THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER
The Middle South as a Dairy Section.
1
Editor of The Progressive Farmer:
In most respects, the Middle South
is admirably adapted to dairying.
On account of some of the disad
vantages which this sectipn has,
dairying has often been unprofitable,
and the progress has been slow, but
the advantages are many, and it is
destined to become one of the leading
.dairy sections in the United States.
'better cattle needed
The cattle tick has probably hin
dered the progress of dairying more
than any other one tiling. This tick
carries the germ of Texas- fever, so
well known in the South that it need
not be described here. Animals which
are raised South of the quarantine
line are seldom affected, but those
raised North of this line, and af
terwards shipped South, are often
seriously affected, causing usually
about fifty per cent of the infected
ones to die. This state of affairs
has caused most of the herds to be
less improved than they would have
been had not so many of the pure
bred imported cattle died. By this
we mean that there are, comparative
ly speaking, only a small number of
the Southern cattle which are pure
bred. However, means by which the
per cent of deaths may be decreased
from fifty to five per cent have been
discovered, and the herds are now
being rapidly improved. Dairymen
are learning the great importance of
exterminating the ticks and improv
ing their herds so that greater prof
its will be derived therefrom. In the
past, and ven at the present, the
herds are not improved up that
standard where maximum profits are
obtained. This is" mainly because
many of the very best animals have
died of Texas fever and many of the
present ones were raised from
scrubs or animals which were not
profitable for dairying. Now the use
of the Babeoek test is becoming
familiar and the unprofitable animals
are being disposed of, and from
those which are most profitable only
are animals selected for the future
herd.
THE LACK OF EDUCATED DA-RYME
Another hindrance to the progress
of dairying in the Middle South has
been the lack of educated and ex
perieneed dairymen. The men who
have had charge of the daries and
herds have been inexperienced and
uneducated, and consequently they
were not familiar with the small
- leaks in dairying, through which
much of the profits go. To obtain
the greatest profits in dairying the
dairyman must be thoroughly famili
ar with the details of the business so
that anything unusual "will not es
cape his notice. Such men are noy
being educated and trained to ob
serve the little things as well as the
big ones, and to use the various ways
of testing milk and cream and to
judge a cow by her form and ap
pearance. These young men arc
making first-class dairymen, and this
disadvantage is fast being over
come. The natural advantages of the
Middle South are many. The climate
is mild and not extreme either in
cold or in heat. No expensive build
ings for protection against cold are
needed as in cold climates. For sev
en or eight months in the year the'
herds may go without protection ex
cept against rain. Even during the
coldest weather barns with only one
wall are sufficient.
OUR ADVANTAGE IN ABUNDANT
PASTURAGE.
The greatest natural advantage
of this section, however, is. not the
climate, but that which the climate
brings, namely, abundant pasturage
for eight or ten months of the year.
The cheapest food for a dairy cow
is that which she gathers herself by
grazing. It is impossible to obtain
the greatest flow of milk without
some green or succulent food. Here
natural pastures of Bermuda grass,
herds grass and lespedeza and other
grasses are plentiful and furnish the
very best of succulent foods. If for
any reason sufficient pasturage is not
afforded, green crops niay be had for
feeding during the entire spring,
summer and fall. Rye and crimson
clover sown in the early fall will
afford some grazing during the win
ter and fv-nish a heavy growth in
early spring which may be fed green
or cured for hay. By the time rye
and clover have given out oats and
vetch, sown in the fall, will be mak
ing a heavy growth which may be
fed green or cured for winter feed
ing. Corn and millet planted in
early spring will make a good feed
to follow oats and vetch and may be
supplemented with cow-peas during
the late summer and fall months
Now we have a complete summer
ration if we had no pasture, and tho
surplus from the summer feeding
may be cured for hay or put into the
silo for winter feeding. You can,
I with ease, arrange a crop rotation so
that two of the above crops may be
grown on the same land each year
and they can, therefore, be produced
at a minimum cost.
Cotton seed meal, a by-product of
cotton seed oil mills, and bran make
a good grain ration to feed in con
nection with the above-named rough
ages. Cotton seed meal is rich in
protein, making it one of the most
concentrated feeding stuffs and is
the cheapest source from which pro
tein may be had. Now, with two
crops of forages on the same land
each year and cotton seed- meal and
bran each at $24 per ton, we can
easily feed a cow giving three gal
lons of milk daily for sixteen to
eighteen cents per-tlay, and often
less.
THE HOME MARKET.
The Middle South has a good
home market for all its dairy prod
ucts and will have for many years to
come, as the demand is far greater
than the supply. Milk finds a ready
i t. , i.
saie, in nearly every town, lor
twenty-five to thirty-five cents per
gallon. Since ice factories are nu
merous, ice may profitably be used
in the maufacture of butter which
brings from twenty-five to thirty-five
cents per pound.
The two great disadvantages,
namely, the cattle tick and inexperi
ence, are npw being overcome. Men
are learning the great importance of
the natural advantages of climate,
pasturage, forages for green feed
and for hay; also the cheap grain
rations which reduces the cost of
feeding to the minimum. Comparing
the cost of feeding with thn big
prices received for dairy products,
vou can readily see that the Middle
South is destined to become one oi
the leading dairy sections of the
United States.
J. C. BEAVERS,
N. C. A. & M. College, West Ra
leigh.
Fanners' Narional Congress.
Editor of The Progressive Farmer :
Arrangements are well under way
for the 24th annual meeting of the
National Farmers' Congress, at Ni
agara Falls, beginning September
22. To judge from the efforts put
forth by the officers, an instructive
and interesting session may be ex
pected. President Flanders informs
us that the following gentlemen
have accepted invitations to deliver
addresses: Maj. G. D. Purse, Savan
nah, Ga., "Sugar Supply in the
United States." Hon. Timothy L.
Woodruff, Brooklyn, "Agricultural
Conditions Understood to exist in
Our Insular Possesions, and the
Possibilities in Their Development'
O. P. Austin, chief of the Bureau of
Statistics, Washington, D. C,
"Farm Products in the Markets of
the- World." Dr. D. E. Salmon,
Washington, D. C, "Infectious and
Contagious Diseases of Farm Ani
mals and their Effect on American
Agriculture." Prof. T. M. Webster
Urbana, 111., "Diseases and Insect
Pests on Plants and their Effect on
American Agriculture." James
Wood, Mt. Kisco, N. Y., "How Can
We Enlarge Our Foreign Markets
for Farm Products." Aaron Jones
South Bend, Ind., "Extension of the
Facilities of Our Mail System."
Governor Odell will deliver the ad
dress of welcome, and the response
will be made by Hon. Harvie Jordan,
Monticello, Ga., first vice president
of the congress.
Twenty-four years this national
body has co-operated with the other
organizations of the United States
in the betterment of agriculture, and
in making the life of the farmer more
pleasant, more profitable, and, if pos
sible, more honorable. You will no
tice by the subjects chosen and the
speakers assigned, that this organiza
tion is not an institute, but deals
with the relations of the agricultur
ists to the other professions.
The delegates are commissioned
by the Governors of several States,
and any farmer is eligible to appoint
ment.
For information in regard to ap
pointment as delegates, write to
John M. Stahl, Secretary, 4328
Langley Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.
Remember the date, September 22
to October 10,-1903.
Excursion rates on all railroads,
on the certificate plan.
J. H. REYNOLDS, Treas.
Tuesday, September 1, 1903.
The Farmers Should fw.i,.
-f"UXC.
We maintain that an n:..,.
of the farmers, as perfect as it can be
made, will prove of vastly moro
fit to the country at larffe ami
the farmers individually than any
other. The truth of th
they more than all others have
: i: -Li- j , . lue
lnaiitjiiauie ana primeval riht to m-
ganize because upon their labors and
the result of their labors iW,
the very existence of the country and
the world.
When agriculture lansmisl n
0 "-o an
else, every other industry is affected
1 1 M 1 1 r . 1
wnen tne iarmer thrives the entire
country is prosperous, and PWw
industry moves as merrily as a wed-
amg Den. ne tanner more than
any other should know how many
bales of cotton will supply the world
ana now mucn tne world can afford
to pay per pound for that cotton. TTp
should ascertain for himself how
many pounds of tobacco the world
can consume and pitch his crop ac
cordingly ,and should demand from
the American Tobacco Trust, or anv
other trust, a fair price for that
tobacco, and when he has made that
tobacco and set that price upon it
he should have provided himself with
enough meat, corn and stuff at home
to be able to set back on his haunches
and demand what is justly due him,
and it would take only a short while
for the vampires that are living up
on the farmer to understand that the
farmer, as well as they, is figuring on
a cold-blooded business proposition,
calculating to protest his interests
by a system of scientific division of
acreage to control the yield and feed
ing of the production of his lands
gradually into the channels of trade
so it can healthfully assimilate same
without depressing prices.
All last spring in almost every
issue wTe wrote article after article
telling the farmers tobacco would be
low, and that in a large acreage
would place them in the hands of
the trust.
Effective organization, ascertain
ment and proper publication of the
requirements of the trade, and prop
er division of the acreage and mar
keting the crop should not only regu
late the price of tobacco but cotton
as well.
Proceed as others do. The mer
chant buys his goods, lays in his
stock according to his capital ana
demands of trade, if he does not,
disaster and ruin follows. So it
with the farmer. Produce more than
trade or conditions demanu
prices decline and bad times stare
him in the face, and unfortunaiw
many times he looks for a renaw
away off yonder when the fault 13
his own door and of his own
111 wiw gamine of the trust.
jj yjf vv lliv ' L ,
Organize and dictate prices to tne
instead of their dictating to you.
Wilson Times.
..... : nf ciVht. but sad to
uoiion is uui w o-' l
say the fellow who loses the m
sweat to make it has no cotton
at any price. These are
-tor's prices and not tne
Davidson Dispatch.