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TIE IKDUSTEIAL AID ELUCATIOHAL ISIOESIB 0? CUE KDHH PAHAHCUH? TO ALL C7
fol. 1?
Raleigh, IT. C, April 1, 1902.
Bo. 8
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Agriculture.
ITSI50, PACKING AND SHIPPING
Timely Article by Prof Irby , Formerly
Wricultoriit of the North Carolina Ex-
rimeat Static.
. -n.r Ti a Pwumuilva lPrmT.
05". ,l. n.TrilArrA -.f oil rf nnr
faraiers to have an abundance cf
melons of good quality . Many
jjy to raise melons with no work or
,?best melons can be raised on
jijwndy lands, and by fertilizing
tfl they can be grown to perfeo
ton even on the very thin lands.
Tar off the rows ten feet each way
isd dig out at the intersections about
15 to IS inches. Js ill this witn wen
stted manure, pine straw or woods
f inld. Pat a good Handful oi oom
TPTcial fertilizer on this manure.
Pnll the soil on this fertilizer and
manure, making a good broad hill,
not too high, but about sixinohes in
height and too feet across. Thus it
will be seen that the surfaoe is aoous
iix inches from the manure and
then the seeds are put in two to
tree inches deep, that they will be
ibout three inches above the fertili-
Ci The seeds will sprout and grow
rigorously at first from what
tetter have in the seeds, and by
ttze the roots need extra food
fcjliave reaohed down to the fer
Caer. This preparation should be
siis at least a week before the seeds
replanted, and the seeds should be
listed just before the last frost is
ipected. I say btore the last frost
nrder that they may come up just
Mr t Vi o frrvftt.
I h Central North Carolina the last
.rsfc comes on an average about the
ltd April. A good plan is to re-
Ip plariing for market the first of
an-lant on the South side of
iS week later plant again on north
fia regardless of the condition of
ie first planting, and then one week
iter plant again. In this way you
lis advantage of the oldest and best
jets. Suppose the seed planted
ipril 1st should germinate April 7th
id you should plant again on that
r. If there comes no more frost,
tea you are all right and have only
s destroy the extra plants ; but if a
I suuuiU uuuto aiii ivtu tucu
t first planting will be destroyed,
kUheseoond planting has been in
ti ground three days and are of
sctrse three days ahead of what
be planted on that day. This
Pa should be followed when the
fc&xs are grown for market as a
ie ta-s sooner or later will determ-
ttaier the crop will pay a hand-
lis
fete can be protected with a
piece cf bark, pine straw, or
I n.Vv l i . .i i
'i in large turnips soooped
the turnips set out in the
vrhca frost is no longer ex
The early melons are the
ft&t I ring the fancy prices.
' grDxn for family use, a few
'"slater makes no difference.
grown f or shipping, they should
c a t ngh, thick -rind variety,
lM the Kolb Gem, Jones or the
;-pa. Pall about two days
fir thfm vou would for home use,
-ey 'will ripen some on the road.
, careful not to bruise in the
jH&n l t urefully pack in the cars.
easier to show any one how to
;!f 11 cr han it is to tell them. It
, Curing tnVm nnrk vnn Iiava tr
j,' D7 actual experience
How
iU make a few suggestions.
tVae !raw, or wheat straw into
tJk-.ut 12 inches deep. Com-
3e7 tii0 en(s Rnd paok to the
" u a ? car. First put down a
er rf
a Ci?ef ul that there is no play be
5 i vHt melon and the wall.
f. tch these as nearly as pos-
-H, xt nut a row on ton of
- -
t,. f.-:iinst tho waII and thn
i;tjr 'tr tlQri top on the seoond
lors are reached with
, rs. 'fho melons should have
. oiint eanh ntVio. .11
JJj y . " iuvx LUO Wail.
otiJ ends are packed to the
doors then nail plank across the
doors three feet high. Paok in this
square space as compaotly as possible
and as near on the plan of the rest
as possible and the work is finished.
Sell on the side track if possible,
as there is no telling what the car
of melons will bring after they leave
you; for often you are called on to
help pay the freight. Be sure you
know the man you ship to, as there
is more rasoality perpetrated by
commission merchants of fruits and
vegetables than any other. Sell on
the side track for $75 rather than
risk getting $100 per oar by shipping
yourself.
For looal markets you can be gov
erned by ciroumBtanoes and sell
wholesale or retail them from the
wagon. Remember an early crop,
or a very late orop, is the one that
pays best. Benjamin Irby.
BEAUFORT COTJHTY FABM HOTES.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
Farmers in these parts, the central
and eastern portions of Beaufort
County, are right muoh behind with
their work on account of unfavorable
weather. Hence the hitherto early
orops will be later than usual this
season. The acreage in Irish pota
toes, however, will be fully as large,
if not larger than it was last year.
The signs of the times indioate
that our planters this year will
diversify their crops even more than
usual. Preparations are being made
to cultivate some of nearly every
thing adapted to our soil and olimate.
Tobacco is one of the exceptions ; I
hear of no one here who aims to cul
tivate she weed.
Several years ago there were many
of our people driven to the wall by
depending entirely on their cotton
crops for all their supplies. Since
then there has been a change for the
better. There is now no farmer,
large or small, known to the writer,
in the county, who does not make it
a point to raise most of his supplies
at home. Everybody now, more or
less, diversifies his crops with corn,
cow peas, oats, grass, Irish potatoes,
sweet potatoes, cotton, etc. Cotton
has not been king with us for some
time.
The most fertile and productive
land in our county is a large area of
swamp containing several thousands
of acres known as South Creek Poco
sin. Quite a large acreage of this
land has been held for many years
by wealthy owners for speculative
purposes, the terms of sale being
such as to render the farmer unable
to buy. Two traots of the lands
thus held have been sold to other
speculators within the last two years.
These have recently been divided up
into plats of suitable size for farms
and are now being sold to farmers on
long time, but at high figures. Some
tfyenkyftve or thirty of these plats
have already been sold to the work
ing men, and though the price of the
unsold portion is rapidly advanoing,
nearly doubling in less than a year,
there are still buyers to be found.
Of course, the speculators will realize
by far the greater profit out of the
transaction, and some of the buyers
(farmers) will probably go under"
in the end, for it is certain that the
situations places them largely on the
tender mercies of the parties of the
first part the speculators. This
condition, however, is better and
more hopeful for the future than it
would have been for all this produc
tiveness and richness to be entirely
lost to the oounty. Every stroke of
well direoted labor on this land means
increased production and the general
enhancement of property in this
section.
Our public roads are perhaps bet
ter than the roads in some parts of
the State, but they are not so good
as they ought to be, and might be
greatly improved at a comparatively
small oost. Clod hopper.
Beaufort Co , N C.
DuDlin Journal: Onions are the
leading article of perishable stuff
now being shipped to the .Northern
markets. There ha been quite a de
mand for them this season, and from
the hundreds of packages that have
Kaon trunannr tfld to the cities of late.
we must believe they are highly per
HAEET FAEHEX'S TALES.
LXVII.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
The boys will want to go fishing
occasionally nowadays. Let them
go; it will do them good. All
work and no play makes Jack a dull
boy. Some times it is a good idea to
assign a task to be done at or by a
certain time, and when it is done, let
the boys have any extra time they
may have gained. We liked fishing
when a boy and used to do our best
in order to get through a oertain job
in time to go fishing. We have
spent all day along the banks of a
cieek, wading through the mud and
water, doing without dinner and go
ing home late in the afternoon with
about two cents' worth of fish, and
far more weary than if we had
plowed all day ; at other times we
would have more suooess and oatoh
enough for a good "mess."
A day off from home will do any
farmer good. It will help him by
taking his mind off of his work and
he can take hold next day with
greater courage. Many farmers
stiok too olosely to work. It will
help them to see what others are do
ing, and make life more pleasant.
How often have we enjoyed a pionio,
a fish fry or a ohuroh meeting,where
we could meet our old friends and
neighbors ! Some times men waste
too much of their time this way, but
such cases are exceptions.
The Sunny South oolony at Chad
bourn, this oounty, have adopted the
stook law by a good majority. They
claim that it is necessary to keep
stook confined, and think it too
oostly to fence their stook in and
have to fence their neighbors' out.
We are glad to know this, as our
people can see how it works before
it becomes the law of the whole
State, whioh will only be a few years
at least.
We are glad Mr. Franklin Sher
man is working to get the farmers to
spray their fruit trees. We shall
try it ourselves and see what effect
it will have. The high price of ap
ples and other fruits which can be
grown in North Carolina should
stimulate fruit growing. When
young we often went to our grand
father to get apples (not having any
at home on aooount of young trees)
and have often wondered why peo
ple do not raise them now like they
did thirty years ago. My grand
father did not take muoh trouble
with his trees, yet he had them by
the hundreds of bushels. Brandy
and cider were as plentiful as one
could wish. You could find them
then on every farm of any size But
it is different now. Apples sell here
for as muoh in the summer now as
they did in the winter twenty years
ago. We do not know the cause of
the decline in this part of the State,
but will give our opinion another
time.
Harry Farmer.
. Columbus Co., N. C.
CABTERET COUlfTY FAEH NOTES
(Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
Farm work is somewhat delayed
on account of the wet weather, very
little plowing done the last week.
These will be about as muoh fer
tilizer sold this year as last for to
baooo and more for potatoes, but not
over one-fourth as muoh for cotton.
Our farmers have sow a consid
erable amount of oats this spring be
cause of the shortage of crops last
year.
Cattle and hogs seem to be in fair
condition, considering the oold win
ter we have had. We hope for a
good crop year. Farmers here didn't
make over a half crop of tobacco last
year and not over a fourth of a crop
of ODtton; corn, potatoes and pea
nuts were not one half crops.
D. McCain.
Carteret Co., N. C.
Many farmers are gradually learn
ing that their condition may be im
proved by keeping less but better
live stook. There is still a tendenoy
to keep a larger number of stook on
our farms than can be well and
profitably oared for. One animal
well cared for is more profitable than
three or four half kept. A. J . Smith,
Clearfield County, Pa.
SETS OF THE FAEZXinO WOELD.
Our Washington Correspondent Tells What
Progress is Being Made in the Various
Sections of the Country.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
Mr. G. Wm. Hill, the editor of the
Department of Agriculture, is now
engaged in the preparation of the
Yearbook for 1901 and despite his
efforts to make it a volume easily
handled, it seems as if this one will
be even larger than that prepared
last year.
"In making up the new Yearbook, ' '
said Mr. Hill, "I am not losing sight
of the well known fact thot tho peo
pie generally do not care to read
long exhaustive articles, and so I am
cautioning the various heads of divis
ions to oonflne themselves to dis
cussions whioh will not use up more
than eight or ten pages. Despite
this, however, many come, unless
properly edited, whioh would oooupy
double that space.
EVILS OF FREE DISTRIBUTION OF DOCU
MENTS. "I am still heartily in favor of
making the farmer pay for the docu
ments he wants. What he does not
care for, he will not receive, and
thus be compelled to throw them
away, as is often done now with the
free distribution in vogue. What I
mean by paying for them is that they
should pay the mere oost of printing
and paper used in the exoess number
published. The composition, of
course, we must pay for, as the pam
phlet must be printed anyway ; the
excess number should be paid for.
"The present method of free dis
tribution will kill itself , if one would
consider the faots. Last year we
distributed over 7,000,000 documents
nearer 8,000,000 ; this year the total
will mount up to nearly 11,000,000.
The 7,000,000 oopies did not go to
over possibly 300,000 farmers who
get on an average of ten pamphlets a
year. The latest census figures show
that there are 7,100,000 farmers in
this country. We should reach at
least three-fourths of them and
allow them to read 10 or 12 oopies
annually. To do this would require
the publication of from forty-five to
sixty million doouments annually.
When we consider that last year over
$750,000 was expended for the print
ing and distribution of these publica
tions, a proper distribution to an
equitable proportion of our farmers
would cost in the neighborhood of
$6,000,000 per annum.
,4The Yearbook of last year was
received with favor all over the
country and the demand upon us for
oopies was unequal to our supply as
Congress allowed us to have 35,000
of the 500,000 printed. The balance
the members distributed themselves.
The annual appropriation for this
book does not come out of the agri
cultural funds, but is provided for
especially by Congress. This amounts
to $300,000 for printing and binding.
An official of the Postoffice Depart
ment informed me that this book
alone cost the government in the
neighborhood of $125,000 for postage
or transportion.
"Mr. Wilson, our Secretary, is op
posed to a measure placing a prioe
upon the agricultural publications,
believing it to be too stringent, but
there is no doubt but if Congress
were asked to appropriate $6,000,000
for publications of the Department
of Agriculture, there would at once
be a howl of dismay come from that
body over the enormity of suoh an
expenditure."
FERTILIZER EXPERIMENTS
An experiment in Russia with
green manuring was made in order
to oompare the availability to higher
plants of the nitrogen of green ma
nure with that of nitrate of soda,
various kinds of animal manures and
other nitrogenous fertilizers. In
small plots of sandy soil oats were
sown, the nitrogen being applied
from nitrate of soda ; liquid manure ;
fresh horse manure; rotted horse
manure ; fresh cow manure ; blood
meal, and green manure,
The largest orop secured was from
the plot on whioh green manure was
applied, the other fertilizers being
effective in this order nitrate of
soda, blood meal and liquid manure.
The horse manure did not increase
the yield, the cow manure diminished '
it and the decrease was very marked
where fresh horse manure was used.
This experiment, whioh probably is
of value, is not of course to be taken
as accurately indicative of the re
sults of similar field applications.
THE GREAT VIRGINIA ROAD CONGRESS.
For more than a hundred years,
the pathway leading from Charlottes
ville, Virginia, to Monticello, the
home and tomb of Thomas Jefferson,
in the beginning a bridle path
has, by the tread of countless feet,
become worn to the size of a narrow
road. This road is in some places
very dangerous, having a rise of 16
feet in the 100 in many instances.
The enterprising people of Char
lottesville have formed a Memorial
Road Association with Gen. Fitz
hugh Lee as President. It is their
desire that the Department of Agri
culture shall undertake the construc
tion of an object-lesson road over
the route leading to the tomb and
former residence of our great "Ex
pansion" President.
In laying the plans for this new
road a distance of two and one-half
miles it has become neoessary to
re-locate almost the entire length of
the old road over a new course, re
sulting in an easy grade with a maxi
mum of only 4 feet in the hundred.
"When this road is completed,"
said Mr. M. O. Eldridge, the Assist
ant Director of the Offioe of Publio
Road Inquiries, "it will not only
serve to benefit the people in the
looality where it is built, but as well
visitors from distant places who
make pilgrimages to the tomb of the
immortal Jefferson.
"In our work we have been aided
by the National Good Roads Asso
ciation as well as by the Southern
Railway Company, which will bring
the good roads train to Charlottes
ville. "The object-lesson of this road
should be of great value to all who
see it, especially when it is consid
ered that the variations in the differ
ent sections of the road are suoh that
it will be a good example of moun
tain road construction.
"On April 2nd, 3rd and 4th, the
Jefferson Memorial and Inter-State
Good Roads Convention will meet at
Charlottesville to yiew the road, see
the progress of the work, and discuss
road questions generally. On this
occasion General Fitzhugh Lee, Gov
ernor Montague, of Virginia, and
Seoretary of Agriculture Wilson will
speak.. In addition, the President
and his Cabinet are expeoted to at
tend the exercises if possible."
fe Guy E. Mitchell.
Washington, D. C.
GOING INTO THE BRICK BUSINESS A
WOED OF WAENING.
After so muoh wet weather we will
feel as if we are almost obliged to
plow. We will get impatient. We
will think the time to plant has come
and that we cannot wait. The temp
tation to plow will be very strong.
But we must remember that to plow
when the soil is wet means to go in to
the manufacture of sun-dried briok
bats. The sunshine and wind will
harden these thousands of small
clods which we have made into some
thing like a sun-dried brickbat. They
will then be worth no more to the
orop than brickbats. The plant food
in them will be insoluble.
We cannot afford to make this
mistake. Better wait and plant
later.
Dust and not mud is what we need
in the farm to make orops with.
Plowing land wet is the quiokest
way to destroy fertility. This is the
chief oause of the poverty of South
ern soils. The damage will last for
several years. Southern Cultivator.
Whiteville Press: Messrs. O. F.
Brown and M. H. Sweet, two com
mission men of Providence, R. I.,
have recently acquired lands adjoin
ing Whiteville, whioh they intend to
devote to the production of straw
berries for their own market. The
demand for berries has excelled the
supply in their market and they have
been reduced to the necessity of
growing for themselves. Fifteen
acres will be put in berries at once
and the acreage increased to 200 in
the future.
STATE CHEHIST EILG0BE'8 EEASGSS FOB.
WAEUIUa 7AE2XXES AGAINST TIES
"SICEET PEOCESS" FEETIII
ZEE SCHEME.' '
As promised in last week's Pro
gressive Farmer, we give- herewith
the State Chemist's convincing sum
mary of reasons for warning. farmer
against the agents of the Lipps' fer
tilizer prooess scheme. After pub
lishing in full the Lipps process as .
obtained from the Patent Offioe, Dr.
Kilgore comments as follows :
1. There is nothing new or ingen
ious in the materials employed, ma
nure, dirt, aoid phosphate, muriate
of potash, nitrate of soda, sulphate
of ammonia, lime and salt, being
familiar and well known substances.
Except lime and salt, these ma
terials are, and have been, in fre
quent, if not constant, use for years
by farmers and fertiliser manufac
turers. Salt is not plant food and
the lime as used works far greater
injury in driving off the, ammonia
from the manure than it does in pul
verizing the manure. The main
value of the manure resting-in-its
ammonia, it is mistaken economy- to
throw a part, at least, of it: away,
merely for the sake of getting the
less valuable residua in oondition to
be put through a grain drill;.
2. Great stress is laid on the ar
rangement of the materials j it being
olaimed that this is suoh as to bring
about complete disintegration of the
manure with the release and reten
tion of the valuable plant food in the
compost heap. Not only is this not
so, but the arrangement is very un
desirable, in that the lime is placed
where it will do the greatest injury
in driving off the ammonia (let any
farmer who has a son in any of our
schools, taking even elementary
ohemistry, put this question to him),
and likely also injuriously effecting
the aoid phosphate by making it less
soluble and valuable as plant food.
The nitrate of soda is also in danger
of being lost, not because of being
put in the worst plaoe, but because
anywhere in the entire . mixturo ii
bad for it. The chief object in com
posting is to protect and render bet
ter fit for plant food the nitrogen (or
ammonia) compounds. The Lipps
prooess helps to defeat this aim, and
if the compost does not go wrong, it
is certainly not its fault, as the temp
tation is great.
3. But the proportions of these
materials are said to be suoh as to
make a speoially "well-balanced"
fertilizer. For the good of the mix
ture it is to be hoped that there is
something in this contention. Let
us examine The constituents which,
give to a fertilizer its value are am
monia, phosphorio acid and potash.
In what amounts and proportion do
these enter into the Lipps Compost?
Using his formula we have :
-3
a "
D CD
58
0 2:
0 n
B
. s
.et-
n
1
I-
SB
a o
-t a-
o. O
P O
CP? CD
o P
5 :
-a
o
on
y 9 x
o S.c
T O rt O
g m0 so
a . op
cs
5
Z
CD
O
a
CO
o
a
o
r
er
SB
0
to
o
o
o
OS &9
o O
o to to at o
O M Oi cn O o
T3
d
E
w
o o
a f
QD O
4
a
-
s
9
B
o
o.
01 rffc.
to
CO
u 0 9
o oB
a
ol
a o
o. a
- p
CO
en 00
to
a 01
CD O
to
Of
O C
to O
O
00 to
to l
ZJX Or
There were, therefore, put int9 the
mixture, phosphorio acid .99 per
cent. ; potash, 1.59 per cent. ; and
ammonia, .81 per cent., or one and
one-half times as muoh potash as
phosphorio acid, and twice as muoh
as ammonia. What farmer would,.
continued on Page 8
fumed by now.
,1 .
r t
-