I am not respon sible for what us9 others make of my utterances. I am responsible for the truth of statements I make." Good. And he ought also to have some evidence of the truth of rumors that he circulates. Ntxt: "In my leUer of resignation I stated that I had heard that it had been ar ranged that Mr. John R Smith should receive 12.500 yearly salary as Com missioner of Agriculture instead of 11.800, which is the legal salary. I did nt say I had heard that appropria tion3 of the B-ard of Agriculture were padded, as you have it." Again Mr. Bailey it in error. We said the rumor was that appropria tions were padded ' in order to increase Smith's salary." That's the statement in full. We agree wish him that ap propriations arc padded ; there is no doubt about that matter. He quoted figures in his letter to show it. Here u what he says: 'I have been in ormed, and I give you the information for what it may be worth, since I will no longer be in position to wutch, that while the sal ary of Mr. Smith as Superintendent of the State's prison 2 500, whereas it is now a3 Commissioner only $1,800, there exists and understanding that he shall illegally and immorally get $2,500 per annum from the Board of Agricul ture; that Mr. Smith would not agree upon the exchange until this under etanding was reached. The padding of some iter:s of the budget at the June meeting of the Board to which I called the attention of the Board at the time may throw some light upon the matter. 'Gas, water and telephones' cost $99 the la9t six months; for the next eix monts two hundred dollars is appropriated. Print ing paper cost $3,617; $5,000 is appro priated. There is a special' appro priation of $10,000; of this amount $5, 0.0 is for the experiment station work and $300 for the museum, the balance of $6,700 is for labor, fuel, repairs and such special appropriations as may be ordered. You see it will be very easy to carry out this understanding if is exists." Mr. Bailey continues : "I intended this paragraph for the Governor's information. By mistake of the type writer it got into some of the paper?. I remember that Mr. J L Ramsey, Secretary of the Board of Agriculture, prepared a statement in answer to the foregoiDg, in which he showed that under the D mocratic ad ministration the appropriations were fully as large if not larger. But tbat is no concern of mine. I undertook to show that the Budget was so padded that the plan of paying the Ccmmis sioner $2,500 could easily be carried out. Tne above figures show that be yond question." This isnice, very nice, but Mr. Biiley entirely overlooks the question at issue. It is not "Were appropriations padded? It is "la there any truth in the rumor?" Mr. Bailey concludes a follows: "I believe Mr. Ramsey also alleged that I should have looked after this matter when I was a member of the Board. He is Rscording Secretary of the Board and he ought to know that the Bu iget was approved while I was examining it, and that as soon as the vote was taken I aaked for reconsidera tion, which was granted. That after noon I read the Bidget item by item and asked that the items above named be explained. I had not heard at the time of the salary arrangement alleged, If I had I would not have accepted the veroal explanations that were made." We are very glid to give Mr. Bailey a hearing, even if he doea persist in drifting entirely away from his subject in such a way as to convince us that as a preacher he would be a lament able failure. E7ery one can see that he has entirely failed to give the name of his informant, or give the slightest proof that there is any foundation in the rumor. And that's the one and only important point. We ara indebted to the RUeigh News and Observer for Jim Youag's report of his inspection of the White Biind Institution under orders of the Democratic chairman of board. It read as follows: Raleigh, N. C, June 12, 1897. To the Trustees for the Daf, Dumb and B ind. Raleigh, N. C. : Gentlemen: We, your Committee cn Inspection of Buildings andGrounds, attended to the duty assigned us on Monday, May 21 :h, and beg leave to make the following report: We in spected both departments at the most inopportune time that cculd possibly have been selected. When we arrived upon the grounda at bsth the white and colored departments, we found the employees busily engaged in get ting the students ready to depart for home. Everything was necessarily stirred up, though we found both de partments in excellent condition, con sidering that the school was breaking up for the eummer vacation. We should feel like reporting un favorably upon some of the sanitary conditions of both departments, were it not that new buildings are to be erected and modern sanitary appli ances provided, a3 soon as the appro priations mrde for the same are avail able. We feel, however, that th3 beet ha3 been done that can bo under the circumetarcos. Rspoctfully submitted, James H. Young, CHAS F. MES2RV2, Committee on Inspection. THE BEST WINTER PASTURE. Praf Irby Talks of Hairy Vetch. Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. Hairy .vetch sowed with rye, bar ley, or white turf oats, makes the best winter pasture for the Southern farmer. Time of sowing, August to Novem ber. Sow broadcast Grows oa any land tbat will grow peas. Grows in the winter, when the land would other wise be uncultivated. Comes off in time to make almost any crop. Kceps the land from washing and leaching in our winter rains. Makes a stiff heavy soil loose and porous, thereby draining the soil, and enabling the soil to store up moisture in spring for use in dry weather. Graze until middle of April, and cut in June for hay. Makes a fine combi nation with Bermuia or wiregrass. Vetch can be sowed in corn or cotton field, just as crimson clover is sowed. It is of course best to prepare the land for any of these crops. The vetch is one of the best renovators makes poor land rich and rich land richer. Slore3 up nitrogen in the soil. B. Ieby. QUESTION ANSWERED. lorrfspondence of the Progressive Farmer. N. C Experiment Station, RaUigh, N C: Genthhmen: I have a bottom that ii subjcu to overflow, and is most too wet for corn. I wish to make a meadow of it. I want to sow grass that will give me no trouble to bo rid of it in case I should want to woi k the iaud later, and one tbat will not spreac all over the place. Pleaeo ad vise me as to what to sow. Yours truly, P. 8. B Answer by Frank E Emery, Agri culturist to N. C. Agricultural En peri ment Station You will do well and save your hay when it is grown, by giving immedi ate attention to straigthening your stream where overflow occurs, and raising banks a little at the low places, so water may s ay in its channel and dredge some for itself. Try straight ening on your own land, and see it your next down stream neighbor will ler ycu help him on his portion, and have a sort of j illy time doing it with a treat along with you for him and the boys. This done prepare the land well for seed, and sow the following per acre: Red Top Gras?, . 14 lbs. Fowl Meadow Grass, . 14 lbs. Timothy, . . 5 5 lbs. If you wish you can add tbee pounds of peavine clover and one pound of white clover. The latter may save your timothy after haying, if it starts to growing again then. You need not have fears about these grasses, and in your locality, if your locality, if your land is in gocd order, they should yield abundantly. POTATOES FOR PIGS. The Michigan farmer, some years, is at a loss to know what to do with his potatoes. Thousands of bushels are thrown out to rot. This was the case in 1897 and 1896. It may not happen this way again for some years to come, and it may happen so again this fall. If it does, what can be done with the potatoes to avoid a total loss? For a man to go to the expense and labor of raising a crop of potatoes and then find absolutely no market for them :"s a seri ous question, to say the least, says a writer in Michigan Fruit Grower. If enough could be got out of the crop to pay the labor till it would certainly help matters some. I have always made it a practice to cook the unmar ketable potatoes for the pigs, and in like the above mentioned bave fed the entire crop to the piga and cows. I was always satisfied that I got the labor cost out of the crop. In 1890 the Wis consin Experiment Station made two feeding trials with boiled potatoes and corn meal compared with corn meal alone, as food for hogs. In the two trials it took 410 pounds of corn meal to make one hundred pounds' gain. In the first trial with potatoes it took 295 pounds of meal and 870 pounds of po tatoes to make ono hundred pounds of gain; and in the second, 234 pounds of meal and 702 pounds of potatoes to make the one hundred pour, d 3' gain. Now, averaging the trials and stating the matter in another way, we find that 441 pounds of potatoes are equal to one hundred pounds of corn meal as pig feed, or one hundred pounds cf corn meal are equal to about seven bushels of potatoes, and if corn meal is worth 80 cents a hundred pounds, then the potatoes are worth from 11 to 12 cents a bushel to feed to pigs. Or, the fact can be stated in this way: One bushel of corn is worth four and one half bushels of potatoes. Of course, this is not a high value for potatoes, but it is better than throwing them away. Tne best of cooking potatoes is indeed very small. On almost every farm there are waste rails and pieces of board, rubbish enough to cook the po tatoes, and the farm would look better if it was thus utilized. As to the labor of cooking, it is no greater than that of haulling the potatoes out to bt. rotted. I do not want to be understood as advocating th-st it would be gocd policy for the potato "specialist," when he fiads himself loaded down withhun dreds of bushels of potatoes for which he can find absolutely no market, to buy hegs enough to consume hia pota toes. But for the man who has hogs it would be policy to feed them all the potatoes he could, and thus make his los as light as possible. It seems to me that this is an argument in favor of growing a few hog with the pota toes, and then, if necessary, get the labor cost of growing a portion of the potatoes, at least, instead of throwing them away. Many a man knows from hard, actual experience that it is ter ritsle risky to "put the eggs all in one basket," for many a time he has stum oled and fallen with the basket and lost his eggs. In one respect potatoes are worth more than the experiments would seem to indicate, and that is they furnish a variety. All stock will be thriftier in a leng trial of feeding if it is furnished a variety of food than if it were col fined to one or even two foods. NEWLY CLEARED LAND. If any one wanted to kcow what dif Acuities the early settlers in wooded sections had to encounter, let him make a clearing in some wood lot and then try to grov a crop among the stumps. He will break more plow points and harrows working this land than the crop will be worth when grown. Bat the early settlers had at least one advantage, and that was that their cleared land was free from weeds. In all the older settled parts of the country there are many bad weeds among trees in the woods, the seeds of which have been carried there by birds or other animals. American Cultiva tor. HEALTH AND COMFORT OF BEES. A hive that is painted white or of a light color, placed in some cool and shady place, is not only attractive in itself, but it also tends to lighten the labors of its inmates and has a decided influence upon their health, is the opin ion of Ambrose L Riley, in the "Busy Bee." The hive should not be so compli cated that it will not admit of any easy access to all its parts by the bees. If it is, all weak colonies, and seme of the strong ones, will be damaged if not entirely ruined by those troublesome "worms," the moth. The work in the apiary should be done cleanly, neatly and orderly, for by so doing, the temptation given to the bees to mar and deface the com plexion of the apiarist will be . pie vented to a great extent. I have frequently visited some bees' yards where the weeds, sunflowers, plum sprouts and other things too nu merous to mention, surrounded the hives so thick that it was a hard mat ter to tell just where the man's bees were, until you were in a gocd kick ing distance of them. An apiary should not present such a desolate, dismal appearance, unin viting and comfortless, deterring bees rather than enticing them to it. The weeds and grass should be cut down before they ripen to seed, thus pre venting them from sprouting the next eeason. The hives should be repaired, and if you have time, sawdust, coal cinders, or much better, coarse gravel should be placed near the entrance and around the hive, which will save the trouble of cutting the grass and weeds that abound. Always have an abundant supply of water near your bees. This spring an old fellow who claims to know it all about bees came where I was sitting up a watering trough in place and said : "Well, I never knew before that bees would go that close for water." I suppose he thought they had to go eight or nine miles after it. Again, there are some meddlesome ants that worry the life out of bees. (Does any one know what ants are good for ?) A cloth wrung out of coal oil and applied to the outside of the hive where the ants travel will soon stop the annoyance. Evidence of short memories will be common this fall. Rine cut of ten of us will bave forgotton that we need to build an ice houee, by the time enow flies. THE DANGER OF RUNNING DOWN. Virgin soil contains many elements of fertility and mechanical conditions that are difficult to replace after they have once been exhausted through an ignorant system of forming. Science can do much toward renovating worn out soils, but it is doubtful if they on ever be returned to the same condi tions they were in when man first started to till them. At least it would take many years and generations of farming after the most approved meth ods to restore a run down piece of land to its early primitive condition. We may add manure, green crops, mineral fertilizers, and all the artificial manu rial mixtures ever invented, acd, val uatb a these substances are, it is not likely that the soil will be made jast right. Virgin soil of great fertility is the product of many thousands of years of building up by nature's slow but sure method. Vegetation of eeason after season has rotted and decayed in the soil, and this has baen buried out cf sight by succeeding generations of plants. The roots of these millions of plants drew from beneath rich stores of potash and phosphorus acid, and the leaves and branches gathered nitrogen from the air. The animals helped to enrich the primative soil with their excrements and decaying bones. The burrowing animals brought up from the subsoil mineral fertilizers and new earth, which became mixed with the to soil. During this slow process of soil build ing and enriching' the fertility in creased steadily and gradually. It was not the work of a day or year. The food that was added to it was di gested slowly. The plant food was as similated by the soil, aod was ready for absorbsion by other plants. All it needed was the stirring of the soil to make the stored up fertility ready for use. We build up our soils after this same process as nearly as we can imitate it, but we never duplicate it entirely. Is it is not always possible to add j ist what Nature intended should be put in the soil. Moreover, our methods have to be quick. We cannot wait ages for the soil to digest and assimi late the food given to it. Herein is the darjger of permitting any soil to run down.' It nake take only a few years of steady dropping to exhaust the fer tility of the best virgin soil, but it will take generations to restore it. It is easier to maintain the natural primi tive fertility and mechanical conditions of the soil than to restore them after they have once been lost. We should practice preventive measures, and then curative remedies will seldom be required. C N. Walters in American Cultivator. SAVING THE CORNSTALKS. Some investigatiors think the grain but half the value of the corn plant, while others, more conservative, esti mate the value of the blades acd stalks at one third the total value of the plant. At the lowest estimate the value of the blades and stalks is great enough to make it an object to save them. They are practically wasted if the stalks are left to stand in the field, says Farmers' Voioe When left standing the blades become dry and are blown away, being altogether lost, and the sugar, gum and other valuable constituents of the stalks and huske are washed Gut by the rain and lest, so standing cornstalks are of very lis tie value by the time stock is turned on the fields. . About the only use they are in this condition is to furnish wad ding to prevent the grain ration from packing in the stomach, and for thn purpose straw or swamp grass would be of more value than weathered corn stalks. In the Eist, where such things are more closely looked after, the selling value of corn stover, well cured and bound in bundles at the time of husk in?, is about $3 per acre, when timo thy hay is selling at 6 per ton. In other words, feeders willingly give half the drice of a ton of timothy hay for an acre of corn stover. When stover ia cured and fed on the farm its value is great enough to add materially to the amount that may be realized J rom the crop of corn. Cattle and young horses may be kept through the winter on it without other rough feed, and they will come out in the spring with round bodies and sleek coats, for the stover keeps their diges tive organs in good condition, prevent ing constipation. Ten years ago, or even later, cutting corn was pretty hard work, and, ex cepting threshing, the most disagreea ble job done on the farm. Now, thanka to the American genius, the corn har vester works to perfection, and the cutting of corn has been reduced to a matter of driving a team and sotting up the bundles. Prof, Henry, in Feeds and Feeding," gives the proportionate value of the corn crop, counting only the digestible nutrients, as being divided into 63 per cent, in the grain, end 37 per cent, in the stalks. In other words, a corn crop that yields sixty-three bushels of corn to the acre has in the stover cr states the value of thirty eeven bush els of corn if it is properly cared for. This is equivalent to saying that a field of corn yielding sixty three bushels to the ecre has the feeding value of 100 buehels of corn if the stalks are used to the best advantage. This shewing, which cannot be successfully disputed, is enough to indicate any careful farm er to save his constalks. SPLENDID TOBACCO CROP. The Finest Ever Kntwn in the North Carolina Piedmont Section. A special from Winston, N. C, pays: This year's tobacco crop in the Pied mont section promises to be fine, and the leaf exhibits tX the annual fair to be held the first week in November are expected to be full and of the choicest selections. The planters are required to pay no entrance fee, and besides, are offered liberal money premiums. The Winston manufacturers, who had such exceedingly and mrque display of their goods last year, are determined to out do their former efforts. Manu facturers of tobacco from other cities, and makers and dealers in tobacco machinery and supplies, will likewise be well represented at the fair and will contest with the honors. Arrange ments are being made for full assort ment of meritori6us""8uxiliary attrac tions, including a midway, races, gor geous street parade, theatrical per formances, and the like. Ample ac commodations will be provided for the accommodation of the thousands of visitors. This will be ui questionably the greatest fair of any kind in North Carolina this year. All persons inter ested in the tobacco industry through out the United States are invited to attend, and will be repaid for the jour ney and expense incurred. THE POULTRY YARD. SKIM MILK FOR HENS AND CHICKENS C rreepondence of the Progressive Farmer. On our farm we set a high value upon skim milk for feeding hens and chick ens. The only trouble is tbat we do not begin to have enough milk to spare a great deal for this purpose. If any one doubts that it i3 a kind of food which chickens greatly er jvy, let him try putting a few quarts into an old pan or kettle and setting it where the fowls may have accesa to it. The amount of milk consumed in this way by a flock of fifty hens and chickens is simply astonishing. They seem per fectly wild to get it, and will troop after the person who supplies them this delicious drink in a great swarm . Care must be taken not to have the milk too deep in the pan, or some of the chicks may get drowned . A shallow vessel is best for this purpose. A little meal or middlings mixed with the sour milk will add to its value. It may bo clearly demonstrated tbat this milk has just the elements chick eu3 and hens need to produce good re sults. L?t one flock of hens b3 kept supplied with sour milk and another be deprived of it and the supply of eggs will scon convince the most skep tical that the milk possesses a high value for feeding purpose. In the same way. let e fl ck of chickens, five or eix weeks old be fed liberally on sour milk and another be given none. At the end of a few weeks weigh the chick ens and note the result in favor of those fed with milk. Sour milk has lost only the butter fat it once contained. It still contains all the 11 -33 a and muscle producing ele ments it ever did. Oa some farms I know of, no store is set upon this "waste milk product" as they call it, and it is thrown away when not need ed for the calves and pigs. Here is a serious los?, and I am convinced that continued on page 8. li '1 y ' 'i I - . : . t ft A
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 20, 1898, edition 1
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