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i The Progressive Farmer, June 4, 1901. ipoq as Published Weekly at Raleigh, N. C. Mrs. L. L. Polk, Clarence H. Poe, Proprietor Editor. Benjamin Irby. ) Corresponding Frank E.Emery, ( Editors, f . W. Denmark, Business Manager. SUBSCRIPTION Single Subscription One Year. . .11.00 " Six Months... .50 Three Months, .25 4 TnE Industrial and .uducation a.l Interests of our People Para mount TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS op 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 ill matters relating specially to the great interests it represents, it will ipeak with no uncertain voice, but will fearlessly the right defend and Impartially the wrong condemn." From Col. Polk's Salutatory, Feb. 10. 1886 Be sure to srive both ohl ami new addresses in ordering chautreof postofliee. The Pkooressive Farmer is the Official Orean of the North Carolina Fanners' State Alliance. When sending your renewal, be sure to give exactly the name on label and postofflee to which the copy ot paper you receive is sent. Address all business correspondence to and make monev orders payable to"TnE Progres sive Farmer, Kaleioh, N. C," and not to any ndividual connected with the paper. RENEWALS-The date opposite your name on your paper, or wrapper, shows to what time your subscription is paid. Thus 1 Jan. '00, allows that payment lias been received up to Jan. 1, lmO; 1 Jan. '01, to Jan. 1, 1SW1, and so on. Two weeks are required after money is re ceived before date, which answers tor a receipt, can be changed. If not properly changed within two weeks after money is sent notify us. DISCONTINUANCES Responsible subscrib er will continue to receive this Journal until the publishers are notified by letter to discon tinue, when all arrearages must be paid. If you do not wish the journal continued for another year after your subscription has expired, you honld then notify us to discontinue itl Editorial. TO N0N-SU2SCRIBERS. If the person to whom this copy of The Progressive Farmer is sent is not a subscriber, this number is sent as a sample, as an invitation to subscribe. The small sum of two cents per week will make it a regular visitor to your home three months, 25 cents ; six months, 50 cents ; one year, $1. And any Carolina or Tennessee far mer subscribing now who feels at expiration of subscrption that he has not received full value, may have his money back for the asking. ', IN THIS NUMBER. Cotton farmers will bo interested in our Washington correspondent's report as to the status of that crop. A report from the Department of Agriculture, June 1, gives this year's increase in acreage over that of 1900 as 8.3 per cent. The average con dition of the growing crop, however, is, with one exception, the lowest in twenty years. Is Providence again interfering to save the cotton farm ers from themselves? "Some Danger In Feeding Rape" is published in order to protect read ers who have planted this excellent soiling crop against mistakes in feed ing it. It is a crop of great value to stockmen, and no one should fail to grow it because of the few precautions that must be taken to insure perfect safety in its use. Every cattle owner should study the articles in our dairy and live stock department this week. A care ful perusal of Prof. J. M. Johnson's letter and the extracts from the Minnesota Station bulletin will prove not only interesting bat profitable. President Thwing's article on the value of collegiate education will be eagerly read by the large number of young people now interested in 'that problem, and by the parents of these young people as well. "Our Social Chat" is ugain in evidence, ' and will appear regularly hereafter. The article, ' Tom's Mistake," on pa go should be studied by all thoughtful young nifn. Do not miss it because it appears in our Chil dren' Cjlumn. Another urncln th it rings clear upon this subject' of education is that from ttie -.en '.f Pre-odvrt '"harle W i)i'"- ; ) .i v. r-.fv Tenn.vis.-ee. Y.. io not tiimii wo have over n:ui a more convincing argument in lvh:iU of public educa tion. It prove.- conclusively the soundness ot the principle to which Dr. Curry gave atttrunce in his ad dress before our General Asembly last January : "Some say that wo are so poor that wo cannot afford good public schools ; this is faUe. We aro so poor that we cannot afford not to have them." THE EAST TENNESSEE FARMERS' CON VENTION. The East Tennessee Farmers' Con vention met in Knoxville, May 21, 22 and 23, and was a success, although but for .the destructive storms then prevailing, the attendance would have been much larger. The meet ings were held in Science Hall of the University of Tennessee, an institu tion which is doing a great work under the management of its Presi dent, Dr. Charles W. Dabney. Ten nessee has no A. and M. College, but the agricultural department of the University is doing a work for agri oultural education which compares favorably with that done by any other Southern college. And to the progressive young professor of agri culture, Andrew M. Soule, is due much praise for untiring work in be half of this East Tennessee Farmers' Convention. A very interesting program had been arranged for this convention, and only in two or three instances were the speakers absent. One of the most striking figures was that of ex-Gov. W. D. Hoard, of Wisconsin, widely known as the editor of Hoard's Dairyman, which he says he "started with $3.50, a sick wife and three babies as capital." He stated that when he began publishing his paper the average wheat producti' n per acre in the county was eight bushels; now it is twenty-two. Sixty per cent, of the farms were then under mortgage ; now only seven. Yet the soil is not as fertile, he said, as that of Tennessee. We of the South should bear this in mind as another proof the value of scientific agriculture. "The great trouble with the farmer," said G' . Hoard, "is that he has too many corns on his hands and not enough on his head." Another prominent agriculturist who appeared on Tuesday's program was Prof. Thomas Shaw, of the Uni versity of Minnesota. To Prof. Shaw more than to any other man is duo the present popularity of rape as a soiling crop in the Western States. His subject Tuesday was "Feeding Cattle for Beef." He did not think the heavier breeds were best for Ten nessee hills. "Why spend millions every year for fertilizers when cattle-growing is so profitable, and you could thereby get your fertilizers free'?" he asked, President Dabney made an inter esting talk on "Rural Schools," spe cially emphasizing the points made in his paper on "Education and Pro duction," republished on another page of this issue of the Progressive Farmer. George William Hill, Prof. Charles A. Mooers, and Mr. H. A. Clark also made short addresses Tuesday. Sheep-raising was the paramount subject Wednesday morning. Prof. Thomas Shaw declared that the South was better adapted to this lorm of agriculture than his own section. He thought that sheep raising could be made very profitable in the South. Dr. T. W. Jordan as serted that no other stock paid such handsome returns upon capital in vested. Senator James D. Tillman, of Lincoln county, Tennessee, was present and was formally thanked for his work in behalf of his dog law bill. The Grout bill, we are glad to say, was endorsed m a strong resolution. Dairymen and their friends must keep up the fight for this righteous measure. Some weeks ago Mr. Joseph W. Young, of Clinton, Tenn., wrote for the Progressive Farmer a very inter esting article on "The Short Course in Agriculture" in the University of Tennessee Up.n the same subject he made a thoughtful talk Wednes day. It aroused much interest, and a discussion ensued, in the course of which Gov. Hoard said that he had 200 applications from wealthy ranch men and farmers wanting him to find them good, educated young men to take the management ot theirfarms. "I could do little in this line, I am sorry to say, became the supply is not equal to the demand, but I could havo sent them doctors and lawyers by the dozens, and good ones, too " Thore were many other speakers, w of w!.o-h u(:lrosos wo should iK: to uiu not j-'ace turbid. In conclusion, this thought sug gests itself : Since these meetings of East Tennessee larmers have been heM regularly for nearly thirty years, accomplishing untold good, why do not other sections of the South follow the wise example thus given? In our next issue we shall publish one or more of the best addresses de livered before the Convention. PROF. BULLOCK ON TRUSTS. We do not believe in socialism, with its dead level of mediocrity. We believe that socialism would de stroy the needed incentive to indus try and enterprise, and would result in a corroding sluggishness, a general dry rot, of fine social fabric. Neither do we beli eve in trusts, monopolies, the purpose of which is to destroy the very law of competition against which socialists rail. And more than two yea ago, at the beginning of the great jrust movement, (for until that time giant trusts such as we have to-day existed in only a few lines of industry) the writer predicted that the growth of socialism would keep pace with the growth of monop oly ; hence, that the interests of cap ital, no less than those of labor, de manded the enactment of conserva tive anti-monopoly laws. The same view of the question is taken by Prof. Charles J. Bullock, of Williams College, who contributes to the June Atlantio Monthly a re markably forceful and logical essay on "Trusts and Public Policy." The article covers nearly ten pages of the Atlantic, and in this editorial we can notice only a few of the points which it contains. One of the strongest is that in which the author disposes of the oft repeated statement that monopolies lower prices, the Standard Oil Com pany being invariably cited as an ex ample. Says Prof. Bullock : "One still meets the reckless asser tion that the trusts have not ad vanced prices, but the simple fact is that, in almost every case investi gated, combination has been followed by an advance in charges. It must bo remembered that the only $afe basis for a conclusion upon this point is a comparison of the margin between the cost of materials and the price of the finished product. Thus, while the prices of refined oil and sugar have shown a downward tendency, the mart in of profit over the price of crude oil or sugar has shown a tendency to increase." Prof. Bullock also argues that it is not necessary to control the entire supply of any product in order to maintain a monopoly ; that this can bo done almost as effectually with 70 or 80 per cent, of those engaged in the industry as with 100 per cent., and that the show of competition kept up by those remaining outside enable the monopoly to work to bet ter advantage. The problem of watered stock also receives attention, the Industrial Commission being quoted as saying that with most trusts a capitaliza tion of two or three times the cash value is considered conservative. Yet we expect that most readers will be surprised at the undoubtedly accu rate statement of Mr. Bullock that 'It would be a very considerable understatement of the truth to say that, in general, over one half of the capitalization of these combinations represents nothing more substantial than water." Just at this point the views of millionaire Russell Sage, as given in the May North American Review may prove interesting : "To me there seems to be some thing very much like sleight-of-hand in the way in which industries are doubling up in value, as at the touch of the magician's wand. Here we have a factory a good, conservative, productive investment which may be turning out anything from toys to locomotives. It falls into the hands of the consolidators, and where it was worth $50,0C0 yester day, to-day it is worth $150,000 at least on paper. The man who owned the factory could prob ably not have borrowed over $10,000 on it. Now, however, when the $50, 000 plant is changed into a stock issue of $150,000, bankers and finan ciers are asked to advance $6000 on what is practically the same prop erty, and many of them, from all ac counts, make the advance. A reaction must; come as soon as the banks realize the situation. A prop erty is not worth $50,000 one day and $150,000 the next simply because a company of men, no matter how hi :r and im nor taut tby are, say so." i..i Logr. u tin-, ui iu ic Kr iie purpose of pointing oat the danger i that thoirc that are now sowing the I wind may reap the whirlwind that those who are now attempting to stop with artificial dams the easy, 1 1 - .... orueny now oi comsetltion m;i.v tinrl i their own fortunes swept away by a savage overflow of socialism, bring ing hill and valley to a common level, and violent in proportion to the length of the period in which it was previously restrained. In the lan- guage of Prof. Bullock's concluding paragraph : ''The 'Billion-Dollar Trust seems to furnish a practical demonstration of the possibility of organizing the largest industries upon a national scale, and the socialist applauds the efforts of Mr. Morgan and his asso ciates. The concentration of all the railroads into a few groups, con trolled by a single set of interests, is a brilliant triumph for the policy of centralization ; and for this, too, Mr. Morgan has the gratitude of every socialist. The popular discontent caused by the monopolization of one necessary of life after another pre pares the soil in a manner ideally perfect for the sowing of socialistic seed, and it is a significant fact that American Socialism has first become an appreciable force in this era of trusts and combinations. If thinking men ever become convinced that in manufacturing and'other in dustries competition is impossible and monopoly inevitable, only two possible alternatives will then pre sent themselves, public or private monopoly ; and those who are now occupied with the formation or justi fication or trusts will be chiefly re sponsible, in case the balance finally swings in the direction of Socialism." We do not believe that Socialism could long flourish in America ; we do fear there is danger of a tempo rary resort to it if the present ten dency toward monopoly continues unrestrained. Prof. Bullock's warn ing should be heeded, but we fear that his voice is that of a prophet crying in the wilderness. Two clippings from North Carolina exchanges emphasize the value of our timber resources. In a new country like ours people seldom ap preciate until too late the value of the forests. Already in destructive floods and in other ways we are pay ing the penalty for ignorance regard ing these matters. THE A AND" M. COLLEGE. The retiring board of trustees of the North Carolina College of Agri culture and Mechanic Arts held its final session in this city last week, and played some most fantastic tricks, notably in the agricultural department of the college. The peo ple of the State, however, have no right to expect better things of a board of twenty-two members, of which less than five are farmers. We do not know that it was wise to put the College under the control of the Board of Agriculture, as was done by the last Legislature the farmers could have secured repre sentation without this but we are glad that hereafter the farmers are to be properly represented upon the Board which controls the institution which is the outgrowth of agitation by them and which was intended to foster agricultural education no less than mechanical or textile education. The members of the old board, knowing full well that within less than a week their terms would ex pire, leaving the agricultural board in control, met on Tuesday and Wed nesday of last week and endeavored to shape the policies and name the men to control Affairs for another year. The position held by Prof. Benjamin Irby, as Professor of Agri culture, was declared vacant, and the professorship of animal industry was pronounced unnecessary at any rate, the Board, in its anxiety to build up the textile department of the College, abolished this position in order to save money. For our part, we think that this tendency to foster the mechanical department of the College at the ex pense of the agricultural division has gone quite far enough. The ap propriations from the State and National governments are for the promotion of "agricultural" andme chanical education. The name, "College of Agriculture and Me chanic Arts," indicates the hope of its founders : they did not think that agriculturaleducation should be made side issue, or that any board of law yers and millmen should ever cripple the agricultural division in order to build up any other department of thfi r"l!eTO. r- vii.,1 alt sue .'east j the nice. tun ical and textile departments of the College ; they are needed ; there i3 a great future for them. But we do not believe that it is necessary to cripple the agricultural division for their benefit, and we hope that the new Board will repudiate this action of their predecessors. In the matter of agricultural edu cation, let no backward step be taken. Let no worthy and experi enced teacher be discharged without cause. BRAIN; AND BRAWN MUST WORK T0- There is a whole cart-load of sound philosophy in this paragraph from a recent issue of the Philadelphia Farm Journal : "We sometimes hear it said of the farmer who somehow fails to get along, that he hasn't a lazy hair in his head. That may be true, but the chances are that he has a lazy brain in his head. The trouble of so many of these physically ambitious farmers, who work from daylight until dark, is that they let a lazy brain impose on a willing body. The brain should do fully one-half the work of the farm, and unless it does its share, no matter how much effort the -body makes to fill the breach, success cannot come." This is in full accord with the doc trine which The Progressive Farmer has always preached. It is not force alone, but the intelligence that guides force that brings success. The savage with his clumsy, patch work plough and his botching, bung ling tools may expend twice as much force and brute strength upon his corn crop as does any progressive American farmer, but Nature will reward the farmer and the savage, not in proportion to the force applied, but in proportion to the intelligence with which the force was directed. Take your axe, and with the back or thick part of it, try to cut down a tree. You may expend fruitlessly a hundred times the force that would be required should intelligence point you to the best method of accomplish ing the result, namely, by using the sharp edge of the axe. Just so, tens of thousands of honest and industri ous men are wearing out their lives, yet growing poorer and poorer, simply because they ignore the knowledge brought by Science and the improved tools brought by In vention, and work on under the fatal delusion that hard work alone will make farming a success. No greater mistake was ever made. THE OUTLOOK ON THE GAMBLING SPIRIT The New York Outlook pronounces the gambling spirit the hope of get ting something for nothing "the most demoralizing tendency, the most dangerous temptation, of our time and country." And we believe the statement is a correct one. The most conspicuous example of this tendency is found in Wall Street where for five hours of one day, less than a month ago, the sales of stocks averaged $1,000,000 par value a min ute, sales of 3,000,000 shares being recorded that day. "Rich in Fifteen Minutes." Such is the title of a newspaper dispatch now before us, which tells the story a dazzling success in the Chicago corn pit. Unfortunately not the same prominence is given to stories of the wrecks that have resulted from yielding to this alluring spirit. Beside the story of this sudden leap to wealth should have been given the story of that wretched man brought before a New York police court last week for begging, who within a few weeks had lost in Wall street the $G0,000 he had brought with him, the accumulations of a life's work in honest business. The one green spot in this wretched prospect is the fact this evil is con fined almost exclusively to cities, and has not yet found favor among the sober-minded, industrious, square dealing inhabitants of our rural dis tricts. In the large cities, however, it pervades all ranks of society, and we do not think that Dr. Abbott has overdrawn the picture in his conclud ing paragraphs, which we reproduce herewith : "Drunkenness is hideous ; but as a people we are not given to it. Un chastity is an abhorrence ; but in this country pure home life is the general ideal. The vice which does beset the American people from poorest to richest, from the most ignorant to the shrewdest, is the growing epidemic of trying to get something for nothing making haste to be rich, without earning. It is dangerous from every point of view. It saps the moral character. Tf, tends to ird'i.' tho othr great vi::fcs, uy a.-S .Ui.fcUvju iiid lucl easing shamelessness. It weakens indus try, undermines honesty and enter prise, debauches manliness and wo manliness, and if there is any one thing which more than another violates-the ideal of loving service to others, this is it. The gambling spirit is the peculiar danger of Ameri can life to-day." It is easier to be a harmless dove than a decent serpent Josh Billings. AIMLESS EDUCATION. In his address before the graduat ing class of the A. and M. Colle last week, Hon. Carroll D. Wright United States Commissioner of La' bor, made this striking statement : "All the grand movements of our time, which are the movements of great communities, are carried on by inventive skill, by the application of ingenuity, and these things teach us the absolute necessity of knowin how to do something and to do it well. Tne grand summation of the value of skilled training is, there, fore, found in our modern system of industry. I do not care how well educated a man may be, if he ho hot learned how to make his ehtrf;lll( useful, if he has not learned how to support iimself and his family as a, result of his education, he is c,i . norant man." The concluding sentence is the 0113 of greatest strength. The same idea was expressed by the poet Young many yeurs ago : 4 'If not to ome peculiar end assi :ru , Study's the specious trifling of the mind." The newspaper - business is no lcs expensive in summer than in winter. Watch the date on your paper and renew promptly. If you are in ar rears, please send a part at least of the amount due us. FARM WORK FOR JUNE. The excessive rains have given th 3 farmers quite a backset and they are working hard to catch up. Where the farmer finds himself over-cropped the best thing he can do is to let the thinner mrt grow up in grass and devote hia'full time to the best part of the crop. It will pay and be easier made. It is a great loss to spread a little work over a large area. The extra work on the good land will cause an increase that will surpass the yield of the poorer part. In the mad rush for the three staple crops we must not forget some others that are quite important. The cattle are no doubt doing well now and will have plenty through June, but in July and August the pastures get very dry and some green feed comes in as very serviceable. Plant for every head of cattle at least one fourth of an acre of sorghum, pearl millet or corn thick in the drill. This should be cut for the stock twice a day and either cut up tor them or else put in racks on clean ground for them. It is muoh more convenient to plant the crops on the side of the pasture so that the feed can be easily oarried to the cattle without having to haul it with a team. We are too apt to neglect the daily cutting if the stuff has to be hauled. We get so busy in the crops, and the man is busy when the mule is not, and so it goes. In cultivating most any of the farm crops be sureo try the vreeder or a smoothing harrow run across the rows. Some will say they are so far behind they cannot afford to try new methods. If you are behind, that is the very reason you should use the smoothing harrow, as it goes over so much ground in a day. If you are well up with your work, then there is not so much necessity for shortening up the work. This plan is only recommended for the first two or three weeks of the growth of the crop, as it will not kill the grass and weeds after they are deeply rooted. It serves the purpose of breaking the crust and killing the small weeds and grass. Go directly across the row and the stand will not be injured. If the harrow runs up and down the rows one tooth may just strike the drill and injure the stand. To keep a good stand on the ground is an important matter to look after, as it means pay or no pay. Remember if the weather is wet then the gras3 will grow and the crop needs cultivation to keep it clean, and if it is dry it needs cultivation to keep the grouud moist in addition to the killing of weeds. After the smoothing harrow, the cultivator and hoe will come in and should be used in time. We prefer hr hoe hini to come after th-- ' ,;' tivator, as they can uncover the -' r" ton or corn covered by the pi ' The plow will also save work for the hoes. The old expression "make bay while the sun shines," should be re versed in the crops for this month. F B.I. Here are some excellent hot weather aphorisms: Drink less, breathe more ; eat less, chew more ; clothe less, bathe more ; worry less, work more ; talk less, think more ; preacn less, practice more. Ex. 1
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
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June 4, 1901, edition 1
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