Saturday, January. 13, 1912.
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THR POOR MANN nOAH TO RPTTRH I.ANTI
(5) 7
N
It Lies Along the Lines of Livestock Husbandry and the Grow
,ing of Feed Crops How the Man with Little Capital Can Start
at Soil Building. '
Ml
WAGONS
SB-
mm
By A. L. French.
A. L. FRENCH.
E have talked much con
cerning the Improving of
our soils in. The Progres
sive Farmer territory, but I have
thought at times that the remedy,
like patent medicines, was most too
expensive for the
man and woman
with a living to
make out of the
land as it under
w e n t improve
ment. Any one
with ample means
may improve land
very rapidly in
several different
ways. They can
use big, expensive teams and plows,
, pour down fertilizer by the ton, even
buy. stable manure, grow forage
crops and plow them in, then lime
the soil and the trick is turned. But
it will be found upon careful investi
gation that from $20 to $30 per acre
has been expended x and practically
no increase derived from the land,
while it has been undergoing treat
ment for two or three years. And
where would the average farmer's
credit be when he has expended
$6,000 for the improvement of his
200-acre farm and another $1,500
added for living expenses while the
improvement was going on?
Get the Full Value of Pastures and
Legume Crops.
You see, it is an impossible case
for the man with no outside means,
and this is the reason the writer has
urged the average farmer to bring
his livestock to his aid in soil build
ing. The turning under of crops be
fore their feed value has been ex
tracted is a wrong economic prac
tice, and the average man's "pocket
book will not stand the strain when
the practice is carried on in a whole-
The
Promise
Of a Good
Breakfast
is fulfilled if you start the
meal with
IPost
TMfe
Sweet, crisp, fluffy bits of
toasted corn ready to serve
direct from the package with
cream and sugar.
Please
Particular
People
"The Memory Lingers
99
Dostum Cereal Company, Limited,
Battle Creek, Mich."
eale way. Of course, he can stand
the drain of fixing a few acres each
year by this expensive and wasteful
practice, but so he could stand it if
he should throw three or four ten
dollar gold pieces into the pond every
year. Still, ' that would not change
the fact that it was a foolish, waste
ful practice. . .
Our friends who are advertising
the rebuilding of soils without live
stock have apparently lost sight of
this fact, that grass and clover sods
that remain, on the land continuously
not only are about our best land-improvers,
but are our best soil binders
as well, enabling the farmer to hold
the fertility as he gains it. Only
men with livestock can make profit
able use of these pasture sods.
It has been a mystery to me why
such a large proportion of our farm
ers fight the livestock idea so
strongly. It seems as plain as day
to me that if I grow a crop of cow
peas or soy beans and secure the en
tire feed value and full three-fourths
of the manurial and humus value,
that I am acting more wisely than
if I plowed the crop under direct
and thus secured only the plant food
and humus value, providing, of
course, that the expense of harvest
ing and feeding the forage would not
offset the benefit received. As far as
harvesting the crop is concerned, the
average cost, per ton on pur place for
the past half-dozen years has "been
under $1.50, the manure hauling less
than 25 cents per ton, the feeding
practically nothing, just simply exer
. cise before breakfast.
Improving the Land While Getting a
Living From It.
We should always, I believe, keep
' the fact in mind that nine out of ten
farmers are dependent upon their
year's work for their living that year,
having no great amount of surplus
capital laid aside that can be used
for land improvement only; hence
to o this majority class any good
a system must be presented for their
consideration that will build the soil
and at the. same time furnish means
to supply the present family wants. ,
This may sound unbusiness-like to
some, but we are obliged to handle
the situation in this manner if at all,
I honestly believe, and so will do
well to give our best thought to solv
ing the problem as it is presented on
90 per cent of the farms, of the
South.
,Yet it is not such a hard problem
after all. Thousands of men and
women all over the United States
the writer among the lot have,
started with little or no capital and
on poor soil, by the help of. good live
stock (bought with borrowed money
in some cases), have won out and
secured for themselves a fair living
and something for a rainy day.
How Pigs and Sheep Will Help.
The farmer who grows a field of
corn and a field of peas and soy
beans, purchases a good brood sow
and feeds the corn and peas to her
offspring; then disks the stubble
land, sows in rye and crimson clover
and feeds that crop to the second
litter of pigs, will surely make more
clear money in the long run than he
who grows a crop and sells it in the
raw state, and will have just as fer
tile a farm at the end of ten years
as will the man who turns under for
manure half the crops his land , pro
duces during the ten years, and I
will 'wager he will have a better
credit by far at the bank. Thirty
dollars will pay for a brood sow that
will produce pigs enough to grow
$150 worth of -pork the first year,
and not a dollar's worth of feed need
We W ant Your Name
TfOR your name and address on a postal card, we
will send you a wagon catalogue that will make
you sit up and study it. This catalogue contains
something startling in wagon values. w
Now is the Time to Buy a Piedmont or Hickory Wagon
You may think you don't need a new wagon just now. That's because you
don't know our wagons the stuff they are made of and how they are made.
- Let us' tell you Let our nearest agent show you why we can guarantee
Piedmont and Hickory Wagons and have them outdo their guarantees.
If you know a farmer or teamster with a Piedmont or a Hickory Wagon
ask him what he thinks of it. . ,
Write Yes, Now! for catalogue and name of
nearest dealer. Then see the wagon at the dealer's.
PIEDMONT WAGON & MANUFACTURING CO., Hickory, N. C.
be purchased, if the land is kept at
work as it should be growing feed
crops every month of the year. But
there will be products from these
crops corn fodder, pea hay, etc!
that the hogs cannot use; there will
also be more permanent pasture grass
than they will consume, and to pre
vent the wasting of the feed value
of these by-products a small flock of
sheep will be needed. These ewes
will cost $4 per head and the lambs
will pay the bill the next spring,
leaving the sheep and wool to pay
for the feed and caring of the flock.
Some cattle will be needed also, as
there will be much of- the. coarser
parts of the rough feed that the
sheep cannot handle to advantage,
and to carry out this plan of saving
all the feed-value of the crops thus
reducing the whole to a minimum
the cattle will do their' part.
Then, too, having the different
classes of stock, we will avoid the
risk that always attends "having all
the eggs in one basket," making the
business safe for the man who can
not afford to gamble with his fam
ily's income. Building his soil grad
ually and at ' the same time safe
guarding his living, the farmer may
plant ' his small ' acreage of money
crop, knowing that whatever may be
fall this crop his soil and family in
come will be safe, and he will have
the satisfaction of knowing that he
is the master of the situation.
NORTH CAROLINA FARMERS' IN
STITUTES. AT EACH of the following insti
tutes a premium of $1 will be
given for the best five ears of corn
exhibited, provided the exhibit has
merit and shows points of excellence,
otherwise no premium will be given.
A premium of $1 will also be given
for the best loaf of bread exhibited
by a girl or woman living on the
farm, the following conditions to be
observed:
Bought or home-made yeast may
be used, but bread made by the "salt
rising" process will not be awarded
a prize; nor will bread scoring less
than 75 points, out of a possible 100
points for a perfect bread, be given,
3 premium. The following score
card, designed by -Prof. Isabel Bre
vier for the Illinois Domestic Sci
ence Association, will be observed in
the judging of bread: Flavor, 35
points; lightness, 15 points; grain
and texture, 20 points;, crust color,
depth and texture 20 points; crumb
color, moisture 10 points; shape
and size, 10 points; total, 100 points.
Morning sessions will begin at 10
o'clock and the afternoon at 1:30.
Northeastern Party.
" Januarynr .Mt.i Pleasant"; 18,
Rock Ridge; 19, Halifax; 29, Jack
son; 22, Gatesville; 23, Winton; 24,
Windsor; 25, Ahoskie; 26, Rich
Square; 27, Scotland Neck; 29,
Speed; 30, Oak City; 31, Grimes
land. February 1, Aurora; 2, Washing
ton; 3, Bethel; 5, Willlamston; 6,
Plymouth; 7, Pantego; 8, Swan
Quarter; 9, Middletown; 10, Fair
field; 12, Sladesville; 13, Mackey's
Ferry; 14, Columbia; 15 Creswell;
16, Edenton; 17, Hertford; 19, Curri
tuck Court House; 20, Jarvisburg;
21, Elizabeth City; 22, Salem; 23,
Camden Ceurt House.
Central Party.
January 18, Kenly; 19, Pine
Level; 20, Clinton; 22, Kenansville;
23, Corinth Church, near Rc-sehill;
2 4, Faison; 25, Smith's Chapel; 26,
Pikeville; 27, Kinston; 29, Trenton;
30, Richlands; 31, New Bern.
February 1, Jacksonville; 2,
Pollocksville; 3, Bayboro; 5, Vance
boro; 6, Newport; 7, Nashville; 8,
Whitakers; 9, Tarboro; 10, Snow
Hill; 12, Ayden; 13, Farmville; 14,
Pinetops; 15, Stantonsburg.
Southeastern Party.
January 13, Chalybeate; 17,
Parkton; 18, MaxtonT 19, Wagram;
20, Laurinburg; 22, Lumberton; 23,
Tarheel; 24, St. Paul; 25, Clarkton;
26, Chadbourn; 27, Tabor; 29, Old
Dock; 30, Ashe; 31, Cool Springs,
near Shallotte.
February 1, Mt. Pisgah, near
Shallotte; 2, Bolivia; 3, Funston; 5,
Wrightsboro; 6, Burgaw; 7, Atkin
son; 8, Garland; 9, Roseboro; 10,
Fayetteville; 12, Dunn; 13, Mingo
Academy; 14, Four Oaks.
CO-OPERATION: HERE IS A GOOD
SUGGESTION.
WHAT you have said along the
line of co-operation coincides
with my ideas generally. Farmers
should, as far as practicable join with
each other In the purchasing of such
.-. i-u
ni tidies ixa uiejr uau cunvemenuy pur
chase wholesale, and often two or
more neighbors can profitably pur
chase for joint ownership some new
agricultural implements, etc. But
here is a line of co-operation that
strikes me as feasible which you have
not mentioned:
If Mr. A buys a McCormick mower
and it, does the work for that vicinity
satisfactorily, then when Mr. B. buys
one, he, too, should get the same ma
chine, and all along down the line.
The repairs can be obtained easier
and more cheaply and then you will
be complementing your neighbor. Be
sides, soon all the neighbors will
know all the parts of the machine
and know how to repair it, etc.
The same rule will apply to stock
(Continued on page 28.')'
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