Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / Oct. 14, 1902, edition 1 / Page 2
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THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER Tuesday, October 14, 1902. Randolph County Farm Notes. Editor of The Progressive Farmer: It is claimed by those in a posi tion to know, that Randolph is the banner county of the State on wheat. Trinity Township is decidedly the banner township of the county. The wheat crop, this year, was the small est in years, not half the usual crop. The average this fall will be consid erably smaller than usual. It is generally conceded, that there is the largest corn crop in this sec tion that has been known in many years. However, in some sections of Randolph long continued drought greatly affected the crop. There will not be more than half a yield on upland. An item of interest to your read ers might be the adoption of new methods in harvesting the corn crop. Quite a number of new harvesting machines are now in use in the county. A number of new shredding machines will be operated this year, thus saving to those who use them, from 25 to 40 per cent of the feed, which is not utilized by the old meth od of cutting tops and pulling blades. It is only the question of a few years till the old method of saving the corn crop will be super seded altogether by the new, in this section. A large farmer on Uwharrie River had a large bottom in corn this year. Fearing that the field would be flood ed before the crop could be gotten off by the usual method, he cut the corn with his harvesting machine and hauled the bundles to the edge of the bottom and shocked them. A . few days after there came one of the hardest rains in years and the bot tom was comnletely submerged. Had he not taken this precaution, hun dreds of bushels of corn would have been destroyed. I mention this in stance as a suggestion to farmers growing corn on bottom lands. The idea of intensive farming is fast gaining ground with our people. More peas are sown every year. A tobacco raiser near Trinity ex pects $3,500 for his crop this year. Tobacco growers are greatly elated over high price of tobacco. The raising of melons is becoming quite an industry in this section, especially in Newmarket Township. Hundreds of dollars are realized every year from sale of melons. We have about an average yield of fruit. W. A. I. Randolph Co., N. C. Clear up all trash, leaves, prun ings, weeds and waste of every kind in the orchard, vineyard and garden, and burn the same, and thus destroy insects eggs and fungoid spores, which, if left around, will make trou ble next year. Southern Planter. Tess If you really love him, why did you refuse him? Jess Good ness! You don't suppose I'd be so unmaidenly as to accept him the first time? Tess But he declares he'll never propose to another girl as long as he lives. Jess Of course. I'm not "another girl." Seeding Wheat and Oats. The plowing and fitting of the land for the wheat and winter oat crops should be pushed forward as fast as possible. In our last two is sues we wrote fully on this subject, and refer readers to what we then said. Both crops should be sown as soon as the land can be got into good condition, but the importance of a fine, well prepared seed bed is so great in the influence upon the yield, that it is better to seed a little late rather than to seed on a poorly prepared bed. Fine preparation of the soil is of greater influence than a heavy dressing of manure of fer tilizer. It should always be borne in mind that all the cultivation that can be given either of these crops, (except it may be a harrowing of the crop in the spring, which, though often omitted, is yet of great use in helping the crop), must be given be fore the crop is seeded; hence the great importance of leaving nothing undone that can conduce to a finely broken surface soil and a compact subsoil. Plow deep, harrow, and roll frequently. Much good has been found to result in the West from the practice of subsurface packing. This j is practically a reversion to a prac tice that has been in use in England ever since we can recollect. The roller used for the purpose in Eng land is onevmade with two large wheels, having the rolling surface made V shaped, the point of the V being left about one inch broad. These two wheels are set on an axle so as to run one on each side of the furrow thrown by the plow so as to pack the seam between each furrow. A third wheel is set on the other end of the axle to run on the unplowed land. This roller follows the plow, waiting to start until three furrows have been turned. Its use has been found of great benefit, especially when plowing sod land for wheat. The close packing of the seams of the furrow prevents seed from get ting down under the furrow, where it rarely germinates or grows, and thus leads to a thin growth of the crop. These subsurface packing roll ers can be had from Western imple ment dealers, but we have not seen them advertised in the East. We have used the English form of roller, and can speak favorably of it. In its absence, the corrugated iron roll er, which is practically the same as the roller known in England as a Cambridge roller, can be usefully substituted. It has a corrugated sur face the whole width of the roller, and will pack the soil well; after which, the surface should be finely harrowed. Wlieat never grows well with a loose subsoil. Do not seed until after we have had a sharp frost or two to kill the flies. In some sec tions these have been troublesome again this year, and in these places wheat should not be sown until after the flies have been trapped on a strip of wheat seeded early and then plowed down, thus destroying the eggs and pupa. October Southern Planter; editorial on "Work for the Month." LIVESTOCK THE AMERICAN MERINO. - Watch the date on your label. Mr. Archer Tells of the History and Char acteristics of this Famous Breed of Sheep The News of the Statesville Flock. Editor of The Progressive Farmer: The first thing I would notice is the progressiveness of The Progres sive Farmer in changing from S pages to a 16 page form that is neat in make-up and handsome in general appearance. It makes the journal much more convenient to read as well as to preserve for future use. It mostly gives us original thoughts from progressive thinkers and work ers, thoughts that are practical all along the line of agricultural indus try. These, with its decided moral tone, makes it a safe and very use ful journal that should be found and read in every industrial family in North Carolina at least. THE AMERICAN MERINO Letters from some who read the "Sheep in the South" articles in last year's Progressive Farmer still come to me. One, a well-known farmer, writes: "If you write any more on sheep please describe the American Merino." The history of these sheep traces back more than two hundred years, and I may commence here by refer ing to them in Spain during the eighteenth century when the then superb flocks of them belonged most ly to the crown and to the nobility of that nation during its palmiest days of glory, wealth and power. In the early part of that century some of these Spanish sheeps were taken to and improved in Germany, main ly Saxony and Silisia, and in the last part some went to France and ac quired the name of French Merino and Rambofllett Merino. About the same time and in the first of the nineteenth century, some were im ported from Spain to the United States, and after becoming greatly changed and improved in this coun try they have come to be known as the American Merino. In Spain this breed of sheep had been intelligently handled, carefully cared for and purely bred by the most wealthy, best educated and most highly cultured class of peo ple in that kingdom for a long pe riod of time. This gave the breed certain characteristics that became fixed and well established in the blood, among which was a hardiness of constitution and physical develop ment that was well calculated to en able them to travel and graze about on the mountains, hillsides and val leys, and find a good living, and pro duce at the same time a paying fleece of good and fairly fine wool, covering the body well over, two to three inch es long, with grease (yelk) enough in it to gather dust and form a dark crust on the outer surface of the fleece which served as a protection to the inner parts of the fleece from rain, and inclement weather which served them well, for the Spaniards, so far as history . notes, did not house them much in those days. These fixed characteristics made the breed a most excellent stock to gradually change and improve, which the Germans and French took ad vantage of; the former gave most attention to fineness, crimp, felting and spinning properties of the fibre; while the latter gave most attention to weight of fleece ; including size of body, partially disregarding fine ness of wool and mutton qualities or points in carcass. Within the last thirty years both the Germans and French have given more uniform attention to size and quality of car cass, with weight and quality of fleece. ITS AMERICAN HISTORY. But the most remarkable changes and progress of these Spanish Me rino sheep has been made in the United States. The greatest atten tion and skill in the science of breed ing was shown for years in the at tainment of great weight of fleece from a moderately sized sheep, and this has been reached among our American breeders to a degree above any others in the world. These Span ish Merinos so improved in the United States have by common con sent as well as by authoritative ac tion come to be known as American Merino sheep. ITS MUTTON QUALITIES. Enormously heavy fleece on a small carcass was the "one idea" er ror of years ago and our best Amer ican breeders have s'een it, rnd for the last thirty years have been grad ually increasing the size and improv ing the form or mutton points of their sheep, until now some of them are boasting about the size of their sheep and the points of mutton de velopment. That they are challeng ing the attention of expert mutton julges; here and there taking prizes .at the exhibition and meat markets, warrants the assertion that the American Merino mutton man is coming yes. that he is already here and. when he gets the mutton ex cellence of his Merino sheep fully perfected he will have with it the finest, heaviest and all-round most valuable fleece to be found in -any country. Already the carcass of the largest mutton breeds have not the readiest sale, nor do they often com mand the highest prices paid for mutt m in our largest markets. In using the name, American Merino, I do not mean only one family of the Merino, but in its larger sense, all the American bred Merino sheep. In describing the thoroughbred American Merino there must be wide "latitude allowed, for they differ widely in characteristics. THE SIZE AND WOOL CLIP. The size varies about as much as the fleece, but it is a very small flock of thoroughbreds that will not dress 40 pounds nets, (100 pounds gross) as an average. I may say that the great bulk of thoroughbred Ameri can Merinos, if made fat for market, would gross 125 pounds, and net 50 pounds, while a few other thorough-
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Oct. 14, 1902, edition 1
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