- : r . ....
W1 i 1 T ntTrmin a m tn . r.r- . - .. -
iu& iisuuoittiAL Amu cajUUATlUrtAL IWTEXKSTS Or (J UK rEUrLE rAKAIluUM TU ALL (fm&X aJSBlDEKATIUlS OF STATE POLICY.
VuL lb.
Raleigh, N. C, December 24, 1901.
No. 46
X
Agriculture.
THE VALUE OF LEVEL TERRACES.
Sr. Bl cknsll Feplies te Mr Coolmin anc
liplaic.8 Some Points in Bit Previous Let
ter.
Qor-,-...in.lnce of The Progressive Farmer.
thank Mr C iolmn f or his oriti
ois n if mv article on level terraoiDg
I e'en that I wan not suffiolently ex
pliMt. I ill now try to be so.
He is right as to its danger. Bat
that is only when it is not properly
and thoronghly done. All bad ter
racing t,nd bad hillside ditching U
darjgerous. Level terraolng badly
done is infinitely more so.
In levd terracing there mut be
A TERR CE FOR EVERY THREE FEET
of fall, the distance between the ter
race4, of course, being dependent on
whether tne held sljpes gradually or
rapidly. The right way is to go t
the to.) of the hill and run one ter
race three' feat below that apex an j
go on down every three feet.
Second Iv, the terrace
MUST BE ACCURATELY RUN.
Cheaper levels without telescopes
oan be used, bnt we use one mad
speaially for the pnrpose, provided
with smll telescope, spirit level and
adiastn screws. It cost $25, bat
m -
one would answer for a whole neigh
borhood, and being most substan
tiilly niadeot brrtss will last for a gen
eration I consider it about the best
investment made in my twenty-nine
years exoerinoe as a business man
So accurate is it that I could set it in
one pUre and run off a ditch or ter
race 300 vards distant, detecting a
variation of half an inch, or even
less.
Thirdly, the banks on the lower
side o; e ich terrace mut at once be
thrown up man and str no
"We have at lat hit upon an idea1
two-horse plow for the purpose It
has a very large swivel wing, which
at every tarn is swung over so as t'
throw the farrow down hill. Tne
terrace line marked off with smal
stakes and then a furrow, begin at
this furrow with your hillside plow,
pi wing backward and forward alonu
the terrace line and ab -ve it, throw
ing each, furrow down hill. Mr
Coolman atd all good farmers under
stand this. Continue thus until sty
a dozen .furrows are run. Taen be
gin ag in on the louver side of nam
terrace and repeat the plowing four,
fiva or nix times, plowing two or
three turrows wivle every time til?
the bank is two feet high and say
twenty to thirty furrows broad.
If practicable eaoh of these plow
ings c utd be continued higher ui
or even to the 1 wer side of tha ter-
rarfl uhovn. This would inv lve
some six plowing of the whole field;
which is mu'ih more than the aver-
ro fKrmcr nan .even think of. B
sides, if all done at once, it would
leave a strip bare of soil several feet
broad just below ech terrace, caused
by tne shifting of sdldrwn hill iu
the p oAing to form the terrace By
plowing tin terraces only, five or six
time and the intervening spaces
once or tdce eaoh year, the soil wil
be gradually shifted down hill and
the settling of the water in this bare
gtrio which it will do moie or less
as it is more or les of adeprei-sim
will litle bv littie make it the rich
est "hrt of the strip
Proper terracing involves ome
outl iv f r proper implements the
ordinary hillside flow is a toy and
foniH labor. Bat its advantages an
immense. From all indication it
will tullv
!!'-Ki E THE VALUE OF ALL OUR LAND
in,. apparently much less, than
5 -n vetrs Tne advantages are s
V'-rr vre.it over sloping terraces tha'
we r discarding them entirely
With-.r. a few years we shall bav
onr roihr g and hilly land a serif s oi
Iev4 stairstep, or rather have eaol
rip btitJveHn the terraces sloping
u: hill That is constant plowing,
rhr iv. ing every furrow down hill,
will make the upper edge of thi
"tip I.-ier than the lower end, if
may be allowed a H.bernioism. Thi
will, al-iinst absolutely,
PREVENT ALL WASHING,
the water largely soaking into the
soil where it falls, to its gradual en
richment. Land thus treated suffere
though it cannot, as a rule, be plowed
as soon after a.rain.
I am sure that an observant gen
tleman like' Mr. C.olman has often
noticed the beneficial effect of a
ohanoe made natural terrace. He
has seen a road or hedgerow run
about level around a hill, and the
grass and weed selvage of the road
catch the soil washed down till it
leveled tip and became the richest
part of the field, while the s dl be
low washed away. This is the end
sought in level terraoin, only that a
series of terraces will leave no part
of the field to wash away.
This end oan never be attained or
even approached by
A FALLING TERRACE
All that oin be done is to catoh
the water at intervals and carry it
ff more slowly than it would natur
ally run. The slope between the
terraoes is little if ever lessened
True the cotton or oorn beds oanoon
trol the water better than our flat
strawberry bed and let it do-vn
more gradually into the run above
the sloping terrace. Bat washing
rains are most apt to come in spring
when the lanl is freshly plowed and
before the cotton or corn beds are
built up. Moreover, the b-st system
or farming condemns these beds and
advises level culture.
Sloping terraces are very much
better than none at all. Bat th
ideal system is beyond question that
of level terraoes.
Now as to
THE STABILITY OF LEVEL TERRACES.
Tner spring ot 19 J l saw the moat
disastrous washing rains that have
fallen here within living memory.
vVe had a good deal of land freshly
trrucei. .Where the terraces were
inomplete, not properly run, or
with too much fall between t.etu,
they broke and gave s me trouble
Taose properly run and completed
sto d like the house built on the
ruck. Those terraces with their
triage of grss which we from the
first allow to grow three teet wide
along the crest mowing the weeds
will nexs spring and summer be
able to defy aim ,st the weather that
Soh saw.
As it happened our oompleted ter
racts were i.n the vary worst land we
nil as to holding. It whs both hilly
anlstndy and t tie eand iuo iaed to
drift. Only one of thee bruke, and
taat at a low place caused by an error
in runoiDg off.
O. W. Blacknall.
Vance Co., N. C.
NEITHER THEORY NOR PRACTICE
SHOULD STAND ALONE.
No advocite of agricultural edaoa
tioa has ever maintained taat mere
stu ly, even oE bxks on agriiuitare,
will fi6 a young uian for farming
Far frjm it. We are well aware
that nothing cin taki the plao of a
thorough apprenticeship in ovtiry di
par true at of farm wore, and that nu
amount of thenetica', or even orao
tic 1 knowledge of the minutest de
tails on attain suocess, with mt go d
management and the constant exer
oise of in lusiry, prudence, and eo'n
omy. What we do muntam is that
neither theory njr pnct c should
stand alone ; bat that thay should g
hand in hand, and the far n appren
ti-rtreciv3 instruction in both. Iu
fact, we are unable to pee how anj
one oau d ubt Che statement that th
young man who has chorea agriou
cure as his occupation, will be bene
fited by acquunting himself with tae
experience of the most suoce.-sf 1
farmers, by studying their practice.
and discussing the princ pies an
maxima whioh guide them on the
way to success Dr. James Mdl,
President Ontario Agricultural Co -
lege.
President Roosevelt has gone on
record as opposed to chopping off
iorsesf tails in servile imitation of
flnglish oadp, and has filled his stables
vith Hambletonians, with fine flow
ng tails, such as nature has endowed
them with. It is to be hoped that
she President's example will be fol-
owed by that branch of "dooiety"
vho sneeze when XhoKe in high
daces take snuff, and the worse than
fooli-h outom of docking 'will lose
caste. -arm and Ranoh.
HARRY FARMER'S TALES.
LVI.
lorreflpondence of The Progressive Farmer.
The Civil War closed in April, and
we were then old enough to enj y all
the nports of the small boy. It was
the Christmas of that year when we
had
OUR FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH SANTA
CLAUS
We were told how he traveled
around with his wagon drawn by a
reindeer with long bran hing horns
and would come down the ohimney
with so many nice things to put in
the stock'Dgs of the little ones. We
;ust wanted Christmas to oome ! We
o m tienced preparing lor it the last
of October.
There were several of us and
motaer had to knit oar stookings.
Tne skeins had to be held while she
wound the yarn on the ball, and as
we were the oldest by, it fell to our
lot to hold the skeins. In order to
keep us from going to sleep, she
would tli us thrt many stories of
Santa Claus unt 1 we became so im
patient for th time to come.
A PIG TO FATTEN.
Two or three times a week we had
to count the number ot Sun lays be
f )re Christmas would o me. Would
it ever coaie? Cou d we wait? It
was first nine weeks, then eight
weeks, taen seven weeks and then
ix weeks before we could notice any
thing being done for the greatest,
grandest and best time of tbe wht.de
year. The pig to turnish eau-aga,
padding, fpare-ribs and ba kbone
was put in the pen made of i.ice new
rails just out of the long leaf pine.
Ot cjurse, we had to help. Some of
the rails were too heavy for us to
lift, btjt we did all thu.t we coulJ.
The first thing done was to lay the
floor, after whioh we made the pen
and put in some straw. When the
pig was brought- and put in. He was
a year old or more, for pnople thought
a pig younger than that was not tit
to eat. He was a bright cht-rry red,
long and slender, with bristles as
1 ng as your hnnd. We did not dare
to g too cl se ot firrit for he would
smak his ra nth and make such a
terrihle groan that it would make
the hair rise on our head-, but we
had to go to see him a d z-!n times a
dny and give him nome bread, sweet
potatoes, acorns and anything that
we thought he would eat. It was a
week r more before he would oaf
while we were near. We thought of
Christmas and Santa Claus every
time we went to that pig pen.
1 nE SE SON l;R VWS NEAR.
One night motaer finished our
stockings and we hung it up over
the fire plrtce to see how it would
look. We wondered if Santa Claus
would srive anv more than he did to
other chil iren
At last the grat time was draw
ing nearer, for the turkey and chick
ens were caught, and put in the coops
r.o fatten, ii twer had finished all
the stockings and was making ur
aew cloth's, which she had jus
oven in the old 1 o u We quit
c muting, week n wand just count d
lavs We would hung uo that ne v
t taking almost every night to be
are to have it all right. We won
lered m:tny times ho v it would look
vhen the- mmv nie things were in it.
HIE FINAL PREPARATIONS
We ounred again, it was bat two
ai re nights, and then the g e-ittime
voud con e The b i er. was now
fillrtd with sweet potato s to bimade
nt ) pies. ( Hie people in this pec
non u-e sweet potatoes, jast as peo-
de d) pumpkms at the North, for
making pies ) We would tav around
the kitchen, and if pnrchance a pi
as scorched it was given to ns to
eat While the cook would hate
saoh a mishap, it only made us
happy when wa peeped under and
sa v some black s ots. The oo - king
was done in a large fire p ace and
spiders and ovens were used instead
of a stove. We were told toputsom
wood on and undei the oven in which
the pies were baked. The cook o' ten
scolded us for making too much fire.
Night oime on and we were told
that Santa Claus did not like chil
dren that did not w ish their feet at
night, so we must try to do this j Vb
better than ever. How particular
we were that he should not have any
reason to miss our stocking ! There
was one job that we did not like, but
it muet be done for its neglect
would mar the lonks of everything,
and thit was to sweep the yard. So
we harried ff to th woods and
gathered some limbs from the low
dog wood tree to make brooms The
old oak and hickory trees j at seemed
to ns as if they wanted to scatter
more leaves, acorn, hiokory nuts
and shells over the yard at this par
ticular time than ever before. Be
fore nfght the leaves and other trash
were not to be seen in that yard.
Tais was the last night before we
would hang our stocking to receive
the blessed gifts. We went to sleep
thinking of Santa Claus. E rly next
morning we were told that there
were many things to be done. The
turkey and ohiokens mast be kille I
and a large lot of wood must be car
ried to the house. We must not
have any work to do on Christmas
day.
All of these jobs were finished by
niijht and we were very tired. Bnt
look, yonder toward' the store!
Thre was a huge ball of fire thrown
this way and that way, some times
high up in the air. i he boys hah
gone t an old turpentine still and
wet a ball of ootton with spirits of
turpentine and had et it afire and
were throwing it around just likn
boys throw a baseball. We were
too small, or at leat too scared, t
heloin this port. S after they had
ournt two balls of ootton we went
home.
CHRISTMAS NIGHT.
It was about six o'clock when we
entered the house. Father was in
one oosxier reading. Mother had
one. i4 too youngest child, en in her
lap getting him to sleep Nov we
had some contention ab ut which
nail 6K!h one of us should have. At
list we agreed and hung up our
stockings and went to bed, batn-.t
to sleep, for we lay there listening
for old Santa Clans. Bat at last tir d
nature could hold out no longer, so
we were soon in the land of dreams
About half past three o'clock we
waked up and lay there awhile roll
ing on first one side then on the
other. It was not long before we
dtsoovered that we were not the
only one awake, for one of our
brothers askd us if it were not time
to get up. We talked in a whisper
at first, then out loud ; the next thing
was to jump out of bed and run into
the sitting room and make a ligh,
which was easily done by putting a
pieoe of pitch pine on the bed of oak
o als. Yhs, there were the marks
in the back of the ohimy. Now
the fire light showed a lot of litt'e
stoo things fnll away above the heels
We hesitnted a minute, then took
h ld and telt to see if there really
was anything iu them. At last we
ran ur haul down and dre.v on a
ni'vr red aople, then some raisins,
nuts of different kinds, sueh as Enyr
lish walnuts, almonds, filberts and
Brz 1 nuRs whioh we called ujig
toes," ahd several large sticks of
oanlv, red and white strippd. C uld
we ever eat all of them? The raisins
were something new to us, b it we
tested one to see if thy were good
and found that they were one of the
oe-t things that we had ever eaten
Then we had to try some nuts. We
tte on and counted to see how minv
we had. After eating awhile we
got tired' and went baok to bed and
slupt a short nap. Listen, what was
that noise? It was the filing of guns.
D d you ever hetr so many in yonr
life? Then daylight came, then
breakfast.
Now we mnsfc run over to our
neighbors and tell theri the wonder
ful things that good old Santa Clau
ad brought" us One little b y
showed us some fire crackers. H
told np to get some fire and touch
that little string, that it would shoot
'Bine!" And the little red stick
was ton all to pieces ! We would
have willingly given all that we got
in our stocking for jast one little
pick of fire crackers.
We played around awhile and
went to our traps, for wo had caught
a few birds before. Then we ate
dinner. The afternoon seemed very
long and so'-n after sunet we went
to bed, sick and sleepy, just as thou
sands of children will do this week.
B it we wish you all a Merry Christ
mas and a Happy New Year
Harry Farmer.
Columbus Co., N. C.
A STUDY OF VARIETIE3.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
One of the surest wavs to success
on the farm is to be sure that the
right variety is raised so that the
high prices whioh are always paid
for the choicest can be obtained.
Fruits, vegetables, grains .and other
firm products show a difference in
prices in the market whioh "very
often settles the whole question of
profit and loss.
One particular variety will bring a
cent or two more than any other,
and no matter how well we raise the
less popular articles we can never
hope to cqnal the popular ones. Thus
Danish seed cabbages invariably
bring about a dollar a hundred, or a
cent apiece more than the ordinary
cabbages, and it costs no more to
raise them. It is true that a little
m re is demmded for the seed, but
what a difference in the returns
when one is selling cabbagts in the
market by the thousands.
White onions early in the fall in
variably bring rather more than red
or yellow, and yet en many soils the
first produces just as good a crop as
the other two. sThere is an equal
d fferenoe. between Hubbard and
Marrow squashes, and between tur
nips, tomatoes and lima beans.
This difference in the aggregate is
so great that if one will take a pencil
and paper and figure it out, there
will be seen the exact reason why
failure instead of suocess has oome.
If one saved a few dollars in the
spring in the purohas of seed by
taking the less popular varieties, he
will now have to add to his returns
the extra amount that he would have
received had they all been of the
very best.
A good many farmers go upon the
theory that they kafw all about the
qualities of the different farm prod
ucts, and because they do not think
one variety any superior to another,
therefore it is not worth paying the
extra price for the seed. That sort
of reasoning is all rUht so long as
it is C( nfined to products raised for
the home tible, but the mun who is
raising farm products for commercial
purposes, Should not consult his in
dividual preference It is simply
what the market dem mds. If con
sumers are willing to pay a little
extra for certain variety of frwk or
vegetable, it is the farmer sduty to
raine that whether or not he on
siders it better. Some times it is
the appearance of a yroduot that
o tu-es the extra price, and aa1n it
may be a certain fltvor or quality
woich tie grower mi gat not like or
appreciate. It is to his interest,
however, to raise it so long as the
demand continues. Therefore, a
sudy in varieties jat now might
prove a profitable business. Now is
the time to consider what varieties
command the best prices in the. mar
ket, so the eeeds can be purchased
another season in time. A little
study of that nature at this time of
the year might prove very profitable
by another fall.
S. U. Adams.
WORTH CAROLINA'S MALL FRUITS.
Some idea of the importance
already assumed by the small fruit
ouiture in this State may be had
from a statement jut published of
shipments the past season of straw
ben ies alone from points below
Golds boro on the Atlantic Coast Line
system. .
The Carolina Fruit and .Truck
Growers' Journal, the ffijial organ
of the East Carolina Trujk and Fruit
Growers' Association, contains a
tabulation of the total shipments of
strawberries last season from the
various stations along the different
divisions of the Atlantio Coast Line
system in North Carolina and South
Carolina.
v The total number of crates shipped
during the season was 331,360, or an
aggregation of 10,903,520 quarts. On
the W. & W. Road, Mt. Olive lean's
with 50,326 orates, Rose Hill follow
ing with 36,579, Wallace, 34,375,
Teaohey's, 29,124, Rooky Point, 18,
709 and Wilmington, coming seven
teenth, with 1,351. Total from W.
& W. Road 264,518 orates.
On the W. C. ? A. Road Chad
b urn comes first with 29,104 crates,
Grists, 11.055, Florence, 1,997. Total
in all 43,343.
Yadkin Division, Atkinson, 3,990,
Currie, 3,242, Montague, 1,695. Total
from A. & Y., 15,876.
Tne total shipment in refrigerator ,
oars was 270,216 orates, express cars,
57,75$, and ventilated cars 1,387.
This represents, for this crop alono
in that territory largely over ono
million of d dlars income to th
growers. Besides strawberries tho
same section ships various kinds of
early vegetables and other fruits,
and some portions ootton. With
favorable seasons what a garden
spot this section is, to be sure.
Raleigh Post.
GROW PEC ASS.
The moral pointed by the follow
ing news item from the K.nston FreO "
Press is obvious :
A number of years ago the StatO
Board of Agriculture was urging tho
farmers of this State to set out pecan
and other nut tree, especially recom
mending pecans because cf their
peculiar adaptation to. our s 11 and
climate. Tuesday we were shown '
some of these home grown pecans,
bought by a Kinston merchant from
a Jones county farmer, and werd
very much surprised at the size and
quality of these nuts. Tbey far sur
passed any variety ever seen in Kin
ston before from anywhere, and tell
readily at 20 oenta per pound. As
one tree will bear several bushels ot
nuts, one can readily see what a
profit a grove of these trf e would
give to the average farmer without
scarcely an$- labor or ex:ers9.
BARRENNESS OF CORN AND WHEAT.
Correspondence of The Projrresslve Farmer.
One of the greatest factors in tho
production of corn and wheat is tho
relative amount of barrenness in tho
stalks Every farmer is familiar .
wth fields of either grain which
promise an abnndint yield, but when
tne counting of the hirvet is made
there is a great disappointrmnt It
is found that theorop was deceptive.
There was more stalk than grain,
Every third or fourth stalk in some
fields is barren. When grnin gets
do wn to such a low state of product
ivity it is time that some other farm
ing should be resorted to. Yet not a
few farmers face this condition and
c mtinue to plant the same and hopo
f or better times. Some will lay the
olame to the soil, others to the sea
son and a few to the seed or method
of cultivation. In my experience I
have found that the teed is m re at
fault than anything else. Provide
reasonably fertile soil, and fair cul
tivation, and good seed will produce
a pretty good crop, but on the finest
soil and with the best of cultivation
run out seed will tdmply increase the
stalk supply and not raise tbe yield
of grain ten bushels. It is not soil
or cultivation that will increase the
yield of poor seed, but new and bet
ter seed.
Not all of us appreciate the power
of running out that is always present
in seed. We plant it one or two sea
sons, and succeed in raising good
crops. Unless systematically im-'
proved by "breeding" seed, corn or
wheat will degenerate at least ten
per cent, in a single veir. All of
our crops have been raised to their
pre-ent high standard through arti
ficial means of breeding and selec
tion, and they will return to their
original state in a short time if not
prevented by the very conditions
whioh raised them up. Now tho
average fbrmer cannot breed and
improve seed. That is not his work,
but he oan insist that seed ba sold to
him that has not been ran out. By
insisting upon wheat and corn that
represent the highest possible pro
ductiveness, the farmer can increase
his yield per acre much better than
by spending anxious moments and a
good deal of money in fertilizing
and cultivating the fields. The one
absolute essential is wheat and corn
ihat has been systematically bred
to the point where the highest pos
sible returns oan be had from every
sin gl?e stalk that comes up. We
want rio barren stalks, or very few
at least. T. L. Ridding.
appreci'-xbly leas from drought,