The Progressive Farmer, January 1, 1901.
2
jki
4 AluUiUnwU
Published Weekly at Raleigh, N. C.
Mrs. L. L. Polk, - - Proprietor
Clarence H. Poe, - - Editor.
. Benjamin Irby, ( Corresponding .
Frank E.Emery, S Editors.
J. W. Denmark, Business Manager.
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'The Industrial and Education
al Interests of our People Para
mount TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
or State Policy,' is the motto of The
Progressive Farmer, and upon this
platform it shall rise or fall. Serving
no master, ruled by no faction, cir
cumscribed by no selfish or narrow
policy, its aim will be to foster and
promote the best interests of the
whole people of the State. It will be
true to the instincts, traditions and
history of the Anglo-Saxon race. On
all matters relating specially to the
great interests it represents, it will
ipeak with no uncertain voice, but
will fearlessly the right defend and
Impartiallv the wrong condemn."
From Col' Polk's Salutatory, Feb.
10.
When sending money please say whether it
la for renewal or a new subscription.
Address all business correspondence to and
make inonev orders payable to"TiiE Progres
sive Farmer, Kaleioh, N.O.,"andnot to any
ndlvidual connected with the paper.
Editorial.
EDITORIAL NOTES.
Don't forget your county Alliance
meeting. Go and go prepared for
work.
See' your neighbor and get his sub
scription. Only those who subscribe
within the next two weeks will be in
time to get the full proceedings of
the Legislature.
We regret that Harry Farmer's
ietter arrived too late to take its
csual place in our agricultural de
partment. We haven't published a
more valuable series of articles for a
long time than that furnished by
Harry.
Chief-Justice W. T. Faircloth, of
the North Carolina Supreme Court,
died suddenly at his home in Golds
bore, 10 p. m., Saturday, Dec. 29th.
He was 62 years old, a man of high
Character, wealthy, a leading Bap
tist and a life-long Republican, re
spected by men of all parties. He
was one of the ablest men in his
party in the State. His term would
have expired December 31, 1902.
Governor Russell will appoint his
Successor to serve till that date.
Those of our readers who have
been troubled by the wilt disease of
cotton or who become interested in
Prof. Gerald McCarthy's article on
the subject in our last issue will
learn with pleasure that an exhaus
tive illustrated bulletin, "The Wilt
Disease of Cotton and Its Control,"
lias just been issued by the Agricul
tural Department It may be ob
tained free of charge by addressing
"Secretary of Agriculture, Washing
ton, D. C." It is a Viiluable little
pamphlet for cotton growers.
In the death of George E. Boggs,
of Haywood county, last Wednesday,
The Progressive Farmer lost a firm
friend and valued correspondent and
the State one of its best citizens. As
in individual, he was a Christian
gentleman of high ideals, a man of
sincerity and earnestness. As a
farmer, he was progressive and en
terprising, his apple orchards being
among the finest in the State. As a
Jitizen, he was courageous and inde
pendent, too high-toned to long wear
the shackles of any partv. A good
man's character is the world's com
mon legacy, and the life of George E.
Boggs has influenced and will influ
ence men to purer lives and higlier
aims. Peace to his ashes.
The fourth annual session of the
North Carolina Association of Acad
emies was held in this city last week
with a good attendance of enthusi
stic business-like educators. Many
valuable papers were read. Resolu
tions were adopted recommending
the establishment of a reformatory
for youthful criminals; urging the
strengthening and lengthening of
the public schools ; commending the
course of Prof. Mebane, the retiring
Superintendent of Public Instruction,
and advising liberal appropriations
for the State's higher institutions of
learning. The Association of Acad
emies has a work all its own, and is
going to live and do it. The follow
ing officers were elected to serve
next year : President, S. L. Sheep,
Atlantic Collegiate Institute, Eliza
beth City; Vice-President," John
Graham, Warrenton High School ;
Secretary and Treasurer, Robt L
Madison, Cullowhee High School,
Painter.
A NEW CENTURY.
We expect that a goodly number
of our readers have already been
bored by long winded essays on the
greatness of the nineteenth century
and the possibilities of the twentieth,
but we hope that such persons will
pardon us for submitting a few ob
servations of own regarding the sub
ject so much in vogue at this time.
And if so, we give our promise not
to so offend again until the begin
ning of the twenty-first century.
Whatever you have heard of the
greatness of the century now for
ever past, it is not likely that you
have heard its pre-eminence exag
gerated. In progress along all
lines of invention and discovery, in
educational matters, in the spread
of Christian civilization, it towers
above all the other centuries since
time began.
We firmly believe that the world
is growing better ; that God's works
are all right, and that man and
man's works grow better as surely
as the years roll on. This may not
be evident in comparing to-day
with yesterday, or even this New
Year's day with last New Year's
day, but the dullest can see it in a
comparison of conditions to day with
conditions on the first day of the
nineteenth century. You don't
have to look for evidences of it in
books by learned professors or theo
logians, but in your own every-day
life are all the proofs needed.
Two blocks west of our office
stands a handsome depot It sug
gests the greatest of the century's
inventions the railroad, which has
made the whole world neighbors.
To day you may be in Raleigh ; to
morrow you may be in New York.
To-day you may look on the waves
of the restless Atlantic ; within little
more than half a week you may be
carried to the very edge of the Paci
fic. The greater part of the coun
try crossed in such a trip was, a
century ago, a wilderness where only
the savage Indian roamed. And
the fastest means of transportation
tiien known was the stage coach.
Here in front of our office runs a
street car line. A hundred years
ago who dreamed that man would
ever harness the element that illum
ines the heavens in a thunder storm
and use it for taking him from place
to place?
An electric light is just in front of
our window. Had some man on
January 1, 1801 predicted such an
invention, he would have been called
a visionary, a dreamer.
Ttie telegraph now "puts a girdle
about the earth in forty minutes''
when a hundred years ago, the
courier on horseback was the fastest
method of carrying news.
The uneducated man has become
the exception rather than the rule.
Where one child had the opportu
nity of securing an education in 1SUI,
ten thousand now have such such
privileges. .
Yonder wave.- a United States
flag. In 1801 it was the emblem of a
newly born republic, a loose confed
eration of thinly populated States
along the Atlantic seaboard. To
day our country stretches from
ocean to ocean, and from the Lakes
to the Gulf. (We say nothing of
our "island empire," for we are not
sure that it, or "our methods of ac
quiring it, reflects very great credit
upon us ) Then government "of,
by, and for the people" was an ex
periment an unpromising experi
ment, the classes thought ; the
masses were not yet thinking seri
ously about such matters. Few
dared question the divine right of
kings.
But steadily and surely has grown
the doctrine of "the fatherhood of
God and the brotherhood of man."
Monarchs have been dethroned, sav
age nations civilized, the shackles of
slavery broken. The "good tidings
of great joy" first proclaimed nine
teen centuries ago are being told
unto all nations.
But it is useless to carry the com
parison further. Take this thought
with yo . i itj the new century : The
world is getting better, men are get
ting nobler. To live in such an age
and to use the talents God gives us
for encouraging right and justice
that the world' may be better for
our having lived in it is a privilege
not to be lightly esteemed.
We direct attention to the call for
a meeting of the State Cott n Grow
ers' Association to be held in this
citv, January lGth. We hope that
the meeting will be largely attended
and urge all our cotton-growing
readers that can do so to attend"'
Several hundred farmers should
come from Wake and adjoining coun
ties al me.
MEETING OF THE STATE HORTICULTU
RAL SOCIETY.
The twenty-second annual meeting
of this Society was held in Asheville,
N. C, Dec. 19, 1900. Only a few
members were in attendance. This
is the first meeting this Society has
held west of Winston -Salem and to
the loss of time and expense of the
long distance by rail must be as
cribed the lack of attendance by the
numbers of its members who flock
to its meetings when held at eastern
points. Because of different inter
ests and the distance, few fruitgrow
ers of Western North Carolina have
cared to become members and at
tend meetings held in the East.
At this session President J. Van
Lindley gave a stirring address on
apple growing in this section of the
State. He is a firm believer that
some day the fruit grown here will
be marvelous in its quality, abund
ance and value.
There was no set program and dis
cussion took a wide range. This
meeting was to discuss apples and
Western North Carolina as an ap
pie-producing center.
First, as to the crop of 1900. It
was a very large one and it was esti
mated that in Haywood county fully
75 per cent, has already beeen sold
at a good price. Falling prices were
expected because of the large crops
reported early in the season, but in
stead there has been and still exists
a rising price tor apples, lhis was
ascribed by some speakers to the in
creasing demand for apples for con
sumption among the people, and by
others in part to the wide spread
damage to fruit by the Galveston
hurricane, which stripped off fully
50 per cent, of the New York, Ohio,
and Canada apples, which in conse
quence were necessarily evaporated
or converted into cider or vinegar.
Discussing varieties of apples best
suited to Western North Carolina, it
was agreed that Mr. Boggs' list was
a desirable one. The list comprises
five varieties, viz : Ben Davis, Albe
marle Pippin, York Imperial, Wine
sap and Rhone Beauty.
A considerable number of varieties
were mentioned and their merits for
different sections were discussed.
Amongst these may bo mentioned :
Gravenstein, which succeeds well
in Cabarrus county. It is one of the
chief export apples of Nova Scotia.
Spitsbergen grows very poorly,
making an unsightly scrubby tree,
but it produces some of the finest
fruit.
Wealthy has been fruited anil dis
carded at Pomona, but it may do
well in the mountains. No one pres
ent knew of its trial here.
Baldwin, Mr. May says, succeeds
in the high mountains as a fall ap
ple. Van Hoy originated in Forsyth
county and is a fine apple. An Illi
nois fruit grower who has tried it
there ranks it above York Imperial .
McCulloch Winter, originating in
Wake county, is good for cotton belt
and South, but not for mountain
region.
The Alexander was called, but no
one present has fruited it. here.
Mr. May would change the order
of some of the varieties recom
mended. For instance, he would
rather have the old native Nick a
Jack as a money-maker than Wine
sap, and thinks the proportion of 5
barrels to 1 about right between
these as yielders. He also places
about this same proportion as be
tween Ben Davis and Albemarle Pip
pin in yield. The Red Limbertwig
was recommended.
Mr. C. C. Lindley, from Old Fort,
in an address on fruits for his sec
tion, commented favorably on Vir
ginia Beauty, Winesap, Rhone
Beauty particularly for new land.
Ben Davis is as good a bearer on low
land as Red Limbertwig. He said
the Mattamusket bears well but it
is not a fine market apple.
A suggestion was made by Mr.
Gulliver that members bring or send
to these meetings samples of varie
ties which do well in their section of
the State. Whereupon Mr. Sher
man spoke of the magnificent dis
plays in Rochester, N. Y. (Western
N. Y. Horticultural Society) and of
the beginnings and progress in this
line in Maryland.
Discussing curculio injuries and
methods of destroying this pest Dr.
Von Herff reported killing them by
spraying just as the leaves appear
with Paris green or London purple.
The old methods of jarring was re
ported as well as the new, wherein
the inverted umbrella frame is at
tached to a wheel harrow and the
opening for the trunk of the tree is
placed in front. The operator trun
dles his wheel up against the tree,
two or three strokes, then backs off
and goes on to the next tree. The
curculios which roll off into the cloth
bring up in the vessel of kerosene
placed in the center in the barrow.
Why do not sweet cherries do well
here? Mr. Gulliver's trees are dying.
Mr. May has some doing well. Mr
J. A. Young, life member from
Greensboro, spoke of trees near his
farm which had done well and of a
lady buying a little place and paying
for it from the cherry crop. By
these examples he was induced to
plant five acres ten years ago and
has never harvested five dollars'
worth of fruit. President Van Lind
ley, quoting from a Biltmore farmer,
said the reason was probably that
Mr. Young's trees were cultivated.
"The cherry does not bear to have
its roots disturbed. The ground
planted in cherry trees should be
left uncultivated," i. e., seeded to
grass, but not neglected by any
means.
The killing of trees by warm
weather in winter followed by cold
waves was discussed. Partial rem
edy is to plant in cold exposures. The
sheltered warm valleys and south
and east exposures are peculiarly
liable to these losses.
Dr. N. Robinson being called upon,
gave a lively and vivid account of
the Society's Experimental Farm
and Orchard at Southern Pines.
Blight came in for a share in the
discussions. It must be kept out by
constant care, cutting and burning
the blighted limbs. Dr. Robinson
has- cut back six inches below the
visibly infected bark, while a U. S.
Department of Agriculture authority
recommends cutting not less than 18
inches below in order ti be assured
of cutting below the limit of the dis
ease in the growing tissues.
There were resolutions offered and
passed urging North Carolina Con
gressmen to favor and help increase
the appropriations for certain specific
objects, viz. :
"Resolved j That this Society
favors the following additional ap
propriations and respectfully urges
our Congressmen to do all in their
power to secure the same :
"1st. An increase of $25,080 to the
Division of Vegetable Physiology
and Pathology to enable the Secre
tary of Agriculture to extend the in
vestigations of the diseases of plants
and to enlarge the plant-breeding
work.
"2nd. To increase the appropria
tion of the Division of Pomology
$10,000 to enable the Secretary of
Agriculture to extend the present
market and to open new ones ; also
to disseminate knowledge of the best
methods of harvesting and market
ing apples and other fruits."
A resolution which provoked more
discussion than its modest terms
would seem to warrant was intro
duced and passed :
"Resolved, That this Society take
under consideration the holding of
thr e meetings before the next an
nual meeting."
This was referred to the Executive
Committee. If three meetings are
advertised and held in different parts
of the State by this Society, and they
are well attended an I each is as in
teresting as this Asheville meeting
has proved, there should he at least
one hundred members added to the
Society, and these will have been
well repaid before the year is out for
the tune and money spent, in that
they will be prompted in their prac
tice in fruit growing, and the quick
ened spirit with which they will note
and handle their affairs will make
this a profitable investment to them.
Before adjournment, the follow
ing offices were elected for the ensu
ing year :
President J. Van Lindley, of Po
rn na
Vice-President W. F. Massey.
Secretary and Treasurer Franklin
Slierm in, of Raleigh.
District Vice-Presidents George
E.B ggs, R. C. Simon, Oliver Warren,
J. S. West brook, 0.,W. Blacknall,
D. E. Parker, C. R. B. Caldwell and
Dr. Balmsere.
Executive Committee B. Von
Herff, P. H. Beck, J. F. Gulliver, J.
Van Lindley and Franklin Sherman.
The address of President Van Lind
ley was an excellent one, and will ap
pear in full in next week's Progress
ive Farmer. F. E. E.
Our Sampson county readers
should work earnestly among their
neighbors during the next two weeks
to prepare them for State Lecturer
Bain's visit to their county. Read
his list of appointments in another
column. Spread the news.
IMPROVED FARM IMPLEMENTS VS. OLD
STYLE IMPLEMENTS AND HAND
LABOR.
A thorough discussion of this sub
ject is rather difficult, as it is some
times hard to draw the line of dis
tinction between ordinary imple
ments and what we call improved
implements. However, I think any
implement that is a great labor-saver
might properly be called an improved
implement. In North Carolina, at
least, the time has passed by when
the farmer who depends on hand
labor, and scratching "mother earth"
with a bull tongue and a single
plow, can compete with his neighbor
who uses improved implements, or
with people in other States on rich
lands and highly improved ma
chinery. If we expect to make a living at
farming we must be progressive and
keep up with the line of march.
People in all other professions are
continually trying to get informa
tion, and to use better machinery,
tools, etc., and the farmer, too,
must be ready to adopt new meth
ods and new ideas when beneficial.
Of course, he will slip up sometimes,
and engage in something new and
fail at it, or he may be induced to
buy implements that are not just
the thing for his farm ; but he could
cultivate his judgment and learn to
buy more discreetly.
When our lands were new, and
our wants were not so numerous as
they are now, farming could be
made to pay, even with rude meth
ods. But now if we stick to the old
ideas we soon find ourselves either
in debt or without a farm: With the
low prices of several years ago it
was a noticeable fact that North
Carolina was "not in it" so far as the
wheat industry was concerned. Not
because wheat would not grow in
North Carolina, as it did in years j
past, but because the man out in
Illinois, using the steam plow, cut
ting with a reaper and binder, and
using all the improved machinery
possible, could raise the wheat and
end it to North Carolina and then
sell it cheaper than our farmers
could raise it. Imagine a man in
North Carolina raising fifteen bush
els per acre, breaking the land with
a one-horse plow, sowing by hand,
putting out the fertilizer by hand,
and then covering the seed with
another going over, reaping the crop
with a grain cradle, and perhaps
beating out the wheat with a flail -imagine
this man competing with
the Western fellow with his ma
chinery !
The two horse turning plow of
any of the improved makes can be
properly called an improved im
plement, as it now turns so
much more earth than the old
fashioned plow did, and does it so
much better.
The cutaway and disc harrow is a
highly improved implement, as it
does the work of several plows with
the use of one man and two horses.
Of course it does not-cut deep, but if
set properly it will go as deep as the
single horse plow. This implement
is quite useful in putting in grain in
the fall, and in freshening up land
that has been broken with a two
horse turning plow sometime pre
vious. In fact, it should precede the
sowing of all grains, grasses, etc.
It is also of great service in put
ting in ieas in the summer.
The adjustable smoothing harrow
has gotten to be just about perfect
for its work, as it can be set at any
angle, and then it covers so much
ground. It is useful not only in
puting in seed that should not be
covered deep, but . is quite useful in
cultivating for the first time or two
other crops, such as corn, cotton, etc ,
when planted in the drill. If the
harrow is run right across the row
very little damage will be done
to either corn or cotton, and the
weeds and grass will be killed when
small, and the crust broken up and
the ground kept moist.
The grain drill is now perfection
itself. It opens the land, sows the
seed, puts in the fertilizer and cov
ers it, all at one time. With this
implement a man with a pair of
mules can do as much or more work
than a man sowing grain, one sow
ing fertilizer, and still another cov
ering. Not only will he do more
work, but he will do better work.
The grain is put in in better shape,
more regularly and the fertilizer is
more evenly distributed.
The Kemp manure spreader is
another impsement that can-be men
tioned in this list. One man with a
pair of mules can distribute more
manure and do the work more thor
oughly than can four men with a
wagon and pitch forks. This manure
spreader puts the manure out evenly
and pulverizes it well as it throws it
on the ground. It is only a matter
of about five minutes after y0a
reach a field to have a ton of manure
spread over your land, and the work
is done much more perfectly than
when done with forks.
The corn and cotton planters are
indispensable in these days of close
competition. Imagine two neigh
bors, one has his land thoroughly
prepared for planting corn. In a
favorable season in the spring he
takes out his horse and planter, and
puts in eight or ten acres per day.
His neighbor goes at it in the old
fashion way, breaking up his land
just before planting, then opens a
furrow with a bull tongue. Another
man comes along dropping the corn
in an irregular fashion, still another
man with a mule and block, or har
row, covers it up. These three men
and two horses have attempted to
do the work that farmer No. 1 did
with one mule, and of course they
do not do it as well. The planter
puts all the grains in at about the
same depth, same number of grains,
and the same distance apart, so that
it is a saving process in any way
you look at it. The same can be
said of the cotton planter.
The new disk plows also do fine
work in large fields free from
rocks and stones.
The corn shredder and -husker is
now attracting a great deal of atten
tion in North Carolina, and a great
many people are cutting their corn
and curing it for stover. This is a
step in the right direction, and when
a man has a large quantity of stover,
of Course he can afford to use this
machine.
There are a great many other
machines that could be mentioned,
such as pea hullers, grain threshers,
feed cutters. All of these save labor
and do the wTork so much nicer than
it could possibly be done by hand.
The great wonder is, after we have
used' this improved machinery, how
we ever got along without it. It is
now not a matter of taste, fancy,
or sentiment, but a matter of busi
ness. No one can expect to make
anything and compete with other
people unless he adopts these im
proved implements, whether he
wants to or not.
Let us lay aside prejudice, and
foolish notions, and if a thing is
good, adopt it, and be thankful for it.
B. I.
MAINLY ABOUT PEOPLE.
Prof. John Graham, of Warrenton
High School, was chosen Vice-President
of the Association of Academies
last week. Bro. Graham is one of
the State's leading educators. We
are glad to know that his school is
prospering.
The Raleigh Times has been much
improved recently. Mr. John Wil
bur Jenkins, an able and experienced
newspaper man, is now editor-in-chief,
while Mr. W. G. Briggs now
devotes his entire time to the city
news features. A good team."
Rav. John E. White leaves Raleigh
this week to become pastor of the
largest Baptist church in Atlanta,
Ga. His departure is a loss to the
whole State, and especially to the
Baptist denomination which he has
served so ably and conscientiously.
Mr. E. O. Cole, for three years
past a resident of Raleigh, has gone
to Charlotte. He is a member of the
Cole Mfg. Co., manufacturers of the
Cole combination corn and cotton
planter, for the Southern farmer one
of the most valuable inventions of
recent years.
Prof. Frank E. Emery, correspond
ing editor of this paper, has severed
his connection with Biltmore Farms.
We do not remember ever having
read a finer report of an agricultural
meeting in this State than his report
of the State Horticultural Society
meeting in this issue.
Dr. J Allison Hodges, a native of
North Carolina and long a resident
of this State, has been chosen Presi
dent of the University College of
Medicine, Richmond, Va. He suc
ceeds the famous late Dr. Hunter
McGuire. His many Tar Heel friends j
will be glad to hear of Dr. Hodges,
deserved promotion. i;
The State Horticultural Society j
made no mistake in the election of j
Mr. Franklin Sherman as Secretary j
of that Society. Mr. Sherman i a j
young man of ability and character
and has gone about his duties in the I
Agricultural Department in a man-
ner. pleasing to those interested in
the State's agricultural progress, j
By the way, we have just received j
an excellent article from him which
will appear in onr next issue. j
i