North Carolina Newspapers

fits the Largest Clrcnl&tlea asd is the Oldest, Larg est, and only all flome-rrint Farm paper in that Rich panning and Trockii g section Between Kich tnond, Va , and SiTicnah, Ga. ,.riOx 'lYiT 1 Elas the largest circulation cf any family agricultu ral or political paper published between Rico mood and Atlanta TT 7 ! I M lM 2lT V J THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLIGY. Vol. 14. RALEIGH, li. 0., FEBRUARY 21, 1899. No 2 L 4 . TIT) A PI TTh TO O Oi T f ' II 11 till Mil 11 II U i iii f i CI f - 1 PUBLISHED WEEIw The date on your label tells you when your ubecrlption expires. Receipts for money on subscription will be given in change of date on label. If not properly changed In two weeks, notify us. DISCONTINUANCES. If & subscriber wishes bis cooy of the paper discontinued at the clr&tion f Ms subscription, notice to that effect ifccmld be sent. Otherwise it is assumed that a conti nuance of the subscription is desired, and all arrearages mast be paid when paper is ordered supped. Money at our risk if sent by registered letter cr money order. Please don't send stamps. Be sure to give both old and new addresses in ordering change of postof&ce. Basis of Advertising Rates: ten cents per agate lice. Liberal discounts for time and space, Thi item is marked to remind you that you shou d carefully examine i his pample copy and send u fl for a jear's subscription. Will also send rer on trial 8 months for 60 cents, or 3 months for 25 cents. Or we will send your risr free for one year if j on will send ns $5 in cew subscriptions, or free six months for S3 in Eew subscriptions, at these rates. We want intelligent correspond enta in every county in the State. We want facts of value, results accomplished of value, experiences of value, plainly and briefly told. One sjlid, demonstrated fact, la worth a tnousand theo ries. Tie Editor are not responsible for the views of Orrreerondenta. Thi Progress rv i Farmer is the Official Organ of the North Carolina Farmers' State Alliance. " I am standing now just behind the irlain, and in full glow of the coming tznut. Behind me are the shadows on the track, before me lies the dark valley nd the river. When I mingle with its dark waters J want to cast one linger ing look upon a country whose govern ment is of the people, for the people, tnd by the people," L. L. Polk, July Sth. 1890. PRACTICAL FARM NOTES. Written for The Progressive Farmer by the Editors and Has. Guy E. Mitchell Many disease germs thrive only in the dark. That ia a good excuse for letting some sunlight into the stable and the hen house. A poor animal cannot possibly made a good one by feeding. On the other hand a good animal can be easily mado a poor one by the want cf proper feed izg Bedding should not be cc:nmiz3d. Give tba stock plenty of it to keep them comfortable and clean. None of ii is wasted; it all makes manure. Toe advantage to be derived from boiling potatoes for hog food lies in the fact that the potato ia composed meet ly of e arci and in ths boiling the etareb cells are burst open and their contents rendered more digestible. m Assistant Secretary Brigham, of tha Department of Agriculture, 8tatC3tbat thi j year's distribution of seeds is the noK p itisfactory that has occurred Tne --?& a are being sent out by a New Y ;rk Grm wnich has its plant in Wash insron thas operations are directly uni .or tie eye of the D partment. LVu .r v.riry testa aro now bviitgrcado alt to show their gerrninative i i ".-r fl, &nd during the cjmisg season il U .c.-t3 will be made on the email ' 'uir V7hiiih tho Seed Testing Section cared near the city. This tcet v?il - 3.7 whether the eeads furnished arc tt u-i to name and if they are not d::.-bks will be made by the Depart ment from the price for which the s.eis are contrqetpd. , Trio tuberculin test was employed by the Ohio Station with satisfactory re suits. Thirty one cows and bulls were subjected to the test and 14 of these re loaded. Tnese latter were re tested about two months later and the results then confirmed the first test. Finally the entire here of the station was tested ith the result of adding several more to the list of suspected cases. About tot months from the first test the ani ma! were re tested and fifteen head killed. The tuberculin test was con firmed in every particular, most of the '.liTials being so diseased as to be con !i '"raced as unfit for food; yet they had "own- no external symptoms of the j-: ai and were in go?d fiesh and ap paroatly perfectly healthy. Expcrimpnts at the Ohio Station bavts demonstrated clearly that the apple scab i3 the chief factor in the de structicn of the anole crop and that I this fauces can be keDt under control I by spraying. Fjur splendid successive crops wtro produced on the sprayed trees at tne station while the fruit on the unsprayed trees in the same and neighboring orchards was worthless. The director, Professor Thome, how ever calls attention to the fact that ex hauation of soil fertility, waste of water, and insect ravages may all co operate with scab or other fungus growth in shortening the crop, and says: 'If our orchards are again to produce the great crops of earlier days, wo must in so far as possible, restore the soil conditions to those days; we must avoid the waste of water in those sections where rainfall is scanty by pre venting the growth under the trees oj weeds or grass and by keeping the eur faco in such condition as to prevent rapid evaporation. Alaska is to have a regularly organ iz?d experiment station and an annual appropriation of $15 .000 the same as the other stations. Professor George son, of Manhattan, Kansas, will short ly go out and take charge of the work. Mr. Gsorgeson spent last year in Al aska and brought back some fine re ports of the agricultural possibilities of the coast country and some remark able specimens of grain, grasses, pota toes, etc , which he had grown there. He believes that the country can bo practically self sustaining to the large number of miners who annually invade its mining regions, and he further be lieves that for ecDres of years to come the mineral output of the country will be very large. The gold will all even tually find its way to the States and tend to enrich the nation. Consul Diederica, of Madgeburg, Germany, makes a supplemental re port on the beet sugar crop of Europe which he states that the expected shortage of 350 000 tons is probably reduced by 200,000 owing to the more favorable prospects for the output of Germany and France. He yet states that the figures are approximate and that not until the last beet root hap been taken from the soils and sliced will it be possible to state definitely the crop. Owing to small home con sumption Germany is obliged to find foreign markets for two tbirds of her product and most of this has hereto fore gone to the Uaited States. The great problem, says Mr. Dieder cb, at present is: When Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Poilippines increase thsir pro duction of cane sugar so as to supply the United Slates, what will become of the laresurplus of German beet sugar? The comparative amounts of food used by the various nations cf the world are stated in a very interesting statistical article by George P. Wal dron in MsClure'a Migaz'ne. The world's average crop of potatoes is over 4,000 000 000 buehele ; that of wheat 2,500,000,000 bushels, that of corn 2 600 000 000 and that of rye and barley, 2 000 000,000 bushels. In the consumption of potatoes Ireland leads w!h the daily average of 4 pounds to the p?raon. Ia the- use of meats the Uoited Srates stands at tho head of the list witn 11 000.000 000 pounds per an num, or 147 pounds per capita. Of this in round numbers 5 000 000,000 pounds aro beef, 4 000.000 000 port: and 8 (00,000,000 muttCQ. Great; Britain comts n-x; t i the U S. m meat-eating with an averago of 100 pounds per capita. Italy uses but 24 pounds of meat per capita annually. Tee Uaited States also leads ia tno U30 of eggs, fully 10,000 000 000 being rf quired in the course of a year, or 133 egg3 for each person. Again the Uaited States stands at the bead in the consumption o! tooacco, 200.000 000 pounds a year biing smoked and chewed by Ameri cans. We do not, however, use so much per capita as Belgium, 8witz?r land, the Netherlands, or Germany. The United States is behind Great Britain in the use of rice and wheat. In the consumption of beverages there is a marked divergence. Great Britain drinks more tea than any other coun try; also more beer. Spain leads in the consumption of wine. Of these tho United States uses enough, how ever, her consumption of tea being 110.000 000 pounds. 725 C00,(00 pounds of coffee, 1,550,000 000 gallons of beer and 38 000,000 gallons of wine. HOME MIXING. )orrespondence of the Progressive Farmer. The sampling agent of the Vermont Station visited 105 towns and pro cured 405 samples of fertilizers found on sale in that State by dealers. These covered 126 different brands produced by 18 factories. The analyses of these samples are given in bulletin No 65 of Vermont Station, of which the follow ing is a summary : The station has analyzed samples of 126 brands, the output of 18 companies, all drawn from dealers' stocks, all this year's goods Three-quarters of the total number were above guarantee in every respect;, nine tenths wereessn tially equal to or better than guaran tee and all afforded the commercial equivalent of their guarantees. Thir teen brands fell short in one ingredient and two were lacking in two ingredi ents. In either case were both ingredi ents seriously deficient. The applica tion of pepsin digestion and alkaline permanganate diatilation methods to the several brands indicated that the quality of the organic nitrogen of about a dozen brands, notably the out put of two concerns, was somewhat questionable. Oae hundred and five brands were guaranteed (directly or inferc ntiallj) to contain potash as sul phate. a claim which was verified in but 19 costs. The average "valuation" was found to ba $17 45, and the average selling price $29 04. Two dollars out of every five invested in fertilizers paid for costs of manufacture and sale. A dol lar spent for average low priced goods (below $28 per ton) bought 58 cents worth plant food; a dollar invested in average medium grade brands $28 to $32 per tor), 60 cents worth ; and a dollar paid out for average high priced goods ($32.50 and upward), 67 cent worth. A dollar bought 79 cents worth of plant food in one brand and but 39 c3nts worth in another. Afifthof the entire number of brands sold furnished less than 55 cents worth of plant food for a dollar. The average c imposition of the goods has not varied materially from that of last year. Selling prices are the same, plant food in mixed goods is as cheap as it ever was, but owing to the low prices of raw materials the practice of home mixing is proportionately more profitable now than hitherto. Home mixtures mide in this State furnished from 30 to 50 per cent, more plant food at the same cost than did average manufacturers' mixtures. It may not ba amiss to describe briefly the process of home mixing. A tight barn floor, platform ciles, ccreen, shovel and hoe comprise the outfit The materials being weighed, screened and lumps pulverized, the most bulky goods (usually the acid phosphate) are spread in an oblong pile from 6 to 12 inches deep. Upon its leveled top are placed one above another the other in gredients, the resulting pile resembling a layer cake. The pile is then mixed by careful shoveling, tho shovel cut ting down through all layers each time. The pile may then be screened again and the operation thrice repeated. The mixture may then be screened again if desired. At present prices for crude stock and for mixed goods the intelligent farmer who uses a ton or more yearly, by buy ing and mixing nitrate of soda, cotton seed meal, o,cid phosphate and muriate of potssh, cm save money and be as sured of as good a fertilizer as can be made. Tho station stand3 ever ready to aid and advise inquirers on this as well as cn any matter connected with agriculture. Those who prefer to buy mixed goods rather than raw materials, might well combine and buy fertilfz3rs of specified composition made from standatd crude stook on competitive bidding by man ufacturers. This method of purchase is largely in vogue in some localities and is decidedly preferable to that com monly practiced. Vermont farmers seldom think of cotton seed meal as a fertilizer, yet hundreds of thousands cf tons are thus used yearly in the South and large quantities even in New England. It is undoubtedly batter to feed it to stock in moderate quantities, enriching both ration and manure, thus getting two returns for one expenditure. Bat where more nitrogen is needed than the manure pile supplies, it is safe to say that at the prices ruling during the past few years, no cheaper source of readily available organic nitrogen has been offered in small quantities in our markets than in cotton seed meal. The schedule of trade values used by this as well as other New England stations allows 14 cents a pound for or ganic nitrogen at tho seaboard. It has cost this year on the average in cotton seed meal delivered in Vermont but 13 cents a pound. The potash salts are all products of mines located at or near Stassfurt, Germany. The muriate and high grade sulphate are refined and concentrated, while kainit is a crude salt. For tobacco, sugar beets and some times for potatoes, one should choose sulphate; for other crops the cheaper muriate is usually as satisfactory. It is doubtful whether the other salts in Kainit compensate for the high cost of ' potash. Wocd ashes are used quite largely on the east side of the State, particu larly in the Connecticut valley. Con sidered as a source of potash only, they are expensive goods at ruling prices. It should be remembered, however, that the good results often obtained by their use are quite as apt to be due to their mechanical effect upon the soil, or to their lime content, as to the pot ash they contain. AU ashes contain carbonate of lime, which, unless they are seriously adulterated by sand and earth, is usually not so variable in its percentage as is the potash. In fifty of fifty nine samples reported on by the. Connecticut station for the past three years, the lime averaged 33 per cent. On the subject of home mixing, the Ohio station, in Bulletin No. 94 advises home mixing by using tankage as a source of nitrogen, and phosphates as a source phosphoric acid, and muriate of potash as a source of potash, except on a few such crops as sugar beets and tobacco, which require sulphate of potash. Since these materials are already in condition for use, requiring simply to be stirred together, if any mixing is desired, the acid phosphate being a dry powder, already acidulated ; the tank age, a dry meal requiring no further treatment, and the muriate of potash, a dry salt, there is no reason why farmers should not club together, buy the materials by the carload, and mix them together at home, thus saving a large item of cost; and, in fact, "home mixing associations" are being organ zid over the State for the purpose of eff ecting this saving. One such asso ciation will us ) 00 tons this season, re ducing by several thousand dollars the cost of its members' fertilizer bills. In elaborate experiments at the Ohio station, potatoes gave a better return for fertilizers used than any other farm crop, .wheat standing nex; but cave in exceptional years, that station has found the use of commercial fertilizers unprofitable on farm crops. It takes high priced crops like garden truck or berries to pay good profits on this class of fertilizers. For farm crops, stable manure and clover are the only profit able manures. As to the comparative virtues of dif ferent fertilizer ingredients, this Olio bulletin says: 'The results of these experiments apparently justify the conclusion that, for the soils and crops under test, phosphoric acid is at present the most important constituent of a fertilizer, with nitrogen and potash following in the order named. "The largest increase i3 only obtained when the fertilizer contains all three of these constituents ; but it does not as yet seem necessary to use nitrogen and potash in so large proportion, relative ly to phosphoric acid, as would be in dicated by tho chemical composition of tho crops "Apparently phosphoric acid should considerably exceed either nitrogen or potash in quantity in a fertilizer for corn, oats or potatoes, while for wheat the proportion of nitrogen may closely e.pproximate that of phosphoric acid. "Nitrate of soda is apparently the most effective carrier of nitrogen in common use as a fertilizer, but it can seldom be used with economy in Ohio because of the relatively high cost of its nitrogen. "Slaughter house tankage, which is the carrier of "ammonia" in practically all the factory mixed fertilizers sold in this State, is probably a less effective carrier of nitrogren than nitrate of soda; but the cost of nitrogen in un mixed tankage, when due allowance is mads for phosphoric acid carried by the tankage is so much less than in nitrate of soda that tankage becomes a much more economical source of nitro gen to the Ohio farmer than nitrate of soda. Thi3 advantage in tankage dis appears, however, when it is purchased in the ordinary factory-mixed fertili zer, since the price at which such fer tilizers are generally sold brings the coat of their nitrogen to a higher figure than its necessary cost in nitrate of soda, while the experiments reported in Bulletin 93 of this station indicates that the nitrogen of the factory mixed fertilizer is not more effective than that of ordinary tankage. "Dissolved bone black is apparently a more e ff active carrier of phosphoric acid than raw bone meal or acid phos phate; but dissolved bone black, like nitrate of soda, is seldom or never used in the compounding of factory-mixed fertilizers in Ohio, because of the lower cost of phosphoric acid in other ma terials. "Acid phosphate, on account of its comparative cheapness and large sup ply, has become the standard carrier of fertilizer phosphoric acid. Our ex periments indicate that commercial acid phosphate, like slaughter house tankage, is variable in composition, and both materials should only be bought on a guaranteed analysis. "Our experiments fully support the inference that the phosphoric ecld of bone meal and tankage, when these materials are finely ground, is quite as effective, pcuad for pound, as the "available" phosphoric acid of acid phes phate, and that these materials, unlike bone black and Carolina rock, require no treatment with sulphuric acid to make their phosphoric acid available, provided only the grinding be done with sufficient thoroughness. Investigations reported in bulletin 93 indicate that there has been a decided improvement in grinding within recent years. "Basic slag appears to stand next to dissolved bone black in effectiveness as a carrier of phesphoric acid. Appar ently this result is in part at least due to the superior mechanical condition of the slag meal, as it is an extremely fine power. This material is not treated with acid. "These experiments show that the fertilizing constituents of barnyard manure act more slowly than those of commercial fertilizers, but as they cost much less in manure it becomes the cheapest fertilizer. "The advantage of applying manure to the surface, instead of plowing it under, is strikingly shown." J. L. Ladd. Bay City, Texas. JUST A FEW THOUGHTS. Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. As a mass, the farmers have the best brain of any class of business men, but the difference comes in the farmer's failure to use his brain about every de tail of his business All farmers should take and read works on proper, land culture, but there seems to be a dislike for newspaper farming. Then the farmer should write much for his paper on farming matters. By so doing he himself would soon be a better farmer. The farmer does think, but it is either too late or too soon. There is a proper time for thinking. Another sugges tion : Undertake less and you will do more by thorough culture. Have your dump cart and a place of deposit for any and all kinds of trash, leaves, muck, suds and waste that may be turned into land food. R. R. Moore. Greensboro, N. C, Fjb , 1899. EXPERIENCE WITH HOME-MIXED FERTILISERS. A Practical Farmsr Who is Done With the One-crop system Gives Some Valu able Bints---Why do Tarheel Towns people Eat Northern .Cabbage and Po tatoes? Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. We will take this opportunity of giving our plans and experiments with fertiliz ers, how applied and with profits derived, etc. I hope to hear from many of your readers on this point. Ex changing plans and ideas in all work with which our farmers are connected will be a mutual benefit The beat guano for the money that we use is obtained by purchasing the chemicals and mixing them ourselves. We buy ordinary phosphate (acid phos phate) containing 12 per cent, acid, nitrate of soda 18 per cent, ammonia and muriate of potash 50 per cent. E20 (pure potash) from an importer. We should be very particular to buy the ingredients from first hands if possible. Will cost from $5 to $10 per ton lees, also less liable to be adulterated. If bought from an importer in the original bags they will contain of potash 224 pounds nitrate lof soda, 305 pounds Nitrate of soda is found in vast quanti ties in the northern part of Chili, South America. This bed of nitrate, or "calchi," as it is called in Chili, before it is refined, extends about 150 miles in length and about 20 miles wide, and is in a rain less region. Some years Chili exports over one millions tons ( 2,240 lbs each) of nitrate of soda, thus sending it to almost every nation on the globe. This great moun tain of plant food has been stored away for ages and ages to be used by the people of this century in furnishing their crops with the necessary nitrogen when the natural supply in the soil has become deficient. Just so the same wise Providence has stored up the coal in the mountains of Pennsylvania to furnish fuel for the people of the Uaited States when their supply of wood had become exhausted. Potash is mined ic Stas3furt, Ger many. These mines nine in number are consolidated and form the largest and almost the only mines of this kind in the world. The value of potash in these mines was not known until 1857 (be! ore this time wood ashes were the only source of potasb) About this time came the skilled researches and discoveries of that great scientist Ltebig. By him and his influence the secrets of plant food and plant growth became known, and it was discovered that potash was one of the ingredients which ia both important and necessary to the sustenance of plant life. We are also indebted to this noted scientist for the four elementary laws which are the foundation of the best prac tices in agriculture to day. Potash, as we have stated before, ia imported in 224 pound bags and sealed. When bought the seal unbroken givea ui a guarantee that it is pure unless adulterated at the mine, which is not probable. Some years ago our State Chemist, on analyzing some chemicals of this kind, states he found 50 per cent, to be common salt. To make one ton guano for potatoes, onions, etc , we mix the following, viz: 800 pounds acid phosphate (con taining 12 per cent, acid), 600 pounds cotton seed meal and 300 pounds each of nitrate of soda (18 per csnt. am monia) and.muriate potasb (50 per cent. K2O -pure potash) (Ootton seed meal shows per analysis to be an excellent fertilizer. It contains 8 per cent, am monia, li per cent, potash and 2 per csnt. acid phosphate, and if thia analy sis be true, it is worth for fertilizer $1 17i per hundred pounds. Can be purchased in open market now for less than $1 per cwt ) The above formula as given will make cne ton fertilizer containing 6 per cent, ammonia, 6 per cent, acid phosphate and 8 per cent, potash. This will cost before mixing $25 SO.Ordinari ly this will cost from dealers about $35 .per ton. In the spring of '97 we ap plied guano similar in ingredients to the above and at the rate of 1,600 pounds to the acre with excellent re sults. Put 800 pounds of this fertilizer on one half acre and planted to pota toes on March 5;h, and in jast three months, on June 5:h, sold the first load of potatoes; harvested balance in a few day?, all of which brought $59 59. The entire cost of production, including land rent, wear of tools, labor, etc., was $19 50; this left us a net profit of $10 for one crop on one-half acre. In 1896 we put 11 acres in tobacco, the entire cost was $50 50; in about 12 months after we started the crop, it was put on the market and brought $40. This was a very good average tobacso for this vicinity. I decided that it was very foolish to grow a crop over the price of which I had no control and had no "earthly" use for except for fertilizer, boils, spider bites, etc. When I realized my loss then I made a "eour grape" case case of it and de cided that its benefit to the human race was very limited indeed, and on the other hand costing more than our bread bill. I am not as hard on it aa the brother who said to me cne day : "The preacher who chews hia locg cut and smokes his fine cigars can't pocket my dimes." However, we think the beat method of applying fertilizer for potatoes would be to put 600 to 800 pounds per acre of potash mixture containing about equal per cent, of each potash and acid on peas (li bushels per acre) the year before you intend to put land in potatoes. This has given me excel lent results. The peas furnish the re quired nitrogen for their own growth and also for succeeding crops. Nitro gen, if bought, costs three times as much as either phosphates or potash. Hence it is much cheaper to get it through cowpeas, clover, vetch, etc. If, however, neceasary for fertilizer to be applied direct to any crop, the po tato crop, however, will, with good cultivation, pay well. A bushel of po tatoes contain only 12 pounds dry mat ter, and yet a bushel of potatoes is often sold for aa much aa a bushel of wheat, which requires about four times that amount of plant food to produce. The average price we received through continued on pags 8. I