Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / Jan. 23, 1900, edition 1 / Page 1
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THE INDUSTEIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUB PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE P0IICX. 7si. 14. EALEIGH, N. 0., JANUARY 23. 1900 Ho. 49 PUBLISHER WEEKLY Xte date on your lab -lis you when your sbecription expires. R )ts for money on nbecriptioa will be give hanpe of date on label. If not properly ctjed In two weeks, notify us. DISCO NTI NUANCES. If a subscriber wishes his copy of the paper discontinued at the ex piration "f his subscription, notice to that effect should be sent. Otherwise it is assumed that a tontinnance of the subscription is desired, and all arrearages must be paid when paper is ordered stopped. Money at our risk if sent by regit-' ered letter or money order. Please don't tend stamp. Be sure to give both old and new addresses in ordering change of postofflce. Bvsl? ot Advertising Rates: ten cents per agate lime. Liberal discounts for time and space. Thl- ltin Is marked to remind you that you Vou d f re fully examine this sample copy and Brd u $ 1 f 1 r ear's subscription. Wiil also j ;.,r nn trial 6 months for 50 cents, or 3 onth- for 25 cents Or we will send your riaoer free fur one year if 5 ou will send us $5 in Bewsnbcrli'tions, or free six months for $3 in new subscriptions, at these rates. We want Intelligent correspondents In every ceunty In the State. We want tacts of value. -&nlt accomplished of value, experiences of value plainly and briefly told. One solid, demonstrated fact, is worth a thousand theo ries. Thi Progrkssivb Farmer is the Official Organ of the North Carolina Farmers' State Alliance. FARM AFFAIRS. COTTON CULTURE. Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer. G ori Station Bulletin No 39 ive e anaeuctof tbe previous year's ex psriaiata in cotton culture, and sun marizia tbe reauUsof experiments dur ixg thi lis' seven years. Of twenty one varieties tested lapt year Nancy Hanks ranks earlieatof all aad first in total vlue of yield of lint aad e:ed. Txas Bur stands second, and Jackson's Limbless (o called), which etood tenth year before la3t, stood third last year. It is identical with Welb rn's Pet. Allen' LSaple has again prove d to be the most productive long a.aple upland cotton ever cultivated at the station I' the lint were sold at an ad vance of 2 c?cH per pound over thQ price on which th comparisons ere based in tables 2 snd 3, the value of total prciiujt3 would pk.ce thia vari ty eisliy at ttie head of trie test. Tae l:ct 13 much longer than ordinary uolaoc. aai it would probably fetch 2 or 3 cents per pound more than the crdi n&ry upland if cflcred to a spscal buyer ia laro lots. Ic .s a h ful guide ia select:; k end improving varieties of cotton to know that lare doU, email eeeds and perc-ctge yi?lda of lint are d-?airatd& qualities, and are generally associated with the largest value of total yield, while in nUh latitudes and on low bet toma, or when planted late, er what ever the conditions that rend to shorten the season cf growth and fruits ge, an early variety is indicated. A3 to the best distance, in five of t-.e 2vcn ears the meet productive plate ia fcur f jot rwa were these wher3 the plana &:o-.d ore to twofet apart m the row. But &11 tests go to ekow thtt the epicc between the plan s should be &3 wide aa that between the rop. Thu, ineteid of having rows fcur feet aparv and pUnts two feet apar in the rof, .vhich gives tight fq :are feet to the pl-n-, me rows shcuid be three feet a; art and the plants three feet apart ia tho row. In other words, the area o! ground allowed to each plant should be as near as pcesible a perfecc Equttie. This was fcund to ba the bcas for corn aa well as cotton. Ta to p.reat surprise cf most ad vanced fa-m?rs and to tho astonish naent ct tcrne who havo habitually Urced th '. xnr rlif ntr of cnhpnilinc land?, the tu'ceoiied fourths of the ecre produce d ca!y sixteen pcunda of sred cot cn per cere mere than the uneub eoihd f urtba. It i3 a u'vtdifieant fact that during the eight ye:r:? psst no experiment has ra sultea in fver of tbe practice of euh 8ji!k: a3 arunt land well and deeply plovc d tjaoep h o! eix to eight inches. Tei-'a ehow that it does net pay to c pr4rt of fertiiia ;r and reserve rwt to put :n drill when planting;. v i- au :u cne dose at time of plant Ra cieal was found to be not z for cotton. The best ure is 4CS pcundo of ccrr.L t; l. l oc pciarii a -o 2:r, poum'sof cottonseed meal. Alabama Nation Billetin N). 91 treated of cooperative testa of fertili zra for ccttca by many farmers in various parts of the State under direc tien cf tho experiment station. Of 30 euch tC8tS 22 ?avA Hcfln; Alabama soils differ widely and hence require different fertilizers. Id many cases c stly fertiHzBrs are used that do no gocd because of a kind lo required by the soil to which they are applied. Such lors?s are serious, aDd to avoid them was the oV jct of these teits. To map the State according to fertil'ar requirements will be the work of years, but it will save the farmers millions of dollars. In locating the first year's test, the station was guided more by geolcgic&i formation than anything else In eight cases phosphoric acid was most tfljctive. Tnese soils were gen erally gray or red eandy, with a eiaty or pale red clay eubaoil, an d the soils werf generally thin or shallow. In four cases potaeh WEsmostefleo tiv and these soils were red sandy soils, with red clay eub?oil within three to p'x inches of the surfaco. Oo deeper red sandy soils underlaid by red clay, ci rogen was the most effective element. On clay soils ail three ekmsnia were r quired. Tne ffrtiliz?r that yielded the largest net prods in the greatest number o? vi8?a wap 200 pounds cotton eeed meal, 210 pcunda ecid phosphate and 100 pounds kainit per acre This mixture contains nearly 3 per cent, nitrogen, 3 per cent, potash and 8 per cent, avail able phosphoric acid. The season was generally dry, and rust or other leat diaeaeo was widely preva ent and very destructive. Under t3399 conditions kainitgreatly reduced the icjury from leaf diseases in 61 per cent, of the experiments of which com plete reports were made. This does not imply so favorable an eE?ct of iainit in seasons when weather condi tiocs are normal, and when rust cr blight is le33 widely prevalent. There suggestions 8houId interest cotton-raising readers of The Progress ive Parmer. A Cotton Farmib, FEEDING. iorreepondence of the Progressive Farmer. Following is a terse sumaary of earn j results reached at the Texas Sta tion: Feeding cotton seed or cotton &:d meal to covV3 cause's tho cream tc separata frcm tho milk more complete 3r co n grown in the South i? richer m protein, fa;p, acd eugr than corn grovn ia th3 Nortb; Northern corn ' a. planted in tho S:uth improves in thes-o elemenis from yesr to year, whiLv d-ou:hera corn planted in tho North loses in tLeso cltmenta from year to year; only 421 per cent of the dry ma:u r in cotton s? ed hulls i3 drgestible, while CO per cent, of the dry . matter of corn fodc-er ia d'gestibie; vegetables cn tite drained land matured earlier and yielded mere abundantly than the same varieties cn undrained plata along Bice, shallow tilea giving better results than deeply-laid tiles, the increased yield on snailow drained plats teiog as high a? 170 per cent. B I. MARLS AS FERTILIZERS. Jorrespondence of the Projrresslve Farmer. From BlietiL Nj 73, of the Virginia Station, wo ex'.racr. the folio wing inter Oi'rng and instructive pcinia cn n;arl3, beds or mira of which occur ia matj 8catee: Marl 13 the name which ia applied to a variety cf earthy depost3 of varyicg composition contaiiiicg a considerable per cent cf carbonate of lime. It fcrma a very valuable addicicn to our liet of valuable fertii z rj. While its fertilizing value is increased very largely by tho percentage of phosphate of lime and of potash, its chief con stituent ia carbonate of lim, which givea to it its main value. When ap p'ied to the ecil lime affects it in dif ferent waj s and there areeeveral points to bs considered in ita uso. It may be regard.' d somewhat as a direct plant food, eb well aa a chemical agent act upon the organic matter of the soil and variou3 mineral constituents of which the soil ia composed. Another important property ia the mechanical action which it exerts upon tho soil. If applied to a light ssndy soil it makes ft less porcu3 and leaa inclined to part with ita moisture, whilo on the other hand, when applied to a wot, clayey soil is tends to make it mora porous anc more easi'y worked. Notwith standing the fact that large quantities of lime aro consumed by plants it is not usually regarded ai a fertilizer to be added to to the soil, for the reason that the eoil ia usually abundantly sup plied with it. It, however, has the power of making available the com pounda of potash and eoda from their insoluble combinations. The former cf these substances ia certainly of great importance in the growth of p ant Li noe also decomposes organic matter in the soil end renders it available fcr plant food Organic acida euch aa humic, etc., tend to be formed in lane 8 which are very rich in vegetable mat ter and theae acida in concentrated form are poiscncui to the growth cf plants. The application of lime to such a eoil not only corrects this acid ity, but liberates a large amount of plant food. According to Prof. Aueted a good Mil should be composed of nearH f qual parts of tbe three earths, eand, ciay and lin e; it should contain a cer tain quantity of decomposing vegetable and animal matter; it shcuid tke up moisture and give it tack to the a'.r without much difficulty ; it ehould havp depth sufficient to permit the roots cf the plant to eitk ai d extend without coming to reck, to water or to some in jurious earth; the eub-o l should be moderately pcrou?, bus not too much so; aDd in case of teed the subsoil should be able to improve tie Eoil bj admixture with i. Prof. Cook thicks that the mcs valuable marla and those which wi.l beat pay the cost cf loog tranporta tion are tho e wrich contain the largest percent, of phosphoric acid; that the most durable maris are those which contain the most carbonate of lime; that green eands c mtaining but lHtie cf either phosphoric acid or carbonate of lime become active fertil z r3 when composted wilh quicklime; that marls whica are acid and burning from con tainirg sulphate cf ircn can be ren dered mild and useful as fert'l'z rs bj composting with lime; that forage crops, clovers, grasses, etc., are par ticularly improved by theusa cf marls Lime, which has been called the "basis of all good husbandry," ia probably one of the moat valuable and most ex tensive ly used of miceriil manures The value cf lime and other mineral manures as fertil z?rs depends much upon their composition, and in this the a-;ricuhuri3: must eeck tbe aid cf the chr rniat J. L Ladd. Bay City, Texcs. Tim SILO AND KOW TO BUILD IT. A eilo u a c .-nvr nienco which ever dairy farmer 6hould have, eaya the Oanadien Com mi --e ioar r cf Agriculture and Diring. It need not b? an ex peisive etructuro. 15 requires to be strong enough to hold corn fedder when cut into lengths of from cne half ro one icch. It should bo fa rly close, eo a to (xcludothe air after tha en silage has settled. Tne main features are sirergs-h to resist ihecuiward pres sure of its content, exclusion of a:rb the construction cf the eides and a fair drpth of holding capacity, in OEder to permit tho eoeilage tose tle into a com pact rcaas. Sufficient atreng'.h of sides Cin bo cb ained in meet ?ilcs by the use cf 2x10 inch or 2il2-iiich 8!ui?, pliced ffLin eighteen irehes ti two feetfpsrt. A clay or esnhen flxr is most economical, and aa good aa any that can be put in. Tto kmdo of tho wall c the eilo may be finished by a single li-i?:g of lumber, nailed to tbe s;ud3 hor:"r.. ntally Tne lumber should bo toogued atd grooved, and dressed on the inside. If each alternate board be allowed to ex tend at the corners eo aa to make a lock j int, that will give additional strength to the etructure. The c rnera of the eilo cn the inside ehould be filled by the use of a beard plank ten inches wide, eet cn end. Tne triangular epace behind i: should be filled with paod or sawdust. Sr.ude 2sl0 iooh cr 2x12 mcb, with one ply of ecucd tongued and grooved lumber, nailed horizontally on the ineide, are euffi :ient for an e ffi ;ient preservation of the ensilage. Additions to that method of construe tion may be advantagooua in n few ca?e3 for convenience. To build one with tho least outlay cf casn, the farmer who haa eome standing timber may gel out timbers hewn on cne side. Theae may be put in a mow ia the barn and lined on the icsido with one thick nes3 of lumber, tccgued and grooved, and nailed horizDntally. This big bin. or silo, ehould bo constructed with the corners interlocked by every second board passing through and beinjr, nailed on tha corner post. That eff ectually preventa tha spreadiog cf th8 Bilo at tha corners. If a portion of the ensilage around the side a becomes frozen, that ia more an inconvenience than a losa. It should be mixed with the warm en ailage, from the middle of the silo, be fore it ia offered or fed to the cattlo. A RICH NP WBNGLANDHR BUILDS A CITY IN THE WOODS. We do not know the editor of Po mona Herald, of Rhodo Island, but be puts some spicy thicga into hi paper. A recent number contained thi8 lead ing editorial: -He that builda up his home community establishes a monu merit for himself that ia more enduring than granite." He alao ahowa himself a true student of Prof. Goesmann in that he appar ently follows the rule 'wben seen mak note on" aa see the following for mid winter advice in New England : "No article of furniture sfcouid receive more attention than the refrigerator It should bo washed and dried every day.'' Tee following also appears in the same paper about a North Carolina community: Much hsa bren paid about Vmder bilt'e great place down South, but it i? left fcr a New Englander to go Vander bils "eevercl better." Mr. James W. Tuft3, of Boston, Maea., the s?eli known eoda water apparatus manufacturer, went down to see what attracted eo tascy Yankees to the Southern Pines, N. C , region. Ha saw there a towD of fine hotels, handsome homes, beautiful farms and profitable vineyards, and msido of ten days after hia arrival he had purchased eix thouaand acres of land ccar the town. He employed the b at landscape engineers, laid the grounds out end then commenced a great work. Hundreds of carpenters and laborera were employed, building roads, park?, electric car linea, lakes, hotels, houses, deer parks, and in fact everything that nnney could build. Thia work has been kept up, until to day tbia man has one of the most unfque ard handsome pieces in the worid: with ita opera houses, restaur ants, and every thing to amuse and in terest. The best part of this work, ia that thta big hearted man ia not doing thia solely for hia own pleaau e, but he ia eaiertaining at abcut actual coat, hun orods of decscra, lawyer?, ministers nd teacher?, who could not i fiord to pay b :h rati a fcr rent of cottagei and hott 1 chargpg. Mr. Tufts is in co wa vorkfn 5 this enterprise to make money ; he pella no tends or lota. Hsa great p!oifure ia to draw arcund him hun dreds cf Northern people from hia na tive eecnon during the winter months, and see them erj y themselves and gain health at the same time. What a happy world thia wculd be if there were mere mn life Mr. Tufts, vho is constantly planning hew he can aid pleasure to sime cne else's life, be s:dea himself and family. Pullman built hia city for hia own financial bens fie, Vanderbilt bought his thcu andsof acrcw of Sou hern lands, and built bis placo for hi3 own pleasure: but Mr Tufts built bia Southern city with ira bin: some hotel?, comfortable board tog h -uee and eco'ee of ottagea for the pleasure of the people. In the final day of reaching Jimea W. Tufis, tho wealthy Now Englander, will loom up aa a star cf the greatest magnitude. WHAT SOUTHERN FARMS RS NEED, At the firat annual convention of the Cotton Statea' Association of Commia siocera of Agr-culture ia New O lean8 laat week, Georgia. North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Lou aiana and Now Mex'co were represented. Com misf loner Jiftremeki, in the absence of Governor Fester, delivered the Ed dress of welcome, which waa ref ponded to by Commissioner Culver, of Ala oama, President S;evena then deliv ered hia annual addrese. ' For year," said Colonel Steven?, ";ho fcrmera cf the South have been drifting into a condition cf bankruptcy i,nd demora!:zUion. Thia ia not due to sterility of soil, nor to unfavorable climatic conditions. It ia not alto gather fair to lay the fault of the fail ure to our people, for, aa a clasa, they have worked industriculy, in and out of season, but they have not worked with any fixed purpose of permanent b?n:fl;m the end. I have for years be-n urging the farmera of Georgia to reverse their meiheda if they would eecipe tbe conditions which have ro suited from a lack of divera ficition in olanting their crops. The 8alvation of she peopla dependa upon indf pendence nd I urge upon each of you, the com oaise ioner8 of the cotton growing States, o call upon j our people to changa iheir methods of farming. The farm :Dg interests has been the subj?ct of much discussion by the press and tbe pec pie of the South for the paat 12 months; so much so that the people or the rural district are seeking informa tion by reading the daily and weekly paper and agricultural journals. Thia ia one of tha important channela through which this association must rely in reaching the farming class, by writing monthly lettera upon agricul tural subjects and questions, to be pub lished once a mcnth in your news papers." Mr. Stevens said there wa no doubt that the South is more pre sperous to day than at any time within the laat 30 years; prices hava advanced and cne people are mere hopeful. "Tell your farmera," he said, to make small bills; to buy for cash, if possible; to plant largely fcr food crops and reduce the acreage in cotton, even below that of last year. Tha cottrn crop of 1899-1900 will barely reach 9, 000.C00 bales and the average price pid thua far haa been 7 centa. But tf cur farmera go wild again, aa they did in 1898, buy everything they can on time, plant the whole earth in cotton, and make a crop of eleven and one half million bales, the country will be ruined, almost beyond hope." HOME MIXING OF FERTILIZERS The Progressive Farmer for two cr three yeara paat, in seaaon and out of season, haa been preaching the value of home mixing of fertilizers. This method, which would sa?e to the farm era of North Carolina many thouaand dollars annually, is steadily growing in popularity and the increased prices de manded by the fertil jsr trust will dcubtl cea make home-mixing even more popular. The following article from an exchange givea the results o testa cf home mixing at all the leading experimentstationa oi the country and, while long, ia cot too long, the import ance of the subject being considered: In the battle for the interests of the farmera the Practical Farmer ie being ablv seconded by the egricultural ex periment stationa everywhere. In no station in the country haa the fight for acme heme mixing received more hearty support than in the Ohio Sta tioo, from which we have just received the second bulletin cn thia subject Thia is a most exhaustive treatise- on the wholo matter, and goes at length into the elementary information bo badly needed by farmers in general aa to the exact nature of the materials used in the manufacture of fertil znre and the methoda used in the mixing In thia bulletin Prof. Thorne say a that if certain "portiona of thia bulletin s?em to some readera to be exc sively elementary in character, the excuse must be that the expensive correspond eccp, folio wirg the publication of bulle tic 93, haa shown that many farmera have not found the directions in that bulletin sufficiently explicit for their needs " Tcia is juet what we have all fcuad who have had a general corre ?pcr.der.C3 with farmera on th;a aub j -cr, and tho matter cannot be made ioo elementary until farmera every where get a full understanding of the relative importance of the several forma of plant food used and the mat ters in which each of them are fcund in commerce. Farmers who have reached middle life cow have hardly any cf them had the instruction in their echoed boy dis that ia common now in the elementary instruction in scientific matters, and things that arena to scientific men the simplest thirg! are often pi zz!ea to men of fair general education. The Btationa were eatabliahed for the d'aseminaticn of in formation among the farmera as tbe resulta of their investigations, and to make theeo results plain it ia necessary to reduce them to the language of tha people. In the experimenta made at the Ohio Station, four brand8 of ma&u factored fertilizera were used, and each waa duplicated by a home made mixture of eimilar composition. When these were used on corn and each waa compared with the un'ertili d plats, in every instance the home mixed gooda gave better result than the fac tcry mixtures of the same analysis On wheat the average increase from the factory mixed goods wse 9 94 bushels, and the average iEcresea frcm the home mix?d gooda waa 12 5 bushels. The ol j ct waa to m&ke a complete duplicate by actual atalysis of the fac tory made gocda, and cot to make a superior fertilizer, assuming that each was derived from equally good sources. Tankage, or the refuse scraps from the slaughter houses, ia largely used by manufacturer aa a source of ammonia and ia commonly treated with sul ohuric acid in the manufacture, and.it ia properly claimed that thia mates its nitrogen a3 available as that in sul phate cf ammonia. But euch treat ment ia irjirioua and not beneficial to him who would use it in fall as a means of giving nitrogen to the wheat erop, since its eolubility will cause the crop to lose it to a great extent during the winter. While the mechanical mixing of the untreated tankage may make a more slowly available product the au thor of the present bulletin well re mark?) that "the manufacturer can well e fiord to pay 6 to $8 per ton for sulphuric cc:d to be sold again at $20 to $30 per ten, " The elementary instruc tion in r eg lt d to tha various sources of the nitrogen, phcerhoric acid and pot ash commonly used in the making of ferti z -rs ia oao cf the most interesting parts cf tbe bulletin to the unlearcc4 farmer, and the table giving the analy ses cf various materials ia cna that can be referred to with profit by all who contemplate borne nrx rg The direc ticna giving the method for ca'culating the conatituents ot a fertil z;r are im portant and ua:ful, acd we may refer to ttem in the future. The idea is common among farmers that la mix ing the chemicals used fcr fernl.z.'ng purposes it ia necessary to use eome thing aa a filler." Thia ia wholly a mistake, for the "filler" is only a worth less adulteration usad by manufactur ers to reduce tbe quality eo aa to make a Iov priced article, and the buyer of euch ia simply paying full price for all that ia of value in the fertil z;r and then pays freight on a let of ac ulterant that ia cf co earthly uee to hinx He wculd far better have bought a e mailer quantity of the valuable part and left the filler at the factory. But the ma terials used are always combined with something else, for we cannot uso am monia, nitrogen nor potash in a pure form, but must always get it in ecme chemical combination. A fertilizer sack eeldem if ever contains ammonia. thrugh it may be marked cn it, but hs nitrogen, the really valuable part of the ammonia in combination with certain other ma' torBeuch aa the refuse of slaughter house, fish ecrap, cotton eeed meal, etc. It ia shown that a high grade complete fertil :z3r can be made in Ohio, by buying the materials ic tnali quantities and adding freight to make a formula of 910 pounds for $8 5C, and this ia the actual ccst of tbe ma terials used in a ten of factory mixed fertilizer which haa been sold at retail for $17 50 plus freight, and aa the freight in the above waa included, an average cf $3 should be added for thia item, makiog the factory gooda coat $20 f0 and leaving a difference of $12 per toe to pay the farmer fcr his mixing. As he can mix two or three tens per day, he will make fine wages. The calcula tions are based oe the highest retail rates. It ia stated that the farmers of Ohio are buyirg about 50,000 tona per annum of feztilzera at an average price of $24 per ten. From cne third to one fourth of thia may ba saved by buying the materials and mixicg them at home. Ic ia well eaid that fertii'zars can be aa well mixed with a shovel cc a barn fi:cr as in tbe moat elaborate mixicg machine. Thia matter of home mixing ia no new idea. The etations have for yeara been urging it on the farmers. The Connecticut Sta tion showed that while the average ccst of the oitroaencu8 euperphcaphitcs eold there wae $30 44 per ton, the value of the ingredients in a ton waa $20.71. At another point in the same report it waa etated that the average coat of 96 brand3 anal zed was $34 34 per ten, and the value averaged $24 28. The same station made an analysis of ten samples of heme mixed fertii'z jra and added $2 fcr tbe ccst cf mixing them. Thia showed that while the average cost was $29 16. the average value was $29 07, after allowing tho farmer $2 per ton as the coat of mixing, a cjpst far above the actual coat. Thus the heme mixed gocda ehowed a lower ccst and a higher value than the fac tory mixed gooda, and in no report doea the Connecticut Station intimate that there ia any more virtue in the macainery of the professional mixer than in the farmer'a shovel. The North Carolina htation, the second etation established in the United States, gives in its Ba letin 139 the plana and practices of no lesa thin 150 farmers throughout the Btate who have made a success ac noma mixing. xa wo have heretofore ehown in 'The Cream CJOSTETCXD 03 PAG 3 8.1
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 23, 1900, edition 1
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