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THE INDUSTRIAL AND EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OP OUR PEOPLE PARAMOUNT TO ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS OF STATE POLICY.
olume XVIII.
RALEIGH, N. C, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1903.
Number 3.
AGRICULTURE
HARRY FARMER'S TALKS.
cvm.
Sdltor of The Progressive Farmer: "
; Are these facts? If so, what is. the
remedy ?
1 Here is a farmer with a pne-horse
or two-horse farm. He has corn and
other feed to supply his needs till
harvest. lie has meat enough to last
perhaps till September, but has no
money. lie has only two sources
from which he can get any money or
goods to buy needed clothing, pay his
J church and society fees, buy school
books and newspapers and neces
sary medicines eggs and his own
labor or the labor of his children.
The first source is not sufficient and
to use the latter means a failure on
the part of his own farm. He has
been running a store account for
several years, bought his fertilizer
on time, and most of the time was
able to settle up in full at the end
of the year. But once every two or
! i 1. ,1 ' t i i Vni e
i mrv.-vj-v-uu.ra lie WOIUU iacK a llltlC OI
I aymg up.
Xow this condition extends over
the entire cotton belt and perhaps
beyond. If you will consult the mer
chants over the country they will
tell you these facts are true.
Xv what is the remedy? For our
farmers to become prosperous we
nmst change this system. And the
"ly plan we can think of is to bor
row money in the place of running
a store account, securing it by a
rP lien. A man who has money to
invest will use one of three plans:
(1) Place it in a bank or hide it out
where it does not draw any interest
!"t is apparently safe, or he will :n-V(s-
it in bonds that pay a small in-tfr(-st
but are not taxed but little, or
CO he will invest it in something
that will yield him a good per cent,
L"t h- run considerable risks and
Jhe lar-r the profit the more risks
ho will take.
If the rate of interest were
rnanpiMl s0 that bankers and others
loan their money at 10 per cent
or hss time than six months, and 8
Fr eom for twelve months in sums
!"S than $300, you would see small
ais spring up all over the country
ni farmera could borrow what
on7 they need and in a few years
nr of them would be lending
feesTo should re&ulate the
and T nxms" tlle necessary paper
Place the penalty for violating
aw at forfeiture of both interest
and principal. This would in a few
years bring the farmers on a cash
basis. There will never come a time
when every one will be so that he
will pay cash for what he buys. Now
a man that can borrow $300 and fur
nish security does not need any
change in the law regulating the
rate of interest. Those farmers who
have money to loan would be benefit
ted. In a former article we showed the
difference in cash and time prices.
Now suppose a farmer needs money
to the amount of $200 at 8 per cent
for nine months, which would only
be $12. To buy that amount of
goods for the same length of time he
would have to pay from $35 to $80
more. This is the cause of so many
farmers losing their homes. If they
lack a little every year, in a short
time it amounts to so much that it
discourages them and the way looks
so dark that many give up and let
the little "home go. We saw a long
time ago that we could not succeed
this way, so we went to borrowing
money instead of running a store
account. If Messrs. Brown and Sat
terwhite can offer a better plan or
show us that we are wrong we will
gladly surrender, but it must be
something practical and not theory.
Many of the readers perhaps re
member that we wrote on this same
subject several months ago. The
farmers of South Carolina and Geor
gia' borrow money instead of follow
ing our system. In the former State
the crop lien law was changed some
years ago. The farmers jusr endorse
for each other, and give no other se
curity. We worked and voted for the re
duction of the rate of interest at the
time it was done. We thought it
best then, and still think so for the
conditions existing at that time.
But as every thing else has advanced
we think it would be best to let the
rate of interest be changed so that
more money would come into the
country. Large enterprises can get
all they need but the farmer and
small borrowers cannot. The present
law acts somewhat like the tariff on
imports. Now, do not think we are
in the banking business, for we often
borrow more than we lend.
HARRY FARMER.
Columbus Co., N. C.
Treasury figures for 1902 show that
exports of manufactures increased
$15,500,000 and of agricultural prod
ucts decreased $120,000,000, com
pared to 1901.
STOCK RAISING IN THE SOUTH.
We Have the Cheapest Feed Let Us
Learn to Use it Wisely, and Select the
Best Animals.
Editor of The Progressive Farmer :
That there is a great awakening
among the farmers of the South to
the importance of livestock as a fac
tor in the upbuilding of Southern
agriculture, no well-informed man
will question for a moment.
The whole agricultural press
points toward education along this
line. The stock interests at the lead
ing agricultural fairs are receiving
their full share of attention from the
better class of Southern farmers.
Stock breeders with really good stock
are having no difficulty in disposing
of their surplus at fair prices. All
this I believe points to a better time
coming for the live stock business
of the South.
Are we as a class ready to meet
this advance half way, fitted to re
ceive these fine flocks and herds, pre
pared to give them the intelligent
care necessary not only to maintain
but to improve upon their good qual
ities, and have we that greater
knowledge required to eliminate
those qualities which are bad? It
is the general opinion among busi
ness men who are acquainted with
matters pertaining to live stock
farming that it requires the very
highest degree of intelligence to suc
cessfully handle a first class stock
farm. No half way measures will
do; One must simply know his busi
ness to succeed in the fullest sense
of the term.
The feeding and care of farm ani
mals is in itself a life study and with
this knowledge must go a love for
stock, an understanding of type in
the different breeds without which
a breeder is as much lost as a ship at
sea without a rudder. It may mean
all the difference between profit and
loss. He must know that the long
leg, long nose, extremely long back,
large bone, coarse hair and mean dis
position never go to make up the
profitable meat animal; on the other
hand the sluggish animal, like the
lazy man, has no place on the twen
tieth century stock farm. The bright
eye, broad head, mellow hide, low
broad compact form, straight under
and upper line, deep quarters, and a
splendid appetite, are the qualities
we must look for in the meat pro
ducing animal of to-day and to-morrow.
And then something to satisfy
that appetite. Right here is where
the mistake will be made if it is
made. The great msat producing-
breeds were brought to their present
state of excellence by the most judi
cious care in selection and then an
abundance of good nutritious food:
these poirit3 neglected, deterioration
begins almost iinmediatelj'.
A Very 3mall proportion of our
farmers know what a really finished
steer is. A trip to some of the great
stock yards Christmas week would
be an eye-opener to many feeders.
We must produce cheap feed in
abundance, and no where in America
can the best stock foods be produced
as cheaply as right here in the .
South. We have the greatest variety
if we will only grow them. King
Corn,' Queen Cowpea, Prince Cot
tonseedmeal, and a host of lesser
lights, such as so jo beans, Kaffir sor
ghum, alfalfa, clover, and all the
grasses, will produce well if given
half a chance.
Of course every intelligent stock
man knows that the corn plant well
ripened, cut and elevated into a good
tub silo makes the cheapest and one
of the best stock foods that can be
produced. Having a liberal supply
of this, cottonseed meal to mix with
it, and what peavine hay we need for
dry feed, the stock feeder can feel
that he has as good feed as the world
affords.
The selection of the sire should be
given the most careful attention of
the stock breeder. With well bred
females to cross him on, the sire is
one-half the herd, and when he is ex
pected to be mated with those of in
ferior blood, he is a great deal more
than half. So be content with noth
ing short of the best in the matter
of sires.
Summing it up, let us learn how
to select our animals for profitable
production; grow feed in abundance
to supply their every want ; mix large
quantities of natural and acquired
knowledge with the feed; market the
product with care, and the future of
meat production in the South will
take care of itself.
A. L. FRENCH.
Sunny Home Farm, Rockingham
Co., N. C.
It is said the administration will
be satisfied if Congress provides for
publicity, assists in prosecuting
.pending suits and prohibits the
granting and acceptance of rebates
as anti-trust measures. Baltimore ;
Sun.
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