mm . Mm mmm mmmmmmmmmammmm mmm mm mmW 000 S3 Published Weekly at Raleigh, N. C; aitCRCE P3 C .. ..-Edlttrk I. W. OEM frMrtttwiH BtiliiuHiiHir. Ti TfT - - ' ; ' '' . i. . . . "' . '; -SUBSCRIPTION-- nglft Subscription One Year. . ,11.00 Three Months, .25 Trhs IsfaiiaTRlAL AND KDUOATION- vf; Interests, of our People Para- ,1QUTT. TO, ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS State Policy, ' is the motto of The TxVgresslve'FarmetV and upon this ;latform it shall rise or fall. Serving 10 master; ruled by no faction, cir cumscribed by no selfish or narrow polipy, its aim will be to foster and jrpmoto' the' best interests of the FhOle people of the State. It will be irue to the instinots, traditions and listory of the Anglo-Saxon race. On ll. matters relating specially to the rreat interests it represents, it will roeak with no uncertain voioe, but Vill fearlessly the right defend and impartially the wrong condemn. rom Col. Polk's Salutatory, Feb. 10. 1886 Be sure to give both old and new addresses in jrdering change of postofflce. We invite correspondence, news items, sug cestions and criticisms on the subjects of agri sulture, poultry raising, stock breeding, dairy ing, horticulture and-garding; woman's work, itemture, or any subject of interest to our lady readers, young people, or the family generally; suoiie matters, current events, political ques tions and principles, etc., In short, any subject ttsetissedin an all-round farm and family news paper. Communications should be free irom personalities and party abuse. DISCONTINUANCES Responsible subscrib ers win continue to receive this Journal until the publishers are notified by letter to discon- UiHiey when all arrearages must be paid. If you io not wish the Journal continued for another vear after you subscription has expired, you ihpuld then notify us to discontinue it. "!RVJNEWALS--The date opposite your name n your paper, or wrapper, shows to what time Touf" subscription is paid. Thus 1 Jan. TO, thpws tnat payment nas oeen meivru up wj Fan. 0900; 1 Jan. 01f to Jan. 1, 1901, and so on. rwo weeks. ; are .required after money Is re ceived before date, which answers tor a receipt, i&n be changed. If not properly changed within rwo weeks after money is sent notify us. Thk Progressive Farmer Is the Official Jrgan of the North Carolina Farmers' State alliance. A" THOUGHT FOB THE WEEK. ' To be .honest, to be kind, to earn a little and to spend a little lees ; to make upon the whole a family hap pier by his presence; to lenounoe f wherd that shall be necessary, and not to be embittered ; to keep a few friends, but these without capitula tion ; above all, on the samo grim conditions, to keep friends with him self here is a task for all that a man has of fortitude and delicacy. Robt. Liouis 8teven8on. .. VOL XVII. '"The first issue of The Progressive Farmer was dated Feb. 10, 1886. . TTT 1 A , J A 1 X X ' X J A. 1 v ltu its last iBue, tuereiurw, ib uw gan its seventeenth volume. Its labors, tone and polioy during the past year its readers know. For the future the papsr shall have as here tofore the best work of which its 'editor is capable. We have made inifrtakes in the last year ; we shall iria'ke others in the year now begun But though we may blunder, and 'though : we shall doubtless fall far short of on idfial. "wo hnvfl fnVh 'mi ideal for the paper and, as nearly as ' may be, we shall strive to reaoh it. f To make each farmer who reads J.TIE tTlOQRESSIVE F ARMER a little better informed, a little more pro gressive and successful than his 'neighbor who does not read it ; to put into the life of each mother, wife, or housekeeper who reads it a little more sunshine than is in that of her neighbor who toils on with out it ; to make eaoh young man who grows up with it a little manlier, a I 1:111. l - i a , r-. UfetlO UlUiD li-lUliLi CU bU BO tit alter things of substantial worth and to avoid the falge and trashy, than his cousin who never imbibes its spirit ; to give eaoh girl or young woman who reads it a little higher estimate of the importance and influence of a eweet and simple womanly life ; to jgive each citizen who reads it a little more reverence for law and order, a little more of the spirit of tolerance and a little less of the spirit of preju dice ; and to make all that read it a little better acquainted with "what soever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, what soever things are of good report" -this is our ideal, and in working to--ward it we ask the support and oo- operation of all that think North Carolina needs such a paper. The answers to Mrs. F. L. Stevens ; tree oonundrums, published on page '4 of TnE Progressive Farmer of Feb.-4th, are -as follows : 1. Birch. 2. Palm. 3. Beeoh. 4 Spruce. 5. Ash. 6. Plum. 7. Chestnut. 8. Tulip. 9. Dogwood. 10. Fir. 11. Hawthorre. 12. "Old Hiokory." 13. Sole. 14 (H)elm. 15. Laurel. 16. Olive. . I THIS WEEK'S PAPER SOME BAND Oil COMHFNT. The bulletin on Johnson grass, re ferred to by our Washington corre spondent, will doubtless interest many of our readers, (o. page 8 we publish another notice of Prof. Soule's new bulletin, which we re gard as one of the most important recently issued by the government Get a paokage of 25 or 50 postal cards from your postmaster, and whenever you see a notice of a bulletin or a manufacturer's oatalogue that you wish, take out a postal and write for a copy. Harry Farmer furnishes some use f ul hints on Irish potato growing Next week he will tell of a few com mon mistakes in farm fertilizing Mr. Warren's letter, "Our Friends in Feathers " directs attention to the value of birds to agrioulture, upon whioh subject we had another artiole last week. We shall also give in our next issue an essay by an A. and M. College student on the re lation of sparrows to agrioulture We hope these articles will bring some of the unthinking to realize the folly of wholesale bird destruc tion. Within a few years we expeot to see cheese making rather extensively carried on in North Carolina. Prof. Connell, on page 1, desoribes how the work is done on a small scale. Director Bedding's paper on the home-mixing of fertilizers is plain and praotioal. The next artiole, "Dairying Pays," is short, but it oontains material enough to keep one thinking for a week. "The Elegy in a Country Churoh- yard" is universally recognized as one of the very greatest poems of the English language, and we make no apology for giving it two columns of our space. As Bacon tells us in his oft quoted sentence, some pieces of literature "are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." Gray's Elegy unquestionably belongs to the last named class ; and the "chewing and digesting" of it will be worth more to the average man than the reading of any hundred new poems that will appear this year. Last week the leading article on page 4 was of special interest to wo men ; this week's is addressed espe cially to young men, though all ages and both sexes, it seems to us, would find Ian Maclaren's artiole delightful and helpful reading. It crowds out "Our Social Chat," we are sorry to say, but that department will be the fuller next week. "Making Impressions on a Child" reminds us of what a well-equipped teachpr said to us last week: "I am almost afraid to teach, when I think of the responsibility of im planting my views and ideals in the minds of children when I think of what a wrong impressiop, or the failure to give a "right impression, on these plastic minds, may mean in the years to come !" The thought deserves the attention of our teach ers, many of whom, we are glad to know,read TnE Progressive Farmer We suppose that our gpod lady friends will say that a man and of all men, a young man should not have anything to say regarding wo man's affairs ; nevertheless, it seems to us that no other poem that we have published foi years ought to set a woman to thinking so hard as that one on "Fashion" on page 5. Isn't it worth pondering over that while every year on the frills and frownoes of fashion enough time and money and worry are wasted to build a pyramid or move a mountain, the flowers keep only a few beautiful, becoming patterns, yet never look odd or old-fashioned? Is there no lesson here? We are about ready to agree with the old doctor whose striking rebuke to one of the most foolish of habits is recorded in the artiole, "Reokless Drug Taking." We believe that hnndreds of our readers will do well o tke its teachings to heart. The new cabinet position, men tioned in the Outlook's article, may suit the commercial classes, but as a Labor Department it is a cowardly makeshift. There are many good points in Secretary Allison's letter, but we cannot pass unnoticed his reference to the farmer's dislike of his own occupation. There are farmers of that kind ; but they do not by any means represent the entire craft. It would really be of inestimably greater benefit to the people, and muoh more nearly iu aooord vith the principles of our government, to vote millions for good roads than as a gift to ship building corporations. So our Wake correspondent argues, and he is right. Tho Progressive Fanner, February 18. 1902. THE GOOD ROADS CONGRESS. Surprisingly successful was the Good Roads Congress held in Raleigh last week. The addresses were both inspiring and practical, the objeot lessons in road building striking, the attendance large, the enthusiasm marked. And as a result of this meeting we believe that two f aots and very im portant ones they are have been fixed in the minds of North Carolina people : t irst, that the good roads move ment and the good sohool movement are so united that together they will rise or fall, prosper or decline. Until we get better roads, a full attend ance of sohool children cannot be ex peoted ; and of what use is a long term unless the children attend? Second, without roads a steady de oline in population, wealth and in fluenoe oonfronts our rural districts ; on the other hand, with improved highways, farmers will get the ad vantages of oheaper transportation, farm lands will advance in value, the sooial life of the oountry will be improved, better schools and rural free mail delivery will be assured, and twentieth century improvements and advantages (that have not been able to get over the old, slow mud roads from the town to the country) will be carried to the rural districts. We must have better roads that is plain. But how? A larger prop erty tax for the purpose should be levied. We believe that the increase in value of farm lands alone would make the road tax a splendid finan oial investment for the farmer. And this increase in land values, of oourse, only represents the advan tages of cheaper transportation, better sooial conditions, etc. The Massachusetts plan of State and oounty aid has many good features. And of course our oonviots should be set to building roads Where necessary, bonds should be issued. Mind you, we do not approve of reokless bond issuing, but for such matters as better sohools and better roads, it is often wise. This is a new country, and the improvements that we are making are to help future generations as well as our own ; why then should they not help us in paying for the good sohool houses and the good roads that they are to use? National aid may be desirable, but we think it will be years before it is given. But these matters will be disoussed at greater length in future issues of The Progressive Farmer and we hasten nowto a report of the meet ing held here last week. the speeches. The address of Col. W. H. Moore at the opening of the Congress was the best of the session. He realized that the greaprc blem is, how to get the money. There are three ways of doing this, he said : (1) a general property tax, for good roads benefit everybody and enhance the value of all property .; (2) by issu ing bonds: (31 b7 State aid. as in V' N J Massachusetts where the State pays one-third, the oounty one -third, and the farmers whose lands abut on the road the remaining third of the cost of road improvement, or as in Massachusetts where the State pays 50 per cent, of the total oost, the oounty 35 per cent., the farmer 15 per cent. Our roads should be wider, he said, not less than 24 feet, and 32 feet is better. Col. Moore strongly urged burnt clay, or gumbo, as a surfaoe for country roads, "Why, with it, for $300 a mile," said he, 'you can have a road surface almost as good as macadam." A clipping from the Review of Reviews on this subject is published elsewhere in this issue. A new idea was introduced when Gen. M. C. Butler nrged national aid for good reads. Congress votes millions annually for the improve ment of rivers and harbors, for ex periment stations and agricultural colleges. It is just as constitutional, he argued, to vote money to build good roads, and tho people would be as greatly benefited as by the ex penditure of monoy for the other purposes just named. Capt. S. B. Alexander told in an interesting manner the history of the good roads movement in Meck lenburgof the unpopularity of the law just after its passage by the Legislature, because of the hatred of a small increase in tax ; the improve ment in farm conditions that silenced these opponents of the law ; the in crease in land values, and the pride that every Meoklenburg man now feels in the county's roads. Mr. T. B. Parker mno ! otvw M OBAVJUg oranmntit in hflhalf of tetter TOadS " as a help to the farmer. Our sohools nnrl chnrches would be greatly helped : the sooial life of the country would be improved. The saving that would result in the hauling of farm products and fertilizers would h astrmiahincr We shall publish later an extended, report of Mr. Par- lror's snfiPoH Two Doints were emDhasized in the . J T ninnvrra 1' VVlTlHtntl tho first that bad roads in this State nost onr neome ilO. 000.000 annually, but because it is an indirect tax tne .. . t -ot it -tVir than UDU UIO IJX OiDl IU LK J .wv-. r r t m. -nrt . fAw tmnrtrfid thonsand Der Tear for eood roads; seoond, that the bad condition of our highways, more than anv other one thing, is responsible for the too rapid drift of tr tnwn Tt JJ U1U 11UU 1. X Will SJ uu v. J WW follows naturally, therefore, if our abandoned farms are to be reolaimed, if farm TTinfia -a tr Ya i Ti nr ARHPfi or even maintained, we must have better roads. In the note from Fred R. Crane, an Illinois farmer, whioh we pub lish in another column, he says that the most potent argument in behalf rf hAttnr rnr1a in THinnl i that V m. W m WVW m,mmm -w - crnrvi rnarln utid mral fro dfiliverv of " mid la am inHonRrahlo tha farmer cannot enjoy the advantages of free mail deiiverv unless tne roaas are ..... . i - kept in good condition. It looks as if this fact is to aid the good roads movement in North Carolina also, for no speeoh in the Congress at tracted more attention than that of Superintendent A. W. Machen, of the rural free delivery service, re garding its relation to good roads. He related the history of rural free delivery and talked of its advantages, but these subjects are not new to Progressive Farmer readers. He did make it very plain, though, that ru al free delivery routes will not be maintained where the carriers must traverse neglected roads. Senator Simmons appeared unex peotedly, and made a good speeoh. His declaration that the State ought to take its convicts off the eastern fa a -r,t thm At wnrir nn thA nnhlin roads, was loudly applauded, x " In the afternoon, Dr. Charles D. Molver delivered a thoughtful speeoh, an outline of whioh will probably appear in next week's Pro gressive Farmer. the organization. The organization of the "North Carolina Good Roads Association was completed rnursaay evening. The offioers are as follows : President P. H. Hanes, of Win ston-Salem. Secretary J. A. Holmes, of Chapel Hill. Treasurer Jos. G Brown, of Ral eigh. The following district Vice-Presi dents were elected : First R. R. Cotton, Bruoe. Seoond W. R Cox, Penolo. Third William Dunn, Newborn. Fourth Dr. R. H. Lewis, Raleigh. Fifth A. W. Graham, Oxford. Sixth Capt. A. B. Williams, Fayetteville. Seventh Robert N. Page, Bisooe. Eighth Theo.F. Kluttz, Salisbury. Ninth Capt. S. B. Alexander, Charlotte. Tenth George S. Powell, Ashe- ville. The Exeoutive Committee consists of the President, Secretary, Treas urer, and tho following other gentle men: Messrs. S. L. Patterson, of Raleigh, A. W. Graham, of Oxford, W. A. Riddiok, of Raleigh, and Paul Garrett of Weldon. the resolutions. The following six resolutions in regard to good roads work may be taken as the platform of the Associa tion at this time : "Resolved 1, That we endorse the work of the office of Publio Road In quiries of the United States Depart ment of Agrioulture, for the better ment of the publio highways of the oountry, and that we believe that this offi.ee should be enlarged into a bureau of the Department of Agri oulture with sufficient appropriation at its disposal to extend its work. and that we especially urge the Senators and Representatives of North Carolina in Congress to vote for the appropriation for this nffino a8ked forthU year by the Secretary of Agriculture. "2. That we believe that it is just as important that the National Gov ernment assist in the improvement of the common highways and post roads of the oountry as it is for it to care for the rivers and harbors ; and we therefore favor Federal appro- priations for highway construction suoh appriations to be distributed among the States and to be expended . . Only wuoro tucre ib a otato I . . 1 x XI A. priation equai to ine amount appuir tioned by the uenerai ttovernmem; "3. mat tnis convention nereoy I . . . m a 9 heartily endorse me me worx oi me National Good Roads Association in organizing, and oommend its plan of organization ot Dranon ABsooiawons in each State, Territory and oounty for thorough oo-operave action un der a systematized plan I tit mi x M A a 4 Trrtfo to "4. lUUb WH 1 II V UX null auuwww the enaotment of legislation provid ing for the office of Highway tom I . :m vr x- II . 3 ' 4- V. f missioner ornonu rouaa, annual aDDrorjriation of sumoient I i , . ,i x na x J n iunas to enapie inai uiuuo w give proper supervision to road improve ments in the State. "5. That this Convention reoom mends-that the General Assembly of North Carolina make provision for giving instruction in road building at both the State University and the Aeriouiturai ana lYieoiiamuai KjUI- lege. "6. That this Convention urges a more extended use of convict labor in road building in North Carolina, and respectfully asks the General Assembly of this State to adopt a 8VSt6m. WHICH Will provide IOr IU6 t mf g employment of all its able-bodied : - . male convlots eitner in aotuai worK on the publio roads or in the prepa I xi - x iu rawuii ui iumBrmiB tuwoiui. The action ot the Republican cau cus seems to mean certain death for the Crumpaoker bill. Its adoption would mean the loss of three Con gressmen to North Carolina mak ing our representation in the next House seven instead of ten. PASSAGE OF THE ANTI-OLEOMARGARINE BILL. We learn with muoh pleasure that the anti-oleomargarine bill passed the House last week by the decisive vote of 162 to 118. But out friend, the Raleigh Post, surprises us by speaking of the matter in this wise : (tTV. "Kill U1. it xUD u1DU1U0x6axxUD um-au 11 Baoum Deuu a mw W1" uo sly hrtfal to the farmers of the South, passed the House by a good majority." I . xx e x xi t ; 11 l j A a matter oi laoi, tne om wouiu iaimD1 c" oun and, it we are not mistaken, the Post itself expressed that opin ion after a study of the matter two years ago. we wisn tne editor or the Post would go out to the A. and M. College some day and see the good work of the two or three score young men and one young lady, who are taking the splendid dairying oourse at the institution, and are going out into different sections of North Carolina to begin the develop ment of oommeroial dairying to which our State is so admirably adapted an industry that means millions annually to Northern agri oulture and would mean millions tot North Carolina, if properly devel oped. Dr. Burkett argues, as Prof. Frank E. Emery also insisted, that in North Carolina no phase of farm work offers better opportunities to young men than dairying, just as Secretary of Agriculture Wilson, we believe, asserts, and as Commissioner Patterson believes. More than that, the people them selves see it, as is attested by Dr. Bnrkett's dairy class, representing three generations and both sexes. If we can only keep oleo. from masquer ading under false colors and that is all this anti oleomargarine bill pro poses: no tax on oleo. sold for what it is and in its natural color, a tax only on that colored to deceive, to imitate butter if we can only keep this fraud out of sheep's clothing. we say, the dairying and oheese- making industries of North Carolina will prosper wonderfully, and add muoh wealth to our State. Nor will this anti-oleomargarine bill decrease the prioe of cotton seed. Less than five per cent, of the com position of oleomargarine is cotton seed oil ; we believe that a greater proportion of ootton seed products are now used in dairy herds in the production of a pound of butter than is used in the oleo. factories to produce a pound of that stuff. Let us push forward dairying in North Carolina All honor to our far-sighted Representatives, Pou. 'tl' v j cuu x vjm. cuo UllJ. feu Li Lib iJltJU CJU lbs own merits I May our two Senators follow their example ! It will be a month or more before we can fill further orders for copies of Bailey's "Principles of Agricul ture" or Voorhees' Fertilizers." The edition has been exhausted, but the publishers are now printing a fresh supply, which will soon be ready. - 3 FOB THE IHPE0VEME1TT SCHOOLS. COUNTS Another meeting, hardly less note worthy than the Good Roads Con gress, was held in Raleigh last week It was a conference of the mojj prominent educators of our State representing nearly- all-our best', known sohools, as is shown by the list of names appended to the ad. dress with which we conolude thij article. The meeting was largely attended, and characterized by the same spirit of determination that marks the appeal that was issued, We believe that the organization of this "Central Campaign Committee for the Promotion of Publio Educa. tion in North Carolina" is to doj great work for our State. A fund of $4,000 to defray its expenses hag been seoured. Its executive commit, tee consists of Gov. Aycock, Gen, Toon and Dr. Mclver. The interest felt by press and pulpit in the cause of publio education is to be guided systematically, in the hope of secnr ing practioal results. Our space being limited this week we shall not say more at this time, The address speaks for itself, and ig as follows : a ringing address on common schooJ PROBLEMS. Profoundly convinced of the pro. phetio wisdom of the declaration of the fathers, made at Halifax in 177g( that "Religion, morality, and knowl- edge being necessary to good govern. ment, sohools andv the means of edu cation shall forever be enoouraged ;" and cognizant of the full meaning of that reoent constitutional enaotment which debars from the privilege oi the suffrage, after 1908, all persons . A , mm wno cannot read and write ; ana re lying on the patriotism and foresight of North Carolinians to deal with it great question whioh vitally conl cerns tne material and social wel-1 fare of themselves and their poster- i ity, we, in an educational oonferenoe j assembled in the city of Raleieh. I this February 13, 1902, are moved to make the following declaration of educational, faots and principles: 1. To-day, more fully than at any other time in our past history, do North Carolinians recognize the overshadowing necessity ojinWexeal education in the solution of those problems whioh a free government must solve in perpetuating its ex istence. 2. No free government has ever found any adequate means of uni versal education, except free publio sohools, open to all, supported by the taxes of all its oitizens, where every ohild regardless of condition in life or circumstances of fortune, may receive that opportunity for training into social service which the consti tutions of this and other great Statei and the age demand. I 3. We realize that our State hail reached the constitutional limit of I taxation for the rural schools, that she has made extra appropriations to lengthen the term of these sohool! to 80 dayfe in the year. We realize, too, that the four months' term norj provided is inadequate, for tha rea-1 son that more than 14,000,000 .chil dren of sohool age in the United States outside of North Carolina are now provided an average of 145 days of sohool out of every 365 ; that the teachers of these children are paid an average salary of $48 per month ; while the teachers of the children of North Carolina are paid hardly $25 per month, thus seduring for all the children of our sister States more m efficient training for the duties ot life. And we further realize that for every man, woman and child of its population, the oountry at large is spending $2 83 for the education of its ohildren, while North Carolina tf spending barel 67 cents ; that the country at large is spending on & average of $20 29 for every pupil en rolled in its pnblio sohools, while North Carolina i3 spendin s only $3 or $4, the smallest amount expended by any State in the Union ; that the average amount spent for the educa tion of every ohild of sohool age io the United States is approximately $9.50, 9hile North Carolina is spend ing $1.78. These faots should cause our pride and our patriotism, and lead us inquire whether the future will hold this generation responsible for the perpetuation of conditions that have resulted in the multiplicity of small school districts, inferior school houses, poorly paid teaoherSj ftd neoessarily poor teaching ; that have resulted in 20 white illiterates oat of every 100 white population over 10 id years of age, in generally poor a poorly paid supervision of the ex penditure of our meagre sohool fo0 and of the teaching done in ottf I 13 ; !,: TV

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view