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TnE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY.
Vol. 15.
Raleigh, N. C, October 23, 1900.
No 36
; i, i'-'-V JUX m i... V.V ..1 17.. -rtU v I .A i 1 lA
a- i
-
Agriculture.
" ECONOMY IN FEEDING PLANTS.
,,rr,Mnileni-o of The Progressive Farmer.
Tt t' le wastes of the average farm
1 be converted into cash each
what a difference they .would
. in the farmer's hank account,
t? i-.ible is though, that not one
m v.vs how thee leaks occur,
I'u ir stoppage is extremely
.:iv i:i all departments on the
- naturally the only remedy,
r.vin : when and how to prae-
((. iiuv.nr is not the most
- Mtter in the world. In nine
, of ten when a farmer
, t cut down expenses the lirst
: makes i to reduce his fer-
hill. This i, the proper step
-;.:v.e-. hut it will always he
a farmer's while to make a
investigation before taking
a radical step. The farmer
that hecause he is spending
hundred dollars a year f or fer
he can save that amount
! he considers extra expense.,
, rxnenditure of two hundred
.1 es n )t pay interest on the
Tin
T
r.Tt'
tlr.r.
tw-
tih:
w:.'
If t
.1
in ":!"'if. then by all means, cut
:t , On the other hand though, it"
.- hundred dollars produce an
iv ; in the crop equal to more
t. .-. t'-e outlay, then it would he
; i- :vmy or rather stupidity to
trv r I o oil expenses in that diree
t: As a matter of fact this money
v. a'. 1 n t represent an expense, but
-i . . 1 he considered an investment
V.'i
tivng chances
of proving
i)'e.
W : it really should be done though
!,t . very farmer is to try and find
..:t : th money invested for fertili
zer "'ringing as much profit as it
h 1 In other words, endeavor
v h'. :vn if he is using -tha cheapest
a:il -t available forms of the
cential fertilizer ingredients,
:v.: 'en. phosphoric acid and pot-:i-l:
a 1 applying them at the time
;.r. : The manner and proportion to
--e the highe-t returns. These
;.' ' ;.re of great imp rtanee be
. . it i- a known fact that land
'e almost destitute of plant
! : ,!. i -till fail to produce raying
r if had judgment is used in feed
:m" rl.e er ps.
Ir i- n t only necessary to study.
, .1- of the ciops so far as their
r-; .:re?ii"nts of nitrogen, plios
' : acid, and potash are con-
but it is equally important
' Av tlie. individual action of
' :' the diiferent forms of those
' r!it on every crop and the
: . f the sources from which
tv.- derived. For oxatnide, to
Ti 'f ls nitrogen and plenty of
.-. stable manure is valued
.'iv for its nitrogen, but if
i i .baceo, stable manure pn
a heavy tliick leaf of inferior
1 p or burning quality. On
i hand nitrate of soda, which
: idily available, quick-acting
f nitrogen, makes a clear leaf
. Ilent aroma and llavor.
Irish potatoes a somewhat
- i r experience is met with. Barn
i ?nanures cannot be safely used
- )Iy nitrogen because being a
- r hiding and breeding place for
r , cs which produce "scab" in
t -es, they hring about this
: led disease. Truckers, there-
u-ually depend on a chemical
:i of nitrogen like nitrate of soda,
1 . li is pure and at the same time
- ' : .'.e and quick acting, two quali-'-
- importance to those engaged
: i ii-ing early vegetables for the
' : .r-hct.
Si-ailar illustrations can be made
t h p ta-h and phosphoric acid. On
:--:i!Lv- and tobacco for example,
' ' '!!,! of potash like the muriate
-h contains chlorine have to be
v .hit d, and sulphate of potash ed in-
. 1. With phosphoric acid care
t be taken that the material is
' Ally soluble and available to the
it at a time when needed, other-
the crop will suffer for lack of
! ;vihment. Availabilipy has much
d with regulating the size of the
r "p. There are times, especially
hiring dry weather, when if the
' ps can get a little digestible and
simulating food it will tide them
over for the time being and prevent
a failure. ' Nitrogen is usually called
on for this purpose, but as there are
a number of forms, discrimination
has to be practiced. Ground hoof
meal, leather scraps, etc., furnish
nitrogen, hut these are so slow act
ing that the plant would actually
starve while waiting for them to rot
first in the soil and then become
available. The most soluble form of
nitrogen is nitrate of soda, which
aets almost immediately, hence can
he applied at those periods when the
erop is beginning to lag or show
signs of luck of vigor. This gives it
a fresh start and hastens it on to
maturity. Xo farmer can expect to
get the best returns from his soil, if
it is in need of plant food without
studying carefully properties and
actions of each of the nourishing in
gredients. It has been truthfully said 4 -Fertilizers
are like improved weapons.
They show their full value to those
who best understand their use."
P. J. Christian.
The Hillsbero Observer reports
that Col. Julian S. Carr has appointed
Col. Robert L. Abernethy Manager
of the famous Ocooneeehee Farm,
and the co4itract states that Col.
Ahernethv shall manage the farm
for live years, beginning the lirst of
next January, with an option of re
taining the management for 10 years
from that date. Col. Abernethy,
the Charlotte Observer says, will
sell his farm and valuable live stock
at River Bend, and will move to Oc
conneechee the latter part of Decem
ber. m m .
FERTILIZERS ON WHEAT.
Says Frof. Chas. E. Thorne, Direc
tor of the Ohio Experiment Station :
In the tests of the Ohio Experiment
Station, phosphoric acid, in the form
of acid phosphate, has been decidedly
the chief factor in producing increase
of crop during the season just past.
A similar result has been reached by
many farmers, and the natural con
sequence is a general tendency to
limit the use of fertilizers the com
ing season to plain acid phosphates ;
a tendency strengthened by the fact
that the phosphates are not so com
pletely under the control of the fer
tilizer trust as are the mixed fertili
zers. When, however, the experiments
at the Ohio Station are studied as a
whole, taking not simply the effect
upon the present season's wheat crop,
but the average results upon wheat,
corn, oats and grass for the past
seven years, it will be seen that it
would be a decided mistake to base
conclusions upon this one wheat
crop alone.
In' the experiments of the Central
Stution at Wooster, where wheat
has been growing in rotation with
c rn, oats, clover and timothy, the
avemge increase per acre from plain
acid phosphate, applied at the rate
of ir.0 pounds per acre to wheat and
eighty pounds per acre to corn and
oats, or a total of 320 pounds during
the live years of a rotation, has been
4.G bushels of wheat, 3.G bushels of
corn, 7.2 bushels of oats and 500
pounds of hay, while Jfrom the same
quantity of acid phosphate, carried
partly in acid phosphate and partly
in tankage, but reinforced by the
nitrogen carried in the tankage and
by a small addition of muriate of
potash, the average increase has
been 7.2 bushels of wheat, eight bush
els of corn, eight bushels of oats and
1,000 pounds of hay.
The cost of the acid phosphate used
on an acre in live years has been
about $2.40, while that of the mix
ture of acid phosphate, tankage and
niunate of patash, has been about
$3.75 ; but the average increase from
this mixture has been so much greater
than that from acid phosphate alone
as to give a total net profit, over the
cost of the fertilizer, of about 12
per acre in five years for the mixed
fertilizer against about $t5 for the
acid phosphate used alone.
In mixing this fertilizer "7 and 30"
takage and 14 per cent, acid phos
phate are used in equal quantities,
adding about 100 pounds of muriate
of potash to the ton. This gives a
fertilizer analyzing over 3 er cent,
ammonia, 10 to 12 per cent, phos
phoric acid and 2 per cent, potash,
and may be made up at a cost of $18
to $20 per ton.
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES.
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson Tells Some
of the Reasons Why Agricultural Schools
Are Necessary for the Country.
Secretary of Agriculture James
Wilson has been making a tour of
the agricultural colleges of the West.
In a recent address before the stu
dents of the Kansas Agricultural
College the Secretary said in part :
The United States occupies the
lirst place as a producing, manufac
turing, commercial people. The in
terests that attach to these great in
dustries justify the education of
those who engage in them. We are
concerned on this occasion with the.
education of the producer of the soil
and the supervision of our mechan
ics. -Eight hundred million dollars'
worth of our exports during the last
iiscal year were from the soils of the
country. Some of them represent
hard work, unenlighted and unas
sisted by any of the discoveries of
the investigators of the age.
Tiiey were produced by long days in
the lield, and their, prices brought
few of the luxuries of life to the
toilers who made the crops. They
arc staple crops with us, but they
are raw material for the people be
yond the seas who buy them from
us. We boast of our free schools,
but they d ) little to teach the man
who works in the lield, or in 'the
shop, with his coat off, regarding the
soil he tills, the plants he cultivates,
or the animal he rears, or the ma
chine he makes.
We have universities to which we
look as the linished product of ad
vanced learning, but they have not
existed and do not exist to lighten
the burdens of those who contribute
to the grand total of the nation's ex
ports that keep the balance of trade
in our favor and assure prosperity to
our people generally. We pay more
taxes for education than for all other
purposes, but stop short of helping
those of our people who pay most
taxes anil contribute most to all other
classes the giant millions with giant
nerves and cool heads, the national
reserve, from which the national de
fenders come. Halt the
nation is engaged in xroducing from
the soil. Methods of cultivating
have been improved so that the indi
vidual can produce more of this raw
material for our own and foreign
countries. Far-seeing, patriotic men
have long recognized the necessity
of educating the producing class.
The physicist found that soil varied
as the rocks from which they came
varied ; that the movement ot moist
ure in soils was governed by laws ;
plants require certain elements, with
out which they could not grow.
Many of these processes are imper
fectly understood at the present
time.
The gathering together of facts re
garding the breeding of plants and
animals led to the conclusion that
nature operated through laws that
are little understood. The ravages
ot insects suggested inquiry into
tluvir life and history. Tlie micro
scope revealed a world of plants and
animals working with man and
against him. Progress in all these
directions suggested that something
mignt be done for the farmer.
These and kindred questions pre
sented themselves so persistently
that provision has been made for
the education of the producer from
the soil in the several States. These
colleges are new in our system of
education, and new in the world.
The Federal legislators, seeing the
struggle that must soon take place
between producers here and abroad,
owing to the cheapening transporta
tion and more rapid communication,
:rovided for the education of the
mechanic and the farmer. The wis
dom of that step has been fully jus
tiffed. The industrial colleges and
experiment stations of our country
are already far in advance of those
of other countries.
The new education for the farmer
and mechanic teaches observation
arid trains toward experimentation.
It is as comprehensive as the uni
verse ; it lays all sciences under
tribute. The good work being done
by college and experiment station is
recognized by all classes of society.
The Department of Agriculture is a
)
clearing house for the colleges and
stations of the several States with
regard to their work. It is the aim
of the Department to encourage
work that bears directly upon the
requirments of the farmers of the
country ; to help in the solution of
problems thajb the farmer cannot
grapple with for want of time, train
ing and apparatus. Our agricultural
colleges are endeavoring to induce
young farmers to avail themselves
or the facilities offered to study the
sciences relating to their work. How
is the youth on the farm to know
what things are most important?
How does decaying vegetation be
come plant- food? Why does clover
enrich land more than blue grass?
Why should we harrow, and when
should we use the roller? Where
does the rain go that falls upon the
ground? Why feed a milch cow dif
ferent from a fattening steer? Why
have some soils less plant food than
others? Why does cotton seed kill
hogs? Why do Americans send to
Germany for potash? Why do smok
ers taste cotton seed fertilizers in a
cigar? These things present them
selves to a farm boy, and without a
correct answer he cannot make a
successful farmer. They were samples
of questions which were presented to
tens of thousands of farmers some
of them every day. Four yeai-s of
study in our agricultural college
will make these thousands of ques
tions plain. Before any one can
teach along these lines he must be a
master. Education begins at the
tox, where specialists are aggregated.
Common schools should prepare the
students for the agricultural colleges.
It was difficult to get the farmer
to comprehend the value of this
special education to himself and his
children. It is difficult now. Many
of our colleges have but few students
.n strictly agricultural courses, where
scientific study takes the place of
dead languages and dry philosophy.
Progress is being made, however.
We shall soon have highly educated
farmers tit to represent their fellows
in deliberative assemblies ; the Amer
ican horizon is enlarging ; our re
sponsibilities are increasing. There
is no work to do as a people that we
cannot decline. No man lives for
himself alone, we know; no nation
lives for itself, we are learning.
Not only should the agricultural
college see to the scientific education
of the farm hoy, but the girl should
receive scientific instructions re
garding home duties. She should
understand the laws of nutrition
with regard to feeding human be
ings. She should know about bac
teria and their work on meats and
dairy products. She should learn to
balance a ration for a child, a grow
ing boy, a working a man, or an oc
togenarian. All these need not ex
clude music, art and literature.
There is every reason why the col
leges of agriculture should be en
couraged. We live in the age of
great activity, and in the years of
great i)rosperity. Educated men
have charge of commerce and manu
factures ; our country is famous for
both, but both depend upon tigricul-ture.
COTTON SEED IN DEMAND.
Charlotte is at present one of the
most active cotton seed markets in
the South. In addition to the agency
of the two local oil mills, there are
buyers on this market from Charles
ton and Spartanburg, S. C, and from
the neighboring town of Concord.
All of these buyers have runners on
the streets, and they go for a wagon
load of seed like the cotton cutters
would go for a bale of cotton in times
past.
The rivalry between these buyers
has become quite lively in the past
few days, arid as a result the market
price for cotton seed yesterday
reachqjl 33 cents per bushel. This is
the highest price ever paid for cotton
seed and the indications at the close
of the market yesterday were that 35
cents would be paid today.
The situation is one of intense sat
isfaction to the farmers. Ten-cent
cotton and 33-cent cotton seed is a
combination that has heretofore
been unknown and one that is calcu
lated to make them happy. Char
lotte Observer.
Horticulture.
STRAWBERRY CULTURE LATE FALL AND
WINTER PLANTING.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
I set my first strawberry plant in
1874, following then the usual plan
of spring setting. I well remember
having had my ground all ready in
February and was anxious to begin
my new venture. But the man I
had engaged plants from advised me
to wait later. Again in March he
gave me the same advice, adding
that the plants had not even begun
to grow yet. About April 15th I ob
tained the plants, set them out and,
fortunately, got a perfect stand.
Still it would have been wise to
have done the planting much earlier.
A very small fraction of the twenty
six years experience that intervene
between now and then, was sufficient
to show me that the safest and best
time to transplant the strawberry is
while it is in a dormant state. I do
not mean that it will not live and
thrive planted at other times, but
that it is, easier and surer to live and
thrive in proportion as you approach
the period of dormancy.
Thus we transplant successfully
between October 1st and April 15th.
But the'great bulk of our planting
100 to 200 acres- we prefer to do in
late fall and winter. The soil is
then always moist, the sun weak and
all conditions favorable to this plant,
which loves coldness and moisture
and hates heat and dryness.
This enables us to avoid hurry, to
prepare the soil well and to do the
planting in a thorough manner. If
bad weather interferes, no harm re
sults. We simply let it j)ass and go
to work again.
We usually begin late in October
and continue through late fall and
winter till all the big job of setting
a million or more plants is over. We
have had the temperature to fall
nearly to zero within a few days
after fields of plants were set. No
harm whatever resulted. But on
stiff, wet land wo always step on the
plant after it is set, if planted in win
ter. Tnis compresses the soil around
the plant and lire vents its heaving so
bad in heavy freezes. On light or
dryish soils this is not necessary.
With this simple precaution plants
can be safely set any where south of
the latitude of Washington, D. C,
at any day in winter when the ground
is not actually frozen. This same
can be done at the North, provided a
little protection is given. A forkful
of litter or stable manure applied
over the and around the plant affords
the protection needed. The manure
will benefit plants whether set North
or South. But it should never be
applied till freezing weather comes,
and part of it should be removed as
plant growth begins in spring. Thus
applied manure benefits in two ways
it lessens the freezing and heaving
of the soil and also nourishes the
plant.
If growers were more alive to the
above facts they would escape much
loss and worry which is also loss
that they now suffer. That is if they
remember that in cool and even cold
weather the strawberry plant is as
hard 'to kill as a mule or cat, but that
during the warm months, as easy as
at other times it is hard.
O. W. Blacknall.
Vance Co., N. C.
SOME APPLE NOTES.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
From most parts of the country
come the reports that the apple crop
on the whole will be larger this sea
son than ever before, and the danger
now confronting farmers is the in
evitable consequence of a big crop.
The tendency will be for low prices.
Some farmers will rush their apples
to market as soon as possible and
flood the merchants, who must work
them off at a discount. In this way
early low prices are established, and
it may be that they will not .recover
until late in winter. There is no
reason for doing such a foolish thing,
for great as the supply is the market
is greater. While the crop promises
to be the greatest on record, the con
sumptive demand also promises to be
beyond all precedent. It should be
remembered that we have opened
up new markets abroad for our ap
ples, and the countries south of us
are beginning to eat our famous win
ter fruit. Then factories annually
consume millions of pounds of apples
for jellies, canning and preserves.
All these combined will this year
take care of the surplus apples if
they are marketed with wisdom.
There is first the necessity of study
ing the foreign demand. Europe will
take our apples freely at prices that
will pay well, but they must be
selected with care and carefully
packed. The farmer who will select
the best keeping and best selling ap
ples, dry them thoroughly, pack
them for long shipment, and send
them to responsible exporters will
make money. Nine-tenths of the
apples received at shipping points
have to be re-packed, and defective
fruit taken out. The farmer pays
for this extra labor in his diminished
ret urns. There is no reason why the
apples should not be packed properly
at home so that they could go straight
to the steamer, and when unloaded
in London they would be in good
marketable condition. A fact worth
remembering is that Canadian grow
ers do this work better than Ameri-.
can. This is not 'due to patriotism,
but simply to superior handling of
the fruit. Canadian apples are no
better than ours nor as good as many
of our choice varieties, but if foreign
ers only get our second rate fruit we
cannot blame them for thinking
otherwise. Jas. E. Lewis.
Commission Merchant.
PROTECTING THE YOUNG FRUIT TREES
Correspondence of Tht Progressive Parmer.
One of the most fruitful sources of
injury to the young fruit trees in fall
and winter is from mice, which seem
to swarm in the orchard and seek
shelter around the trees, where they
nibble the bark when their other
food is scarce. Rabbits are another
source of nuisance, and I fear if the
present Belgian rabbit craze con
tinues we will in time have an epi
demic of rabbits again which will do
great injury to the fruit trees. A
few of these prolific breeders escax
ing to the woods might in a few years
start a new generation of half wild'
creatures on a crusade that would
take years for us to counteract. It
is to be hoped that the craze will
keep within decent iroportions until
we know something more of the bad
side of the rabbits. At present we
know only of the good side, and it
hardly seems possible that there is
no reverse side to the picture. As
one who has suffered much from the
depredations of the wild rabbits in
the i)ast, I should like to enter this
mild xrotest against the encourage
ment of what may yet prove a disas
ter to our fruit interests.
In lighting against the mice and
rabbits I have tried all of the com
monly recommended methods, such
as smearing the bark with blood, fat,
tar and other substances supposed to
be obnoxious to the rodents. If
very hungry the little pests will not
stay away from the trees it- only
blood or tar are the protections used.
I have also tried wrapping newspa
pers around the base of the trunks,
but I cannot exactly see: the good
that this does. My method is to
mound up the earth around the
trunks in the fall of tho year and
then put a shield of wire netting a
few inches from the tree. This wire
netting runs up a couple of feet from
the ground, and if the mesh is fine
enough neither mice nor rabbits will
disturb the bark. The mound of
earth I believe helps the trees also
from the winter cold. It acts in
many respects as a mulch and pro
tects the top roots from heing in
jured by severe freezing and thaw
ing. This alone should recommend
it to the attention of all. Young
trees are often blown about .so by
the winter winds, especially during
heavy rain storms, that they are
loosened at the roots, and by bank
ing up the dirt around them we pre
vent this a good deal. After a storm
then it is an easy matter to press the
soil close around the trunk again,
and when it freezes in this position
it makes the tree as firm and rigid
as if held there by a double anchor.,
S. W. Chambers,