Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / March 14, 1899, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Has the Largest Circulation ai-d s the Uldest, Larg est, and only all Home-r-rint Farm pper in that Kich farming and Truckti g section get we en Hich o:or.dt Va , and Savanab, Ga. Has the largest circulation of an j family agricultu ral cr political paper published between R i c b mond and Atlanta THE IKDUSTEIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUE PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY, f ci. 14. RALEIGH, N. C, MARCH 14, 1899. No. 5 MOGtESSIYl PUBLISHED WEE LY ou yt ur lnbW tells jou v jour n fxi'ires. Receipts for i 'y on ... tf give u m charge t ,ifoa ot luoperly changed In two Weeks, is 1 1 N T I N U A NCES. If a -ub:?oritH?r wishes f t e pier discontinued at the -x- n t' su soription. notice to tbateffi-ct v . nt. Otherwise it is assumed that a h.' ic of the enbcriitiou isdsiitd. and rvarncs must b paid when paur is ' -t i;ed. I'.' at ur risk if sent by rei- ered letter e, E order, Flattie don't erul tatni. pe 'ire to pive both old and new addresses in order : change of ixjsU-ftlce. ""s-i- i f Advertising Rates: ten cents per aerate . 1 Lilvral discounts for time and space. XI '- lT'T.i 1 marked to remind you thnt you tl c-i-ftully examine ' Lis t-ampie coj and 5! f -r a ear's subscription, M;l also 'lr "i ' At on trial 6 months frr 5"ce' 's, or fur 2i cents. Or we will send oar !H"V f-tt'f.Tuneyer If jou wi seridi sf.iin v. rii ti- ns. or free fix months for $ 3 in jew -script 1 ns. at these rates. W mi.t Intelligent correspondents in every 1 v t i i he Mate. We want fcts if alue 4-'- '-- k . c!iip:ished of value, experiences of v '"-. ' ninly and hrleflv to:d. One solid. 4 . t rnttnl fact, Is worth a tnousand theo- TLr Fu'.i'T. are tot rttjxmsible for the views C indents. The !';. kessive Farmer is the Otlietal C-jsr f tbe North Carolina Farmers S-tate " i v ttandtny now just Oetimd tfu ?tMn, ana in full glow of the coming Behind me are the shadows on he track, tefore me lies the dark xxilley ni the rxrer. When I mingle with itt iark waters I want to cast one linger ,n; loot upon a country whose govern r.t is of the people, for the people. artd bv tU xovleL. L. Polk. July PRACTICAL FARM NOTES. Written for The Progressive Farmer by the E ditors and Haa. Guy E Mitchell The enurmouatarifi vhicb Germany places on American canned Roods is euffisient cause for the la-k of growth ia ex orUtnn of these Bnic'ea. The American CjiibuI at Ais la Chapello etate3 that herccveifrorn the United Siate for hi3 personal ue two drz?n cans of pumpkina, two dcz nof cirn, one d z5n of (Jo ve oyster.", two d z n o! caai c nvior aid two diz n of poacne', with a total viluatim aa billed in tho United S:atee of 12 1(. Oa th?e he paid a customs dut cf 1 14 Tnoy were classed aa "cn s?rve and a? suca wero dutiable a tho rite of about eeven cents per pcuni, incluiinff packing A statement ia mida by Mr Georpo T Pot il, a well-known scientific rtri culturiit, of Ngw York State, that the value, cf manure produced by the do rustic animdla of New York ia fully $1.0 C 0,( 00 annually,and that through neg'ect, cirrleaanegs and iRtorance in tte management of these valuable fer tilizera, full? fifty per cens. of thi? value, or I50.C0O 000 ia wat d or loat annually, and the soil thus deprived of th'-s plant food these would eupply. VTncn it n conpidered that thia manure i? produced largely from the eoil of t-i'i s-Vf?t it will be seen to what f fi! jrte - V ' k farmers must resort to ke?p tui ! '. cy of their soils from sources cut-U j L the Srate. In f x viments in growirg aspara fe'J st ih ' Nebraska 8tation, ealt aa a f;r:i! r waa found, contrary to the ne-al impression, to have no bene "hlllt and to bo ir j irioua when ni tn large quantities To test the aivi-aoilhy of deep plantiog, 200 pkr ere set, half of them eight to ten mchea deep and half of them three tfiur inches deep. The results are ?ven as follows: "The first difference appear between these depths of pi-v-tin was the influence upon earli zr;i ThoBe plants set ehallow yielded fiec-i i-dU in advar ce of the ones planted dp, nd thia difference was not only evi i ri: the first year.but has continued in - j-o"eding years. Later in the sea son i vnpiratively little differerc3 in tno v!jr-ir Gf the plants was observed; iJii-y difference t xiated it was in favor ' shallow set plants. Virginia Station has pub Ji-b d thn results of some experiments wuh silijjo for horses. The system of 'lpu; m" fodder from corn Hin vogue lD nvmy sections of the State and : corn blades make an excellent fo'.a food for horses, they are too orly to gather and the supply is often l-Diit 'd In the feeding of silage the termination was reached tht in be Bicnin to use thia feed, ic ia of the mot importance to feed a email Hount at first and increase gradually &3 the animals' appetite and condition w Pulae may indicate. In the experi meat, after the preliminary period of iocinthe animals were allowed all tne eilogo tho.r would eat and tho bo lief ia that under euch cnditior horees will pa", no more than they can easily apaimilate. Aa a whele it ap poarr d that silage made a good rough for hordes when us?d in connection with hay or stover and grain, but that the animal ehould become accustomed to the food by degrees and that thia i aa important aa changing from old to now corn or from hav to grass. S3me rxrnMve inveptigations have been earn d on by the Virginia Ex periocent S; itim corc?ruing the San Jose Sea'e in tho Sta'o It i four d that thp scala i-. quite gsnera'.ly spread over Vir. inia but that th's ia duet) infeeted Pt ck introduced from other 8tate3. V g roua treatment haa been insrituird by t he entomologist of th ataion and rx(l!ent results have been obtiiced from tho use of kerosene a3 a spray. In caC3 wheie the scale was found to afl cc youDg trees the limt:s were severely pruned bac and the trees washed with soap or mopped wi h a soap solution two pounds to a gallon of wa'rr and applied hoc. This treatment killed all the s alea and the treea put forth vigorou?ly in the fol lowmg year. Trees when dormant were also pointed with kerosene aui tho fctlo pLtftctly eradicated in thi? manner. Euber the kerosene or the soap treatment ia recommended at the discretion of the grower. The ento mologist states that the D ming pump with keroeeno attfcc iment waa the best device for u?ing water mixture with keroeno. He recommends a 20 i er cent kerosene and water mixture ap plifd tice during the dormant season, and states it as his belief that the scale i within the easy control of any indi vidua! or community. Aa a closing gaap Congress author izid the publication of fifty thougand copies of the results of the beet sugar investigation during the past year. Toe bjet sugar question is of added in terest to American farmers now that tne apturanco haa been given that the ; wtrnment will stand by its policy of protection, in thia respect and refuse tne free entry of Philippine or Porto U'Cin pugar; in other words that America producers need not fear free t"Ju;'ir co npetitioa from thc83 ielandp. H'g'iralet-s of the conditions brought t jut by the war with Spain tho Da partment of Agriculture went steadily on making its investigations through out the country concerning beet eugar, and it can be stated that pretty accu rate information has been acquired as to the eectione of the country best adaptec to beet growing for sugar pur poses. The best results in sugar beet experiments have been attained gen erally in the Northern States. Mr. Charles F Baylor, the beet expert;, atates that he fie da the most favorable conditions for sugar beet growing in New York, part of Pennsylvania, Southern Michigan very excellent Southern Wisconsin, Southern Minne RO'.a, South Dakota, Northern Ohio, Northern Indiana, Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Northern Nebraska, California, Northern New Mex co, Utah, Montana, Washington and East ern Oregon, a section forming some thing of a great S. The entire moun tainous sections of the Weet largely present favorable conditions through irrigation. In some sections of the South, local conditions present favor aole aspects for beet raising, these sec tioca corresponding to the sugar beet areaa of Germany and France. Very fine results, Mr. Say lor says, are at tained with this crop through irriga tion and he states that the United States alone uses irrigation for this crop lGKXCXJX,TXJIE. plant food. Tne importance of a correct knowl edge of what ia required by plants in order to their successful growth is so great, and upon the application of this knowledge so largely depends the profitable management of the farm, that we make no apology for taking up the subject for consideration at this season of the year. Especially do we feel called on to deal with the question because of the fact that so many new readers of Tne Planter are now coming upon our books. Those who have been readers of the j Durnal in the past have, if diligent students of its pages, long ere this acquired a pretty general knowledge of the subject as it haa been constantly kept before them in one form or another, but even to these 'urthcr information will, we aro eure, not oo me amiea Phntsof all kinds require for their successful growth that tho soil should coniain a sufficient amount of potash, eoda, lime, iron, and a few other min erals, phosporic acid, nitrogen, and or ganic matter. With the exception of phosphoric acid, potash, nitrogen, and organic matter, most soils contain sufficient of the other ingredients of plant food. Ol potaah and phosphorr'c acid, many, if net most soils, al?o con tain ample supplies, but, unfortunate ly, they are rarely in a form capable of being utilized by the plants in sjiffisient xuantity for the needs of profitable growth, and therefore require to be Bupplemented by manure, fertil z rs, lime, organic matter, and tillage, which each h?lp ti nako available these sources of food Pianos can only util;z ) the food in the soil after ic ia dissolved, and this fact emphasize tho import anco of sreuring an abuniant supply of moisture in tho soil throughout tho wnole growing period of a crop. The only way in which thia can be secured ia by per.'cc; doap cultivation of the land previoua to the planting of the crop, and by subsequent shallow culti vation of the surface, so a3 by tho first means to make the s )il capable of hold ing the rain which fa la upon it, and by thj latter meats to prevent the evaporation of taia moisture. Prob ably the greatest need of all our South ern soils ia organic matter that is to say, the product of the decomposition of animal and vegetable refuse By long c ontinued clean cultivation cf cot ton, corn and tobacco cropp, nearly the whole of tne organic matter origi nally contained in our soils has been consumed in tho production of these cropf. Tne absence of this matter or humua ia disclosed by the baking of the soils, and by their inability to re tain moisturf. The first step which should be taken with all infertile aoils should bo their deep breaking and the addition of organic matter, either in the form of farmyard manure or the plowing down of vegetable growths. Until thia haa been done, it ia impoes eible to say how far it may be necea eary to apply nitrogen, phosphoric a id, and potash, in order to secure profitable crops. The part which humus or organic matter plays in promoting fertility is a most important one. It ia the great resort of the bacterial forma of life which, by their constant working, make available tho organic matter in the soil. Theee bacteria break down the tissues of all animal and vegetable refuse, and form the acids needed to complete the solution of unavailable matter into readily as similable plant food. The nitrogen re quired for tho food of plants can be supplied from organic or inorganic source, and from the atmosphere. The cheapest source ia tbe atmosphere, of which nitrogen forms four fifths To obtain it from this source, legumi nous plants must be grown Upon the roots of plants of this family, bacteria form nodules, which store the nitro gen, and, as these decay, this nitrogen becomes available for the support of other plant life. In the destruction of animal and vegetable refuse by other bacteria, nitrogen ia liberated and be comes available for th cropa. Cotton seed meal is also a very easily obtained form of nitrogenoua fertil'ZT in the South- In the inorganic form of nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, nitrogen ia alao supplied to the soil, and becomes available after being dissolved by moisture. Phosphoric acid is gen erally most cheaply supplied in the form of acid phosphate. The reaaon for this is that we have here in the South large beds of phosphate rock, which, when finely ground and treated with sulpturic acid, which is made from pyrites rock, also found in abun dance in the South, maken a quickly available form of phosphoric acid. Bone is also another form in which phosphoric acid can be readily supplied to the land but it ia more costly than phosphate made from reck on account of the fact that bones are not so abun dant as is the rock. Bone also carries with it from 4 to 5 per cent, of nitro gen, and this enhances its cost. The phosphoric acid obtained from the rock ia just as valuable as that ob tained from the rock ie j istaa valuable as that obtained from bone as a plant food. Potash is most generally sup plied to the soil in the form of the Ger man potash salts, muriate of potash, sulphate of potash and kainit. The muriate and sulphate carry generally about 50 per cent, of potash, whilst kainit only carries about 12 per cent. It is, therefore, generally cheaper to use th9 muriate or sulphate than kainit, aa there ia so much lesa mate rial to freight to obtain the same quan tity of potash. Hard wood ashes are also a source of potash, but they are not eaeily obtained in quantity in the South except at' a cost too great for their actual value as a source of potash. We have, as yet, said nothiDg as to tho value of barnyard manure as a plant food. In our opinion, this is, perhaps, the most important of oil foods for plants first, because it is in the power of every farmer to have it, and to have it in a much larger quan tity than the majority now have it, at only the cost of care and labor; and, secondly, bacauae it ia a product hav ing all the elements required in plant food nitmgen, phosphoric acid, and potash ; and, third, b scause it haa also ihat ether most important content, ioumua making matter which our soils most lack. Ic ia true that it lacks phosphoric acid and potash in sufficient quantity to make it absolutely a com plete fertiliz?r, but these are easily and cheaply added in the form of acid phosphate and kainit or muriate of potash, and thia done, the product can never bo used without advantage to the soil and crop. Even without these additions, it i3 of the higheet value, and should never be wasted. In what proportions the several plant foods we have mentioned should bo used depends largely on the condi tion of the soil and the crop to be pro duced. We do know what proportion of these plant foods are taken f rom.the soil by the different crops, but only actual experiment with the land cm determine which, and how much cf which, it ia necessary to supply in or der to secure a maximum yield. The absenoo of previous experience with the particular soil is the cause of most of the complaints cf the failure of fer til zsisto give the returns expected. No one can determine this but the farmer himself. Planter. SAVING FHRX IUITY AT HOME. The prominence recently given the fertilizer q leation in these columns has brought to mind mv exparience in saving fertility at home. I desire to say in the first place, that owing to a lack of judicious management there is a vast amount of fertility wasted on rnoBt farms, which if properly cared for and applied, would eventually ob viate the necessity of purchasing any great quantity of the commercial ar ticle. This statement has been so often made in thee columns that the mere repetition may seem eupeiflaous; but since the subject is so important, and I have found the statement to be a fact by mj own observation and experi ence, I think it will bear repeating. I well remember how I used to when a boy clean my stables and throw my manure into the open yard in heaps, which were usually shaped to contain the largest possible quantity of water to aid decomposition in a dry season. I also remember the pains I took to save the finest and driest of the manure in rail pens for garden and potato patch; being totally oblivious to tbe fact that most of the elements of fer tility had been leached out and were gone to enrich the field of a neighbor some rode distant, and that the manure I had been so careful to save was little more than a pile of decomposed matter with scarcely any practical value as a soil enricher. I was then obliged to purchase large quantities of phosphate to supply the deficiency, the cost of which frequently absorbed the entire proceeds from the sale of crops. As may be supposed, under euch manage ment, I found farming a failure. All this was several years ago. Since then I have made a great improvement over my former methoJs.Not having a manure ehed, I haul the manure direct from stable to field and apply on the ground intended for corn next spring. And I fully believe it will not pay to use commercial fertilizer on that corn, since I have found by actual experi ment that there is practically no differ ence in the yield where commercial fertilizer is applied. After the corn is off in the fall I seed to, wheat, using about 300 pounds of acid phosphate per acre. I then seed to clover in the spring, and seldom miss having a good 3tand. Last season I cut over three tons of hay per acre, where under my former management I could not get clover to grow. I am now raising more than double the yields per acre that I formerly raised, and, better still, I am doing this at less than half the former expense for commercial fertilizer. Elmer E. Shaver, in Practical Farmer. FARMER BRAWLEY'S METHODS Full Details of is Operations A Char lotte Observer Representative Visits the Iredell County Man Who Has Gained Prominence 1 hrough Ris Suc cess in Raising Cotton at 2 97 Cents a Pound An Interesting Account of Mr. Brawley's System of Farming and How He Manages Affairs When he buys a piece of land, he opens an account with it and charges it with all that gees on it and credits it with all that cornea off. In looking over tho accounts of cne farm I saw a credit of twelve rails that were taken to another farm. In riding ever his farms I was struck with the neat and healthy look of the land. The edges of every field were shaped and cleaned. It was evident from the apparance of the soil that it is growing more fertile year by year. Oa most farms quite the reverse ia true. Mr. Br-awley buys most of his land in a run down condi tion for csh, and builds it up. Three years ago I rode over his farms with him. At that tirre he had j ist bought several worn out farms. I remembered one in particular as beir g badly washed and cut in sections by gullies. I hardly knew that farm when there the other day. The thin places have fattened and the gullies have been filled and the land levelled. To begin with, the gullies were filled in, the fields plowed deep with a two horse plow, and peas sown withahunired pounls of commercial fertilizer per acre. Mr. Brawley's method of improving land is after this fashion: He takes the poor land, sows it in rye with 200 pounds of guano and and a ton of lime per acre. The lime is put on in the winter. In the spring the rye is turned under. The lime keeps it from souring. After the rye, cow peas are sown with 400 pounds of acid and potash per acre. The peas are mowed and the land is sowed in wheat and clover, with 200 to 300 pounds of acid and potash. This gets the land on its feet again, as it were. From this stage the land is improved more and more by rotation of crops. Mr. Brawley's system of rotation is now under test. So f ir he likes it. It is a six year process. The first year cotton alone ia grown on the land, the second year cotton and crimson clover, the clover being sown when the cotton is worked for the last time; corn and cow peas the third year, with a heavy spread cf rough stable manure ; small grain and red clover the fourth year; red clover the fifth year, followed by wheat and then peas the sixth year. A person who knows anything whatever about land would be convinced of the wisdom of such a system of up build ing if he were to see the fine condition of Mr Brawley's farms. Cotton is Mr. Erawley's main money crop. Of last year's crop, he has already sold 124 bales. To produce this crop he grows all of his home supplies Be sides cotton last year he raised : 888 i bushels of wheat; sufficient corn, oats, barley, peas, clover and grasses for the farm hands and stock; 5,000 pounds of pork ; sold $300 worth of milk cows, and sella 10 pounds of butter eecb week. His purpose is to raise enough for the farm and have a small surplus of each product for the market. Mr. Brawley uses the best and latest improved labor saving machinery. His plows are large and long. They stir the ground well and deep. Under his sheds I saw a drag, a disc and a culti vator harrow; a guano distributor, which opens the furrow and scatters the guano at one and the sam9 time, thereby saving a hand ; a corn planter, a reaper and binder, a grain drill, a mower, a broad tired wagon, and near by a corn mill, wh c'i grinds the corn and cob both into a rough meal, used to feed cattle and hogs. The nutriment in ten corn cobs is equal to the nutri ment in the grain from one cob. Mr. Brawley saves the cob. It makes a fine feed and the mill is easily man aged, and not costly. One of the moat interesting features of Mr. Brawley's work is the way in which he buys and uses his f ertilizsi s. He buys the ingredients and mixes them himself, having a house for the purpose. Most farmers buy their fer tilizers ready mized. They pay from $18 to $22.50 per ton. Last year Mr. Brawley's fertilizers cost him $1,008 82 laid down at Mooresville. The ingre dients to make his guanos cost $794 39, acd freight on the same was $214 43. Besides his cotton seed meal cost him $72. H 9n ce the cost per ton was $1 5 78 With the aid of bulletins from the ex periment statian at Rileigh any farmer can mix his own fertilizers, and by so doing save from $3 to $5 per ton. The Agricultural Deparm:r,ts cf the Slate and Nation are for the benefit of the farmers. They furnish all kinds of va'uable information on application. Mr. Brawley takes advantage of thia fact and consults their bulletins for in formation and ad vie o B.low are some of his fertilizer formulas. For cotton he usea two kinds. The following is put in with a guano distributer behind the opening furrow: Fourteen per cent, acid phosphate, 1,150 pounds; 10 per cent, fish scrap, 40U pounds; cotton seed meal 109 pounds; 12 per cent, kainit 350 pounds total 2 000 pounds; per cent of acid 8 19; ammonia 2 35; potash 2 19. Two hundred pounds p?r acre ia used. When the cotton is planted 20 pounds of thia ia used: Fourteen per cent, acid phopphate, 1.200 pounds; 10 per cent, fiah ecrap, 200 pound? ; 19 per cent nitrate of soda, 100 pounds; 12 per cent, kainit, 50 pounds total 2 000 pounds; percent, of acid 8 04; ammonia 1 95; potaeh 3 Thia mixture cost $15 85 per ton. For corn Mr. Brawley used this last year: Fourteen per cent, acid phosphate, 1.100 pounds; cotton seed m:al 559 pounds; 19 per cent, nitrate of eoda, 5 pounds; 82 per cent, nitrate of potash, 300 pounds total 2,000 pounds; per cent, of acid 8 45; ammonia 2 42; pot ash 7 99. This mixture cost $19 63, and Mr. Brawley intended most of it for the peas sown with the corn. It is put down in the ground and well m'xed before the corn is put in. For peas on poor land: Fourteen per cent, acid phosphate, 1.400 pounds; cotton seed meal 400 pounds; 82 per cent, muriate of potaeh, 200 pounds total 2 000 pounds; per cent, cf acid 10 46 ; ammonia 1 41 ; potash 5 36. From 300 to 400 pound 3 per acre are used. Below is a special formula for wheat on pea and clover land: 14 per cent. acid phosphate, 1 500 pounds; 12 per cent, kainit, 500 pounds. From 200 to 400 pounds are used on an acre. H. E. C. Bryant. SORGHUM FOR SWINE. Mary Best, of Medicine Lodge, Bar ber county, Kansas, who for years has realized very satisfactory results from rearing swine on sorghum, both aa pasturage and grain, has written some of her experience to Secretary Coburn, of the Kansas Board of Agriculture, from which the following is taken: Our experience in rearing hogs on sorghum has been very satisfactory and has proved for this district the best way of handling them. We have a hog lot of about four acres including a good orchard, and keep about an average of 100 hogs on hand the year around, selling a bunch say every two months, the little ones that come replacing those sold. The lot is situated on bluffs of the river. The high part ia perfectly drained and is never muddy, while the bluffs and trees afford excellent shelter in both summer and winter. In addition to this natural protection we also have warm, dry houses for the hogs in winter. A general outline of our method is as folio vs : About April 15 :h we plowed the lot and drilled it with Poller's Early sorghum, using a bushel or more of seed per acre. Thia variety grows very rapidly, and within three weeks the hogs were eating the young plants. They rooted some up, cf course, but not much, and the growth was such that it kept ahead all summer and afforded excellent feed. If convenient it would be well to keep the hogs out until the cane ia a few inches high, at least. In September we fenced off half the lot, where the orchard is, plowed it, and drilled in rye. When a few inchee high we let the hogs graze on the green rye, and it made good pasture until May. In the winter we fed fifty cows in the lot outside of the orchard, on sorghum with all its seed on. Thia was Col man's, and had been listed in, six pounds to the acre. It waB very sweet and ten der, and yielded at least thirty bushels of seed per acre. Hoga and cattle alike ate it with great relish. Up to April 1st we fed this, two thirds sorghum forage to one third good corn fodder with considerable of the corn left in it. Nothing was wasted except corn stalks, and tbe animals gained all the time. Then, as soon as the cows were moved from the two acres used as a feed lot, it was plowed up, and after a heavy rain waa drilled very thickly with Folger's Early sorghum again. By the middle of May the hogs had de serted the rye patch almost entirely CONTINUED 02T PAflS 8 (
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 14, 1899, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75