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" " " '..' ' - . 1 tiS THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS 0E OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY. ?o. 14. RALEIGH, IT. C, AUGUST 29, 1899. No. 29 i .- t I 1 ) PUBLISHED WEEKLY The date on your label tells you when yoTir nhscrirtion expires- Receipts for money on K-crii'tioa will be given In change of date on bel. if Mt properly changed in two weeks, sotifr . ""TC0NTI NUANCES. If a subscriber wishes cor7 of the paper discontinued at the ex r.tiQ f kia subscription, notice to that effect MaUi be sent. Otherwise it is assumed that a iln-tl'nsaEee of the subscription is desired, and M arrearages must be paid when paper is cked stopped. Money at our risk if sent by regisi ered letter 3r coney order. Pleane don't send stamps. Be sure to give both old and new addresses in ordering change of postomce. 31 of Advertising Rates: ten cents per agate "lie. Liberal discounts for time and space. Th'-- item is marked to remind you that you ,vpud carefully examine this sample copy and :ril ua SI for a year's subscription. Will also ni pMer on trial 8 months for 50 cents, or 'r'mths for 25 cents. Or we will send your ir-er free for one rear if 5 ou will send us S5 in i'evr subscriptions, or free six months for $3 in I s'jnSCriptlUUS - ncoriimu I sew subscriptions, at these rates. We want intelligent correspondents in every -exalts accomplished of value, experiences of vVue plainly and briefly told. One solid, enions trated fact, is worth a thousand theo- ".es. Xhs Progressive Farmer is the Official Orsra-cof the North Carolina Farmers' State Alliance. PRACTICAL FARM NOTES. Written for The Progressive Farmer by the Editor, and Guy E. Mitchell. The August crcp circular of the De partment of Agriculture shows an ex eeiing'y meagre clever crop for thia year, in especial marked contract to list year's generally large production. The quality of the crop also falls de eiiedly below last year's standard :aking the country in general. Saeretary Wiieon'a recent eevere eriiici3m of methods of agriculture as h2 obaorvad them in California and tha need that her farmers should adopt stack raising and grass growing and do 1:?3 of wheat raising without rotation, can be profitably considered by farm era of all auctions. In other words the lirmer must keep in constant mind it3 importance of building up rather u?l-i d -creasing the fertility cf his foil. Tcea manuring is one of the beet c-;:h:da of insuring soil fertility, and tevMiy, and the legume:; combine all the points reqiirei of a greea manure p!s:t, r:z , the po?cr to absorb nitro gen the mo3t expensive fertilizer c;n s:kuen; from the air, deep rooiiog hib'.t, and, at the proper stage of grj A-rh, that suceulenco which is con .I'jrve to decay, thus rendering the ' uure" available at the earliest mo 222:1 r. An advantage in turning utssdc r a crc-a crop which may not always be eiiiered, is the fact that with a fcsav-y reen crop, many tons cf moist ure are plowed down per acre and It f s h dcate that it will not be reaiily or ) nk'y evaporated through the s;:I, ou; U gradually taken up by the cf me now crop planted An o:c.r aJvcntage sometimes lost siht U tia, when an acre of cow peaa, i: canco, are ready to turn under lie Laiau.e in already spread diatrib u: I '3cnly and completely the field over. CclsuI Gtneral Macn, at Berlin, Cu'se? an interesting report to the S ir.: Department concerning Ameri cas cf cattle and fresh beef to Ger man 7, Belgium and Denmark. The lattat decree of Germany affecting nr.ricin meats declarea that fresh teef shall not be imported frcm Bel gium. As Belgium has no surplus bie grown beef supply to export any here, it was at once evident that the decree was in reality aimed at Ameri can b:ef and was occasioned by the that the Belgian Government, khh has for several years past pro ibi:cd the importation cf live cattle !rcn3 the United States, haa recently clnded that restriciicn, leaving the dehors cf that country free to impert af certain designated ports American cuic (or immediate slaughter, and un less prevented by new regulations, to esP rt the meat thus obtained across 'Ontier to Germany. late3t decree ia therefore th8 -ri-al furtherance and fulfillment of a upon the German Government ia 1894, aad which haa the fol 'oing history: iricg that year Texas fever pre :d among cattle in certain districts cf tQe United 8tateaf and the Agricul tural Department at Washington had Jarir:5 several years previously the under careful and thorough ntific investigation. One vital at ipln which these studies hinged b aether Texas fever ia or ia not a -:cnal d:s:ase, In the former case, it might be asserted that there was great danger of its transmission through flies from fresh slaughtered beef to live cattle ; while, if the view maintained by the Department of Ag riculture waa correct namely, that the disease waa due to a protozoan parasite and was transmitted, not from slaughtered beef, but from animal to animal by means of cattle ticks there c.u'd be no danger of the introduction of thia disease into any foreign coun try through the medium of fresh beef. Furthermore, if the views of the De partment of Agriculture are correct, there ia no danger of it3 introduction even from imported live cattle, since, as a matter of f c5, the cattle exported to Europe are not taken from the Texas feer district in the Unitsd Statea. After a careful scientific study of the subject, the government experts de cided that Texaa fever waa not a bac terial disease, and therefore not sua ceptiblo of transmission by means of plaughtered meat. The j ? dement of the Agricultural Dopartment concern ing the nature of Texas fever ia now generally accepted by scientific men and has been confirmed by the inves tigations of a government commission in Australia, and later by the studies of Prof. K;ch, the eminent German bacteriologist, which have been made in Africa. But in 1891, the German Govern ment assuming the disease to be of a bacterial nature and therefore trane misaible by the meat of diseased cattle, issued, on November 10th, of that year, a decree forbidding the importation into Germany of live cattle or fresh beef of American origin, and thia pro hibition haa e-nco bean rigidly main tained. Belgium, Denmark, and other neigh boricg countries fallowed the lead of Germany in thia policy and American cattle and their fl ?sh in a fresh uncured state were practically excluded from continental Europe. G:eat Britain, however, took measures to ascertain that there was no real dancer from Texas fever and continued to permit the importation of American cattle and cold storage beef, with the result that the British public has enjoyed for years pa3t a constant supply of excel lent beef at prices wLieh hzvz been a boon and blessing to the people and which would have been impossible had the American supply been excluded. Belgium haa a dense population of workingpeople ;her food import i3 neces sarily large and constant. The Belgian Government has eeen how safely and economically the people of Great Brit ain have er joyed American beef, and after soma hesitation and discussion ha3 annulled its restrictions against the import of American cattle, with the reeult that Germany, fearing that such meata may now enter Germany by way of the Belgian frontier, inter- poapesea the present decree ehutting off all importa of fresh beef from that country. Tho new restriction will therefore make no change in the amount of cattle and f;eih beef ex ported to Europe from tha United Statea. It ia aimed at a traffic which doea not exist, since there haa been hitherto practically no export cf fro;h beef from Belgium to Germany. Bat where the recent decree will do American interests most injury is in Denmark, which country ia ready to follow Belgium's lead in admitting American cattle, but heaitatea to do so for fear Garmany will, in such event, promptly shut out fresh meat importa from Dunmark. The German decree has therefore the direct effect of ex cluding American cattle from Den mark, which country, there is good reason to believe, would otherwise ad mit them as readily as Eagland haa done for years and Belgium haa now consented to do. Meats of all kinds are costly in Ger many because the home supply ia wholly inadf q iate to meet the demand ; and notwithstanding ail the existing restrictions and tho efforts of the agra rian press and butchera1 association to resist importa of meat and lard, especially those of American origin, the trade continues to be enormoua and ia steadily increasing. It ia noted that the customs duties from thia source during tho past six months showed an increase of 1992 .415. which represents an augmentation of about 54,012,700 pounda in the amount im ported. This increase includes mainly canned meats and sausages, which leada the Deuteche Wacht, at Dresden, to anxiously remark that such an un restricted icflux of prepared meats will work ruin to German agriculture and the slaughtering industry. FARM AFFAIRS. NECESSITY FOR AGRICULTURAL LITERATURE AND IMPROVED FARM MACHINERY. Sixteen and twenty years back I told the farmers of thia country that to compete with the Western small grain wheat growers and tho cheap wheat being raised in India tbey must and wculd have to use improved ma -chines to prepare their lands, sow, reap, bind and harvest it, and The Cultivator Company printed thia busi nesa circular I send you for me in June, 1883, wherein I told the farmers then that they would be forced to use the ioaproved implements or be driven out of the wheat markets, etc. Farmers hereabout have only with in tho last three to four years seem ingly come to realize these truths pre dicted and pointed out to them in 1833, and now, when poverty compela the do, are purchasing mowers, binders, seed drills and improved machinery pretty generally. . If you cou'd get tho farmer to read good agricultural and other papers wo might hope to see him lifted out of the mire and clay of despondency and placed firm!y on the rock of prosperity and happiness; but you, Mr. Eiitor, can never do thia with them as long as ignoracce ia bliasful with them, and thia ia true with most of ua farmers; we count it foolish to grow wise and get wi3dom from taking and reading good agricultural papers. There ia not a single issue of many an agricul tural paper that any good intelligent farmer could read and not be ablo to find in it truths, facta and information worth to him more than the one dol lar subscription prico of it for twelve month?; ar.d notwithstanding thia pat ent fact let me present an ia&ue to my farmer neighbors and frienda and they will almoet turn up their ncses in holy horror at the thought of patronizing book learned farming, although they ought to have sense enough to knev that if they did not have God's Bible to read and its teachings imparted to ua thy would bo ruined mentally, morally, physically and financially, and at last lt;nd in hell where tne worm dieth nob and the fire is never quenched. You can't nor I can't get tho farm era, at least nine tenths of them, to ever see Billy Patterson before he haa knocked them and their daddies dosvn and gone and left them down to stay. Mr. Eiitor, the principle of free coinage of silver I favor and like it, because it would put and keep in cir culation a larger volumo o! money never to bo withdrawn from trade, and all men must know the need of th:'s; but I assert it emphatically that the free coinage of silver, except as a great and vital issue of keeping our money valuea on the increase instead of decrease, ia one of the least import ant and vital financial issues we have to contend with; and unlesj political lines and financial measures are very much changed in the interest of the masses, instead cf as they are run now for the enriching of the classes, in less time than twenty yeara from thia the American farmers will be degraded and enslaved under tho rule of a mer ciless and soulless moneyed oligarchial 8 way. Mark my prediction in thia and see what ia in store for us twenty yeara hence without a vital change for the better in politics in every shape. Thia ruin that ia in store fcr us as a nation will fall to one man's share to day and another's on to-morrow. By united, concerted and intelligent action we farmers could s ive ourselve3 and our children and their children from this ruin and enslavement to the moneyed oligarchs of thia country. Eighteen or twenty yeara ago, after being told by my brother in law not to do so, that it was a failure (he being a general agent for a disk harrow conv pany, and had traveled over Georgia, Alabama, Florida and South Carolina to sell and introduce thecc) he telling me he had found them in all these States abandoned and thrown aside as worthless farming implements, I bought a Keystone hay loader. I in quired of him hia reasona and farmers' reasons why they were useless, and from what he tcld me I readily saw that thia fault waa not due to any de fect in the hay loader, but was due to improper and unintelligent usa of it. I have used that hay-loader ever einco then in gathering my hay crops, and never have used any agricultural implement that haa given better satis faction or paid me as good returns for tha money invested in it as that hay loader haa, and thia provea thia fact, that in ninety nine out of a hundred times the reason why improved ma chinery on farms does not pay and is counted worthless ia the result of ignor ance in handling and using it, and this is attributable to the want of education, aa you say in your last April editorial nr thi3 line. Twenty years from to day when how to make and save hay ia pumped into the heada of farmers, a good hay loader will be counted at its real value and used by all intelligent and successful farmers on their farms; and so will all other improved implements be used and not abused by farmera and labor ers. Only by and with the intelligent use of the mowing machine, hay-rake, hay leader, hay forka and hay carrier can the farmer mke the raising of grasses and calvea and taking care of them in due ssasion be easy, profitable and pleasant work on the farm ; and each and every one of these implements is essential, needful and profitable (with a good hay-tedder added to this list if the crop mowed is a heavy or fine one) ; and not one of these imple -ments pays better than a good hay loader or saves more hard and hot work; true it is that for a few minutes' time in placing a load of hay carried up by the loader there ia good hard work for two good stackers to perform in properly placing it on the wagon or elsa they will be covered up and over run if they are not quick good stackers. A splendid hay pres3 can be made to pack thia hay is and drive him to mar ket on four legi in improved breeds of cattle, swine and sheep; and the ma nure they leave behind them will en rich the ecil the hay haa been mowed eff cf, leaving Georgia farm3 and farm era enriched thereby ; instead of grow ing cotton at 4 to 6 cents a pound and paying it out for guano to make more cotton an I impoverishing farm.3 and farmers. J. G.-B. Ersrin, 8r., Erwin, Gi., in Southern Cultivator. In these daya when so much is heard about t!is impoverishment of ordinary fljur through excessive refining, sreied wheat biacuit i3 a product un'q io in that it iaa completely cooked whole wheat food. In ita preparation the wheat grains are boiled in water until they are somewhat soft, then they are passed through a machine wqich reduces them to long fi'amenta or threads, resembling in general ap pearance fine macaroni. These fila ments aa they come from the machine are laid lightly one upon another until they are built up to the requisite height, when they are formed into small loaves resembling biacuit and baked until brown. The baking process is followed by another process that subjects the biscuis for about five hours to a dry heat at a temperature sufficient to raise them to a desirable degree of lightness, the shredded whole wheat biscuit manifestly preserving the com position of the whole wheat berry, with the exception of the slight solubility of any of ita outer constituents in the water which ia employed. The light nesa of the biacuit ia secured without the use of yeast or baking powder and is short without lard or any substitute therefor. THE FARMER AND HIS ENEM?. It is surprising that the farmera of thia country, representing as they do the balance of power in all political center 3, should continue to be at the mircy of political schemes and mid die men. Evor since the dawn of ag riculture tha farmer haa been looked upon aa a fit subject for the different kinda of the human carnivora to feed upon. Having for centuries stood alone, without any kind of organiza tion, ignorant and at war with every body, the only reaaon for hia existence to day i3 that aa a producer of the ne ceaaariea of life his place cannot be filled by any other trade or profession. We read so often haw the farmers are working up aud will soon show their power and position in the country's politic? ; yet at election day the dream of independence has vanished away and the stern reality appears before us that the condidatea we expected so much from are simply msre automa tons in the halls of our legislature or on the floor of our national congress gloomy prospects for the future in deed. Andrew J. Gils on, Cheshire Co. , N. H , in Farm and Home. T TECHNICAL EDUCATION FOR THE FARM. Every one will readily admit that the farmer fs not hurt by education more than other men. There ia a small current of feeling abroad that a man's chances to succeed in rough and turn ble business ia rather diminished by the polish of higher education, writes the editor of the Southern Cultivator. It is not our purpose to argue that question here. A great many freely admit that the farmer should have aamuch education a? thcs3 who follow other pursuits. But they are wont to claim that it should be the same as that given to others. We beg to enter our protest against thia position. Every one ad mits that a man should take a special course in medicine or law before he ia fitted to practice either. The laws of the land compel him to do thia. But many think any man can practice farming without any special training or education to fit him to do so. Thia, we think, ia a mistake. Farm ing, in the true sense of the word, is as much a science as medicine or law. To get the best results it requires as much skill. If a farmer baa studied soils, plant life, plant food, plant growth, the effect of culture, and fertilizing and manuring, and understands the diseases of plants and farm animals and the remedies, he is likely to suc ceed ; otherwise he is apt to fail. Some quacks are quite successful in law and medicine. So in farming. But these are the exceptions, not the rule. So much depends upon the farmer and so many things are involved in hia success that if ttfere is a difference it fs in favor of his having more educa tion than others, instead of less. He not only requires a fund of gen eral inforooation but of specific knowl edge about hi3 own calling. The farmer should bo taught how to farm. Thia should bo done in the schools and colleges. Not in all, per haps, but in many. Such knowledge would rapidly improve the farming methods and elevate and dignify the profession of farming. This would keep the boys on the farm. We mean by saying that boys should be taught how to farm, that it requires mental training as well a3 hand training to farm successfully. To illustrate, we take the corn crop. To grow corn so as to make it profitable req iires a good deal of information. First, how shall the land ba pre pared? Here we find quite a variety in opinions and practice. Many be lieve in bedding and planting in the water furrow. Tbey claim ease of culture and deepneaa of rooting so as to help resist effects of drouth and blowing down by storms. Others favor deep breaking in the fall, breaking again in spring and harrowing smooth and level. They claim greater power to resist drouth and more access to water by the roots. Experiments have practically decided the points at issue. The q-iestion lies right at the doorway to producing the greatest crop of the country. It is particularly important that Southern boys should understand it. We are large buyers of corn. We should be large sellers. It is a great mistake for our boys to grow up think ing we cannot make money growing corn. Because we have not done so with our defective preparation and culture does not prove that we cat not do BO There is no mouey in ten to fifteen bushels per acre. But there is in fifty to seventy five bushels per acre. Can we make the latter crops? The writer's experience says, yes. On poor Georgia lands it has been done, On the aver age land of the South it can be done When it is done there is money in growing corn. How can it be done? Thia is the way we did it. You can do the same : AN OBJECT LESSON AND IT3 RESULTS Riding through Nacoochee Valley in search of health, we saw a field of corn that was like a field of wheat, the tas sels were so thick and level. We stopped and investigated and found that there were about eight thousand stalks per acre. The ears were full and heavy and many stalks had two ears. So there was about one hundred bush els of corn per acre. This was before our eyes and no doubt of it. This waa the object lesson. Now for the results. Our farm had been producing only about fifteen bushels per acre. What caused the difference ? It was evidently a question of water and plant food. We had been taught that each stalk must have about twenty feet of room. If planted close together they would fail to make ears for want of water. But here was the contrary. No stalk seemed to suffer for want of water. Wherein did this land diff sr from ours? We soon concluded that the difference must be in the depth of the soil. Tho surface area of an acre was the same in this field and in our own. It must be in the deepness then. Having decided this point we con cluded to try the experiment. We plowed thirteen inches deep; manured pretty heavy with compost of lot ma nure and cotton seed and acid. In do ing this we broke through the hard pan, which was about four inches thick and had prevented the earth water from rising to the surface and at the same time prevented the roots of the corn from going down into the earth as they desired to do. We planted a little over four thou sand stalks per acre and made forty five bushels per acre. Thia pleased us so well that we plowed deep again, harrowed oftener, and put on 7,000 stalks per acre and made sixty to seventy five bushels per acre year after year. The corn stood dry spells better than the old way had done. There was less firing of fodder. This was particularly noticeable after we began putting all the manure broadcast, which we soon learned was best. By the deep plowing we increased the amount of plant food which was soluble in water and increased the quantity of water with which to dis solve i and greatly increased the depth of the soil in which the corn roots could go in search of food and water. While we greatly increased the number of stalks per acre we at the same time increased the actual feeding room of each stalk. In the old way each stalk had about four cubic feet of earth and in dry spells nearly all of that was too dry to furnish food or water. By the new way each stalk had about six cubic feet to furnish food and water, with a free connection with an inexhaustible supply of both just below. TH33 POINT OF ALL THIS. We found this out at great expense and great uncertainty aa to final re sults. We were then in middle life. Half of our opportunity gone. We should have been taught all this in school. Then we could have started life so differently. And life would have been so different. A vast majority of Southern farmers have not learned thia lesson yet. They still skim the soil, plant corn wide apart and make ten to fifteen bushels per acre and keep poor. The poor farmer makes and keeps hi3 farm poor. It is not his fault so much aa hia miafortune. He haa never enjoyed the privilege of technical teaching, He farms largely by guess. Not knowing that corn roots would go from four to six feet deep if the hard pan was broken up, he has tried to make bis coma shallow rooted plant and the corn has objocted. FIELD PEAS FOR SHEEP. There is no better food for sheep than Canada field peas and oats. The sheep are very fond of them, and the two can be raised together at aa little trouble and expense as almost any other food. The peas and oats should, be sown in the field together, and as the oats will hold the pea vines up, the two can be cut with a mower. The proportion of seed should be about two bushels of the email Canada field pea to one bushel of cats to the acre. The oats should be chesen with special ref erence to the straw, which should be stiff and not weak, for its ma;n pur pose is to provide a support for tha peas. Pretty good land should be used for this planting, and corn stubble is best if it is rea?y. The ground should bo plowed and harrowed early, and as soon as it is in good working order sow the peas. The peas should be cov ered under with at least four to six inches of soil, which can best be done by plowing and harrowing after the seed ia sown. At the end of a week sow one bushel of oats, and giva an other thorough harrowing, or thia work need not be done after the peas are sown ; as one harrowing will do for both crops. This will leave tha peas deep in the soil and the oats near the surface. This late harrowing after the oats has been sown will not hurt the CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 29, 1899, edition 1
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