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J. T- THE INDUSTRIAL AID EDUCATIOIAL ISTEBESIB 0? OUE PEOPLE PARAU0U1T TO AUj OilO ffTIDtTi C? STATE POLICY. Vol. IV Raleigh, N. C, May 13, 1902. No. 14 A- riculture. THE FARMERS' NATIONAL CONGRESS. The 1902 Anneal Session Will he Held in Macon, Qa., and the Occasion Will he a Rotable Ore. Oorr8ponJence of The Progressive Farmer. It is quite probable that farmers generally do not fully realize the scope and extent of the Farmers' Rational Congress, as otherwise they Yroaid take a much deeper interest in it. The topics discussed are more particularly those of a national or international oharaoter, quite differ ent from what is generally on the programme at farmers' institutes. The following is a oopy of the pro gram for the 1902 meeting : 1. Inter-ooeanio canal; 2. Na tional irrigation ; 3. Reciprocity how may it affect agricultural inter ests? 4. Effeot of present imular possessions on the agriculture of the United States ; 5. Preservation of forest and fruit trees and reforesta tion; 6. Injurious insects, insect pests and fungi ; 7. What part of a man's farm does he sell when he sells the crop? 8. Postal reforms particularly affecting the farmer ; 9. Mutual relations of Northern and Southern farmers ; 10. Dairy insects of the United States as related to the narkets of the world ; 11. Farmprod zcta other than dairy produots in the markets of the world ; 12. The labor problem from the farmer's stand" point ; 13. How can we best build up our merohant marine? The Farmers' National Congress is made up of delegates and associate delegates appointed by the Gover nors of each State. Every Governor appoints as many delegates as the State has representatives in both Houses of Congress, and as many associate delegates as he chooses. The meeting will be held at Maoon, Ga., Oot. 7-10, and the people of that city will give a hearty welcome to all who attend. The Southeastern Passenger Asso ciation has granted a rate of one fare for round trip ; and there is a fair indication that the other passenger associations will make better than an excursion rate. The men who will be invited to take part in the program will be the choicest that can be seleoted, and each one will be an acknowledged leader in his line. Isn't it about time the farmers took a practical hand in helping to solve the prob lems that pertain to their own affairs? We hope to have at least 1,000 delegates, associate delegates and visitors. John M. Stahl, 4328 Langley Ave., Chicago, is Secretary, and will gladly isswer any correspondence for the Ccngress. J. H. Reynolds, Treas. Adrian, Mioh. A NEW BULLETIN, "CLEARING NEW LAND." Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. There are but few farms that have not a patch overgrown with scrub bushes and small trees which the farmer has neglected to clear, owing probably to lack of time or dislike to tackle a hard job or maybe to his belief or notion that the ownership of land imparts respectability, even if untilled. It is often these small tracts, if properly cleared and tilled, vrhich will be of profit to the owner. If they are not to be cultivated they etould be converted into wood lots. Franklin Williams, Jr., the author of a new farmers' bulletin (No. 150) on ' Clearing New Land" states, "if i; a benefaotor of mankind who frticceeds in making two blades of grus-ts grow where only one grew be fore, how much more benefioent is misgion of making grass grow litre only bushes were wont to thrive." This billetin contains many practical hints to farmers who own crub patches for it suggests not only different methods of clearing, but so the meth of cultivation of this cleared land a what crops to grow thereon. v "There is no question," states Mr. Williams, about the profitable cul tivation of new land. The problem iahenand how to clear it. When ace the clearing has been oom. pletely accomplished the yield from suoh lands will be more satisfactory than the harvest from old fields. In faot, in many instances, it would be wise and economical for the farmer to plant his old woxn and washed fields to forest and dear land for cul tivation." The author recommends various methods of bringing suoh land into productivity, from the use of dyna mite to the grazing of Angora goats thereon. Gut E. Mitchell. Washington, D. C. THE VALUE OF STABLE MANURE. In a recent report of the Oklahoma Station Direotor Fields makes the following statements regarding the value of stable manure, whioh apply to other portions of the country as well as to Oklahoma : On the outskirts of every town in Oklahoma may be seen a collection of manure piles that have been hauled out and dumped in waste places The plant food in each ton of this manure is worth at least $2 that is what Eastern farmers pay for similar ma terial, and they make money by do ing it. And yet, almost every livery man has to pay some one for hauling the manure away. This is simply because farmers living near these towns are missing a chance to secure something for nothing because, perhaps, the profit is not direotly in sight. But from most soils there is a handsome profit possible from a very small application of stable ma nure. On the farm of the Oklahoma Agri cultural Experiment Station is an acre that has been in wheat for eight year 8. It had never been manured. In the fall of 1898 one half of the acre was manured at the rate of 15 tons per acre and the other was left unmanured. When the crop was harvested, in the summer of 1899, the manured pieoe yielded at the rate of 30 bushels per acre and the unmanured yielded but 12. bushels per acre. An inorease of 18 bushels of wheat was secured the first year from an application of 15 tons of stable manure. If all of the effect of the manure were exhausted the first season there were 18 bushels of wheat to pay for hauling about 10 loads of manure. But the effeot is lasting and extends through a period of sev eral years. Here is a feasible plan to inorease the wheat orop: Put every bit of manure obtainable into the soil. Eighteen hundred bushels of wheat will pay for one man and team haul ing manure for 450 days, and the profit is direotly in sight. FARM BOTES FROM PASQUOTANK. Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. The early part of spring was such that many farmers were heard grumbling at the weather, but the last month has been fine for work, very little rain and oool. While the weather was all right for work, it has been rather oool for vegetation to make muoh progress. There is considerable oomplaint about pota toes rotting, but we think rotten potatoes will be ohiefly oonfined to small patohes and that the decrease in the output on aooount of the loss will not balance the increase in acre age. Corn planting was delayed at the usual planting time, but most farm ers are through now, and cotton planting is in progress. J. T. B. Pasquotank Co., N. C. One billion, four hundred and ninety-seven million dollars is the farm value aocorded Iowa by the census returns. In addition the value of farm implements and ma ohinery is $58,000,000 and live stook is $278,000,000. The total value of farm produots for 1899 was $365,- 000,000 a million dollars for every day in the year. Guy E. Mitchell. We are aooused of prejudice against North Carolina poety, but here is a verse from the Fremont Visitor that seems to be worth passing along: "A nigger and a cart on the way, Two bags of goanner and a bale of hay. All dls got ter be paid for 'fore de jedgment day." Horticulture. MANAGING AH APPLE ORCHARD. Commercial Fertilizers, Root Injury, Sab- bits and Other Matters. Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. Harry Farmer is a good writer, and as a rule he thinks olosely and well ; but he mistakes in supposing that fruit trees in cultivated fields die and refuse to bear because the humus has been burnt out by the use of ohemioal manures. More trees die from the improper use of the plow and single-tree around and near them than from all other causes, unless we may exoept the ravages of worms. The writer's orchard of apple, peach, plum and a few other fruits has been in cotton and corn alternate years for more than ten years, the oorn crop manured with lot manure supplemented by bone and potash, the cotton orop with complete ohemioal fertilizers. The lot manure was mainly pure straw and is put in drill sparingly, and in passing the trees, I usually throw around each a small quantity of bone and potash ; but the plowing is done by me or my son, and the trees do not die. THE TAP ROOT. It is olaimed by some that the longevity of a tree depends on the tap root, that these support the woody parts and the surface roots, the fruit and foliage ; but I never saw a tap root of a tree of muoh size or age that had many fibrous roots such as are used by the trees to take up food. Hence, I oonolude that these tap roots are mainly there to give' strength to the tree to enable it to withstand storms, and that the fibrous roots near and just below the surface take up the greater part of the food upon whioh the tree sub sists, and the various parts have no choice as to whether it is taken up by the lower roots or those near the surface. It is food they want, and they do not fuss over the route over whioh it comes. INJURING THE ROOTS. Now if this position is true, just in the proportion that you injure or distend these surface roots, you out off the tree '8 ohanoe for food, so it can easily be seen that a tree can be starved to death or so nearly so as to render it unfruitful. Most farms are cultivated by careless or indiffer ent plowmen, and the results com plained of usually follow. Harry Farmer admits that when crops are grown in orchards whioh are laid by early the trees bear bet ter and longer ; of course, because the root disturbance is less and the time for overcoming it greater. The buds whioh make this year's fruit are formed the previous season ; but usually after the trees drop their fruit ; henoe, any late disturbance of the root system must interfere with the development of the fruit buds for the succeeding crop, and corre spondingly lessen the vitality of the tree; that the frequent repetition, year after year, of suoh disturbance will necessarily destroy its vitality. In former years, orchards were allowed to "rest" eaoh alternate year, and even if the disturbance had been as great, it was not so often and had better time to renew. SHOULD ORCHARDS BE CULTIVATED? The writer is of the opinion that orohards should not be cultivated after thev get well into bearing, or If they are cultivated the plow should be raised as it approaches near enough to touch the roots. It i olaimed that fruits grow larger in orchards whioh are culti vated, but keep better when grown in those not cultivated. This is reasonable : the growth of all plants is more rapid under cultivation, and of course develop larger fruits ; but the texture of the fruit is not as firm as in those whioh take more time for development, and this is why they keep better. Moreover, the absenoe of all root hindrance assures a firmer texture. KEEPING OFF RABBITS. Another correspondent reoom mends the use of grease to keep off rabbits. This will keep them off t)f a certainty, as the rabbit is strictly a vegetarian ; but be careful not to use muoh ; if you do, you stop up the pores and the bark will slough off to the injury of the tree. I used it ten years ago by applying meat skin and the trees first rubbed when the grease was plentiful suffered from it but not a tree has ever been touohed by them till last summer after one had blown down ; then they skinned every limb on it,but they did not touoh 'the body! Any animal flesh will repel them ; but grease from meat has the advantage of lasting longer. HIGH TRIMMING. One other hindranoe to suooess with apple trees is the effects of the sun on their bodies when trimmed high. Under suoh trimming of young trees you will almost invari ably find the bark loose on the south side, caused by the heat of the sun aided by the tossing of the trees by the winds. It is pretty muoh the same principle on whioh the boys loose the bark on sourwood to make flutes : he rubs to produoe heat and then twists to make it loose 1 My remedy is to so tie about the body any old bag or old garment as to shade the body on south side. FUNGOUS DISEASES. Fungous diseases of both body and leaf do muoh in weakening the vital ity of trees. The leaf prepares the food for the tree as the stomaoh does for animals, hence any impairment of the leaf necessarily outs off the supply of food, with out whioh neither vegetable nor animal life can be maintained. There is a subtleness about the ravages of this class of diseases that causes them to be over looked, and therefore they have time to get a stronger hold so the injury from suoh cause is far greater than is usually supposed. The bark of trees, on both body and limb, performs a vital function too, just as does the skin on animals, and when diseased, harmful results follow. Wm. A. Barbrey. Sampson Co., N. C. PICKING AND MARKETING THE STRAW BERRY. Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. The strawberry business of this country has now become so great that practical directions to convert it into money will well be worth while. To begin with, no fruit that grows pays better returns for good hand ling and neat, tasty packing. The sesthetio 'element enters largely in the Fale of the strawberry. People buy them as much beoause they are beautiful as beoause they please the palate. Whether the grower shall lose money or make a handsome profit depends fully as muoh upon the handling as upon the quality of his fruit. It is no easy matter 1o insure the proper picking and paoking of even a small acreage. To handle a large acreage requires not only industry and skill, but diplomacy in no small degree. For hundreds of disinter ested eyes must be induced or com pelled to judge color aright and thou sands of disinterested fingers coaxed, bribed or compelled into nimbleness. Having had to control, or organize methods of control, for over one thousand piokers at a time, I feel that I am entitled to speak with some confidence. . TO INSURE PROPER PICKING. The tendency of all orowds is to become mobs. The individual loses the sense of personal responsibility and aots wildly. This tendency is qui ok to manifest itseif among berry pickers. The good management of piokers consists in checking and if possible reversing this tendency. My endeavor is always to so systematize the pioking that no one oan entirely shirk responsibility for what she or he does. (I put she before he beoause women and girls make the best piokers men and boys the worst.) My fields are divided into five -acre divisions. Eaoh section is placed in charge of a manager, who is required to see that the berries are properly picked and promptly sent in out of sun or rain, as may - be, and that the plants are not trampled or berries crushed by careless feet. To eaoh section is assigned a carrier, or when needed two. The duties of the car rier are to carry in the berries as. f&st as pioked to the paoking houses, and to keep eaoh picker supplied with cups to hold the berries. This costs a trifle more than requiring piokers to take in their berries, but it prevents an immense smount of trampling, keeps the piokers at work and gets the work done better and more promptly. A PLAN THAT WORKS WELL. Eaoh picker is numbered and as signed a certain number of rows, numbered to correspond, by means of a wooden stake. On this stake is also written the pioker's name.' The division manager is required to write the pioker's number on eaoh empty oup assigned. This oan be quickly done by taking a dozen or more nested cups in the hand at onoe and writing the number on the outer rim of eaoh. This also plaoes the number where it will be most con spicuous Very stringent orders are given and constantly repeated to eaoh pioker: not to trample the plants, nor to touoh a berry with their hands, but to handle them by the stems alone ; to pinoh off and leave on eaoh berry kalf an inoh of stem, to always turn the reddest side of the berry up as it is dropped in the oup; to fill the cups full, slightly heaping the oentre. ONE CENTRAL PACKING PLACE. . Even at the expense of taking the berries a considerable distance it is better to have one central paoking place. This should be of ample size to hold orates for at least one day's paoking and to give good room for paoking. My paoking is done under large cheaply-built houses, cen trally looated and arranged with shelves under the windows for empty cups. The windows extend pretty muoh all around the house. The window sill consists also of a shelf or oounter on whioh the oups of berries can be set and counted when neoessary. But most of the berries are brought direotly into the house by the carriers, who "tote"" in a hand carrier made like a litter, only that it is four t stories high. Eaoh oarrier holds 96 quart oups, whioh Alls three 32 quart orates. The tickets are oounted 32 in a bundle, with a rubber band around eaoh bundle. The tiok'ets are all in charge of a man stationed at the paoking house. His business is to issue to'eaoh pair of toters" three paokages, 96 tiokets, and to see that they bring in berries to correspond. THE INSPECTOR. Bat the most important man of all is the inspector. He, too, is stationed at the packing house. His duties are to inspect every oup as it comes in, to note the numbers on the oups and see who is pioking well, who ill. Of oourse it is not praotioable to empty every oup or basket of berries. But experienoe soon enables him to de teot scamped work- even when ever so well masked by ever so smiling a top layer of berries. At the least suspicion he dumps a oup, and if pioked wrong there is the s'inner's number penoiled on the oup. Then both, the offender and the derelict manager of that division is brought to book. The inspector done, the berries are then passed to the packers and'oare fully paokM in neat, new crates and got into the resrigerator oar as soon as possible. THE 008T. I find that this mode of handling berries oosts 10oentsa32 quart crate by the time they get into the car. Of oourse this does not oover the pioking. It oould be done in a looser fashion for 5 cents a crate. My ex perience is that the 5 cents outlay pays me about 1,000 per cent., as I am confident that I get at least 50 cents per orate more by means of it. In my 18 years' experienoe I have seen only one year in whioh I oould not sell every crate of berries I had. My berries have a distinct reputu tion on the New York market and always sell above market quotations. I am told that I am the largest shipper to that market. I write this not to boast, but to show that thorough system will en able a man to maintain quality even where large quantities of berries are handled. O. W. Blackball. Vance Co., N. C. The Dairy. DAIRYING, THE OPPORTUNITY OF SOUTHERN FAB HERS. A Rich' Harvest Awaits Those Who Engage in it, Properly Equipped The Natural Ad vantages are Ours Why Has the North Outstripped Us? Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer. In the South, there are few in dustries whioh are more profitable than dairying, and yet it has not been given very muoh consideration. This is evidenoed by the small num ber of miloh cows kept in the 8outh. THE DISTRIBUTION OF COWS. Aocording to the twelfth census, there were 18,112,707 dairy cows in the United States June 1, 1900, or about five cows for every twenty-one persons ; but they are not distributed among the different States in pro portion to their population. For example, Iowa has a population of 2,251,825 and 1,423,648 dairy cows, or about two oows for every three per. sons ; Illinois has a population of 4,821,550 and 1,064,491 dairy oows, or a little more than one cow for every five persons; and Wisconsin has a population of 2,068,963 and 1,032,811 miloh oows or about one cow for every two persons. Bat here are the figures for some Southern States: North Carolina has a population of 1,891,192 and only 246,755 dairy oows or less than two cows for every fifteen persons ; Florida has a population of 528,542 and 84, 274 dairy animals or less than one for every six persons ; and South Carolina has a population of 1,340, 312 and only 136,333 dairy animals, or in round numbers, about one oow for every ten persons. SOUTHERN COWS ARE POOR GRADE. In addition to the small number of dairy oows kept in the Southern States whioh were taken for com parison, their oows are less valuable than the former. The oensus report heretofore mentioned shows that the value of the dairy cow of Iowa is $32.56; of Illinois, $34 02; and of Wisoonsin, $29.36; while that of North Carolina is only $18 98, South Carolina, $20.06, and Florida, $13.31. This great difference in the dis tribution of dairy oows for the man ufacture of butter and cheese is not due altogether to climatic conditions, for it is generally oonoeded that good butter and cheese oan be made in nearly all parts of the United States. Furthermore, the winters are shorter here than they are in New York, Iowa, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Wis oonsin, Minnesota, Ohio and other States where dairying has become one of the leading agricultural in terests. THE SOUTH ADAPTED TO DAIRYING. One of the most important requi sites for successful dairying is a con tinuous supply of food ; henoe when I consider the vast amount of meadow hay, corn, cow peas, clover, rye, vetoh, lucerne, alfalfa and cotton seed 'which might be produoed in the South, I exolaim in the language of the Breeders' Gazette: "Nature is indeed kindly disposed toward the Southern planters, too many of whom stand in their own light by persisting in cotton culture to the exolusion of everything else." WHY DAIRYING LANGUISHES. A laok of interest in the dairy in dustry, is possibly due to several causes, some of which may be men tioned : (1) The Southern soil and climate are well suited to the growth of cot ton, whioh until recent years has commanded a very high price, and an increased number of cotton mills has earned a corresponding inorease in its demands. (2) The Southern people have not been- sufficiently trained in the so'enoe and art of agriculture to cause them to realize the important place to whioh dairying is entitled in Southern husbandy. This statement is substantiated by the Bureau of Animal Industry reports whioh show that the States that give special instruction in the manufac ture of butter and cheese and the sciences of breeding and feeding cat tle, are leading the dairy industry. Reports show that special instruc tion in dairying is offered in thirty- CONTINUED ON PAGS 8. 1 T N n win- ,"""!'n:",! p,-' "1
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 13, 1902, edition 1
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