Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / Dec. 5, 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
r- THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY. i. RALEIGH, II. 0., DECEMBER 5, 1899. Ho. 43 PUBLISHE1 WEEKLY ,. Hrvtlnn enter i our books nnlete . . V Auri"""-" : , . . L ririiors are discnntinuviionipUy at ex tion of time paid for. BUD fhe date on your label tells you when your nlxcriptlon will be given In change of date on Ubl. I not properly changed. In two weeks. notify ns. DISCONTINUANCES. If a subscriber wishes Ha copy of the paper discontinued at the ex piration of his subscription, notice to that effect hould be sent. Otherwise it Is assumed that a r"ntlnaance of the subscription Is desired, and n arrearages must be paid when paper Is ordered 6toppea- Vnnev at our risk: If sent by reglfl ered letter -r money oruer. riw mji w eon emuiKo. Be snre to give both old and new addresses in ordering cnange 01 puetouico. Kla of Advertising Rates: ten cents per agate Thl item is marked to remind you that you v-nn d carefully examine this pample copy and rnd us II for a year's subscription. Wul also Jn paper on trial 6 months for 60 cents, or 3 months for 25 cents. Or we will send your ner free for one year If jou will send us 5 in new subscriptions, or iree six monma ior j cew subscriptions, at these rates. w want Intelligent correspondents In every " c . . , i . Wa w -vra vain a mTit accomplished of value, experiences of rTllta cpmptiau , Dn solid. demonstrated fact. Is worth a thousand theo ries. Tni progressive Farmir Is the Official Organ of the North Carolina Farmers State Alliance. FARM AFFAIRS. NORTH CAROLINA AGRICUL TURE. According to the R:cord, an unusu ally large crop of wheat has been sowed in Chatham thia season, which has been remarkably favorable. The blue ribbon hog the enormous Berkshire porker exhibited by Mr. George Vanderbilt's Biltmore farms at the State Fair has been purchased by a Raleigh man Mr. R. T. Mills. We like to publish such letters as that ia this issue from the Paequotank farmer, giving hia experience with poultry. Read it, heed it and remem br that we shall be glad to have you write uof your successes or failures in farming for the benefit of your brother farmers. The Commonwealth states that Mr. Henry AU-sbrook, who lives near Scot land Neck, planted one bushel of peas among3t his corn, and picked 5 400 pounia of peas in the hulls. Counting by hia estimate, one bushel for every 100 pounds in the hulls, he has gath erei 51 bushels of peas from one,which H a very floe yield, Xne crop peat commission has gran'.ed license to 54 nurseries out of the State and 44 in the State to sell their stock ia North Carolina. It ia interesting to know that the nurseries in the State racge in eiz9 from three acres to 225 Tnere ia one of 225 acres, one of 150, tvo o! 90 each, and two nurseries of 35 each, which raise only native orna mental plants. Tnc Scotland Neck Commonwealth ia fighting for a cotton factory, a great peanut cleaner, and a seed farm for Scotland Neck and vicinity. As to the e:ei farm it says: Among the new things suggested for this region is a great s?ed farm. A gentleman who ha3 had considerable experience in handling seeds of various kinds said recently that he believes that a seed farm on a large scale somewhere in this region would pay. Very few farm era, truckers, and gardeners, compara tively speaking, raise their own seed, and there is argument for such an en terprise hens. Now let some one com mence it on a small scale and develop it gradually and follow the develop meat with a good business. T7ENTY-FIVE VACANCIES IN THE A. & M. COLLEGE. Entrance Examinations to be Held in the County Court House at Raleigh, December 16, 1899. Young men desiring to enter the A & M. College at Raleigh may be exam iu-3'i Saturday, December 16 ;h, 1899, at tb c urt house of this county, at 10 ck a. m., by the County" Superin "t of Schools. The sub j sets of taxation are arithmetic (complete). oc tCi 01 '-r ,ra (to fraction), English Gram- a: and American History. ro will probably be about twenty- varies in the College, and young isl b? selected to fill these vacan 'ho pa?8 the beat examinations -vc the beat endorsements as to 1 r. Thia is a rare opportunity nhj boys to fit themfcelres for -a in life by means cf a practical -'.ion. Thnsft dpsirincr to be a&- ll7 aa i sue : ! - ci w juld do well to write to Presi dt-v. Winatcn, Raleigh, N. O. THE FERTILIZER QUESTION. Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer. The average Southern farmer should not hope permanently to increase, or even maintain the fertility of hia land by means of commercial fertilizers alone. By this is meant that their continued annual uso will be without profitable returns, unless aided either by liberal dressings of stable manure, or by green manures from some crop like cow peas or clover. To use only mineral fertilizers, such a3 acid phos phate or acid phosphate and potaab, on very poor land, is almost money thrown away. The average so called complete cr ammoniated fertil'zsr i8 little if any better. The reason for all this is that the excess of the mineral elements ( xhausts the soil of its nitro gen end of its party decayed vegetable and animal matter, or humus, and this more quickly than if no fertilizer were used. The following considerations make this subject plainer : The chemical an aly sis of our soils show that if we con sider the total amounts of plant food they contain, the nitrogen supply would be consumed first, next would be phosphoric acid, and last of all, pot afh. If we consider the plant food in the soil to the depth of one foot, and it were possible to grow wheat year after year, at the rate of twenty bushels to the acre, the average virgin soil of this State would be entirely without nitro gen in about eighty years. The phos phoric acid would be sufficient for 170 years, while the potash would last 670 years. One bushel of wheat removes in grain and straw more nitrogen, bo;b in pounds and in money value, than the other elements combicoi, as fol lows: 2 1 pounds of nitrogen, worth at a low estimate 25 cents; 0 6 pounds of phosphorio acid, worth 2 4 cents; 0 9 pounds of potash, worth 4 cents. To furnish this amount of nitrogen, one hundred pounds of the average com plete fertil'z3r would bo necessary, which would supply enough available phosphoric acid for fifteen bushels, and enough potash for two bushels. This one hundred pounds would cost, at re tail prices, about 95 cents; if home mixed, about 60 cents. It is evident, therefore, thas the complete fertiFzsr cannot be used by itself, to build up worn lands, or even to maintain those already in fair condition. It is still more evident that the mineral fertili zrs without nitrogen, will fall even further short of this obj ct. The problem of improving our eoils most profitably will be solved in most instances by the j idicious use of min eral fertilizers, accompanied by stable manure and the growing of cow pea?, clover, or the like. The mistake must not be made of mowing these crops for hay and then not returning the ma nure, under the wrong impression that the roots contain the most of the plant food. Approximately one fifth of the total nitrogen may be considered as left in the roots, stubble, eto. A care fully selected rotation of crops, in which cow peas play a prominent part, is the first essential in the bettering of worn lands. Peas without mineral fertili Z3rs will improve fcr years to come much of our land that is begin ning to run down; particularly that which was naturally strongest and best, such as our alluvial soils and our clayey limestone soils, which are richly supplied with mineral elements. If a mineral fertiliz3r be needed, general experience teaches that acid phosphate ia by far the more profitable. This can be still better understood when we have explained some principles of acid phosphate manufacture. The finely ground lime phosphate rock ia treated about an equal weight of strong sul phuric acid. Chemical change takes place so that a part of the phosphorio acid becomes soluble in water. An other pars, though less soluble, is made reasily available to growing crops; while a small amount still retains its insoluble and unavailable character. One other important change has taken place. The eulphurn acid has com bined with the lime, making lime sul phate, commonly called gypsum or land plaster, so that it forms nearly one-half of the total weight of the acid phosphate. It ia now well established that this plaster fn es largo arxounts of insoluble soil potash, and so makes the fertilizer element which is so much the most abundant in our soils available for plant use. Hence, acid phosphate supplies phosphoric acid directly and potash indirectly. The two or three per cent, of potaah in the average mix ture of acid phosphate and potash is perfectly justifiable, as a small amount of this element may give the crop a better start and may even be a neces sity. Since only a part of the available phosphorio acid is used during the first year of its application, it has been found best to apply considerably more than the crop will remove. Three hundred pounds for a soil in good con dition would not be excessive for gen eral farm crops. Something should now ba said in favor of the ammoniated fertilizsr. For example, it ia often used with profit on strong lands when ore ex hausting crop follows another, as wheat after corn A little easily available nitrogen is furnished, so that the wheat gets a better start, after which it can forage more vigorously for itself. In concluaion, rely first of all on cow peas and stable manure. Try mineral fertilizers, acid phosphate in particu lar, as valuable helps. B ly acid phos phata, muriate of potash, and cotton seed meal by themselves so chat you can make your own experiments and mix your on goods to suit your crop and soil. Charles A. Mooebs. Tennessee Experiment Station. TRUE EDUCATION. . The Southern Farm Magazine, of Baltimore, comments on the address of Prof. Irby, 'Educated Farmers the Hope ot North Carolina,' recently pub lished in The Progressive Farmer, as follows: "In an address delivered by Prof. Irby before the Agricultural Society of the North Carolina College of Agricul ture and Mechanic Arts, he took the ground that the hope of the Old North State was in educated farmers. The address was a very practical one, dem onstratlng clearly the relation between success in agriculture and proper preparation for it by education. One sentence of Professor Irby should be developed into a volume. It is: Ei ucation is really something drawn out of a person, and not something stuffed into him." "The great trouble for many of the rising generation to day is that what passes for education to day is in reality nothing but something stuffed into them. The are trained to memorize a lot of stuff which will be absolutely U3elcsa to them in their life work, to the neglect of the training of the pow ers of observation and reasoning. They are quipped with a lot cf material en tirely unsuited for the careers to which they are born. They are unconsciously weaned frcm a recognition of the dig nity of physical labor by the will o' wisp glamor of over crowded profess ions, and instead of being able to con tribute to the healthy betterment of the masses of men and women, they become a nucleus for unreasing discon tent. 'If Professor Irby can successfully warn the students of the college against the pitfalls of an ambition in inverse proportion to qualifications and cir cumstances he will be doing a good work for his State and his country." HOW TO WINTER APPLES, PO TATOES AND TURNIPS. Apple?, potatoes and turnips can be kept crisp and in best condition in pits out of doors, by selecting a dry, well drained spot. For apples, dig a trench three feet or less wide and one deep, put enough straw or like material un derneath and on top to keep clean from dirt, cover with earth not more than two inches, put it down so as to shed water. At tho approach of cold weather put on about fifteen inches of corn fodder. For potatoes, make a trench two or three feet wide and one or two feet deep, and of lenth required to hold the quantity to be buried. Put them in a conical heap and cover with straw crab grass or flax straw is best five to eight inches thick, and with soil two to three inches. When ground freezes about three inches, put on two to four inches of stable manure, then ten to fifteen inches of hay or C3rn fodder, to carry eff water. The soil freezing and cracking open lets ia both cold and water, which causes freezing and rot In large heaps they will heat, as the gas cannot escape. In cellars they will lose both flavor and cripnes3. For turnips, dig a trench not over two feet wide. No straw or like ma terial need be used for turnips not more than four inches of earth well patted down, to shed water. Could I have read the above twenty-five years ago, and practiced it, it would have been worth hundreds of dollars to me. Seeing so much loss prompts me to write this article, Jacob Faith, in Democrat and Journal. SO LIE PAR-REACHING EXPERI MENTS IN AGRICULTURE. By act of Congress there was appro priated for the use of the Department of Agriculture, during the fiscal year 1899, $20,000 for the collection, pur chase, propagation, and distribution of rare and valuable seeds, bulbs, trees, shrubs, vines, cuttings, and plants from foreign lands, with the view to their acclima'zition and introduction into this country. To further this work Secretary Wilson has founded a Section of Saed and Plant Introduction, under the direct care of the Division of Botany, and for this section several "agricultural explorers" have been sent, or are now in, various foreign countries. It is not so much in the field of the domestication of wild or little known plant life that the Secre tary has wisely determined to expend the fund at hi3 disposal as in that of the introduction into our land of useful plants already elsewhere domesticated and thoroughly proved to be of great agricultural value. One of the ex plorers sent out is Mr. W. T. 8wingle, who, after a most painstaking and sue cessful trip in the countries bordering both shores of the Mediterranean, has returned laden with material and data of the greatest possible value. Many of the discoveries will benefit agricul ture in North Carolina and the South From a preliminary report made by him many of the following facts are taken, as condensed for the Scientific American : FINER TABLE GRAPES. Notwithstanding the great progress made in the improvement of the native grapes, we yet have nothing compar able in flivor or general market value to the fancy European stock derived from varieties of the species Vitis vini fera. Being less hardy than our native species, these foreign varieties have not so well withstood the attacks of the dreaded phylloxera and other ene mies to the vine. The French viticul turists long since discovered that a remedy lay in grafting the European on selected American stocks, which are almost proof against such attacks. In this way the resisting qualities of the stock are combined with the high quality of the graft, and it has been discovered tlrat the combination is also more prolific than were the European varieties before the advent of phyl loxera. Mr. Swingle has secured upward of 2 000 plants of 119 of the best varieties, all grafted on specially selected Ameri can stock. These are to be thoroughly tested in chosen localities in North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, and Kan sis, under the direction of the Division of Pomology. Careful observations will be made, so that these varieties may be eventually distributed to the regions best adapted for them, and it is hoped, with confidence, that they can be established in many parts of the South, and that table grape culture can be greatly extended by the culture of theee superior European sorts. General interest will be felt in the Suth and Southwest in the methods of corinth (commonly called "currant") culture in Greece and Turkey, and the importation of the best sorts of this vine, which it is hoped to make next winter. At present we import of wines, corinths, raisins and fresh grapes, an aggregate of over 8 350,000 a year. No inconsiderable part of this great amount is that which g09S to pay for corinths and and seedless raisins. It is agreed, and with reason, that not only ought we to be able to produce all these commodities needed for our home consumption, but we should ba able, in time, to add them to our ar tides of export. Certain new hybrid varieties, crossed between the delicate high grade Euro pean and the hardy American grapes, the so-called "Franco American" vari eties, have also been obtained, and much is hoped from them, since tho re sistance of the American parent is to a certain extent combined with the fine quality ot the European parent in their offspring. EVER BEAKIfG STRAWBERRIES. O! great interest to ttn suburbanite and the amateur fruit culturist, al though not likely to prove attractive to truckers and market gardeners, is a large, ever-bearing strawbarry. much esteemed and very successful in France. The plant of this variety produce fruit for some months each year, and a small patch will yield all the season. In this connection it is interacting to point out that in several portions of the high mountains of the West Indies there grows a variety of wild straw berry which may be picked from the same plants for at least six months, if not longer. These are found in high pockets or arroyas on the north side of the "Blue Range," in Jamaica, and La Belle Range, in Hayti, and it is more than likely that they will be foucd in the higher ridges north of Santiago, Cuba. They. appear very prolific for the wild sort, and of a very unusual and delicious flavor. THE TRUE ARTICHOKE. This name is here commonly applied to a tuber resembling the potato, which is now grown in some localities quite extensively for stock feeding and al cohol distillation, but is of little value for human food. This is the "Jerusa lem artxhoke." The unopened heads of a thisiie like plant are, however, the real artichoke. The latter are a deli cacy greatly prized in certain parls of Europe and produced in enorm ui quantities in France and Italy. The plant, a perennial, doe3 not come true from seed, but is propagated, like the pineapple and many other plants, from suckers. As the true artichoke is muck prized in New Orleans, Savannah, Pniladel -phia, and New York, having for some time been grown for local use in the former city, it is believed that the gen eral introduction of the plant , will be appreciated by the people throughout the country, and a sufficient number of suckers have been imported by the de partment to early insure their indefi nite multiplication. The cultivation of the artichoke should prove to be a ven ture among our Southern truckers, especially as it is adapted to furnish ing a canned delicacy. FARMERS READING COURSES. The U. S. Department of Agriculture has in press and will eoon issue Bulle tin No. 72, Office of Experiment Sta tions, entitled "Farmers' Reading Courses." The bulletin was prepared by Prof. L. H. Pailey, M. 8., Professor of Hor ticulture in Cornell University, am gives a history of the organization of farmers' reading courses, whi:h have become an important factor among the agencies for diffusing knowledge and promoting enthusiasm among farmers To show the character and scope of a reading course outl'nsd by President Mills, of the Agricultural College of Ontario, in 1892, the "Course of read iog for second class certificates," as printed in the report of the college for that year, is given. A few persons took up the reading and passed credit able examinations upon questions which were submitted to them ; but the prizes went mostly to ex students of the college, and the number became so small after a time that the whole en terprise was dropped. The bulletin then reviews all the farmers1 reading courses in North America, beginning with that estab lished in July, 1892, in connection with the Pennsylvania State College, which is stated to be the most famous single venture of its kind. In 1893 the name of the enterprise which had been known as the "Chau tauqua Course of Home Reading," and as the "Chautauqua Course of Home Study in Agriculture," became "Cor respondence Courses in Agriculture." Printed lessons on particular sub jects traated in various books, and on farm book-keeping, are sent to stu dents. The s 3 lessons are designed to bring the subject-matter of the books up to date, to describe simple experi meats, to illustrate the eurjct, and to suggest the important or fundamental matters. The lessons are sent to the reader one at a time. Accompanying each lesson is a list of questions to bs answered. The replies are feat to th3 superintendent of the reading course at the State College, and another lesson is then mailed to the reader. In this way the superintendent keeps in.tcuch with the student. He can also.exercise some control over .the student.by withheld ing lessons when the questions are not faithfully answered. The Pennsylvania correspoLdenc9 courses are five in numoer: Crop pro duction ; live stock production ; horti culture aad floriculture; dairying; and domestic economy. Eich coarse con sists of seven distincseubjactsor books, making thirty five books in all. The reading courses of several States are conducted on similar lines to those in Pennsylvania. The Cornell or New York plan is to give the farmer a "short, specially pre pared lesson, and then to quiz him on it. The motive is to reach the many, not the few. The farmer who can and will read books can take care of him self, but the one who cannot or will not needs help, whether he wants it or not. The idea is to get the rank and file to read books by first interesting them in simple short, and easily digested mat ter. When the farmer is once inter ested it needs only good administrative machinery to keep him interested and to lead him on. The operation of the Cornell plan as now prosecuted comprises: Securing the farmer's name; sending him a les son with a separate paper containing questions (called a qurz); the active cr ganization of reading clubs; and the sending of special inspectors and lec turers to theso clubs. Two diatinct ide?s are represented in the reading courses outlined in the bul letin. The older or Chautauqua Penn sylvania idea is that of a definite, pre scribed, self-limited technical corre spondence curriculum, the completion of which is signalized by a certificate or diploma. The other or Cornell idea is that of a flexible, non limited, un technical reading course in which there fs no system of counts, and which does not lead to certiflcatory honors. The bulletin says: "The former is inten sive; it ia adapted to the few. The lat ter ia elementary; it ia adapted to the many. Each ia incomplete. "The ideal reading course system is that which joins the two ideas. Its gen eral work is to touch and awaken every farmer, particularly every poor farmer; it searches out the man who has small; opportunities. Its special work is to aid the few who are already successful; it accepts the man of fair or large opportunities. If the primary object of a reading course is a mission, the Cornell system would seem to bo the better ; but if the object is technical education, the Pennsylvania or cur riculum system is the better. But since the complete reading course is both a missionary and a schoolmaster, it is evident that the two systems should be be conjoined." The bulletin contains lists of bocks used in various reading courses, and in an appendix representative documents used in various States. CATTLE VS. COTTON. At the recent meeting of Commis -sioners of Agriculture of Atlanta a paper prepared by Commissioner Jef ferson Johnson, of Texas, was read by Assistant Commissioner Wright, of Georgia, the former being unable to at tend the convention. Mr. Johnson's su' jjet was "The Cattle Industry vs. The All Cotton Plan," This paper in part was as follows : "The recent advance in cotton, while it is very gratifying to all, is fraught with great dangar to the cotton plant ing interest. Many will be deceived by it, not realiz;rg that this advance has been caused by an act of Provi dence by causing a great drought to overspread the whole cotton growing region, and not by the increased de creased demand for cotton. "At this time, notwithstanding the advance in the pries of cotton, a pound of fat beef on foot, at the markets, is worth as much as a pouad of cotton, so that, a seer weighing a thousand pounds is worth as much as two bales of cotton, and is just as easily con verted into money. "Remembering the fact that cattle are annually decreasing and the popu lation increasing, the demand for beef increasing in the same ratio of increase of population, we must reasonably con clude that at least for the present and near future, the cattle industry will prosper. "I regard the All Cotton Plan as one in which a man plants ia the same way for years, selling the cotton seed for from f 6 to $8 per ton, and returning nothing to the soil. The result is inevitable, impoverished lands. "I find that cotton seed products, either raw seed, pasture and hay, or cotton seed meal and hulls, makes a good food for cattle; it is equal to corn and hay ; and that beef so fed brings the same price in market as that fed with different food. Now let us take a farmer who makes ttn bales of cotton, and who de sires to change his system of all cotton. To begin with, he would reduce his cot ton acreage, and plant for seven in stead of ten bales, using the extra acres for pea vines, alfalfa, millet, corn or other feed stuffs ; he would havo from his seven bales of cotton three and one continued on pags 8. r'l
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 5, 1899, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75