5?
THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OP OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL 0IHE2 COEXDSRAHOrB 0? STATE POLICY.
"' mi MM II I I I f
Vol. 1 . Raleigh, IT. 0., Harch 4, 1902.
i i i i i
Agriculture.
HASET FABMEE'S TALES.
LXIII.
Correspondence of The Frogreaalve Farmer.
On the fame trip that we men
tioned in our last talk we saw sev
eral large piles of compost soattered
over the field.
THIS COMPOST
was made with stable manure, ditch
bank, kainit and acid phosphate. As
this farmer does not grow anything
but regular field crop?, like cotton,
corn, etc., he certainly does a vast
deal of hard work for little profit.
The fame materials scattered along
in a furrow a few weeks before plant
ing would give the fame results and
gave the heavy work of loading and
hauling the materials used in the
compost. If a farmer wishes to get
the benefit of the manure, etc, for
pushing an early crop like Irish po
tatoes or other truck, it might pay
to go to the expense of composting,
but for crops that grow all the sum
mer, such as corn, cotton, sweet po
tatoes, it is a useless expenditure of
labor.
We have a piece of land that we
want to plant inUte potatoes (sweet)
tat it dre not contain so much
HUMC8 OR VEGETABLE MATTER
ii we desire, and as it does not need
gnj nitrogen, we are going to sow it
in spring oat and expect to get a
heavy crop. This land was in corn
And peas last year. The peas were
waist deep and the corn made a
heavy crop. So by sowing the oats
we will put a plenty of humus in the
soil and will use a little commercial
fertilizer and expeot a heavy crop
cf potatoes.
A SAVING OF TIME AND MONEY.
This is much easier done than go
ing in the woods and raking up a lot
of leaves, straw, eto., and hauling
ind scattering over the land. The
roots and stubble of the oats will be
nicely mixed with the soil, far better
than we can do it with the plow, and
the crop of oats will cost us nothing
but the seed, plowing in and har
vesting, and then be out of our way
in time to plant the potato cuttings.
We believe there are many farmers
that oan do this very thing this
ipring and summer, and when they
have gotten two good crops with the
labor that is usually put on the
potato crop, they will wonder why
they have not dene it before.
When hay and other feed is so
high, let us do our best and see if
e can't get some cf th it money that
ill te paid for this feed.
Eave you some nice dry land on
wbich you can
PLANT SOME EARLY CORN
ni m&fce a crop to be gathered early
to the summer, so that yon oan fur
bish that neighbor in nice new meal?
Be will be glad to get it. You can
aori to undersell the merchants a
lltt
a and get all this trade. A great
&&ny are predicting $1 50 corn next
!ntner. If this is true, you oan
ell afford to sell at $1.35. Some
ocewiii my that if everybody does
the market will be glutted. Bless
7or lue, you nted not be afraid;
( o&e farmers will not think about it
at:! . ev ee whut you have done.
Thev .. ill trvr it TirTt TT-ftAr Rffcnr "vnTl
iavo -
to? i
. .irned the cream; they will
t a little cream themselves
have the money in your
the butter. It is such
poc'kf-t
n .-.
tp-rtanities as these that make
nanny i.t n succeed and get ahead in
fc c "iitry.
Harry Farmer.
us Co., N. U.
TV- f
tilizia
r.ner should not only save
and straw for feed and fer
r rposea, but he should care-
his soil trotn wasteiui
i cultivation and removing
- hile returning nothing.
the farmers' bank, but if
: dly draws on his resouroes
-nothing, the bank will
1 the farmer will be a
There are plenty of
'nks of this sort in every
thr country. But they can
cm::.
Th
I(ir I,
management, but it were
ttl'F til hftVR TTnci rrnA V am art
rr nd9r this expensive process
fie:aary. Farm and Ranch.
PITT COTJUTT FAB21 HOTES.
Correapondence of The Progressive Farmer.
The farmers are behind with their
crops. Laborers are soarce and I
fear too muoh tobaooo will be planted,
but I have not muoh fear that too
muoh good tobaooo will be made.
The more planted the more common
or low grade made, but less fine to
baooo. More attention will be paid to corn
than usual. Corn is scarce here.
Less cotton will be planted in this
vicinity, but more cotton seed have
been sold this year than were sold in
five other years oombined, the East
Carolina Railroad from Tarboro to
Farmville being the oause.
We do not need good roads as badly
as the middle seotion of the State.
Still a great improvement might be
made in our roads at a comparatively
small cost. A. J. M.
Pitt Co., N. C.
UUILFOBD FARM NOTES.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
Having inquired of many of our
farmers as to the oondition of wheat
and oats, I learn that some wheat
crops are yet in good oondition ; some
crops have not oome up so as to tell
the real oondition ; some orops seem
to be an entire failure. So also with
oat crops. Some sowed late to avoid
the fly in wheat and as they tried to
avoid one danger they ran into a
worse. Late sowed clover is a com
plete loss.
It is getting to be common for
some farmers in these parts when
done sowing wheat to haul out all
his manure and scatter over his
wheat on top and find the results
good in many ways. He will then
sow peas after the wheat is taken
off, so he gets the full benefit of
manure.
Stook are in fair oondition. Sheep
are soarce but in fair plight for com
mon stook.
Farmers are not making muoh
headway in the preparation of land ;
work on ditches and brier hedges is
put off till spring.
To farm properly there is no time
to lose. Just now all mucks and
anything that will make manure
oould be brought to the compost
heap at any time, where it may be
thrown in stalls where wanted.
My cabbage and lettuce have stood
the cold fairly well. Spinaoh is fine ;
winter mustard holds well. Of
onions planted in August, some
killed, tops frosted.
We have a new comer who says he
wants to put out thirty thousand
cabbage this spring. He has muoh
experience in cabbage growing. This
is something new in this seotion. We
are glad to have suoh men oome that
are well informed in their business.
R. R. Moore.
Guilford Co., N. C.
ENCOURAGING FARM CONDITIONS IN
DURHAM COUNTY.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
The oondition of the farmers of
Durham county has very much im
proved for the last five years. A
great many debts have been paid,
while their homes, stook and farms
have also taken on a new life. More
of their sons and daughters are in
the high sohools and colleges. Soci
ety is also improving.
This gratifying condition is partly
due to the neoessary economy during
the hard years whioh preoeded, and
partly due to the fact that we have a
better market. The growth of Dur
ham, the great number of employees
in her many factories, has created a
demand for almost anything we
raise. This has Degotten a spirit oi
diversity in farming whioh cannot
but be helpful in a large degree.
Last year was a failure with our
staple crops. All feed stuffs are high,
but the farmers are braoing against
this by hauling wood during the
winter and are already sowing seed
for early vegetables in spring. Irish
potatoes and table corn will be
largely planted ; also sweet potatoes
and turnips for fall market. So that
the wide-awake farmers in Durham
county can about meet family ex
penses without touching the main
crop. Pleas. H. Massey.
Durham Co., N. C.
FEEDING VALUE OF CITRONS.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
Soma time ago I wrote our Experi
ment Station in regard to the feeding
value of oitrons and reoeived the f ol
lowing reply :
"Your postal in regard to the feed
ing value of oitrons is received. We
do not know of any experiments
along this line and do not have any
analyses of citrons. For this reason
it is not possible for us to say defl
nitely what the feeding value would
be. I think, 'however, you would
not be far wrong in assigning to
them, practically the feeding value
of pumpkins, and if stook like them,
as you state, they should be quite
serviceable and benefloial as feed."
These oitrons, largely used for pre
serving, are very prolific; cn rioh
ground as many as 20 melons are
some times found on one vine. If
the tough rind is broken open, hogs
eat them with avidity. I should
like to know if Harry Farmer or any
other Progressive Farmer reader
can give me any information as
to theft value. S. P. M.
Chatham Co., N. C.
LEGUMINOUS MEADOWS.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
It has been known for centuries
that a crop of clover, alfalfa or other
legume improves the soil for a wheat,
corn or root crop. It has only re
cently ben discovered how the
legume improves the soil. It does
so by adding to the soil nitrogen,
taken from the atmosphere. Grasses,
grain plants and root crops generally
depend upon the soil for their en
tire supply of food. These add
nothing of muoh value so the soil
whioh they did not take from it be
fore. But legumes, while depending
upon the soil for lime, phosphoric
aoid and potash, take nitrogen in
large quantities from the atmosphere.
When the roots, leaves or stems of
legumes decay in the soil, or are re
turned to the soil in . the form of
stable manure or animals' droppings,
the nitrogen is given up to the soil
in the form of ammonia. Exact ex
periments have shown that one aore
of alfalfa can in one year's growth
draw down from the atmosphere
$161 worth of nitrogen. That is to
say, as muoh nitrogen as $161 would
buy in the form of nitrate of soda.
The oow pea will, c uring four months'
growth, draw down nitrogen which
would cost to buy over $50. Red olover
soy bean, vetohes and other legumes
act in the same way. The manurial
value of legumes is in addition to
their feeding, value. By plowing
under the entire growth of a legu
minous crop we return at once all
the mineral foodlime, phosphoric
acid and potash whioh the plant
absorbed from the soil. We add in
addition to this the nitrogen whioh
the legume took from the air. This
may be worth $50. Bui we lose the
feeding value of the crop whioh for
four tons of good clover or oow pea
hay is about $50.
If instead of plowing under the
entire growth we feed it and return
the droppings of the animals, whioh
ate the hay, we get baok in the drop
pings about four-fifths of the plant
food contained in the hay. By com
bining the feeding and fertilizing
value we may under the theoretically
most favorable circumstances make
every aore of clover, cow peas or
altalfa pay from $100 to $200 an
nually. This may appear over stated,
but it is not.
In other words, if we had to buy
the feed and the fertilizer at market
price, we would have to pay for
the sums just needed. In praotioe a
farmer may waste the feeding value
of the crop upon animals whioh
neither grow nor fatten ; and waste
the fertilizer by allowing it to leaoh
into some stream or pond. But this
is not the fault of the theory. The
best farmer is he who in practice
most nearly obtains the theoretical
value of his orops.
Legumes add largely to the value
of the land upon whioh they grow and
at the same time yield a great deal of
valuable and . nutritious forage.
Grasses and grains add nothing to
the soil upon which they grow. The
forage they yield is less valuable and
nutritious than that of legumes. It
is, therefore, oertain and reasonable
that it is better and more profitable
for the land owner to grow legumes
than grasses or grains. Grains must,
however, be grown for human con
sumption because the public taste
and oustom demands them. But
there is no reason why grass, hay,
oats and other animal foods should
not be wholly replaced by legumes.
There are many reasons why this
should not be done. There is no
reason but the foroe of habit why
farmers should continue at a loss to
lay down land to grass when a large
profit can be made from legume
meadows and pastures.
It must always be remembered that
though legumes oan draw abundanoe
of nitrogen from the atmosphere,
they depend wholly upon the soil
for their mineral food lime, phos
phorio acid and potash. Without
plenty of mineral food the plants
will be unable to draw to their full
est capacity upon the atmospherio
nitrogen. The exaot amount of min
eral food neoessary to supply any
particular leguminous orop upon any
partioular field oan be determined
only by special trials upon the field
and crop in question. These trials are
best done by means of trial plots of
1-10 acre eaoh. The three mineral
foods above named oan be tried upon
these plots alone and in various com
binations until the most profitable
combination is discovered.
In praotice, however, we should
not be particular about the lower
limit of plant food. The best rule is
to give the plants more mineral food
than they can assimilate and to re
peat the dose every year. The ex
Coss fertilizer is not lost but remains
stored up in the soil. When after a
number of years the leguminous turf
is broken up and grain or roots
grown on the field all the plant food
stored in the soil by previous fertili
zation will be recovered in the new
crops. Mineral plant food is com
paratively oheap. Lime oosts about
$5 per ton. Phosphorio acid as super
phosphate about $12 per ton. Pot
ash as muriate of potash about $45
per ton.
A good general formula for all
legumes is given below, but this is
to be inoreased as many times as
tons of the legumes are expected.
In other words, the food given is
sufficient for one ton of growth only.
Muriate of potash 80 pounds.
Superphosphat e 100 "
Lime 75 "
Gerald MoCarthy, M. S.
Wake Co., N. C
TAKING SEED CORN SOUTH.
A correspondent of Southern Iowa
asks whether it will do to take seed
corn from that looality two hundred
miles further South.
Why not? The people of Texas
have for years depended largely cn
Iowa grown seed corn. The larger
and later varieties, however, should
be taken in order to be given the full
benefit of the long season. Corn
naturally adapts itself at first to the
length of the seagon where grown ;
henoe, only the earlier varieties of
corn should be moved from the
South to the North and only the
later varieties from the North to the
South, unless it is desirable for some
partioular reason to secure an ab
normally early ripening, in whioh
oase the earlier Northern varieties
may be used. For example, Sibley's
Pride of the North, or some other
very early variety, might be grown
this year where the objeot is to get
early oorn for feeding pigs.
If the varieties that mature in the
latitude of Southern Kansas and
Missouri are bi ought North say into
Northern Iowa or Minnesota, they
would not ripen before frost. They
would- calouiate on a longer season
and would be disappointed. If, how
ever, some of the ears should be
pulled .off before ripening, but still
mature enough to produce seed, and
this kept up for two or three years,
they would adapt themselves to the
new climate. In fact, oorn brought
from tie South to the North never
does as well the first year as it does
a year or two afterwards, it neeas
Bnmfl time to ad ant itself to the new
conditions and, so to speak, feel at
home. Wallace (Iowa) Farmer.
THE PESJfNNIAL QUESTION OF FERTIL
IZING. Dr. J. B. Hunnioutt, of Georgia,
who occasionally contributes to the
agricultural department of The Pro
gressive Farmer, has a very timely
artiole, and a thoughtful one as well,
in the ourrent issue of the Southern
Cultivator on the question of fertil
izers for the farm. We quote :
Very muoh has been written and
spoken upon this subject, but the
annual return of the season for plant
ing brings up the subject again. So
very few of those who write upon
the subjeot seem to understand
dearly what is desired and how it
oan be gained, shows that muoh con
fusion of ideas still exists.
Nearly every one writes as if the
objeot was to change the soil power
of production by the use of ohemio
ally prepared mixtures, oalled guanos,
fertilizers, aoids and so on. This is
a total misapprehension of the basis
of the whole business, and has led to
all sorts of mistakes.
Manures from animals or decaying
vegetation da enrioh the soil. They
inorease its productive power more
or less permanently. This is not the
case with oommeroial fertilizers as
generally prepared and sold. They
are made with direot reference to
feeding plants. They are used in the
soil beoause we cannot feed plants
direot.
Plants take all their food from the
soil. They take it in through the
little spongiole rootlets after it has
been dissolved and prepared by the
soil.
Henoe we first prepare some artiole
of plant food so that it will dissolve
in water. We then put this prepara
tion in the soil and the soil feeds it
to the plant, after working it over
and separating the useful from the
useless and hurtful.
we fertilize crops, not soils.
We get hundreds of inquiries what
fertilizers, and hew to use them on
suoh and suoh soils. The writers
evidently think the soil is the thing
to be studied.
If a piece of land has a hardpan
and the water cannot oiroulate
through it, the owner wishes to
know what kind of fertilizer he must
use. If a piece of land is water
soaked beoause the subsoil is too
hard for the water to drain away, he
at once wishes to know what sort of
fertilizer to use. If his land has
been skim-plowed and leaohed until
all the fine partioles are gone and
the sand is left, he wishes to know
what kind of fertilizer to use. If
bad management has destroyed the
humus, he wants to know what fer
tilizer to use.
The idea prevails that if we just
knew the right kind of fertilizer to
get we oould remedy all the defeats
of our soil and the errors of our
fathers.
Now what we really want to do is
to study intelligently the needs of
the orop we are going to plant and
fertilize the orop, not the soil.
THE MECHANICAL OONDITION OF THE
SOIL.
To farm successfully we need to
get our soil in good mechanioal oon
dition. This is the great essential
point with all soils, whether red or
gray, upland or bottom, clay or
sandy. The soil to make a good
root-bed and water supply must be
deep and fine. The deeper and finer,
the better. We insist that this is
the foundation of all real success in
farming. This will require deep
breaking when dry, often harrowing,
mixing in much vegetable matter,
level oulture, heavy manuring with
animal and vegetable manures, and
suoh like.
When you get your soil deep and
fine, and filled with vegetable mat
ter, then you are ready to take up
the fertilizer question.
God has so created and preserved
the earth that praotioally all soils
will make good crops when put in
good condition.
THE NEED FOR FERTILIZERS IS EVIDENCE
OF OUR ERRORS.
Bad farming has created the need
for fertilizers. They are not essential.
They are artificial wants Our lands
need fertilizers to help the crops be
oause we have misused the land. The
washed hill sides need help beoause
they have been plowed shallow and
plowed when wet. Now plowwheia
dry and stop the washing. They ar&
lacking in humus because we have
burned up or hauled off the vegetable
matter. Change your plan, quit,
burning and haul vegetable mattar
on and you will soon have humus.
Bad management has destroyed the
normal amount of nitrogen. Grow
peas, beans, and clover and oow ma
nure and restore the nitrogen.
The potash and phosphorio acid
are already there ; make them soluble
by good oulture and your soil will b&
ready to make crops.
WHERE FERTILIZERS PAY.
Fertilizers do not pay on very poor
land with two inohes of soil. Suoh
soil does not furnish sufficient root
bed or water. They pay upon deep
soils with plenty of water to grow &
plenty of stalk. They pay whan
used to inorease the yield of fruit
upon the crop, if the right kind and
quantity is used. But when cotton
needs phosphorio aoid to mature the
seed and lint it does not pay to feed
the ootton with nitrogen. When
oorn needs phosphorio acid to fill out
and mature the grain, it does not
pay to feed it with a oomplete fer
tilizer. When there is plenty of phosphorio
aoid in the soil whioh has been made
available, by good preparation and
oulture, it is wasting money to buv
and use more phosphate upon that
crop.
We wish to impress the idea that
it is the nrevions trAfltmont n
present mechanical oondition of the
soil that decides what kind and how
muoh fertilizers will pa;?.
It is at last more a question of
work than buying fertilizers. Ifyon
have grown a orop of olover or peas
or beans on a piece of land you do
not need to buy nitrogen to put on.
the crop that follows.
Fertilizer s pay on good land whiofr
is able to make good crops without
them, rather than on poor land, just
as extra food fed to fat and growing
cattle or pigs pays better than when
fed to stunted and lousy ones.
Consider the oondition and strength
of your land and the wants of the
orop you wish to grow and you oan
oome at what fertilizer ingredients
to use.
Set, printed formulas are useful
only as guides but must not be fol
lowed too closely.
Poor lands had better be put in
grass or peas or both, and plowed
deeply until they are in good oondi
tion before you waste fertilizers oru.
them.
HOW TO USE.
We insist on farmers buying t&a
material and mixing for themselves
beoause it eaves money and gives
better results. There is no secret
about mixing. Indeed the mixing is
only a convenience in distributing.
They would do just as well sown
separately. But it saves time to sew
all at once. Stir well together with
shovel and hoe.
We say sow, because it pays better
to use fertilizers broadcast. The
plants get more of them.
Put the old worn lands in grass.
Cultivate only the fields that will
pay. Then fertilize the crop if you.
wish. In this way you will save ex
penses and increase profits.
But it is better to grow cattle, save
manure, and make your farm rich,
and be independent.
Simply as guides, we suggest for
ordinary fair soils, in good oondU
tiun, about the following :
FOR CORN.
Cotton seed meal 20Q lbs.
Acid phosphate 1600 "
Kainit 200 "
Use from 200 to 1,000 lbs.
FOR COTTON.
Cotton seed meal 200 lbs.
Acid phosphate 1400 "
Kainit 300 "
Use from 200 to 800 lbs.
FOR POTATOES, MELONS, ETO.
Cotton seed meal 6C0 lbs.
Acid phosphate 1,000 "
Kainit 400
Use from 600 to 2,000 lbs.
FOR SMALL GRAIN, GRASSES, ETC.
Cottonseed meal 800 lbs.
Aoid phosphate 1,000 "
Kainit 200 "
Uee from 200 to 600 lbs.
On any and all crops nitrate of
soda and land plaster pay well as top-dressings.