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THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OP OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OP STATE POLICY.
Volume XVII.
RALEIGH, N. C, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1902.
Number 39.
AGRICULTURE
HARRY FARMER'S TALKS.
XCIV. -Editor
of The Progressive Farmer :
November has come and is show
ing us what we have made, now that
nearly everything has been har
vested. WORK FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEM
BER. We should finish sowing oats, get
the wheat land in good condition,
and sow after the first good frost.
Rutabagas can be pulled and
banked or housed the last of the
month. Prepare pens for tho pigs
as they are about ready to be finished
for the smokehouse or market. In
the apple region of the State this
crop should be gathered and put in
shape for the coming winter. If
you have not done so, decide at once
if you have some cattle which ought Epitomist s follows:
word your notes and orders so that
you can convey the ideas you de
sire. How often do we see boys and
girls turned down because they can
not transact ordinary business! It
is the head-work that counts ; human
labor is the cheapest thing in the
world. But a well-trained mind is
the highest-priced thing in the world.
So learn how to work your head. It
makes no difference whether you ex
pect to live on a farm or elsewhere,
you need to know these things. A
business man judges the form of a
letter more than the penmanship, so
if you expect to succeed you must
learn to do the little things well.
HARRY FARMER.
Columbus Co., N. C.
CHANGES IN EASTERN CAROLINA
FARMING.
Local Co-operation.
yr. E. E. Miller, of Morristown,
Tenn., an occasional correspondent
of The Progressive Farmer, writes
tt - bo disposed of, either for beef
milch cows or whatever use they can
be put to.
The nights are getting long now,
and you have a nice time to read,
so do not fail to get some good pa
pers. Nearly all of them will give
you two months' subscription if you
will subscribe now.
Chickens are very high now on
some of the markets, and if you wish
to sell before spring, now is your
time. Just as soon as pork comes on
the market, chicken prices will drop.
A WORD TO THE SCHOOL CHILDREN
A great many children are now
going to school; and we just want
to talk to them a little. We have
had considerable experience with
boys and girls, having taught some
and worked them on the farm and
in other places. Now do not think
we are going to tell you something
new, for we are not, but at the same
time we are going to point out some
things that you will find to be true
before you reach the age of twenty
five. Prepare to do business, for it
matters not what your occupation is,
you will need to know how to make
a little calculation. Now do not
think that every person you meet
can tell you how much pounds
of meat will cost at 52 cents per
pound. Can you tell how many
eggs to carry to the store to get nine
yards of dress goods at 8 1-3 cents
per yard, when eggs are worth 15
cents per dozen? These are some of
the little things you need to know.
Learn to write a plain hand, so that
your words can be understood. Then
The farmer seldom regards his
neighbor as his competitor, nor does
he often have occasion to do so. In
deed, it is likely that here is no
class of people who take so much in
terest in each other's welfare, as do
the farmers of a community, or
whose interest are so closely related.
In view of these facts, it is surpris
ing how little co-operation there is
among the farmers. It is only rea
sonable to consider that, if in a
neighborhood, the farmers would
combine in buying their supplies,
selling their produce, laying out
plans for their future crops, assist
ing each other's labors, and in set
tling all questions which are of in
terest to all or to the community a3
a whole, that the results would be
beneficial. Co-operation is now a
recognized principle of successful
business enterprise. Why should
not the farmer make use of it as
do other classes? There are few
localities but that would be benefit
ed if the people would come together
and consider, and act upon all mat
ters of general interest, and study
and discuss methods of building up
and promoting the welfare of the
community.
The farmers of Johnston County
have made and harvested great crops
this year. Probably never before
have our people experienced such a
wave of prosperity. It is 'not due,
however, to any political party, but
to the determined effort, hard labor,
and economical management of the
people themselves, Smithfield Herald.
Very Rapidly Have More Progressive
and Profitable Methods Been Intro
ducedChanges of Vast Importance.
Editor of The Progressive Farmer:
"Unless there is a change, cotton
raising in this section has reached
its limit. Strawberries in the spring
and tobacco later in the summer, will
utilize all the available labor, so that
no more can be spared on the cotton
crop." Harry Farmer.
What greater change in farm
methods can Harry Farmer, or any
one else, desire than, that which has
taken place in Eastern North Caro
lina during the last few years? As
much cotton as ever is raised per
haps more. More corn, oats and
other grain is grown ; and the hay
crop, b'oth grass and pea-vines, has
increased about 100 per cent. Ten
years ago there was very little ma
chinery for saving hay in all East
ern North Carolina. To-day nearly
every progressive farmer has his
mower and horse-rake.
I think this a change of immense
importance. It means that the farm
ers are raising their own stock feed,
and not buying so much Western
grain and hay. And it follows that
they raise more stock -improved
stock, at that and therefore they
buy less Western meat. But the
thing of most importance which this
change shows is that the farmers
are improving their land by a rota
tion of crops instead of "running
it down" under the constant clean
culture which the old all-cotton sys
tem demanded.
Yet the Eastern Carolina farmer
may not stop there, nor has he stop
ped there. He can add tobacco
growing and trucking to his list of
crops. The tobacco crop is now of
about as much importance in this
section a3 the cotton crop; so is the
trucking business, only perhaps still
more important,, and both are grow
ing rapidly. Under this plan it is
necessary to employ help by the year
and keep things moving every work
ing day in the year, instead of hiring
one's hands "till crops are laid by,"
as formerly. If cotton is planted a
few days later than the usual time
of planting, it will not need to be
worked till the strawberry crop is
out of the way; and the tobacco crop
is usually harvested by the time cot
ton is ready to pick ; so that the
three crops do not materially con
flict as to time of working and har
vesting. True there is some con
flict and hands are hard to get at
times; but the fact that since this
change our farmers usually have the
cash with which to pay for work,
ought to call back many laborers that
have gone away to Georgia and Mis
sissippi, and also bring in many that
are entirely new, and conditions will
hardly get worse.
But, from the lament of Harry
Farmer, quoted above, it seems there
are some folks who wish to change
back again and plant all our im
proved land in cotton, to see how
much we can raise. "It will be bet
ter for us to seTl all our nice har
vesting machinery and turn our
corn, grain and pea fields, likewise
our strawberry and vegetable fields,
into cotton culture. Then all hands
can lay by crops and rest till cot
ton is ready to pick, and from the
time it is picked till it is time to
plant again. That's the way our
daddies did, and they - lived better
than we do. Suppose we do over-do
the thing raise too much and the
price goes down to five cents again,
why then we can mortgage -our
farms, and if they are sold we can
blame it to hard times, caused by
the Republicans or Democrats,
whichever may be in office, and we
can get revenge as well as bring
back 'prosperity' by voting for
"tother side.'"
No; this is not what Harry Farm
er, wants to happen. I don't believe
he intended that paragraph as a
lament, though it reads very much
like one. He was just observing the
prospects for the cotton crop alone,
and was not counting the two, maybe
three or four or five dollars the
farmer now gets out of his tobacco,
strawberries, melons, cantaloupes,
vegetables, hay, grain, hogs and
cows and chickens, for every one dol
lar that he gets out of his cotton
crop. Harry Farmer is probably
quite satisfied with this "change"
which has taken place, and which is
still going on.
This "change" is one of the things
that made the Atlantic Coast Line
rich enough to enable it to absorb
two other great railway systems, as
well as numerous small lines, within
only a few months, a thing unparal
leled in the annals of American rail
ways. An old nursery rhyme tells us all
about how the "mighty ocean and the
beauteous land" were made by "little
drops of water and little grains of
sand," and now, behold, what a
"mighty" railroad such an insignifi
cant little thing as a "change" can
make! KOBT. S. TAYLOR
Duplin Co., N. C.