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THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL KTEKESXB OP OUE PEOPLE PARAIIOUNf 10 ALL 0IHE2 C0IHH32EAlI0rB 07 STATE POUCY.
-5
fol. 1?
Raleigh, N. 0., July if 1902.
ITo. 21
4a
" ' ....... 1 1
Agricu. jure.
1 s
yjWS OF THE TABBING WOELD.
...Vuhington Correspondent Eeporti Ser
Serai manors 01 aui jjui muuo.
- r. cf The Progressive Farmer.
I pr. A. C. True, the Director of the
jce of Experiment Stations o the
Apartment of Agriculture, points out
&e forthcoming Yearbook of the
jiepartment, ' "Some Problems of the
!?-ral Common School," and he shows
jeveral features pf the new movement
r their improvement.
"Without doubt," says Dr. True,
ae character of our agriculture is
tepidly changing. It is becoming
;cre highly diversified, its opera
':ns are becoming more' complicated,
ie use of .intricate machinery is be-
Iaicg more common and necessary,
3, in general, successful farming
Ctf requires a wider knowledge and
1 greater skill. The discoveries of our
cultural experiment stations and
jie broader technical training of the
paders of agricultural progress in our
jrUeges are producing profound ef
j'ects cn our agricultural practice, the
ial results of which are but dimly
'preciated by the masses of our f arm-
but which will surely make the lot
tie rightly educated farmer of the
jre more fortunate and the lot of
i ignorant farmer relatively more
iplorable. It is very important,
nfpfn-rfv flint nnr a r-rifTi1tnTfll ren-
e should study the problems of the
liblic schools and should become alive
: the relation of these schools to the
PROBLEMS OF RURAL EDUCATION
In the discussion of the subject, Dr.
True states as the important prob
es to be worked out as follows:
(1) To provide for all the children
to bring all the children into
(2) To make the annual school term
ixoughout the United States long
3ugh to give the children thorough
Ltruetion in the fundamentals of
pmon knowledge during the period
J: their school life.
(3) To directly relate the instruc
:cn of the school to the practical bus
:ess of the farm through the employ
rest of teachers in sympathy with
:'arm life and the enrichment of the
school course by the introduction of
irrieultural subjects.
(4) The improvement of the mate
equipment and environment of the
:-iool by the consolidation of small
schools, the improvement of school
niLlings and grounds, and the estab
hment of school libraries and collec
ts of materials for illustration,
(o) The making of the schools more
iroughly the centers for the intel--taal
life of the community by the
-opf ration of the farmer and his
knily with the teacher through asso
cations like those now existing in
itichiiran. or through other agencies.
EVADING THE OLEO LAW
AcfAr.ling to information received
at thf- Department of Agriculture
iere i a notice of the possible action
f-f olf-f. margarine makers whereby they
try to evade the law. Press dis
latcV -tate that the oleo makers will
to dairymen throughout the West
V-iy high prices for pure country
tf-r liijrher prices than the dairy
t.. mselves could get in the city
This butter will be mixed
oleomargarine so that the
"lr will thereby be imparted
out in any way causing a con
of the law that it is colored.
h
' I
Kir;- Tiif-refore only Va of a cent a
j"!. ii.-toad of 10 cents as required
'Or
' ! -1 oleomargarine. In fact
"f V of a cent is less than
l'fM'ii paying for oleo.
' at the Department of Agri--.!"v-s
that the officials are in
r" -eoff at such action, for
I ,
h:i,
v admit that the law might be
-vailed bv this action, still
- : k the question is one of mere
""-.!,. rather than one
of law.
1;v -tU- That if the oleo makers can
-c-':- I:,
' i-'-.v bv sellincr butter as oleo-
- :r;t:,. tJOn tjiey gouid g0 ahead.
1 1 veu, however, that sucn a
"1 -how a loss instead of profit
vho will carry on this prac-
i
tO r
THE IRRIGATION BILL
The irrigation bill which passed the
House by the vote of 146 to 56, it is
confidently predicted, will in its oper
ation, show itself a better measure
than some of the Eastern farm papers
believe. It amounts to nothing more
than an extension of the homestead
act; it makes homesteads which are
dry and uninhabitable, fertile and pro
ductive, but the cost of this improve
ment has to be borne by the home-"
steader the government simply ad
vanced the money, and gives him 10
years in which to pay it back. Again,
it is shown that while it is hoped to
ultimately reclaim a great tract of
"Western land, the process "must, un
der the most favorable conditions to
the West, be very slow. If two mil
lion acres a year should be reclaimed,
and this is four times the amounted
estimated under the bill just passed,
it would take 50 yearjs to reclaim that
part of the West which can be irri
gated. This would not be a sufficient
addition of land to nearly keep pace
with our increase of population.
This would be taking half a century
to open up for instance, an area equal
to the single State of Colorado. Such
slow development it is claimed will
never be felt by the Eastern farmer.
Again, it is shown that the surplus
product of irrigation will go in the
future as they do now, to the Orient
instead of coming East to, compete
with Eastern farmers.
GUY E. MITCHELL.
Washington, D. C.
FARMERS' BULLETIN X0 155.
A new bulletin issued by the United
States Department of Agriculture has
just been received. "How Insects Af
fect Health in Rural Districts" is its
title, and it is written by Prof. L. O.
Howard, the celebrated entomologist,
whose investigation of the life and
habit of the mosquito have made both
famous. This little pamphlet will tell
you more about mosquitoes than you
ever knew before. Our readers should
not forget that these bulletins are is
sued free by the Department of Agri
culture on request. They contain the
latest knowledge of subjects relating
to all phases of farm life and consti
tute a liberal education without cost.
Every farmer who can read should
avail himself of this free "correspond
ence school of agriculture." Rural
World.
GOOD FARM lit G FAYS.
i
We clip this suggestive item from
the Roanoke-Chowan Times: In the
spring of 1901, Mr. R. C. Benthall and
brother of iMenola, Hertford County,
bought a Roanoke farm situated about
five miles from Rich Square, paying
$9,500 for it. Many predicted that the
Benthalls wouW lose money on the
farm, but those who knew them well
sai'd "wait and see." Their farm man
ager told us a few days ago that an
accurate account of expenses were
kept and that they cleared over and
above expenses. $3,200 on that one
farm last year, notwithstanding the
unfavorable seasons. There are hun
dreds of instances of successful farm
ing in this section. We ask our cor
respondents to occasionally relate
some of these that our young men
may learn that there is money in farm
ing. The following Chicago dispatch
should be of interest to Southern far
mers : Plans that were first taken into
consideration about a year ago have
been developed in the last few days to
the point where some of the great
packing establishments in Chicago
have begun experiments on what may
prove a revolution of the cattle in
dustry of the country," says the Inter
Ocean. "The project involves the
settlement of several hundred thous
and acres of what is at present value
less land in northern Florida and
southern Alabama, the cultivation on
a large scale of the cassava root and
its use jn feeding cattle and hog6. If
this plan fully develops the Southern
States will become the centre of the
cattle-raising industry."
I I t ,1 -
HARRY FARMER'S TALKS.
IXXIX.
Cor. of The Progressive Parmer.
We next find a copy of the Farmer
with these words stamped in red let
ters "Sample Copy," and we follow
it. After travelling , n whole day on
a star route we come to a little post
office and the postmaster calls out,
"Here is a sample paper for Jack
Johnson."
AN IGNORANT FARMER.
.Now Jack does not get mail often
and the postmaster tells him there is
a paper in the office for him. He gets
the paper and goes home. Jack can
read a little, but he does not send his
children to school or believe in educa
tion. He regards it as something or
namental or useful for merchants, bus
iness men or any one following a pro
fession, but for a common laborer it is
a hinderance, so he does not encourage
his children to study. They know
nothing except a few bear and ghost
stories. They think it nice to use
snuff and tobacco, both boys and girls.
Jack thinks it mighty funny to see his
boys drink so they can cut the fool.
His house is no better than it was
when he moved into it over twenty
years ago. He makes a little crop, but
not enough to last him through the
year. Really,, his conditions is far
worse than when he commenced keep
ing house. His garden is not half
fended; consequently he lias but few
vegetables to supply his family and
does without a large part of the year.
Jack bitterly opDOsesvaliy thing pro
gressive; he has opinions of his own.
HIS SUPERSTITION. .
His ideas are certainly "amusing.
When a cow gives bad milk, the rem
edy is to put some old silver in the
bottom of the milk pail just before
milking and leave .it there until the
milk is strained. In order to keep the
hawks from catching the chickens a
small rock must be kept in the fire
and as long as it is warm the chickens
are safe. He believes that snow birds
turn to toads in the Spring and that
toads turn to snow birds in the Fall.
He will not plant or sow any seed when
the wind is from the east. Nothing
must be planted except from new to
the full of. the moon.
OLD FASHIONED METHODS
The corn must be plowed so many
times and in certain ways. His father,
grandfather and great-grandfather all
plowed their crops that way and lived
till they died. Jack thinks he can do
it, too. His fields have some old
stumps in them that have been worked
around enough to have paid for tak
ing them out many times, but Jack
did not put them there and is not go
ing to take them out.
HIS POOR WIFE.
Jack wife does not .use any cook
stove. Jack doesn't like food cooked
on a stove. He says it is not so good
as that cooked in the old pots, ovens
and spider. (Harry Farmer agrees
with Jack to a certain extent along
this line.) She has no sewing ma
chine. It takes too much sewing
thread. Poor .woman! She has a
hard time of it, but quietly goes along
with her work.
HER CHICKENS
But we must mention her chickens.
They are the same kind that she 'com
menced keeping house with. She gets
eggs from February till July and the
balance of the year the hens do not
ay. She i would not have any of the
"new fangled" kind. They eat too
much, and some of them are not
healthy. They have such long legs that
they are hard to run down. The most
of her's are little duck legged kinds.
Well, we can find but little here to
make us happy so we must go away
with a sad heart.
A NEW CROP OF JACK JOHNSONS
GROWING UP. - .
And we are sorry to know there are
more homes over the country where
the children are so treated that there
will be another crop of J ack Johnsons,
for many children are kept at home
in ignorance which is the ground log
of all the trouble.
HARRY FARMER.
Columbus Co., N. C.
TO BANISH DRUDGERY FROM THE
FASH.
There is a good deal of hard, back
aching work and absolute drudgery on
the farm unless the farmer can in
some way transform this drudgery in
to something in which he takes a gen
uine pleasure. There is a great deal
of drudgery as bad or even worse, in
any other profession or business.
There is a whole lot of really hard
work to be done in this world by the
men who make a success of life. In
fact, there is no way that we ever
heard of making a success except by
real, downright, hard, honest work.
Genius is simply the power 'of doing
hard work intelligently and right
along all the' time and taking delight
in it.
Work on the farm, however hardn
need not be mere drudgery. It
will inevitably be drudgery, howev
er, unless the farmer takes delight in
it, sees the reason for doing it, and
studies how to do it in the easiest way.
It is exceedingly hard work to dig
ditches. We did a good deal of that
in our early days, but a study of how
water rose in the ditch, how far the
ditch would draw, how deep it ought
to be, and the best way to level the
bottom of the ditch and uniform a
grade used to relieve it of.the drudg
ery, and make itrvhile not an unal
loyed pleasure, yet endurable. .
Drudgery is simply work in which
the body is solely engaged. Get the
mind onto any subject, become thor
oughly interested in it, interested suf
ficiently to study how to do it in the
easiest possible way, and it ceases -to
be drudgery. Nothing, for example,
could possibly induce us to engage in
a game of football. As played, it
seems to us to be far harder and more
dangerous than any farm operation,
more dangerous than feeding corn fod
der to a shredder, and yet we notice
that the boys absolutely delight in this
rough and tumble, rib-breaking work
because they are intensely interested
in it. We remember when a boy on
the farm that we worked at play about
as hard as we ever worked shaking
straw from an old man-killing thrash
ing machine, because we delighted in
it. To play was anything but drudg
ery although involving harder work
than tramping on the straw stacks.
Doctors perform the most disagreea
ble surgical operations and yet delight
in it because it calls into play their
best knowledge and skill. The dentist
will pull teeth and fill them while gusts
from the bad lands are blowing in his
face, what would seem to us the worst
kind of drudgery, and yet his mind is
so intensely occupied that it is simply
skilled labor. Any kind of work that
we do not like is drudgery; any kind
of work which does not employ the in
tellect and for which there is not a
good motive is drudgery. We can
transform drudgery into pleasant,
healthful toil by becoming interested
in it and doing it, not as time ser
vioe, but as a duty to be performed
conscientiously.
Drudgery kills men. Honest work
performed with brains and skill ac
tually lengthens life. Whether work
is drudgery or whether it is a pleasure
depends altogether on the spirit with
which we perform it. Wallace's
Farmer.
Pender Chronicle : The bean xsrop,
which has just been marketed, was
very satisfactory in this section. The
crop, however, was considerably short
ened by lack of mosture during the
latter part of the season. The contin
ued dry weather is reported as having
had a vry harmful effect upon the
potato crop. The crop is shortened by
more -than one half. In addition to
this, the potatoes produced are, it i3
said, of a very inferior quality.
Goldsboro Argus: The fa'rmers of
this section have been engaged in
housing their grain crops, which have
been cut very short by the exceeding
dry weather of May, when their crops
most needed rain for filling out and
maturing. However, owing to the un
usually large acreage planted, an aver
age crop in the aggregate will be
housed.
THE VALUE OF BIRDS TO NORTH CARO
LINA AGRICULTURE.
Importance ai Insect Destroyers TlireelHun
dred Species not Frotected by Law
Reckless Destruction of our
Feathored Friends.
To those who have thought but little
concerning the practical value of birds
to man, it may be a new idea that
their usefulness is a very pronounced
reality; this usefulness lies chiefly in
the service they render as destroyers
of insects which are injurious to veg
etation, as consumers of small rodents,
as 'destroyers of large quantities of
seeds of noxious plants? and as scaven
gers. Birds constitute the chief force
in keeping down the surplus number
of insects which otherwise would be
far more destructive to the agricul
tural products of the country. As mat
ters now exist, one-tenth of the entire
agricultural product of the United
States each year is a total loss through
the inroads of insects, and we are told
that owing to the decreasing number
of ?irds, this percentage is annually
increasing. The work which birds do
simply as preventives is enormous.
The young of some species eat more
than their own weight of insect food
daily. The adult birds of many kinds
subsist chiefly on an insect diet, and
two-thirds oi the varieties found in
North Carolina are almost wholly in
sectivorous, Birds digest their food
so rapidly that it is difficult to esti
mate the real amount which they con
sume. It is known, however, that a
swallow will eat six or seven hundred
flies in a day.y The stomach of a
cuckoo shot at six o'clock in the morn
ing, contained twenty-three tent-caterpillars
partly digested; how many
would have been destroyed by evening
cannot well be 'estimated. The stom
achs of chickadees not infrequently
have been found to contain over two
hundred eggs of.the canker worm, and
as many as twenty-five of the female
moths, each holding over one hundred
eggs. It has been estimated that dur
ing the one month that these insects
infest the trees, each chickadee would
destroy over 130,000 eggs. A pewee,
which I once watched, captured six
teen insects during a period of ten
minutes. N The bird would dart out a
few yards, seize a passing insect and
return at once to her lookout perch.
When some hours later I again saw the
bird, she was still busy at her work.
The raal value of birds as insect
destroyers has not been appreciated
generally. One reason for this is that
their work is not apparent to the cas
ual observer, who rarely sees a bird
except when it is alarmed, and there
fore is not feeding. Superficial ob
servation has been a cause for much
suffering to birds, and a great pecu
niary loss on the part of observers.
We, as a people, have failed to ob
serve carefully the feeding habits of
our feathered friends, and thus have
not learned their intrinsic value. For
the same reason we have not been suf
ficiently interested in their preserva
tion to enact adequate laws for the
protection of non-game birds. There
have been recorded in North Carolina
312 species of birds. Three hundred
of these species are not protected by
the laws of the State except in a few
counties. Public sentiment is so lax
in many sections that these laws are
really little better than no laws at all.
There is scarcely a bird within the
limits of our Commonwealth that is
not regarded as a legitimate mark for
any gun. Numbers of men and boys
in almost every section of the country
at time3 shoot non-game birds indis
criminately. Thousands of chimney
swifts, swallows, martins, and night
hawks (bullbats) are shot every sum
mer, "just to see them fall." The
small boy plunders the nests of their
eggs for his "collection," and does so
unrestrained by parental authority.
Our sea birds have been almost exter
minated by the plume hunters, who
gather the. feathers for the great mil
nery houses. In some sections of the
central and eastern portions of the
State thousands of young mocking
birds are annually taken from their
nests by people who attempt to rear
them by hand as singers for the'ever
ready northern and western markets.
Irresponsible parties wandering about
the fields, without the least instincts
of sportsmanship, shoot woodpeckers
redbirds, sparrows and thrushes. Only
a short time since I heard a gentle
man complaining that he had seen a
boy shooting, mocking birds in the
cemetery of one of our chief cities
The boy said he "was trying to see how
many bird's he could kill in an hour.""
This kind of thing has gone on toe
long. Many observing people will tes
tify that the common birds are not as
numerous in their sections as in for
mer "years.
The problem with which Nature is
conf ronted, of adjusting the habits of
her wild creatures to meet the chang
ing environments occasioned by the
advancement of civilization into the
wlderness, is a stern one. When,,
therefore, man adds to her difficulties
by causing the wholesale destructions v
of any particular form of wild life,.
thev rapid falling off in numbers of the
persecuted necessarily, follows. The
alarming decrease of the number of
birds in the United States of recent
years has been the occasion of much
anxiety to the minds of thoughtful
persons. Many States have already
passed laws for the protection of their
birds, and there are those who believe
that the people of North Carolina will
not longer consent to see their inno
cent and valuable friends wantonly
slaughtered by thoughtless and vicious
men and boys.
T. GILBERT PEARSON.
Guilfrd Co., N. C.
1
JUNE CE0P CONDITIONS.
We received just too late for last
week's Progressive Farmer the North
Carolina crop report for June, as is
sued by the Agricultural Deepartmeni.
Special correspondents in every town
ship in every, county in the State send
their reports in to the Department
and from these general averages are
made up, 100 being the basis of com
parison. The June report follows:
Condition of Irish potatoes, 81.
Present condition of cotton, 89t
Acreage of tobacco compared with
last year, 105.
Present condition of tobacco, 86
Present condition of corn, 97.
Present condition of wheat,62.
Present condition of oats, 68.
Prospect of apples compared witJr
last year, 79.
Prospect of peaches compared with
last year, 78.
Prospect of pears compared with
last year, 78.
Prospect of blackberries compared
wtth last year,, 93.
General condition of trucking, 84..
Condition of peanuts, 84.
Greensboro Cor. Post: Prospects of
the tobacco crop have very greatly im
proved in this section in the past few
days. Mr. J. F. Fulton,' propretor of
the Banner Warehouse, who keeps up
With such matters closely, says that.
Guilford crops are now fine and the
growers are in high spirits, and that
conditions in Stokes County, which
were so unsatisfactory two weeks ago
have greatly improved. The copious
rains, with sunshine following, he says,
has caused strong rooting, and disease
has disappeared from the plants, which
are growing off finely. The average
planted in' Guilford, Mr. Fulton says,
is at least a third greater than last
season.
. Fayetteville Observer: Major B. R
Huske has received word from the
United States Patent Office that he
has beeen granted a patent for his
vegetable harvester. It is a simple
but ingenious machine, principally for
the cutting of letuce. It is in the
shape of a pitchfork, with a blade
about two inches above the lines and
a guard rail to hold the plant after it
is cut. Major Huske has one in use
now which he constructed himself out
of a pitchfork more than a year ago
and it proved of such value that he de
cided to patent it.'
Rockingham Anglo-Saxon: The cot
ton crop was never finer at this season!
of the year, but there is some com
plaint about corn prospects. It is tas
seling out too early, but recent rain
will improve it a good deal.
' v'
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