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THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OP STATE POLICY. C3 Vol. 16. Raleigh, N. 0., July 2, 1901. No, 21 Agriculture. HARRY PARMER'S talks XXXII. Correspondence of The Progressive Far O . "The rains descend and the ods come," which makes the grass grow and the farmers blue. But every farmer should be able to profit by such weather. While some of our crops are injured by the continuous rains, yet our pigs which we turned into the oat patch, are gaining so as to balance losses by having so much nice succulent crab grass to eat. It would take at present prices for corn, about 55 cents per day to give the same results that one acre of fall outs, with the weeds and grass on it, is furnishing our pigs ; at this rate for forty days it would amount to $'2'2 per acre. Now let us see how much it costs : 1.C bushels seed oats at 50 cents per bushel, 75 cents ; plowing and sowing $1 ; total, 11.75. Can you cultivate an acre in corn for less than 7.50, including all the work from the first furrow to husk ing or shucking the corn? Here are two items that we should take into consideration: the improvement in the land and the work of feeding out this corn. It is true that it takes but a few minutes each day, but they will count. Ten minutes a day will count one hour a week, and in six weeks there is a full half day gone. Do you see the point? The hogs will scatter the manure over the land better than we can. That same place will make us another crop of hog feed and at the same time great ly improve. But we must spend some more work and seed on it. About the first or middle of July we will plant it to cow peas, and, about 20 days from planting, let the pigs go back to keep the grass down so that the work of cultivating will not cost us over 40 cents per acre. You want to know what we are go ing to do with the pigs during those three weeks' Well, we have a pea patch ready for them, (just as ad vised in a former article in The Pro gressive Farmer.) Though the peas are a little late, yet they will be ready for us when wanted, and what the peas lack the grass will supply. Ho you can readily see the great Moving of time and labor of this sys tem. If it were adopted by all the farmers in Eastern Carolina, they would have a plenty of meat to sell. While the price is high, instead ot a frown upon their faces when the price was named, they would have a broad smile. Every farmer knows who has tried it that hogs kept in a pasture are almost free from cholera. Another lesson we have learned from the rains is the importance of tile or under ground drainage. We made a box and put it in a ditch that we wanted to fill up, and it proved a perfect success. The day after a soaking rain the land over this drain was dry so that it could be worked. Harry Farmer. Columbus Co., N. C. The only axiom or proverb suit able to be applied to farming, espe cially in the South, may be a very old proverb slightly changed. "Every farmer should learn that wherever his lot may be cast to learn there with to be discontinued." I do not mean to become a grumbler, because very one knows that no further If-on is needed on that line. Whole . omo discontent will all existing methods is pervading the West, leading to such a revolution in agri culture as has never been witnessed before. When wholesome discontent pervades the great body of persons occupied in agriculture in the South sheep-growing will not be stopped either by the cur dog or by inertia Within another generation this country will export fine wools of every grade, and will compel the .vool-growers of other sections to -'ive up the semi-barbarous methods i the pampas of the Argentine, of the stations of Australia and or our ranches in the Western Territories, and to adopt intelligent and intensive methods, of which the Piedmont plateau and the uplands of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi will become the great and intelligent center. Edward Atkinson. NEWS OF THE FARMING WOULD. Our Washington Correspondent Tells What Progress is Being Made in the Various Sections of the Country. Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. The Department of Agriculture is contemplating a good deal of work during the coming fiscal year which will result in THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW INDUS TRIES and the extension of those now just begun. These will include the pro duction of cereals from which maca roni can be made, and encouraging the establishment of factories at which this product will be produced ; expanding the rice industry, and fostering the date palm, and the pro duction of tea. Practical tests of great benefit to the cotton industry will bo made, as well as to induce the production of bulbs such ashyacinths and tulips, most of which are now imported. The encouragement of tree planting of all varieties, includ ing those which uroduce nuts, will be sought after. Secretary Wilson is an ardent be liever in the future production in the United States of practically everything that we need. Especially is he interested in THE EXTENSION OF SUGAR CULTIVA TION. "Within ten years," he says, "the United States will produce all of its own sugar. I may be oversanguine, but I belie ve my judgment is correct. Any one of the States of Illinois, In diana, Iowa, or Nebraska, could pro duce from beets all the sugar needed in the United States. Over forty factories will be at work this fall, many with increased capacity. The principles now applied to this indus try have heretofore been used in the rjroduction of oil. The juice is got ten out of the beets by diffusion, and run in pipes to the central factory. There is activity in the sugar indus try from New York to California. There hus been a steady growth in those sections during the last four years. But there has been a pause since the discussion of the Porto Rican question began. When that discussion began capital hesitated to advance money to be invested in the sugar beet industry in this country. There is no doubt about the ability of our people to make sugar in com petition with any other sugar mak ers in the world, that is, as ,on as we have had time to apply American ingenuity in the field and factory and to utilize the by-products." According to the Secretary, most farmers are NEGLECTING THE WEALTH THAT LIES IN TI1ESE BY-PRODUCTS. The compressed pulp of the sugar beet, he says, is valuable to the dairy cow as the entire beet, because the extraction of the sugar leaves every thing required by the cow, as it gets the necessary sugar from fodders. "I expect," he continues, "to see a combination of sugar and butter raising become common on the farms in the sugar belt. The by-products will pay all the expense of raising the crop. These crops easily aver age twelve tons to the acre in many States, making sugar beets worth about 150 an acre. Sugar and but ter are composed of carbonaceous matter, which comes from the atmo sphere and does not deplete the soil of its plant food, providing the refuse from the cow stables is re turned to the soil. "A tremendous impetus would be given to a dairy neighborhood by each farmer growing enough sugar beets to give him pulp enough to feed his dairy cows. He would then not be put to the expense of buying mill feed, oil cake, bran, glucose fao tory meal, and would thus make the neighborhood independent of mills located long distances away. When once this combination is brought about it will continue. The farmer, by pressing the water out of the pulp, would be able to pile it up in a crib as he does oil cake, to be fed to the dairy cows in the winter a re quired. The by-products should be long to the farmer who grows the beets. He should sell only the sugar to the factory. "Our people will learn," concluded Secretary Wilson, "when they en gage in this work more extensively than they have already done that A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF ROTATION OF CROPS will be wise. The extensive culture necessary to beat growing will thor oughly clean lands of weeds of every kind. The farmers will learn that beets should not be grown on the same field oftener than once in four years. Between the growing of the two crops of beets suoh crops as clover, cow peas, or vetches should in tervene, to store the soil with nitro gen. Tho tops of the beets should be left on the ground and plowed under, as they contain a large per centage of mineral plant food. The arid States have the richest beets be cause ot the richness of the soil, the plant food not having been leached out of it by rainfall." Congressmen who have experienced great difficulty on account of the small number of seeds allotted to them will probably be glad to know their allowance this year will be practically double that received pre viously. In addition to doubling the allotment of weeds, EACH CONGRESSMAN WILL II AVE FIFTY .iEES at his disposal. They will be of differ ent varieties, selected particularly with a view to suiting the climate in which they will be grown. Many of these will be nut trees, such as pecans and other varieties which will grow in this country. Secretary Wilson determined to distribute trees with a hope of implanting a love of trees in the breasts of the people and inciting them to follow the example set by the Department as well as to have a permanent show ing for the money expended. In ad dition to the trees distributed, 38, 300,384 paokets of seeds will be dis tributed. Each Congressman will have at his disposal 14,000 packages of vegetable seeds, 400 of flowers, 110 of tobacco, 40 of cotton, 30 of lawn grass, 25 of sugar beets. 50 of forage crops, 220 bulbs, 150 straw berries, and 40 of grapes. The straw berries will be of new and rare varie ties and the grapes are yet to be selected. A. B. Marriott. Washington, D. C. WAS IT FOKTY CENTS LOSS OS FORTY DOLLARS GAIN ? There are two lessons to bo learned from the following interesting anec dote : One teaches the value of rape ; the other teaches the importance of properly applying what is learned from experience. We quote from Wallace's Farmer : A farmer who bought forty pounds of rape seed for forty cents last year dropped into Livingston's soed store the other day, and on being asked how his rape seed did, replied in somewhat emphatio language, "No more of your rape for me. 1 bought five pounds of it last year and the pesky chickens ate every bit of it up." "How ,many chickens did you have?" "Oh, four or five hundred." "And they lived on the rape all summer V" "Did they do well?" "Splendidly." "So then you got first-class sum mer feed for four or five hundred chickens for forty cents. Do you think you lost the forty cents? Is it not quite probable that you have gained forty dollars and got first class feed for your chickens all sum mer long for about eight or ten cents a head?" We some times hear experiment station professors dispute about the proper interpretation to put upon ex periments. Prof. Shaw said the other day that it was no difficult matter to conduct an experiment but that it took a wise man to interpret it correctly. This farmer, without intending it, had been making an experiment, and he evidently was mistaken as to the interpretation. The gain may not have been forty dollars, but say it was four, and that he furnished all his chickens with fhst class feed all summer at one cent a head. Was the experiment a success or a failure? It does in fact require a good deal of good sense to properly interpret the facts on the farm. This is only a single instance. SUGAR BEETS IN NORTH CAROLINA. Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. Experiments performed by the writer covering a period of two years, show that certain localities in the mountainous seotion of our State can produce a sugar beet in every way suitable for commercial pur poses. Such localities exist in Ashe, Watauga, Caldwell, Mitchell, Madi son, Haywood, Buncombe, Hender son, Transylvania, Jackson, Macon, Graham and Swain counties, and it is possible that these areas may ex tend into Alleghany, Wilkes, Yancey, Clay and Cherokee counties. During the coming year we hope to locate mere more definitely the suitable areas, and for that purpose we desire the co-operation of all per sons who are interested. It is our purpose to distribute sugar beet seed next spring to all who apply for them, and to analyze samples of the beets sent us. The only expense to the farmer will be for fertilizers and cultivation, but the beets grown will amply repay this. A sugar beet factory is a necessary adjunct to the field. Such a factory can be successfully maintained in any good beet-producing section of sufficient area, if there be an abund ance of water, limestone and coal. In the probable sugar beet section the water supply is abundant, de posits of limestone are known, and the Tennessee coal formations are not very far distant. In addition to the sugar which is produced, the mo lasses formed as a by-product may be utilized for the manufacture of alcohol or vinegar and the pulp of the beet remaining after the extrac tion of the sugar is very excellent for stock feeding or for fertilizing pnrpok'4;. Good beets delivered at the. fac tory sell for from four to four dol lars and a half per ton, and the pro duct of one acre is worth from sixty to seventy dollars. About one-half of this is sufficient to cover the cost of production, including the rental value of land. The profits to the factory are about three dollars for each ton of beets purchased and utilized for sugar making. In New York State sugar is made from the beet and in Louisiana from cane, but it is not manufactured at any points between these two States. A bulletin is in course of prepara tion and will be issued from the press in July, giving in detail the results of the work. A copy will be sent to the address of each party on our mail ing list who resides in the section named, and to such others as may apply. The prospect for the introduction of this industry into the State is promising and the matter is well worth the attention of our people in the western mountain counties. W. A. Withers, Chemist N. C. Agricultural Experi ment Station. THE TAN BARK INDUSTRY. It is wonderful to see the amount ol! tan bark that is coming into town every da 7 and shipped away. This business is not confined to Madison, but is going on all over Western North Carolina. It is strange, yes, passing strange, that the people will destroy their timber in such way. There is little or no profit in it for the farmers. The expense of peel ing and delivering to the railroad is about as much as it realizes in the sale. On the mountain sides and in the coves one sees hundreds of pealed trees left to ruin and rot, just for the sake of a little bark. Your big oaks will be worth something to you some day ; but more than all, you de prive your children and grand-children of necessary wood and timber by your own abuse. If this whole sale destruction of the forests is to continue the health of the country will be appalling. Farmers, think of what you are doing J., in Madison Enterprise. Sugar beets, as is well known, like deep soil. The Ohio Station in a re cent bulletin shows by a couple of "soil photographs'' che advantage of sub-soiling for this crop. In the land sub-soiled, it looks like a huge molar tooth with big pronged roots. Live Stock and Dairy. SHEEP IN THE SOUTH. II. The South Adapted tc Sheep Business In it the Planters Might Grow the Most Valuable Wool and Best of Mutton Special Varied Fitness of North Carolina Bluegrass; Ber muda Orass The Armour Meat Packing Business Could Get a Hustling Rival in the South. Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. The main purpose of the writer is to aid in awakening an interest in sheep husbandry in the South, both for wool and mutton. Her boundar ies extend over ten degrees of lati tude and over twenty degrees of longitude ; hence her diversity of temperature is considerable. But her climatic adaptability to the sheep industry is not determined more by her extent of latitude than by the variety of altitude of her surface. Chains of mountains rising four and even to seven thousand feet above sea level, traverse the greater part of her domain. These with their high foothills, plateaus, ranges of hills and elevated planes, constitute a variety of soil with a varied cli matic condition that is but easily found or equaled in any part of the world. The vegetation of her differ ent soils may not be excelled for sheep husbandry anywhere. It is true that the nomadic flocks of Spain and of the mountainous and plane regions of North America, habitually traverse extensive ranges from which to glean their daily food. But the history of successful sheep husbandry for more than the last hundred years abundantly proves that sheep do not need to travel over twenty, ten nor five miles daily, from which to gather a living. It proves that sheep with reasonable outdoor exercise and pure water to drink, will be quite healthy while taking their food from few acres, or that with either green or dry food from the racks and troughs, they will develop size of bone, with quan tity and quality of muscle, and fat when necessary, to a far greater ex tent than when kept in the nomadic life. This success is not only true of the carcass of the animal, but also of its fleece. To manufacture the best quality of all kinds of woolen cloth, it is essential that the wool's highest lustre, with its soundness and even ness, or strength of fibre throughout its length be secured. Its beautiful crimp and corrugativo properties should be carefully fostered and pre served. All this can-be accomplished with small flocks in the hands of farmers, rather than in large herds roaming over extensive ranges. Sheep are more readily taught than any other animals to seek shelter under an open shed from beating storms and bleaching rains. This, too, is a requisite where small flocks are kept mainly for the production of the best quality of mutton suc cessfully. So far as these foregoing advan tages are concerned, our own State of North Carolina possesses them to an eminent degree. Within her borders is the highest mountain range of the South with an abund ance of lower hills and rolling lands, including the famous "Piedmont re gion," the slate stone hills, planes and vaileys, that embrace a natural home for sheep as well as the rolling pine lands that might be called the Atlantic Coast range. Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginias need but to be mentioned, especially the first, which has been famous for its sheep walks, carpeted with blue grass, upon which some of the best specimens of long-wooied mutton sheep in America have been bred. It has long been the writer's opinion that Bermuda grass could be made to rival bluegrass in its usefulness to sheep and wool growing. More about grasses in future. Of course no region of the United States could excel the upland sec tions of South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi for the production of well-grown fat "springjlambs" for the Northern city markets. If the business was handled properly with economy and energy, by the farmers of these States, they would be able to supply and control that extensive and growing market, defying competition from the North, era, long-winter States. They would thus soon be in position to bring back to the South the money she now spends for Northwestern salt meat and roller mill flour. If ten men in each of the above States would embark in the sheep business and follow it up with the in telligence, skill and energy that the Armours of Chicago and Kansas City have displayed in the meat in dustry in the last thirty years, they would surely develop a "spring lamb" and mutton demand market in the Northern cities and in Europe that would yield a more handsome profit than that now derived from the production of pork or beef in the Northwestern States, according to its extent, not waiting to write of the Southern market, which would grow enormously. I have reference not only to the cheap production of meat, but also to a well organized system of slaugh ter and refrigerator shipment. Tens of thousands of people who are abundantly able to pay for the very best of meat, use salt-cured meat only because they cannot get fresh meats at a reasonable price. Wa must keep in mind that the sheep's wool pays for their good keeping an nually. This is an advantage that sheep husbandry holds over all other stock in the profitable production of meat food. Herein is the main secret of the great development of the mut ton breeds in Great Britain. There is only one thing that tickles the palates of Scotchmen more than a well-baked saddle of mutton three inches thick, and that is one four inohes thick. They will pay a dollar more for the latter than the former. This subject will likely come up for more extended review further along a3 the writer continues these chapters. Samuel Archer. Marion, McDowell Co., N. C. Farm Miscellany. MARYLAND FARMERS' DEMANDS. The movement started by the farmers of the State to promote agri cultural interests in Maryland is a step which should oommand atten tion. The movement contemplates the establishment of a State board of agriculture which will take hold of the question of immigration and bring in desirable settlers; the in crease of the annual appropriation to the Maryland Agricultural Col lege so as to enlarge the field of use fulness of that institution, as well as to promote the general interests Of agriculturists on a practical basis, through the agency of men identified with farming and not by politicians. Not in many years has a more in telligent or representative body of agriculturists assembled than that which met last week at the Agricul tural College and formulated their plans. They explicitly announced that they wanted $60,000 to enlarge buildings, and declared that a State board of agriculture should be created, to be composed of trustees of the college, who are conversant with the needs of farmers. It was stated that there are a hundred or more student applicants who are de nied the advantages of the college for lack of proper accommodation in the buildings as they exist. Com mittees were appointed to urge these matters upon the Legislature to be elected this fall. But in advance of the election it is tho avowed pur pose to have their demands conceded by explicit understanding. The General Government has ade quately provided for the experiment s fcation . The college has been biought up to a high state of efficiency. The practical benefits of both the college and the experiment station are ap preciated by the agricultural com munity. But it is considered that a point has been reached when the broad views of statesmanship should control, instead of the narrow, sel fish views of mere politicians. The interest is too important to be made subservient to individual interests or the fluctuating necessities of parti san politics. Baltimore Bun.
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
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July 2, 1901, edition 1
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