North Carolina Newspapers

Has the Largest Circulation atd is the Oldest, Larg est, and only all Home-Print Farm paper in that Rich Farming and Trucking section Between Rich mond, Va , and Savannah, Ca. Has the largest circulation of aaj family agricultu ral or political paper published between R i c b mond and Atlanta THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUS PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY. Vol. 14. RALEIGH, N. C, MARCH 7, 1899. No 4 BOGKESSIVE PUBLISHED M :EKLY The date on your label tells u when your subscription expires. Receipt r money on subscription will be given In cLige of date on label. If not properly changed In two weeks, notify ns. DISCONTINUANCES. If a subscriber wishes his copy of the paper discontinued at the ex piration i f ais subscription, notice to that effect should be sent. Otherwise it is assumed that a continuance of the subscription is desired, and &11 arrearages must be paid when paper is ordered stopped. Money at our risk if sent by regipt ered letter ar money order. Please don't send stamps, Fe sure to give both old and new addresses In ordering change of postofflce. Basle of Advertising Rates: ten cents per agate line. Liberal discounts for time and space. This item is marked to remind you that you shou.d canefully examine ibis eample copy and m?ih1u3 Jl for a ear's subscription. Will also send paver on trial 6 months for 50 cents, or 3 months for 25 cents. Or we will send your rf per free for one year if j cm will send us $5 in tew subscriptions, or free six month for $3 In new subscriptions, at these rates. We want Intelligent correspondents in every county in the State. We want tacts of value, -exults accomplished of value, experiences of value, plainly and briefly told. One solid, demonstrated tact, is worth a thousand theories- The Editor are tot responsible for the views of Correspondents. . Thx Progressive Farmer Is the Official Organ of the North Carolina Farmers' State Alliance. j am standing now Just behind the urtain, and in juu giowoj ine cvmmy nyhirui n are the shadows on Le track, before me lies the dark valley ind the river, wnen 777yo iark waters I want to cast one linger ing look upon a country wnose govern ' j jm 4m wrJ fnr the neonle. tK 1890. PRACTICAL FARM NOTES. Written for The Progressive Fanner by the Editors and Hoa. Guy K. Mitchell. The exports of farm products for the month of January, 1899, were as lol lows: Breadstuff 125.620.440 Provisions 16 341 974 Cotton 23.844 608 The New York Financier tellsusthat the Secretary of S:ate of Nebraska is compiling a list of the mortgages filed and released for the year 1893 Tne work indicates that the "satiiheo. during the year exceeds those "filed" bv more than 150.000 000. The bulk of these show cash considerations, while in but few instances was suit necessary to secure a release and a large maj r ity of the mortgages were paid by the farmers and stock raisers. The wave which struck Nebraska would about be equalled in this 8tate if in 1899, in addition to raising all our suDDlies. we should produce a 25 per cent larger cotton crop than we ever have produced and should sell it at 10 cents per pound. L?t us all rejoice with our brethren of the West, that for once they have escaped the tornadoes, the cyclones and the blizzards, and especially the bear in the wheat pit. The American Banker eays: "The surplus of the Msrchants and Farmers' National Bank, of Charlotte, IS. U, has increased its surplus frcm $10,000 to $4,000 in the last three years, in which period it has paid dividends cf $33,000."' This shows a net profit after paying all expenses and taxes, of $6S, 000 in three years, which is 1U Ppr cent, per annum. Besides this, the bank reports $12.5C6 15 as undivided profits. We would be pleased now to hear from any farmer who can show a net profit over and above all expenses and taxes of just one half the above for the same period. It is net our pur pose to abuse bankers for accumulating wealth, but to stimulate our farmers to mere systematic work, and to learn, apply and profit by les3ons of useful ne83 which they may gather from as cloee a study of their business, and ap plication of principles involved as they will find observed universally by frugal bankers. The average bank doubtless could not make as good a showing as the above. Nor could the average farmer show a net profit equal to half that of the average bank. While the farmer is producing the wealth of the country, he is allowing others to ac cumulate it. Whose fault is it? Tho value and possibilities of irriga tion are not generally appreciated in the United States where land is farmed in large acreages and only moderate crops expected. The yields of forage on irrigated meadows near Edinburg, Scotland, accoring to 8terer are almost beyond belief. The Craigentiny mead owa, 2C0 acres in extent, yield five cuts of grass, aggregating from 50 to 70 tons per acre, between the first of April and the end of October, which are sold to cow keepers for from $80 to 1150 per ocre, the farm thus turning into its owner every year from 15 000 to 120.000 gross. The milkmen ac knowledge that they cannot get anv milk-producing food to compete with tnia grass, for the same amount of money. On the My re mill farm, near Mavbole. Scotland, 70 acres in Italian rye grass is eaid to have produced 70 tons of green weight per acre or 4,900 tons, the market value of one crop largely exceeding the co3t of the irrigating plant. These are astonishing flgurep, but when it is considered, however, for an instance of how plants consume water, that 452 pounds of water are necessary to the production of each pound of dry product in red clover, it can bo seen to what good use plants can put an abund ant supply of water if available or fur nished to them during their entire growing season. And the reason that such crops never can be produced without artificial watering is that there never is a season when at some time plant growth is not checked for want of water. No matter how favorable the weather or how generally abund ant the rains and how apparently con tinuous the growth, there are always in every season, some periods when the professional irrigator would supple ment nature with artificial watering and further crowd plant growth. We gave a few weeks ago a clipping from an exchange regarding the value of broom corn, which brought us many requests for further information re garding the crop. This information is given in another column. Prof. W. F. Massey, however, does not agree with some other agricultural writers as to the profits of broom corn growing. Writing in an exchange, he says: "The fact ia that there is nc crop raised in this country that is subject to such variation in price as the broom corn crop, and commonly the price is so low that 5 cent cotton is far ahead of it. Then, too, the crop is one that requires the richest of land, and the lands here that will make half a bale of cotton to the acre would not begin to make a profitable crop of broom corn. It is a very exacting crop in its requirements, and very exhaustive to tho land. The culture is now almost entirely confined to the rich prairie lands of Illinois and there it i3 not esteemed a crop of uniform profit by any means. It requires special sk'llin the handling of the crop in the field, special machinery for preparing it and baling it for the market, and altogether is not a crop that much of our land is adapted to. It might be grown at a profit on some of the rich river bot torn lands when the price . jles high, but a very favorable season for the Western crop would send the price down so low that the men who grew it here would wish they had planted 5 cent cotton." Having now given the different opin ions as to the value of the crop, oifr readers may act as jury and take the case. AGKICULTURE, REGARDING BROOM CORN. Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. In answer to the letters received from you a few days ago, I beg your permission to offer the following mat ter prepared by me when we were do ing some sub station work in the Ex periment Station. BROOM CORN EXPERIMENT. Object To help extend the cultiva tion of this valuable crop among cur farmers, and thus increase the number of crops which may be depended on for additions to the income from the farm. Use of Broom Corn First, the brueh for making brooms and making the brooms in winter on the farm if desir able aa where long carriage to factory or railroad station for sale would be too expensive. Second, for the seed to bo used for food for farm stock. This is very valuable, ranking along with sorghum seed and about as rich as corn in nutritive compounds. Details for Making the Experiment The land must be as rich to grow this rrnn as for sorehum or corn. If not in good condition, aa heavy dsessing ss needed for a good crop of corn should be applied broadcast or in the drill or hill. Plowing and Seed bed Plow deeply and well and harrow to a fine seed bed. If stubborn, cut up with a disk orcuta way and roll with heavy roller to break the lumps. A fine deep seed bed must be made to insure a good early growth. Plats Lay eff rows same a8 for corn and sorghum and make plats one of the following dimensions: 111 ill S I Thia gives 120 of Si ft. by 264 ft. ) Seeding Furrow out if to be ma nured in the drill or hill and spread the stable manure evenly in the furrow, cover this with earth by turning fur row back, very light, and plant eoed about one inch deep. A very little seed is sufficient, but to insure a good stand, it is usual to plant much more than is allowed to grow and thin to stand 6 to 10 stalks if in hill 3x4 feet apart or about 3 to 5 per yard where drilled. From 2 to 6 or 8 quarts of seed per acre may be sown, but with perfect seed one quart will give a good stand on rich land. Cultivation This must be promptly given as soon as the plants appear. This is like sorghum in that careful work is needed until about one to two feet high, at which time it begins to grow rapidly and shade the ground it will take care of itself. Harvesting Whan the flowers are shedding their pollen, go through the plat and lap dcv the stalk at about one foot below the brush. This will cause the brush to ripen straight and cure better when the seed is ripe cut off about 8 inches of the stem with the brush, tie in convenient bundles and take to barn or shed. 8pread out thin and straight or hang up under a good roof. Three or four weeks will cure the brush and the seed may bef removed by a long toothed curry comb or by a wooden comb, the teeth of which are made by sawing teeth in a plank. The brush must not be broken if a good marketable brush is desired. The brush is assorted by keeping the straight and crooked or injured in sep arate lots. Market may be found for the brush at broom factories, which up to date have been established in (at the time this was written there was a fac tory at Morganton, possibly at one or two other points in this State). If no factory has been established near you. and you secure a good crop and others are interested in the culture of broom corn, it will be very easy to start a broom factory at or near your home. Very little machinery is required and that inexpensive to make good brooms. Seed may be obtained from any re liable seedsman. Lok in the adver tising columns or The Progressive Farmer for names of reliable firms and write them for catalogues, etc. Rsepectfully, Frank E. Emery, Agriculturist N C. Ero't Station. CORN AND IRISH POTATOES. Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer. Greensboro, N Q, Feb. 28. 99. There are some things that it is well to repeat time and again. Because new farmers are beginning to read and gather information from all directions possible. Articles on corn growing may cause some to think of a cheaper and better way than that which the writer suggests. Bo it may do good for the young to try a good way of his own. This writer has tried many plans to make cheap corn and m a good sup ply. But one plan always gave him more satisfaction than any other. Turn tho land fairly well and then with a colter or narrow bull tongue cross the first plowing just as deep as the stock can well carry the plow to get a deep hod below to retain the moisture. Be sure to put the furrows close together. This plowing may be done some time after the first plowing. Bsfore you plant, give this same land another thorough plowing at a good depth and then as you run your rows for planting have your corn ready and plant in a fresh plowed bed. Rows should be run near six feet apart, one grain to the hill about eighteen inches apart, guano to start the growth. When corn is well up put in ycur long, bull tongue plow as deep as ycu well can and" close to corn, plowing out the entire middle. When corn is two feet high take a good turn plow and lap up well, plowing out the entire row. This lays by with plow. Then with your Acme one horse harrow, one round to the middle, go ing twice with harrow, or more if you like. I should have said if you have rough manure, put it around the corn before plowing. In places you may need to go over with hoe to chop out such growth as the plow has failed to destroy. So much for corn growing. Now something as to the Irish potato. Of all the table supplies for family use in the way of food every month in the year, there is nothing that is more useful than the Irish potato. And to our shame, they are shipped to us from other States. We have the land and climate that will grow large potatoes and a fair yield to the acre. Let us learn how to grow them to as good profit as any paople and keep in our own State the money North Carolina people spend for them. Plow the land deep and fine about three times before planting, and have a deep bed of well broken land below the potato when planted. Open furrow for planting not too deep put in guano in a quan titv and such manure as you have, lightly running a narrow bull tongue plow through the guano and manure. Cutting large potatoes into about eignt pieces, drop 14 inches apart. When well up thin them as you would corn. Work very shallow, and when they begin to set for bloom do not work them; let all grow together. Be sure not to put much earth up to the plants. For a3 fine potatoes as the writer ever grew he did all the work before plant ing. If you work them too much they will put on many small and no large potatoes. R R. Moore. THE GENERAL CHEMICAL COM PANY. This company, like the jute bagging trust of a few years ago, will be apt to be heard from. This company was in corporated February 15 th, in Albany, New York, with a capital stock of 125, 000,000 ; its main office will be in Phil lipstown, N. Y. A trade war has been going on for sometime between the companies, which have now combined into this gigantic trust, and now the chemicals which go into the fertilizers of the farmer will be made to realize dividends to the stockholders, ample to satisfy tho greed and pay all the expenses of tho war of the past. Some of the com panies covered in this combination are: The Nichols Chemical Company, M. Kalofleich Chemical Company, Jas. L Morgan & Co., Dundee Chemical Company, Lodi Chemical Company, Passaic Chemical Company, Highlands Chemical Company, Fairfield Chemical Company, Moro Phillips Chemical Company, Philadelphia Chemical Company, and National CHemical Company. These fellows realize that "in union there is strength." Will the farmers ever real; z 3 this? WHIP-POOR-WILL PEAS. It is truly surprising that this splen did feed crop should have been so long neglected, and still more surprising when I tell you not one farmer in 100 knows how to cultivate and save this crop or at all appreciate its value. We hear a great deal of late years shout rotation of crops, and in a few more years there will go up from all over this splendid land a howl that "the vir gin fertility of our soil is exhausted; we don't raise the crops now we once did." This may now be said of thou sands of acres of our lands. Com mercial fertilizers are simply plant stimulants and in the end i xiausts the soil. To haul out manure ia impossible to any great extent, and if our impov erished lands are to be restored, it must be done by a system of green soiling, something grown on the land and plowed in to fill the eoil with humus and other forms of plant food. The pea family has been proven to be the very be3t poeeible for this purpose. I shall plant one fifth of my farm every year in pease, gather what I want for food and seed, and plow under the bal ance. Thus will I rest my whole farm one year in five, but will also fertilize it, eo I am sure the other four fifths will in the long run make me more stuff than the whole would have done, and thus I can keep up indefinitely tho fertility of my soil. Peas is the crop best suited for this and for many reasons. I prefer the whip poor will pea because it stands our hot, dry climates better than any I have ever tried. It is a bunch pea and easy to cultivate and harvest. It is a quick maturing pea and will make good crops even if planted in June, and ia the best pea to follow cats. It is a good table pea and is splendid for any and all kinds of stock ; will pro duce 40 or 50 bushels per acre, and the vines cut and cured as hay will make two or three tons per acre of splendid hay, equal to the be3t raised anywhere. To plant and cultivate them, don't sow them on stubble land (why grow oats at all?), nor yet in corn rows. Give them full possession of your ground. They are worthy of your best land and best care. Break up the ground early in the spring and barrow it off nicely; harrow after every rain. This will keep down weeds and g. ties, put the soil in fine tilth and conserve the moisture in the soil. About the first of May drill them with a planter, or by hand, fifteen or eighteen inches in the row, and rows three and a half feet apart. Hoe and plow as you would corn. I use a 16 inch bull sweep, two or three furrows to the row ; simply keep the ground loose and mellow and the surface stirred often, very shadow. They come up quickly, grow very rap idly and will soon cover the entire ground. A crop of whip poor will peas is the best possible to plant in your or chard. When the pods are ripe, gather the first crop in sacks as you do cot ton. In a few weeks the second crop will come on and begin to ripen. When the top leaves begin to turn yellow, by which you will know they have done their year's work, cut them down. You can do this with a mowing ma chine, a grass blade or a sharp hoe. A hand can, with a sharp hoe, cut down as many acres as he can hoe cotton, and it it is no heavier work. Let them lay on the ground two days, then put them in small shocks, and in two more days they can be hauled in and housed, or can be stacked about a pole, being capped with hay or cane fodder. Peas thus managed will make you 30 or 40 bushela per acre, according to soil and seasons, and will give you two or three tons of bay, which is first-class. The peas are as easy to gather as cotton, and a hand can gather about as many pounds as he can of cotton. One hun dred pounds of peas in the pods will yield about twenty five pounds of seed. The hay per ton can be gathered and cured as easy as any hay I have ever handled. It is as sure a crop as eor ghum and inpomparably better feed for any kind of stock. Land too poor for corn will yield a fair crop of peas and pea hay, and under its culture will annually improve its fertility. Raise a little corn and lots of Kaffir, whip poor will peas and 8panish peanuts. H. B Hllyer, Bowie, Texas. A CHEAP COMPOST HEAP. The old-fashioned compost heap is bv no means a thine of the past. Not infrequently conditions exist which render this time honored method of disposing cf farm waste ill-advieed, but it is equally certain that under some circumstances it is the best and most profitable plan that can be pur sued. Those who have idle teams, and who can command interrupted labor at low cost, and whose lands are eo nearly level that there is little danger of loss from surface washing from winter rains or melting snows, will generally find it to their advantage to haul out and distribute their stable manure as fast as it is Droduced Its actual value is always at its maximum at this time, and very little loss is likely to result from this treatment even when the ground is covered with snow. In many cases, however, this plan is difficult of execution or for some other reason impracticable. In this case, two courses are open to the intel ligent farmer. The first is to make an old fashioned compost heap. When well done this gives admirable results, and for spring crops, garden vegetables, small fruits, etc., nothingcan be better than the thoroughly rotted mass of material which results. The trouble with this plan is that it is expensive, that it involves a considerable amount of handling and rehandling, and un less carefully and judiciously done, the results are likely to prove disap pointing. Those who would make this plan a success must observe several cardinal rules. First, a compost heap should always be made under shelter. Sometimes a layer o! earth is used as a substitute; this, of course, is much better than nothing, but is only to be recommended where no roofted shed is available. Second, with each ton of fresh stable manure added to the pile, there should be sprinkled over it from seventy five to one hundred pounds of kainit, or one quarter of this amount of muriate or high grade sulphate of potash, and forty or fifty pounds of superphosphate. Where kainit can be had cheaply, this is probably the best form of potash for the compost heap, as the salt it con tains aids greatly in keeping the pile moist and so prevents fire ranging. At the same time the sodium chloride ex erts a specific influenca in preventing the loss of ammonia salts, and in ether ways beneficially influences the result. Third, the temperature of the compost heap must be carefully watched. By occasionally inserting the hands a fair estimate may be made. It should go pretty well into the mass, however, as this is usually the danger point. A stick driven down deeply and allowed to remain for a few moments, will give a rough test. If it comes up warm or warmer than the hand no time should be lost in opening up the pile. wetting the heated portion, and, il pos sible, thoroughly forking over and mixing the whole mass. Fourth, every thing in the way of farm waste should be added to enlarge the bulk and the value of this home made product. This should include all house slops, kitchen refuse, manure from hen roosts, pig pens, excrementation materials from any source, leaves, spoiled hay, old bones, discarded woolen garments, anything indeed of animal or vegetable origin that will make humus or increase the general store of plant food. Now, all this involves work, care and consequent expense, and it is often questionable whether on the whole, save, perhaps, in the case of market gardeners near large cities, the results will repay the cost. In such a case a kind of "compro mise" may wisely be adopted, a plan which in practice involves little addi tional cost bayond that involved in the daily cleaning of the stables and one that on the whole gives almost as good results as the old fashioned method of composting. For this, all that is needed is a convenient shelter closely adjacent to the stables or other sources of ma nure. The daily output from the stalls is simply spread over the accumulating heap. The kainit and superphosphate are then distributed over it in the same proportions as suggested above, care being taken that enough water is added to keep the mass as wet as it can be without any drainage. Of course the materials that can be profitably added to such an accumulating mass include-every thing that c m be included in a compost heap. By this plan all extra handling is avoided, and while the resulting product is not as well de composed or so uniform in character as that from a well cared for compost heap, yet the saving of labor will usually more than make up the differ ence. This plan gives for spring crops, or a surface dressing for winter crops, a complete fertilizer at small cost. The amount required per acre will, of course, vary with soil conditions as well as well as the product grown. Ten tons, or ten full two horse loads, will be equal and in many cases much supe rior in value to a ton of ordinary high grade commercial fertilizer, costing 130 or so. The application can safely be made on this basis. The fact that the potash and phosphoric acid are al ready intimately mixed with the stable manures given them added value and saves the additional labor of their dis tribution. Those who adopt this labor saving and economical ptan of semi composting and at the game timo forti fying and strengthening tho home product are not likely to soon abandon it. Southern Cultivator. tdLO-RTlCULTUJElE THE APPLE. Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer. God first created the earth ; He then set out a good apple orchard of various kinds, then He made Adam and placed him in the orchard, to keep it. A good example for man to go by in all com ic g time. The first thing every man should do is to buy from one to ten acres of land and immediately proceed to set half of it in good apple scions. And the best way on earth to get those scions is to write to T. B. Parker, S. B. A., Hills bo ro, N. C. I am telling others what I know by experience. I sent to Bro. Parker eometime ago for a lot of trees, and when they came, they were so nice, and the bill showed them to be so cheap, that it made me almo3t feel that I had gotten something for nothing. Up to the first of April ia a good time to set out trees. Let five hundred men try Bro. Parker, at once, with an order for at least one dollar's worth, and my word for it, he will agreeably surprise you. When you set out theso trees, you must culti7at9 them well, "dig about and dung" them well, and watch over them carefully, and they will prove a wise investment with a quick return. Adam became a little careless, and the devil got in his orchard one night and played the micchief. Look CONTINUED Oar PAGE 9.