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THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OP STATE POLICY.
Volume XVII.
RALEIGH, N. C, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1902.
Number 41.
AGRICULTURE
HARRY FARMER'S TALKS.
xcvi.
Editor of The Progressive Farmer:
Mr. Robert S. Taylor, in discussing
what we said about the production of
cotton reaching its limit, is very
much mistaken if he thinks we were
lamenting that condition. Simply
gave it as natter of news and fact.
There is no one who rejoices more
at the advancement made by our
eastern farmers than we, and no one
will work harder to make our farm
ers get out of the old ruts.
TOBACCO GROWING AROUND WILMING
TON We took a trip to Wilmington dur
ing the Elks' Carnival, and noticed
a small pine-pole house made on the
side of the street. A close examina
tion revealed an amateur tobacco
rn. It was in charge of Mr. James
i,:.dd, & veteran tobacco warehouse
snip.. 01-n. There are a great many of our
eastern farmers that know nothing
about tobacco, and he is teaching
them their first lessons. The Wil
mington merchants have subscribed
$30,000 to erect warehouses, etc., so
that the farmers can have a near-by
market.
With a good port, there is no rea
son why Wilmington should not be
come one of the best markets in the
State for tobacco." The farmers will
he supplied with seed, and have prac
tical tobacco men to give them full
instructions. All the country near
will be thoroughly canvassed, and
where soil of the right kind can be
found, the farmers will be asked to
plant.
THE KIND OF LAND NEEDED
Mr. Dodd said to a farmer that
any land fairly well drained that had
a yellow clay subsoil from 8 to 18
inches below the surface, and the
surface composed of light or gray
sand, would make fine wrappers if
pmpcrly managed. Bright and ma
hogany wrappers were worth from
- to M) cents per pound. He said
there would be a plenty of good liter
ature distributed so that almost any
one with fair intelligence could raise
the tobacco.
Tobacco farmers, listen to what he
s:jJ'out lines for barns:
see these pipes here; they
rdinary stovepipes, and you
lwn in place of the large,
s- It will not require so
d, and you can raise the
s high as you need it."
If this be true, it certainly will be
cheaper, for we know that stove
pipes do not sell very high. We
mention the above for you to think
about. An ordinary stove will heat
a room hot enough to dry almost any
thing. EVERYBODY HELPED BY THE FAR
mer's SUCCESS.
We like to see merchants take an
'interest in farmers tfiis way. It does
good and will be helpful to all.
The railways out West used to
throw out every inducement to get
people to settle along their lines.
They have made money for them
selves and have helped thousands of
others to get fortunes also. And
Mr. Taylor mentioned the Wilming
ton & Weldon Railway making
money by hauling truck; every one
who is interested should lend a help
ing hand. When the farmer fails,
the whole country is seriously af
fected. HARRY FARMER.
Columbus Co., N. C.
This is Truth.
The recent high prices of meats of
all kinds has given a great deal of
agitation among farmers " of the
South to the cattle raising industry.
Very little attention has been paid
to cattle raising in Cabarrus, in fact,
we believe not half enough meat is
marketed in Concord to supply the
demand, and we wonder why this is
as it is. To give our readers an idea
of how much meat is consumed in
Concord, we approached Mr. J. F.
Dayvault, whose market is headquar
ters, and he tells us that his average
! for one month is one hundred cattle,
whose average weight is 600 pounds,
thirty sheep, thirty calves and 125
hogs. This is the report of only one
market, and we have several others
here who do a large business. If
our farmers would enter the cattle
raising business along with their reg
ular farm work they would be sur
prised to find out the profit there is
in it. Concord Times.
The ranker growing legumes, such
as the cow pea and soy bean not only
add nitrogen to the soil if plowed
under or returned to it in the form
of manure, but their lower roots pen
etrate the subsoils to a great depth
and draw up considerable amounts of
potash and some phosphorus which
then becomes a constituent of the
top soil and available for surface
feeding plants.
Curing Peavine Hay.
Editor of The Progressive Farmer :
The season for curing peavine hay
has just closed, and it has been an
unusually wet one in our county.
As I have successfully housed and
stacked about forty tons, will give
you my plan for curing. Although
I have read a great many letters on
the subject in agricultural papers, I
don't recall any plan but that in
volves a good deal of expense in the
form of stakes or pens made of rails
or poles.
I handle pea hay like clover, only
it requires more time to cure. After
mowing, I allow from one to three
days sun before raking into wind
rows, and pile at onee in well-shaped,
compact cocks about six feet high.
After a week or ten days it will be
ready to haul to the barn. Open out
the piles for a few hours' sun before
hauling. I want to rake as .soon as
they are dry enough to rake well,
and pile while they are heavy enough
to make a compact pile; so if it rains
they will turn the water. By . curv
ing in the pile the leaves do not fall
off so much, and the quality of hay
is superior. Although I had rain on
every cutting this fall, my hay is
all good. Have sold five tons from
the field on our city market at from
GO to G5 cents per hundred pounds.
Our county raises a great deal of
pea hay for market, and the plan out
lined above is generally followed by
our farmers.
JOHN M'DOWELL.
Mecklenburg Co., N. C.
Successful Agricultural Co-operation.
Editor of The Progressive Farmer:
The reports of the formation of
an agricultural trust in the North
west, whereby the farmers are to con
trol prices, calls attention to some
schemes of farm co-operation which
have been proven successes.
In old Ireland are found well
established instances of farm co
operation which is causing a bright
outlook from the surrounding gloom
of Irish farming and back-breaking
rentals. Ireland is an ideal dairy
country. In 1898 she had 131 co
operative creamery and agricultural
societies with a membership of nearly
ten thousand of the better class of
Irish farmers. By running the cream
eries themselves they have increased
the profits from their cows from ten
up to thirty-five per cent. The co
operative societies buy and sell col
lectively the supplies and products
of the farmers, getting all seeds and
fertilizers, etc., in bulk. In this they
effect an immense saving and can be
sure of receiving first-class goods.
But little has been attempted along
agricultural co-operative lines in the
United States outside of the dairy x ;
industry. The co-operative dairy,
however, is a well-known institution.
An article in the New York Times
states that $30,000,000 of business is
done annually in the co-operative
creameries in this country. In Min
nesota 450 out of 650 creameries are
co-operative ; in Wisconsin 1,000 out
of 7,000, and in Iowa more than one
third are co-operative.
In Denmark, noted for its fine but
ter, four-fifths of the milk produced,
three-fifths of the hogs and one-sixth
of the eggs are handled by co-operative
societies. There are also in the
little kingdom 837 co-operative m
stores. France has 2,500 co-operative
societies with 800,000 members.
Germany has 13,000 co-operative so
cieties, largely agricultural. IhaI-
most every European country co
operative industry has in recent
years made vast strides, but the be
ginnings have always been small and
experience which has brought success
has been always after many failures.
Whether such an undertaking as is
announced in the press among the
northwestern farmers can be success
fully carried out, in view of the small
experience available for this class of
organization, remains to be seen.
GUY E. MITCHELL.
Washington, D. C.
The Department of Agriculture is
in continued receipt of communica
tions from abroad contradicting Dr.
Koch's theory that bovine tuberculo
sis is not communicable to man and
vice versa. German experiments
show that tests v were made with
goats, mules, cattle and rabbits, in
fecting them with tubercle bacilli of
human origin. These tests showed
that the disease is communicable
from man to animal, but that the vir
ulence of the bacilli may vary in dif
ferent animals, just as any disease
may make marked variations in its
ravages.
The preliminary, estimate of the
average yield of corn per acre, as
published in the monthly report of
the statistician of the Department of
Agriculture is 28.6 as compared with
an average yield of 16.7 bushels in
1901, 25.3 bushels in 1900, and 1899,
and a ten-year average of 23.4
bushels.
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