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ZJ r V O -t -4 THE ODUSTEIAL MD EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUE PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY. fol. H- RALEITH, N. C, JULY 11, 1899. No. 22 PUBLISHED iWEEI The i' ate on your label tell3 you when your nhrri-t!on expires. Receipts for money on 'bSrU'tion will be given In change of date on f?vUi If not properly changed in two weeks, ootirr . "nrcONTINUANCES. If a subscriber wishes v covY of the paper discontinued at the ex ,ion vt his subscription, notice to that effect 'hi be sent. Otherwise it is assumed that a V'iiTiance of the subscription is desired, and 11 arrearages must be paid when paper is Q.rea stopped. Voey at our risk if sent by registered letter jr Eioney order. Please don't teJid stamps. Re ure to give both old and new addresses in ordering change of postoffice. psi of Advertising Rates: ten cents per agate 'e. Liberal discounts for time and space. p-'s Item is marked to remind you that you svpu d carefully examine ibis sample copy and u- ?1 for a year's subscription. Will also vaier on trial 6 months for 50 cents, or 3 ironih- for 25 cents. Or we will send your v'er free for one year if j ou will send us $5 in ew subscriptions, or free six months for $3 in subscriptions, at these rates. We wn.nt intelligent correspondents in every -.-.-sty in the State. We want facts of value, -e-ults accomplished of value, experiences of value, plainly and briefly told. One solid, ieoiistr&ted rACT,is worth a thousand theories- Ths Progressivb Farmer is the Official Orcnn of the Torth Carolina Farmers' State Alliance. " am standing now just behind tte urfain, and in full glow of the coming vmet. Behind me are the shadows on e track, before me lies the dark valley rd the river. When I mingle with its iarh waters I want to cast one linger ng look upon a country whose govcrn nonf is of the peovle, for the people, xnd by the people L. L. Polk, July :th, 1S90. PRACTICAL FARM NOTES. Written for The Progressive Farmer by the Editor and Guy E. Mitchell. Don't forget to eow at least an acre in rape (or your sheep, hogs and cattle This valuable crop ia steadily growing ia public favor and the many exp?ri rats with it prove conclusively that it ia "here to stay." Oir North Carolina Corporation cni?3ion ha?, we are glad to hear, defei to chango its order making t?ntJ23the minimum carload of fer- tilizz. Tae railroad?, which filed ex to the order, were given a hiring a few daya ago. The American Poultry Journal gives the following advice to a correspond eat: "Do not losoyour beet birds with r:up, but prevent it by takicg air slaked iime and ppringlicg over it a little turpentine, mixing well together aai scattering the lime lightly over iro;p:ng boards and fljor." Mr. C C Moore's valuable essay on "r orae Crops for Cows," which op pears ia this issue met with great favor a: the Diirymen's Association and shculi bo carefully read by all our cat tlo racing subscribers. Mr. Mid ileton's experience with 4,the r:und bale" also deasrvs the attention of our jotton gtnners and raisers. Tn:- D oartaimt of Agriculture was au:hjr:zi by the last Giaeral Assam bly :j ive.tis3 for owners such lands asnnyo-3 efferod it for sale. If you tav: f jrest, mineral, farming or truck in-' i-inds, or water powers for sale, correspond with John W. Thompson, A-viant Commissioner, in charge of I 'ration, Raleigh, N C. -" youa farmers should take re---iVe frm papers. Tne young man $nrts out ia the bueiaesa of farm ia without tho aid of a good agricul Url pnpr, makes a gr.-jat mistake. If yi one who has mid3 this mi remind him of Tho Progressive iarrr.or and s;cure his subscription. If - ha wife ha is also doing her a mj n:ico by depriving her of th3 Vl--:-' a good farm and family paper, o n vould d) much to lighten the --ivy curdaas which th3 average r'-i wife must b:ar. i is received at the State Dj ;:t that France has published a ' - r ich determines upon measures - :cn to prevent the invasion of n i her province of Algeria, by Ji-se ccile from the United - AH tr. es, nursery stcck, fruit?, tulj?ctto inspection acd re :f fouad infested with the scale, course, is all riht, so long as or prohibitive measures are piei ; every country has a right 'toct iteelf from foreign foes, in V . -CM ' otherwise, but docs it not occur '"rs aad ethers who now have tuuds fuil fighting insects and titir fungous pesta that it ia about '"me fcr the United States itself to take such step and establish some such inspec tion regulations as will prevent the whole wcrld from sending us new plat t diseases and new insects to further rendor farming and fruit growing haz ardous and unprofitable? In a recent farmers' institute one farmer eaid: 'Much of your success depends upon ths good health and cheerfulness of your wife, doesn't it? Tnen why don't ycu take steps to lighten her labor and preserve her health? Mo3t of you have good wells with wiDd mills, and you have taken the pait s to run pipes to your barns because the expense was not great, and it saved you the trouble of either carry iog water to the barn or leading your stcck to water. But I wonder how many of you cava run water pipes to the house, thus giviDg your bard-working wife the convenience of etepping to a sink acd drawing the fresh water whenever it is needed, without the labor of carrying it. "I will tell you, fellow farmers, we should take better care of our wives. Why, in the community where I live, three farmers have buried their wives within the last six months. And it is my honest opinion that two of them were just worn out with hard work, acd neither of them past fifty. The fine homes they had helped to buildup are saddened by the absence of those mothers." The value of a scientific knowledge of the conditions which are met with in agricultural pursuits is constantly apparent. Secretary Wilson remarked the other day that there eeemed to be a dearth of available men in diff erent sections of the country thoroughly un deretanding soil conditions. He cited the case of Saginaw, Michigan. In the early agitation of the sugar beet question the farmers near Saginaw grew soma samples of beeta which showed a high percrntBge of sugar. Coal was very abundant and capital plenty and everything seemed favor able for the erection of a factory. Then someone said that the river water which must ba used had too largo a percentage of salt and this killed the proposition. Now, it is found that the river was maligned and so work ia pro gressing along tho original lines, but Saginaw has lost the advantage of a good start through an ignorance of chemistry of soils. A case has come before the Department from Califor nia. An orchard of 2,500 acres was set out, the intention being to irrigate the trees from a lake. Agricultural chemists analyzed the water of this lake and stated that it contained too much alkali for the purpose intended Nevertheless tho planting went ahead, and now tho trees are dying and the Department is appealed to to see if any thing can be done. In other sections of the West lands are being ruined by irrigition, the alkali in them being brought to tho surface by tho very irrigation necessary to plant growth. Tae remedy here, tho Secretary etate3, has been fouad to be underdrainage. Tho excellent work which is being dono by the Department of Agricul ture in its various branches is coming to ba very generally recognized, and each particular line of work or inves tigation is at leiEt to some extent credited and appreciated by farmers, growers or experimenters , especially interested that work. The Department is now a pretty big affair and its work ings are as free from bias as any branch of the government. This Is as itehould be, as tho work is mostly of a technical character, requiring special qualifica tions and training. There is onedivis ion, however, whose praise is seldom sung and whose employees seldom, if ever, find their names in print, yet whose work, could it be reconfzBd, is seen in every published record of an experiment or di3Cuesion, or bit of in structicn or advice, which issurs from tbe Department. This is the oftics of Secretary Wilson's editor, presided over by Gaorge Wm. Hdi the Publi cations D.vision. Daring the yet.r 1898 five hundred and one publications were i sied by the Department, all passing Mr. Hill's or his assistant, Mr. ArnoldV, careful ecrutiny, during which proceas many changes were made in manuscripts looking to brev ity, elimination of technical and unin telligible terms and the production of artic es as practical and common sense as possible in a word, something which the ordinary farmer with lim ited time, can pick up, glance through quickly, and flad plain, easily under stood suggestions which will be of some genuine assistance to him in his every day work. Mr. Hill is a veteran agricul ;ural editor, having for many years edited the Farmers' lieview, of Chicago, the first issue of that paper having been written entirely by him self, even to the story on the last page. During the fiscal year 1898 ho superin tended, for the Department, the dis tribution of over six million publica tions and in the year just ending this figure will be largely increased. The Department has issued during the year in the neighborhood of 6C 0 publications, or two for every working day. In 1893, the number publiehed was only 203 Three hundred and sixty seven deaths from lightning strokes la3r y ear, as reported by the United States Weather Bureau, to say nothing of property destroyed, would seem to in dicato tho advisability of adopting every preventive possible again3t this subilo fluid of the air and the erection of lightning reds, providing these are effective. In 1898 reports were re cesved of 1 SS6 cases of buildings be ing destroyed or damaged by lightning, aggregating a I033 of 11,440,000. Dur ing this year 700 damaging strokes fell upon live stock in the field. The Weather Bureau reports show the in teresting fact that a largo proportion of the live stock so killed was f ound in close contact with wire fences, and that these wire fences were cot pro vided with ground wires, ques tionably wire fences, as now con structed, cause large losses each year, but it is q aite evident that a consider able percentage of damage may- be avoided by the use of ground wires at frequent intervals in the construction of the fences, thus allowing opportun ity for the current to discharge itself into the earth. Some of the reports ahow that the lightning struck the fence at a considerable distance from the point where the etock was killed. It has often been stated that light nicg rods are largely going out of use and that they aro no longer considered eff.ctive. It this latter statement the case in fact? The Weather Bureau states that while few if any conduct ors are absolutely complete safeguards, almost any conductor is better than none and that conductors are essential to any thing like security. In cases of sudden enormous discharges of elec tricity, conductors may be like river channels in time of flood, unable to carry off safely the full current. A general discussion by tho Bureau of the need for lightning rods concludes that all barns and exposed buildings should have them. Ordinary dwell ing houses in city blocks have not the need for rods that scattered houses in tho country, espec;ally if cn hillsides, have. Toe iron rod is as efficient as the copper; it should weigh about 6 ounces to the foot and be in the form of a tape. The 'grounding of the rod is of great importance. The best ground connection p:saibleis, for some flashes', a very poor one. "Bary the earth plates of the red in damp earth or running water, if possible." The top of the rod should be plated or in some way protected from ruet. Inde pendent groundings aro better than connections with water or gas pipes. Chain or link conductors are of little use. The fact of a building having a lightning rod being struck, should not necessarily condemn the rod. Any part of a building, if the flash be of a certain character, may be struck, whether there is a rod on the building or not. Fortunately these are excep tional cases. The great majority of flashes in our latitudes are not so in tense but that a good lightning rod, well grounded, makes the most natural path for the flieh. It is not wise, the Bureau experts say, to stand under trees during thun der etorms, especially oak trees, in door ways or barn a where are draughts of air, close to cattle, or near chimneys or fireplaces. Small articles of steel do not have the power to attract light ning a9 i3 sometimes supposed. "Finally," it is stated, "if you are in the vicinity of a person who has just been struck by lightning, no matter if he appears dead, go to work at once to restore consciousness. Lightning frequently causes a temporary paralysis of the respiration and the heart which, if ;iett alone, will deepen into death, but intelligently treated, will generally result in recovery." AGRICULTURE. AN IMPORTANT MATTER. Corn not already planted for ensi lage, should be planted as quickly as possible as the time ia getting late. There is, however, yet ample time to make good, fairly matured silage corn before frost. We wish that more of our readers had eilos into which to put the crop when ready than ia the case at present. A silo is the cheap est barn which a man can build in which to store his crops, and he can there store it in such form that when it com- s out, it comes out succulent and appetizing, whatever may have been the weather conditions when the crop was harvested. It is food saved in such shape as to be the most pala table and nutritious for cows and sheep and to be acceptable and sustaining for both horses and hogs. We have pub lished repeatedly .full instructions for building & s lo, both in the cheapest and in tbe most permanent form. For from 50 cents to $L 00 per ton of capac ity, a eilo can ba built and completed, and the man who leaves his crops wasting in the field when for euch a sum as this he can have them fully protected and in the most convenient form for feeding, is doing both himself and his stock a great injustice. July Southern Planter. Saya Prof. L. H Bailey, of Cornell, in an article on "A New England Country road," in The Outlook: "The common notion that the agriculture of New England ia on the decline is a myth. The agriculture is only chang ing. Rural New England is prosper ou. The highway from Springfield to II irtford and Portland runs through as thrifty a country as one could hope to see, and the one industry is farming. It is not a district of summer boarders, nor of suburban r( s dence. The clean, well tilled fl jlds, snug barns, ample fird cczy houses, all bespeak a happy and prosperous people. These homes have been paid for from the land, and they are replete with cemfort. No other country can show such kingly farm homes, in such numbers, as America. There is a flavor about thes9 New Eng land farmsteads which suggests thrift, f ruga ity, stability, contentment. E:o nomic conditions have drawn people together in the laet two generations. Cities have grown. Conditions are slowly changing. People are desiring to exlr'cite themselves from the city. There is a perceptible movement coun try ward. Tne country is improving and civil'zing The readjustment must come. Every farmer and farmer's son should have a copy of "Practical Agri culture," by Charles C. James, M. A , Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Ontaria, formerly Professor of Chemis try at the Ontario Agricultural Col lege. The American edition, edited by John Craig, Professor of Horticulture in tbe Iowa Agricultural College, is now ready. As the author says : "The purpose of this book is to aid the reader and student in acquiring a knowledge of the science of agriculture as distinct from the art of agriculture that is, a knowledge of the 'why,' rather than a knowledge of the how.' The science of agriculture may be eaid to consist of a mingling of chemistry, geology, botany, entomol ogy physiology, bacteriology, and other sciences, Jn as far as they have a bearing upon agriculture. The aim has been to include but the fir at prin ciples of these various sciences, and to show their application to the art of agriculture. "From his experience of several years' teaching at tha Oatario Agricul tural College, the author believes that the rational teaching oC agriculture in public and high schools is not only pos sible, but would be exceedingly profit able. An intelligent understanding of the science underlying the art of agri culture will add much interest to what i3 otherwise hard work, and as a nat urai consequence the pleasure of such work may be greatly increased. The residents of our towns and cities also will find that some knowledge of the science of agriculture may ba of use to them, and may increase the respect and consideration for thecallirg that contributes so largely to the general wealth and welfare of this country." Bound in cloth, well illustrated, 80 cents. Sent to any address postpaid upon receipt of price. Address The Progressive Farmer, Raleigh, N. C. FORAGE CROPS FOR COWS. Paper Read at the State Dairymen's As sociation at Concord, June 27th. by Mr. C. C Moore, of Mecklenburg County. "There is a something that draws a man to dairy work; that it ia that in duces ones one to stick to a work that is so exacting acd that requires 365 daya work each 12 months, counting Sundays, Thanksgiving, 20th of May, July 4ub, Christmas and New Years. I do no c know what holds us, but it is true that once a man gets into work he ia a prisoner for life. "I as a boy spent my days Belling goods and book keeping. During my business life at merchandising I had the financial management for five years of a firm doing a business of 1120,000 yearly; at times I thought it impossible to pull through panick years and while doing this work I thought it the hardest to manage to a success of anything I should ever at tempt. That was easy compared to my work for the past nine years. I have found more tight places to pull over in a little dairy business, aggre gating $8,000 per year, and harder work to get over them than I found in all my former occupations; because of the multitude of leaks found in dairy work. At one time I had employed a young man from Devonshire, England one ugly night in February. "The young fellow was correct. Dairying is an expense from January to January acd the man who ia not watchful will find that hia milk has leaked away. "One great cost of thia work is feed ing. A dairyman must study the feed question and just as long as he makes all fool needful there is hope of suc cess. To buy cow food to produce milk or butter will break quite a rich man. "What shall a man plant to produce food for milk cows? I speak only from experience, so far as feeding for milk is concerned. Butter making may re quire different feeding I do not make butter, so cannot speak on that line. ''Corn is my favorite, it is at home and will produce more cow feed on any land than any plant I have tried. We plant every week or ten days from March 1st to August lt if land is in condition. "Our first planting in March is of improved Golden dent and Gentry Early Market. Either variety will grow to good feeding condition in 90 days. O ving to the wet spring we did not plant this year until April 22 i. Gantry planted that day is now ready to tt sjel out although the land has not been wet since planted. We spend much time preparing land for crop3 and think the txra work is good pay. "Plant with drill in rows 3 feet; plants in drill 6 to 10 inches. When land will work the Thomas harrow is dragged ovr every week until corn is 6 inches high. If a rain falls the har row is run over as soon as land dries enough to hold up a hor3e, after cul ture is with Globa's cultivator unless by reason of rain the gra3S starts on row; a small plo;v 13 thenu3ed to cover the grass. "We try to plant corn every Satur day. This plan gives soiling for cows from Juiy l3t to November 1st; to feed we cut 3 or 4 inches from ground with a short handle hoe, at barn we cut to 1 inch length and feed about 2 bushels to a cow daily. If weather is favorable tbe corn harvester is used for half day, cutting ecough to feed 10 days. "Sometimes a lot will ripen faster than we feed, we cut and shock fcr winter feeding. "Corn for silo is planted very much as for soiling except that we plant 9 to 10 quarts soy beans per acre in same rows with corn at last working. Peas of running variety are sown. The corn harvester clips everything on the row so that we get for the silo corn, beans, peaa, weed3 and Means' grass. Where other farmers would strip fodder we cut for silo finding silage from corn nearly ripe to ba batter for milk mak ingthat that cut at roasting ear stage. If we had to give up all forage plants ex cept one, and had to choose that one, corn would ba our choice. "A variety ia beat, however, and we project with a lot of foraga plants. For summer no food we have found is bet ter than sorghum. Cows are fond of it, the milk is sweetest I ever drank, the crop is easy grown, not at all checked by drought and if planted in April two feedings are had from one planting. "Milo maiz?, Kaffir, Pop corn and Pearl millet are all good and are culti- vated as the sorghum crop. The cows eDjoy an unexpected change; for their pleasure we grow several of these crops each year any of which may ripen ahead of consumption is cured for win ter use. "Sorghum and peas grown together is fine feeding. We take an acre on which 40 or 50 loads of manure ia spread, before plowing, break with Hancock rotary plow five hors3s, fol low with subsoiler two horses, roll down flat, so w 3 pecks peas, one half bushel sorghum, cut in with disc harrow four horses, drag twice with Thomas har row. Just try thia one time if you want feed. When sorghum leaves are well spread we begin to feed, and wo always see an increasa in milk flow. "Peas and German millet produces our favorite winter forage to go with silage, on a clean, mellow Beed bed. We disc in 3 pecks and roll. When peaa begin to sprout bushel of millet is sown and bushed in the weeder ia nice for that. To grow a big crop use manure liberally. Cut for hay when millet blooms never mind condition of peas. We windrow same day we mow, let lay 24 hours if hot weather, then put in barn from windrow. "If I can have plenty of silage and plenty of pea millet hay all winter I can make milk and not ba depending on cotton oil mills or flour mills. Both are greedy concerns, ready to grab every dollar the milk man gets. "I will not mention silo or silage. There are present thcs3 who can tell all about this great plan for winter feed. I do wish to epeak about the dry corn fedier. Unless a farmer has more forage than he can haul to the barn or stack, by all means the corn should be cut close to the ground at fodder pulling, stack on tripod, leave until cured, husk corn eff and feed it will surprise any farmer to Bee cattle, horses and sheep pick at the corn stover for hours after having had a full feed in barn. "We cut corn with the McCormick harvester, husk acd cut with husker, feed the cut stover with silage during winter or mix with bran and meal and feed as mixed feed, or dry it is good anyway. I have seen tons upon tons of stalks and fodder left standing in corn fields after corn was gathered and by De cember, and all winter, and even aa late aa June, have seen farmers who discarded euch excellent fodder, haul cotton seed hul's 6 to 10 miles and pay $3 to $4 per ton for it. There is a leak through which many dollars from farmers is flowing to the bank account of the American Cotton Oil Co. "If all the corn growing now in Cabarrus county could be saved en tirely the new oil mill would find few farmers to buy their hulls. "Just for the big' of the thing I throw away $10 to $15 each year for red clover seed. I read so much about red clover, and in fact, years ago I had such fine crops to grow that I just can not drop it. However, the crop has fail ed with us for six years. Valuable aa clover is, I am not convinced that it ia better or more profitable than pea mil let hay. We have concluded to drop clover and s)w peas. Sow at every opportunity and on all available land from May 1st to July 20th. If we do not cut a vine the crop ia a paying one. "At Double Oaka we usually feed pea vinea August, September and Oc tober. Ooe or two acres are mown and raked when wilted and put in large cocks. Aa needed we haul to cows. Have had euch out in three days rain but suffered to lo3s. Cutting a lot at one time is a saving of time, besides the wilting of vines is an advantage, as the milk will not Us;o 60 strong of the pea flavor. "While red clover has failed for us, we have had great success with the crimson. We like it better each year and sow larger fields than we did be fore. We learned the value of thia plant. We seed crimson clover with oats sow in August or September 1 peck of crimson to 1 bushel of oats per acre. If land is moist at time of sow ing we always get good results. We sow with rye, also with millet, and last August sorghum was tried i bushel sorghum seed to 1 peck clover. Cut sorghum as hay about the middle of October. When raked up we found a fine stand of clover, which went through winter safe and made a splen did growth in spring. We shall try same plan this year. Cut clover when coming in bloom a tender, Bweet hay continued on PAar 8
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 11, 1899, edition 1
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