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sS. THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY. Vol 15 3 RALEIGH, N 0.. MAY 1, 1900 No 12 Agricul ;e. THE FARMER A BUSINESS MAN. KriTous Progressive Farmer: The fanner is, or, to succeed, must , a business man. This is especially the case with the dairy farmer. In the broader sense his business in--1uile the production of the raw ma terial, the manufacture of it into hntter or cheese and the sale of same when ready for market. And ahead of the production, manufacture and -ale comes the establishment of the plant. His entire plant includes the farm, the cows and the apparatus ued for working up the milk. Sure ly if any profession calls for brains anil affords employment for that commodity it is the farmers. And even with brains the price of success i eternal vigilance. A successful fanner will conquer his surround ings, whatever they are, or in some way change them for his good. Present and prospective conditions are favorable to the fanner as a man of business. The writer in making this statement has in mind the ten dency to improve country roads, the Telephone and rural free delivery of the mails. Each of these is an im jvirtant factor and when combined and a farming community is given the benefit of all of them it will re sult in benefit to such community to an extent that we can now hardly realize and appreciate. There has been so much written and printed about the benefit of good roads that not a great deal need now be brought forward at this time. However, it will not be amiss to em phasize the fact that good roads is a very important factor in the develop ment of the farmer as a business j man if not the most important one. I The telephone, while perhaps not j bringing to the farmer as much real j ynrl immediate profit as good roads, j is a good investment for any farm-1 ing community and every individual j farmer of such community may ! adopt it. There are writers on the j subject of country telephone lines, j and those who have had experience ! in establishing such lines, that can j do better by this subject than can I the writer, and he trusts your read- j rs will sooner or later have the j henefit of letters from some of them. I The third factor referred to above is rural delivery of mails. This in j addition to being an important busi- i ness factor has, like the telephone, a ! wial side to it one of great im- p r tunee. As before stated, the three fac- ' t -rs, od roads, telephone, rural dc- j livery when combined will be power ful in benefitting the fanner in mat- its of business and they will in a j K-ial way be equally so. i There is one factor that has not in thi letter been referred to, one ; vhirh, it now occurs to the writer, j should Ik; considered at this time, I v the bicycle. Farmers vn.hni a reasonable distance oi a vn- ; .,, ., . . i :.io r eitv, will find, as will their t . .,, ' . n , , A. ,. , I nil lren and hired help, the bicycle i V, vi 'nanv times very useful as well as . , , A, i u-uruble, provided there are good ! .ui-T- use it on. Ot.iv moro. In some agricultural i T r the writer has seen illustrated ! Ti'r. ifiic,' or wheels and read a de fi'4i n of it in connection there- This traveling postoffice was by two horses and accom by a postmaster, who as re- vt-d was also the driver. The takes all letters and parcels mailable and post-marks Ht- soils postage stamps -"'I cards, but whether he " -y orders or not the writer t l:?vw, but the chances are ' "-'s. Every section of the ''ild not have roads good warrant a postoffice on ; t where the roads will ad ; doubt it would be a good oneouraging, developing iin-j- the business farmer, ': ' -tlier four factors nii'ii- ' r r tru-ts this letter will be : of drawing out the and experience of others ; liti re-ted in the topics it L"t us hear from all such '. '-u-b the columns of The -"j "c Farmer. F. W. MOSELEY. i-r. 1'fM THE COW PEA THE PRACTICAL FARMER'S $25 PRIZE ESSAY. The cow pea is the salvation of the Southern farmer, if used for the double purpose of stock feeding and renovating the land. Time for sow ing for best results, about the 15th of June, though they may be sown and do well from 1st of June to 15 th of July. They will do fairly well on any land that is not too wet, but high sand or middle land give the best re sults. I have had good success with any kind of what are commonlycalled the cow pea, but would prefer the "Unknown," as they stand up bet ter and make more forage per acre. I have sown from one peck to two bushels ier acre. I prefer to sow one bushel on fairly good land, as the growth will be more vigorous and give better results. With less seed, you have too much native grass, which is not near so good feed and does not do the land half the good the pea does. Broadcast is the best way, as it gives a great deal more forage and gets more roots into the ground to enrich and put it in better physical condition. Peas will grow very well on poor land, but pay handsomely for manure. I have used with good success 300 pounds acid phosphate, 100 pounds kainit well mixed and applied (400 pounds), per acre ; thus manured 2,000 pounds per acre would be a fair amount of hay on average land, though I have got ten 4,000 pounds. As to saving the peas I know of no other way than picking, which is somewhat expen sive. We pay twenty-five cents per hundred, or some give one-third of the peas. The yield of the seed per acre runs all the way from 5 to 25 bushels. There is a great deal in the proper handling of the hay. Sev eral factors are to be taken into ac count after it has been grown. 1 . The hay must be cut at the right time, not too ripe or too green, but just when the vines are ripe, as the first pods begin to yellow and the leaves begin to yellow and fall some. Then if the weather is fair and likely to remain so (be sure to have a mower of your own), after the dew is off go in and cut. The next day as soon as the dew has dried off, rake into windrows. The next day go in with your fork and put in nice round shocks, about 100 pounds (when it is dried out) to the shock. If the weather is favorable leave it in this condition about two days and then while quite limp pack away in a good barn and leave it there to cure ; it will get pretty hot and possibly scare you some, but don't bother it ; in the course of a few days it will cool off and you will have a lot of nice green looking hay that I would not ex change pound for pound for any hay that I ever saw. Horses or cows will eat it in preference to any other for age and will do well on it. Mules will do well on it without any other t fnrH tviioti nnr. sir. TXTnr Ir Cattle will . . , , , , fatten and milch cows give lots ot . . . , nice, rich milk and pure, sweet but- . ter. There is great improvement in , . the soil when you get a heavy pea , , , fallow. One of our farmers told me . . . , , , . in nis last year scuuuu ex op, ne iiu,u. a field half of which had a good pea fallow the year before, and the other ! half was in cotton. He put the whole field in cotton last year ; the differ ence was very perceptible in favor of the pea fallow. Says he, where ! the pea fallow gave out the cotton ' gave out. Another of our best farm ers told me "I never made any money raising cotton till I began to rotate and plant on pea fallows. Now I make some money." I have never seen any crop but did better after a heavy crop of peas ; especially in this the case with cotton and wheat. If you are troubled with rot in your cabbage just put them after peas and 111 assure you you will have a good crop of nice sound heads. Now, Mr. Editor, I would like to give you -my own experience with one acre last year. I took one acre of tolerably good land. It was planted in corn the year before with a pea row be tween, of the Unknown variety ; they made a vigorous growth. In the fall I turned in cattle. They ate and trampled down the vines. The first of November I went in with a two horse plow and turned the whole mass under as deep as two mules could pull it. I then spread ten loads of lot and stable manure broad cast on top of the plowing with 300 pounds acid phosphate and 100 pounds kainit. I then harrowed this in with a spring-tooth harrow and sowed 1 bushel wheat 15th of December and harrowed in the seed wTith a smooth ing harrow I cut this off and got 30 bushels of wheat. I then turned un der the stubble with a Dixie plow and let stand a few days ; then took a spring-tooth harrow and went over it, and on the 20th of June sowed 1 bushel Unknown or Wonderful peas and ran over it with smoothing har row. About the first days of Octo ber, mowed the peas for hay and cured as stated in this article. I got 4,000 pounds of as nice hay as any body would wish to see. The feeding value of which would be hard to overestimate ; such hay will bring on our market 75 cents per hundred weight any time. I have had some experience in baling the pea hay. Last year I put up 400 bales with hand, home-made baler. It costs about five cents per hundred to bale in this way, and pays well for the trouble. 1st, it takes less barn room. The bales weigh about 125 pounds and occupy about 25 cubic feet of space and is much more easily handled ; and, in the second place, being more com pact, the air is excluded and the hay retains its sweetness and nutritive value better. It can be baled when quite limp but must be free from dewr or rain moisture. Now I wish to give a recipe, which if faithfully and persistently followed, will bring the Southern farmer out of the low grounds of sorrow, depondency and gloom, up on the table lands and into the noonday effulgence of success and good cheer. The cow pea will be Applied at the rate of 600 or 700 the principal ingredient in the list, j pounds to the acre with cotton seed Let every farmer plant one-third of j mcai to supply the nitrogen at the his land in cotton, one-third in small rate of 1,200 or 1,500 pounds to the grain, one-third in corn ; cotton fol- j ucre would seem, from a considera low small grain, small grain follow j tion of the experiments made in vari corn, and corn follow cotton. The Gus places, to be the most desirable land sown in small grain sow in peas when the grain is cut off. The land in corn to be cultivated level and the last plowing (20th of June to 1st of July) sow in peas, 1 bushel per acre ; when the fodder is ripe cut the corn stalks at the ground and put in shocks about 150 stalks to a shock. Then when the peas begin to yellow mow with mower. Then don't buy one pound of ammoniated guano, but get acid phosphate and kainit, ex- change your cotton seed for cotton seed meal and feed to cattle. Take proper care of the manure thus made. Keep all the cattle you can feed with the forage saved from this rotation, Coinpost the manure with the acid phosphate and kainit and put back on the land. Thus the land would be enriched by the peas where grown and by the manure returned. The farmer would get plenty of nice milk and butter wmich would enable him to raise pigs, calves, chickens and children, live at home and be happy. If all our Southern farmers could and would f ollow this plan this South land of ours would blossom as the rose, the fragrance whereof would make glad the nations and the indi vidual farmer would flourish as the "green bay tree planted by the rivers of water, whose leaves would not wither and who would bring forth his fruit in his season." Now, Mr. Editor, this is no fancy picture or fine spun theory, but "rock bottom truth" wThich deserves a fair trial. Now I know7 all farmers cannot jump into this system like jumping on the morning express, but by patient, diligent perseverance we can evolute out of the old ruts into this new and better way, which is the highway to success. I have for some fifteen years had my attention turned to the possibility of the cow pea as a stock feed and land improver, but I am indebted to Prof. Massey as to the proper mode of cutting and curing hay. I followed his directions in part year before last and made good hay ; but this last season I followed it with full faith nothing doubting, and made some of the best hay I ever saw. I am now ready to recommend his plans for cutting and curing the hay as the best way I ever tried, viz. : Cut the hay when the pods be gin to yellow. Cut when free from dew or rain. Pack away when quite limp, and as a further test take a wisp of the hay and twist hard ; if you see no moisture, it is ready to put in barn and pack down tight, about four days, from the blade to the barn. W. J. Currie. Robeson Co., N. C. THE TOBACCO CROP. The indications are that in conse quence of the high price of cotton the crop of bright tobacco will be largely curtailed, says the Southern Planter. This should have the effect of raising the price of this product, as the demand is large and not likely to be reduced during a period of such general prosperity as this country and England are now enjoying. This being so, it would seem to be the op portunity for those who still intend to make this staple to plant out a large crop, and to make it good. We would, however, urge that not more be planted than can be well fertilized and attended to. The production of bright tobacco is perhaps more de pendent on the peculiar fitness of the soil on which it is grown than upon any particular system of fertilization. Unless the soil be adapted to the crop, no system of fertilization will make a desirable crop. Land full of vegetable matter, especially if that matter be in only a partially decom posed condition, and be lacking in sweetness, can never be made to produce a high type of bright to bacco. Phosphoric acid at the rate of 100 pounds to the acre, supplied by high-grade acid phosphate, and potash supplied by cotton seed hull ashes or double sulphate of potash form of fertilizers to use. Dark heavy shipping tobacco has continued to sell well, and seems likely to continue to do so. There is, therefore, every inducement to make the crop. It is, however, essential that it should be made good, and be cured to meet the requirements of the market. A soil rich in vegetable i matter, such as a decayed clover or pea sod, is one most suitable for this j type of tobacco. It calls for a heavy j supply of nitrogen and potash, but only a for a medium quantity of phosphoric acid. The nitrogen should, as far as possible, be from an organic source, and the potash be in the form j of a sulphate. Major Ragland, one j of the best authorities on the crop, got the best results in six different experiments from the use of dried blood as the source of nitrogen, sul phate of potash for the potash, and acid phosphate to supply the phos phoric acid. He applied 160 pounds of dried blood, 120 pounds of sul phate of potash, and 114 pounds of acid phosphate to the acre, and such a dressing as this applied on a clover or pea fallow wTould probably be found sufficient. If not planted on a clover or pea fallow, we advise the use of 100 pounds of nitrate of soda in addition. ITEMS FROM CLEVELAND. Editors Progressive Farmer : Much rain has fallen in the past few days, and farmers are wishing to see it fair again. Wheat and oats are looking fairly well at this writing. Some cotton seed have been planted, but those whe have not planted are about as ' well off, as the ground washed very badly where it was loose, About as much, or perhaps more, fertilizers hape been bought this spring than were used last year. The Farmers' Alliance does a great deal of buying here, regardless of mer chants. There are several Alliance lodges in our county yet of which El Bethel is as strong as any. E. L. Ware. Cleveland Co,, N. C. STRAWBERRIES . This is the subject of bulletin 73 of Kentucky Station. From teste at that station and data furnished by 130 of the largest berry growers in the State, this bulletin is compiled. Interest in the strawberry, both as an adjunct to the farmer's garden and as a market crop, is undoubtedly on the increase. The large and grow ing cities upon our northern border afford a good market for early ber ries, which the fruit growers of Ken tucky are in just the position to profit by. Nor should the smaller towns be overlooked when the strawberry grower is seeking a market. Expe rience has shown over and over again that in shipping to large cities the farmer and gardener often neglect a near but smaller market, which, with some attention could be made to return much larger profits, at least for limited quantities, than do the large city markets, which receive such enormous quantities of perish able products that they must some times be sold at a loss. The importance of cultivating the smaller cities and towns as fruit mar kets is further very emphatically shown by the replies of corre spondents. Those who have sold their crops in smaller markets have as a rule received 2 or 3 cents per quart more than those who have shipped to the large markets of Cin cinnati, Louisville and Chicago. The last season was an unusually favorable one. From reports of 130 leading growers it is found that the average yield was 3,400 quarts, or about 100 bushels per acre, and the average price received 6 cents per quart, average net profit 4 cents per quart, or about $150 per acre. Many growers exceeded those figures, some reporting nearly or quite twice as large a yield as the above average. And it is a significant fact that those producing the largest yield usually secured the best price per quart. They were up in every detail of the business. The pickers employed are men, wo men and children, both white and black, and prices for picking range from 1 to 2 cents per quart. Near the larger cities, where pickers are abundant, they can be had cheap. Less is also paid for picking large berries than small ones, because it requires less time to pick a quart. The practice of branding each crate of fruit with the grower's name and the variety of fruit in some neat de sign, is an excellent idea that has been adopted by a few growers. This is an inexpensive form of advertising that helps to create a demand for a grower's product if his fruit is uni formly good. The varieties first in popular favor remain about the same as they were two years ago, Bubach still easily holding first place among growers for market, followed by Haverland, Gandy, Crescent, Michel and War field. The Michel, while not very much esteemed in the eastern part of the State, is generally of considerable value in western Kentucky for ship ment, because the entire crop can be ripened and gotten to market before the glut of later berries arrives, so that, although not a very productive variety, it fills a very important place in their crop. Of the varieties recommended as pollinators of such standard varieties as Bubach and Haverland, the varie ties most frequently mentioned and in their order are : Gandy, Michel, Lovett, Enhance and Woolverton. One grower suggests removing the mulch from Bubach and Haverland at a later period than from the Gandy, thus bringing their blooming period into closer conformity. The bulletin divides varieties into three classes good, bad and doubt ful. Following are the three lists from a Kentucky standpoint : Good : Aroma, Bubach, Crescent, 'Enormous, Gandy, Gardner, Green ville, Haverland, Ivanhoe, Lovett, Margaret, Michel, Rio, Warfield. Bad: Annie Laurie, Banquet, Beecher, Chairs, Cyclone, Eleanor, Epping, Equinox, Far West, Foun tain, Jay Gould, May King, Meek's Early, Mexican, Middlefield, Miner, Mrs. Cleveland, Noble, Parker Earle. Premium, Princeton Chief, Sharp less, Snowball, Sparta, Splendid, Staples, Timbroll, Tubbs. Doubtful : Auburn, Barton, Beder Wood, Beverly, Bisol, Boynton, Brandywino, Bounctto,Childs, Down ing, Edgar, Queen, Enhance, Iowa Beauty, Leader, Marshall, Mount Vernon, Muskingum, No Name. Princess, Rheil's No. 5, Swindle. Tennessee Prolific, William Belt. The soil for strawberries should be rich and moist, but well drained. Somewhat elevated lands preferable to avoid lato frosta. The soil should bo thoroughly and deeply pulverized before Betting plants. Barnyard manure the most generally used source of plant food. Bonedust and wood ashes found par ticularly valuablo by many growers. The matted row system of growing crop almost universally used in Ken tucky. Continuous and frequent cultivation should be given the crop, whether weedy or not, from the time of setting until lato fall. Most Ken tucky growers find it profitable to fruit their beds for two or three years. The uso of tickets suitable for purchasing is tho most generally satisfactory method e'f keeping tally with tho pickers. FARMERS AND EDUCATION At a farmers' meeting in tho State of New York, F. A. Converse, on the prof essional farmer, said : ' 'In these times a technical education is needed to fit a man for business. Then he must know how to use his education that he may make the best use of his opportunities. He must bo in an at titude to receive what science; is teaching him. The farmer needs an agricultural education, and we look to the young men for progress. The commonest things iu lifo are often those that we know the least about . The young farmer should hate the help of the schools that teach agri -cultural science, that ho may know more about the different plants, in sects, etc. The best way to teach these sciences is by object lessons. Every common school in the country should give two or three hours a day to teaching agricultural scienco. The school teacher that docs not know how plants grow is not fitted for the profession. It was a grand law that, elevated the stars and stripes over the school houses, but it would be a grander law that would placo the school house in tho midst of the gar den, were tho pupils could study tho laws of plant growth. Every farmer should take one or moro agricultural papers and a daily paper. The weather reports are worth all a daily paper costs him. Wo would not em ploy a specialist in tho medical or other jirofessions unless he read to obtain the latest information con cerning his specialty so tho farmer should read the papers teaching his special branch of agriculture. He. should belong to some farmers' or ganization, and get out of it all the help he can along social and literary lines." RAILROAD TIES. The draft upon our forests for rail road ties is immense, and will con tinue until some suitable metal sub stitute has been introduced, remarks an exchange. A number of varieties f trees have been exhausted practically t satisfy this steady and large de mand in the interest of railroad con struction and maintenance. Eighty million ties are used every year for renewals, and as only straight trees are used for this purposc the time must come when our forests will contain no trees that are fit for this purpose. Formerly chestnut was preferred for ties, but it became so scarce that oak and pino have been largely substituted. About 45,000, 000 ties are cut annually from oak ! trees and 12,500,000 from pino. Tho f t r-v r r --- balance oi me ou,uuu,uuu come iron: chestnut, cedar, hemlock and tama rack, redwoods and tho southern cypress. The Progressive Farmer is the best all round paper in the South. V. .T. McArthur, Sampson Co., N. C.
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 1, 1900, edition 1
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