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THE UfDUSTKIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OP OUK PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY. 3 fol. 14 RALEIGH, N. C, AUGUST 22, 1899. No. 28 PUBLISH D WEEKLY .Cdste on ronr bel tells irVtlon expires Receipts "'S-ri-tion will be vren In chi "bel tells you when your for money on sfHf not properiy changed in two weeks. '.'fr US. -"T v-tt VTT A VPF.S. Tf . nwr1Vr wishes ha nnkr ritarnn tinned at th T. S'i , 3 t.f his subscription, notice to that effect j'-Vi ,e sent. Otherwise it is assumed that a si0?,' rjance of the subscription is desired, and c-'j.rages must be paid when paper is "TTeTat our risk if sent by reglsi ered letter ,,CcEt-y order. Please don't send stamps. jn-e to give both old and new addresses In j-deri change of postoffice. ""ToTAdvertlsing Rates: ten cents per agate t oral discounts for time and space. A J v ' " i 1 er cn trial 6 months for 50 cents, or ..ii for 25 cents. Or we will send your 'rf've for one year if jouwill send vs $5 in wrlptions, or free sis months for $3 in -1 suWrii'tions, at these rates. We wast intelligent correspondents in every --tv 'n the State. We want facts of value. c2t accomplished of value, experiences of V-e" plainly and briefly told. One solid, leiioiisiTMed fact, is worth a thousand theo ries. Ins Progressive Farmer is the Official of the North Carolina Farmers' State PRACTICAL FARM NOTES. Written for The Progressive Farmer by the Editor, and Guy K. Mitchell. We learn from Farmers' Voice that a farmers' grain company haa been crgac"z?d in the southern part of Iiarn3 county, Nebraska, and the lirmera hereafter will ship their own rsin. They expect to handle this sism'a crop. m S:y bean meal is a meritorious feed. Aa experiment at the Hitch (Mas3.) Experiment Station led to the conclu sion that soy beau meal is a better feeding material for dairy cows than cotton seed meal The Eoy bean meal produced more miik, richer cream and better butter. . . The typical attack of rq line distem per re q lirea very little treatment cut tide of easily digested food, go 3d ven uiation, b.' s aco of draft, rest ar.d .et. Rectal injections of cold water ulUd lower the temperature and at tie-icae time to regulate the bowels. Jfcrgxd nursing is the principal treat- CCt. Ia cur timber belts a large crop of a:crn3 is expected this fall welcome news to many hog raisers. Tne acorn crcp of vast benefit to farmers but through lack of a little attention it is allowed to injure or kill many hogs. Accrns are an astringent of a tannic nature and unless eome food which tenia to loosen the bovel3 is fed in con nection with them they rniy causa C3D3tipa:ion to such an extent as to seriously retard the growth of if not kill, rs-ny of the hogs. If liberal quan tities of f q-iashes or pumpkins are fed no such condition is likely to result. A Boston commission merchant mikes the fcllowiog statement to his easterners: "It lock3 now as if the apple crop in this section would be almost a failure. The best crops this season appear to be in New York, Vir gini and the Ohio valley States. If nothing happens England and Earope will have good yields. Take the United Statts aa a who'e, it looks to me as if the coming apple season would be the c:t profitable for some time. The conditions are about the same as in lS.i At this date the conditions are fevo ruble for a 'just about right' crop, with conditions favorable for coneer vat:.e operations. And there will probibly be just encugh export ce port demand to keep our local maiket 2tcriy throughout the season." - Jy bug, lady bug, fly away home," no familiar to most children who vugnt not to hurt the pretty bug is a friend of the garden ; and J ?trictly true. Tne lady bug does damage to insects which them ' -'.vtroy the products of the gar-1-i )or. Plant lice, for instance, t, imecta, have certain natural ' vhich tend to keep them in ;:e ladybirds or lady bugs are, . most important factors in action of plant lice, as both - ur.d ycung feed ravenously Tnero is a notion prevalent is, in some way or other, P'unt lice. Natural laws will - tuch a state of t H lire. L'ke in the insect world just as -ty as it does in the higher Ihe prcgony ot a ladybird is f ladybird like the parent in Ihe young cf a-ladybird, how is a i are t a3 ; 1. tZf t-. tv- item is marked to remind you that you carefully examine this sample copy and ' for a Year's subscription. Will also ever, looks very different from the adult. In fact, the young of some species resemble minute alligators in general appearance, and are gaily col ored. They feed almost entirely upon soft bodied infects. In the current issue of Home and Farm, Mr. M. S. Perkins calls atten tion to a fact which we have often at tempted to emphasize that the farmer to find pleasure in his work must un derstand the natural laws which effect his work; must realize that it i some thing more than mere muscular exer cise As Mr. Perkins says: 'If we can only get to understand somo of the wonderful truths of natural law as applied to questions of tillage, livo stock, husbandry, etc , wo find that much of the drudgery of farm work disappears That is, we must work hard just the same, but interest in our work, occasioned by increased intelligence, ttkes eff much of the dis couragement of mere thoughtless wor k. Mental stimulus relieves and facilitates the performance of hard, manual labor. One good book so studiously perusad that its contents are fairly memorized by the reader, is better than two hast tily skimmed over, and as soon for gotten. I think every farmer should have a library of a few volumes, treat ing in a thorough way of the great and fundamental truths of agriculture." Vould there were more farmer? with the same views. In such a common crop a9 field corn there are wide divergences of opinion as to cf'tural methods. The Indiana Station has experimented with corn for a series of many years and reaches the following conclusions as relating to conditions at the experiment farm : Planting corn early in May has proved best as a rule. The greatest average yields of both ears and stalks hva been obtained when the stalks stood 12 to 14 inches apart. Thick planting has reduced the size of the ears and the per cent, of grain. Thick planting has in dry seasons produced the heaviest yield of stalks and the lightest yield of ears. The yields of corn from cultivation one, two and three inches deep have been about equal. Cultivation four inches deep has con siderably reduced the yield of corn. Heavy applications of manure and fertilizers have not proved profitable in continuous corn culture. In continuous corn culture the effect of a heavy application of fresh horse manure has not been exhausted in fifteen years. Cultural implements differing much in construction and action upon the soil have produced nearly the same yields of corn. Of the several cultural implements under trial, preference is given to the epriug tooth cultivator for eoils similar to that of the station farm. Hill and drill plantings of corn have produced practically the same average yields. Millet, 8aj s a bulletin of the Agricul tural Department just published, is fed principally as a hay and soiling crop. The forage ranks well with that of other grasses in the nutritive con tent, and its palatability is about that of the average for the coarser sorts. For digestibility, millet forage com pares favorably with that from other coarse grasses. Already widely grown as a hay crop, millets deserve more general use for soiling. They are particularly valuable for feeding to dairy cattle, young stock, and sheep. There are many sections of the country where this crop can be made to supplement the pastures in Fuch a way as to allow a material in crease in the number of stock that can be kept on the farm. On account of the heavy yield of forego and the good q lality of the product, millets are excellent grasses for uss in the silo. Frequently a good crop of millet can b3 raised under con ditiona which would not admil of growing corn for ensilage, and in such instances it becomes of especial value. One cf ho b:sc methods of preserving this crop is by the U38 cf the silo. Thoso who have tried this method have obtained excellent results. A flue quality of ensilage may be made by using barnyaid millet and a legu minous crcp like eoy beans or clover. The eeed of the foxtail millets is widely used as food for fowls and birds, but is seldom fed to stock. It has, however, been used in feeding young stock, such as calves, with a fair degree of success. The eeed i3 an excellent food for laying hens. FARM AFFAIRS. WHAT SOME OF OUR EXPHRI MENT STATIONS ARE DOING. Mr. G. H. Turner Tells of His Visit to the Fxperiment Farm at Southern Pines. Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer, Most of our more intelligent and progressive farming brethren are be coming, through the medium of the experiment station bulletins of their respective States, pretty well posted on the extremely valuable results ob tained from eaid experiments; but there are very few of them that have the least idea of the degree of nicety and precision which must continually be exorcised in order that the experi menter may arrive at an absolutely just, accurate and unerring decision in regard thereto. We were forcibly struck with this fact during a recent visit we were fortuaate encugh to make to the Experimental Farm of the North Carolina State Horticultural Society, located at Southern Pines. N. C. The ol j et of the work carried on at this experimental farm is to determine the proportion of the diff 3rent fertiliz ing ingredient3 nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash necessary to secure the best growth and development of orchard and garden fruits and other agricultural and horticultural prod ucts, and also to discover the best treat ment for the soil in order to produce this result. No commercial brand of fertilizer ia used in these experiments, but fertilizing ingredients are employed both singly and in various combina tions; in fact, in almost all possible combinations; and the precision exer cised in the carrying on of these ex periments, even down to the most in significant minut'ec or smallest detail, guarantees the accuracy, reliability and value of the final results reached and conclusions dran. As an instance of thia precision, ev.n in what seemed to us to be q :ite an insigDifisant and comparatively unim portant matter, we would call the at tention of the reader to the faco that every plowhand carried with him to the field an empty sack. Now, we had become quite accustomed, during our travels over the States of North and South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, to seeing empty sacks strewn around in all directions; mostly fertilizer sacks that had been carried to the field full, but had been emptied oJ their con tents. Ooher 8 had been carried to the field, or rather, orchard, to put the curculias in when j irred eff the fruit trees; but these particular sacks had been carried to the field for the express purpose of putting the droppings of the horees in, which were scrupulously gathered as fast as dropped, This txtreme nic8ty, to us, (although we carry on an experimeutal farm of our own for the purpose of testing all the various fertilizing agents that are found on the market, side by side, singly and in various combinations, to gether with their effects upon differ ent crops and soil?), seemed almost superfluous; yet, absolutely accurate results, and deductions therefrom, could not have been obtained without being thus particular, even in the smallest and apparently most insignia" cant of details. On our own farm we would have been inclined to let the droppings lie right where they were voided, thinking that in the run of a year about an equal amount of manure would be dropped by the plow animals cn the unfertilized as upon the fertil ized plots, or upon one fertilized plot as upon another; and this would be the reaeoning of nineteen twentieths of cur brother farmers, but by beiDgtbu3 nice, precise and particular, the ele ment of lchance" is eliminated, and an almost absolute certainty takes its place. Again, when looking over the barn and outbuildings, we found the year's pruning of vine and tree mostly tied up in bundles and stored away. We a3feed if they were going to propa gate from them, but were told that they would be sent to the State Chem ist at Rileigh as soon as dry to be an alyz?dfor the purpose of finding out the amount of plant food removed from the soil in the formation of that amount of woody growth. Field experiments with fertilizers have been carried on, more or leas, at almost every experiment station in the United States, and much good has been acccmpliahed in this direction; yet, none of the stations is doing as effective, complete, exhaustive and thoroughly reliable work along these lines aa 13 the Experimental Farm of j t'le North Carolina Horticultural So ciety at Southern Pines, North Caro lina. This is mainly because there is nothing there to distract the attention or draw them off from the main points to ba determined, as the experiments carried on there are experiments with fertilizers exclusively.. Up to date the experiments have been confined exclu sively to fruits and vegetables, and all who are living in the long leaf pine belt, who are engaged in raising either fruits cr vegetables for market, and whose lands are very sandy, loose, open, mellow, porous, or comparatively poor, would do well to keep posted as to the work that is being done at this Station in their behalf. G. H. Turner. Burgess, Miss. A little thought of, but nevertheless important, feature of Farmers' Insti tutes ia alluded to in the following item from the Portland Oregonian: "Another advantage growing out of tifc Farmers' Institute lies in the mere bringing of farmers into relations with each other under conditions promoting comparison of ideas and experiences. It is not an uncommon thing for men who have lived in the eame township for years to dissover at a Farmers' In stitute that each knows many things that would be helpful to the other. The Institute is a wonderful awakener of what may be called a professional interest on the part of farmers, and whoever attends one of them is likely forever afterwards to be a clcs :r ob server of the operations of others, as well as a closer student of the prob lem8 of his own affairs." MUSHROOMS AND MUSHROOM GROWING. Mr. Hcllenbeck Says it is a Profitable and Rapidly Growing Industry. Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer. The Year Book of the Department of Agriculture, 1897, has a very fine paper or edible and poisonous fungi, i. e. mushrooms, toadstools and this class of vegetation. Tiie plate illustrations are unusually fine. The descriptive text is not; tech nical arid :'s readily understood by the S3 who are not expert botanists. Dr. Farlow, professor of this branch of botany at Harvard University, is the author. The profeesor starts out by denying there is a distinction to be drawn be tween mushrooms and toadstools. All mushrooms are toadstools, the popular idea that edible fungi are mushrooms being incorrect. Tne name mushroom having, by custom, become effixed to a very few of the known edible fungi. All cur knowledge of the fungi cornea from experience. Persona have eaten different kinds of fungi. Some have been found good food. Some have sickened and too often killed the per son who ate them. Two of the most deadly toadstool species mpst closely resemble the most common mushroom and are pleasant of odor and taste. Right here the learned professor left a grave defect in his paper. He could well have described the leading symp toms of poisoning by toadstools and the beet home remedies to be used pending the arrival of a physician. The first described is the common field mushroom with its round white umbrella top called the pileus, with its pink fringe beneath turning purple and dark with age. This fringe running from the stalk to the edge, somewhat like the leaves of a partly opened book, is called the giil3. The stalk is rather short and stocky, not hollow, and bears a ring, or collar, midway which looks like a piece torn from this vege table umbrella's cover; which, in fact, it is. When at maturity it has a frag rant odor and is both delicious and nourishing when properly cooked. Next the professor describes the fly agaric, (pronounced ag a rik, with ac cent on the first syllable,) which is so called because it has been used to poison fics. This i3 a gaily painted toadstool, with its umbrella cover yel low, or red; its gills always white; stalk white with a wide membranous collar hanging down from its upper end and its bottom fringed with scales. The colored surf ace. of the pileus haa scales, or warts, scattered over it of a whisish color. It grows singly instead of in groups like the field mushroom And yet this deadly sinner closely re sembles two of the most delicious edible fungi, Amanita rubescens and the royal agaric. Only an expert can tell them apart. Better let these painted fops alone. Next is the deadly agaric, our com mon toadstool. The pileus is usually white, but may be any Bhade of dull yellow to olive. Gills white. Stem white with a hang down collar at the top, a bulb at the bottom having a sack like membrane about it called the volva. It is believed to be deadly enough to cause death. Then follows a description of the horse mushroom, which is eatable ; the horsetail fungi, also edible; the para sol fungi, edible; the chanterelle and a fairy ring toadstool, edible though some fairy ring toadstools are poison ous; oyster, beefsteak, morel, trtffhs, puff ball, and some other edible fungi with some of the poisonous species Many species of these fungi have never been tested and it appears that count less tons of very nutritious food is per mitted to waste because we are ignor ant of its merits and how to select the useful and avoid the poisons. Oa the whole, more seem available for food than the reverae. The reports of the Dapartment of Agriculture for 1880, 1892 and 18S3 also have fine articles on fungi. The United States Department of Agriculture is trying to educate the people in this branch of knowledge. Now it does seem as though the experiment sta tions and State farms might well take up the work. By issuing farmers' bul letins, by chemical analysis, by experi ments on the lower animals to test for poisons, by cultivation and distribution of edible epecie3 they may add greatly to our foods and luxuries. Directions for cooking, symptoms of poisoning and antidotes, should be given. By the way, it is reported that the juice of mushrooms has been found a remedy to render human beings im mune against the poison of snakes. Meanwhile, there is no need for the farmers and gardeners who read The Progressive Farmer to go without this delicious vegetable. Spawn, the seed, of mushroom may be bought of leading seedsmen. A mushroom bed is easily made and tended. Many a person near cities could make a fine lot of pin money by growing mushrooms for the city customers. A reputation once well established would be good as gold. Yes, tvjn as good as eilver, 16 to 1. Why not give it a trial, even, if it ia new? E. Eollenbeck, APPLYING EXPERIMENT STA TION METHODS. ' The work of the experiment sta tions are interesting enough, but it is not practicable to apply their methods to extensive farming operations," said an Illinois farmer not long ago. This man is a progressive farmer, too, and likes to grow good crops, but like a good many others he misses the point that vhe experiment stations are aim ing at. We have no doubt that this very man is benefited by the work that ha3 been done by the experiment sta tions without realizing the fact. The work carried at the stations is one of infinite detail and attention to minute particulars, many of which are seemingly unimportant. The man who would apply this work to his own fields should not undertake to follow it exectly as the stations have worked out the problems that arise as he plows, sows and cultivates. Bat out of the mass of detail that experiment station bulletins furnish the farmer who reads and properly considers them, may de duct certain broad principles that will guide him on the way to success. The experiment stations deal with tenths or twentieths of an acre and muat be very exact, or a large element of error would creep into their calculations and render their work valueless The farmer who has fields of anywhere from ten to eighty acres to deal with need not be so exact and particular in his work, but follow the work of the stations in a general way and benefit thereby. The bulletins of the various stations are filled with particulars, which if carefully studied will give any man a liberal education in agricultural science in the course of a few yeare, and put him in possession of a masa of reliable information that will help him to wring success from the most unfavorable sur roundings. By apply this informa tion properly the value of any farm may be greatly increased because a farm must be valued according to its productiveness. Farmers' Voice. IN REGARD TO THE ROUND BALE A round bah outfit, it U announced, is to be established soon in Smithfield. This fact has caused the editor of the Smithfield Herald to investigate and study the question of round bale vs. equare bale, with the result that the last issue of the Herald contains the following editorial: The controversy of the round bale vs. the square bale has now assumed such an aspect here in Johnston county that, in justice to our paper and its readers, we can no longer remain silent concerning the question. We trust that our readers have understood thia silence. When the controversy first began to rage, we refused to take a stand with either side because we wished to inves tigate and ascertain which system was of greater benefit to the cotton raiser. When we should become fully con vinced which was right we determined then to announce onr position and take a part in the fight. 'Be sure you are right and then go ahead," was the favorite maxim of Davy Crocket, and the advice of the wise Tennes3eean was never taken in vain. Upon looking into tht3 question we at once stumbled upon one point and, in our opinion, the fast that a trust is behind the round bale should be enough to warn the farmer of the baleful effects which, it is reasonable to expect, the general introduction of the eyetem in the South would produce The Ameri can Cotton Company is the promoter of the new system. If the outfit, required to manufas ture the round bale, was placed on the market for sale, the farmers need have nothing to fear. But it is not for sale, only for rent. And the ginner who rents it must guarantee 1.000 bales per season before he secures the plant. How many ginners in this county could secure the outfit under these conditions? How many miles would the farmer be forced to carry his raw cotton before reaching a gin? Smaller ginning concerns would be driven out cf business and the farmer would be subjreted to the greatest inconveni ence. Let tl e American Cott:n Company sell its outfit at a reasonable price and the condition will be changed. It will not do to place the cotton raiser at the mercy of a syndicate or trust. We tave fought trusts early and late. We see in them the great danger to American liberty we want no cen tralization of capital nor business. The truet is the ootopus that grinds the poor man in the duet and always eelects the poor man as its victim; it causes little children to suffer and, mothers, seeing their sufferings, mourn. THE CULTURE OF GINSENG. So many inquiries about the culture of this plant have come to mo within the last six months that some defeneive measure becomes necessary. Perhaps an outline of its cultivation printed in this journal might also save a number of its readers the trouble of placing their queries upca paper. Ginseng grows best in leaf mould, and under the shade of trees. In open field or garden culture, even when the beds are given the necessary heavy mulch of leaves to hold moisture, and dense lattice or brush shading, the plants do not flourish so well. As we have a great deal of uncleared land with valuable timber standiag upon it, this whim can be indulged with double profits. The undergrowth in a plat to . be planted in ginseng is first grubbed outv leaving saplings and large timber for shade. The earth is then dug lightly, and all loose stones and tree rcota re moved. If it does not seem rich or deep enough, we use for fertilizer light coats of unleached wood ashes, well rotted manure, decayed vegetable mat ter of almost any kind or leaf mould ecraped from under trees in adjoining thickets. Tne beds are usually made about four feet wide and of any length con venient, leaving an alley about a foot wide between them. Young roots or seeds are planted abous 3x7 inches apart. Toe eeeds are covered an inch deep, the roots about three inches. This planting should be done in the fall, while roots and seeds are fresh, or else they must be kept so until epriDg in beds or boxes of loose, damp soil. After planting the beds are covered lightly with leaves, which are left to- CONTESTED 021 PAGS 8
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 22, 1899, edition 1
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