Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / Jan. 18, 1906, edition 1 / Page 1
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Consolidated, 1904, with The Cottori Plant, Greenville, S. C. PROGRESSIVE FARMER VOL. XX. NO. 48 THE COTTON PLANT VOL. XXII. NO. 47. RALEIGH, N. C, JANUARY 18, 1906. Weekly $1 a Year. CIRCULATION OF THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER BY YEARS. For the year 1903, average weekly issue less than 7,000 .For the year 1904, sworn weekly average,, 10,509 First six months 1905, sworn weekly average, 12,288 Xast six months 1905, sworn weekly average, .15,482 The Progressive Farmer has j.A larger circulation than any other weekly pub Ushed between Richmond and Atlanta, and 2. A" larger circulation than any other farm weekly published between Philadelphia and Dallas, . . HOW SHALL WJS'ttBT TILE PROFITS KUM MORE LIVE STOCK? Messrs. Editors : I have been much interested in Dr. Burkett's recent articles in your esteemed paper especially the last one on Growing More Live Stock. ; ; . Every one will readily agree that our State should raise mores live stock. But the trouble is, our farmers haven't been able, as a rule, to find the profit in stock that would induce them to in crease their! supply. The dairy business i grow ing some in our county; and I don't know of any one who has made a success of beef cattle, al though a good many nave tried dmerent Kinds 01 the improved breeds. I. hope it is the fault of inose wno nave tnea Deer, catue and not our sec tion of country. L . ' ' .' . L think the greatest drawback to this business in our county is the high price our farmers can get for their hay, especially pea hay. We all realize that our lands are in need of a rotation of crops, animal manure, and a change fronvthe con t inued succession of food crops, which is burning up the vegetable matter arid causing the soil to be come compact and wash away by heavy rains. Now, Mr. Editor, I believe there is a wide field of usefulness for your valuable paper and the Ag ricultural Department of our State in showing our farmers how to find the dollar in raising mules, cattle, hogs and. sheep. Of course some favored lew are succeeding, but mosf 01 our iarmers v my self included) don't know-how to keep profitably the various kinds of live stock, to the extent of in creasing our farm revenue from this sources. Dr. Burkett being raisedj in a stock section of country can easily see this defect in our system of farming and is faithfully calling our attention to our need of more live stock. I think that the share system of raising cotton operates against the live stock business. But my experience has led me to believe that this is the cheapest way to raise cotton. The amount of animal manure applied to the farms of our State is almost nothing, and I want Dr. Burkett to suggest a system of rotation that will build up the fertility of our soils without live stock, if it is possible to do so. I know that ! have improved some of my land, when I have sowed wheat followed by peas for several years in succession. ' ' ' . . : From my experience I think it is not advisable I VJ JUii llll UtT U1CBC Lllipa lUUgCl luau v jvaiuj then plant to corn or cotton. The pea crop does better on land that was in cotton the previous year, but some years we can't get the cotton off in time for wheat. In tlnV case sow in spring oats followed by peas, . JOHN McDOWELL. Mecklenburg Co., N. C. : Our soil and climatic conditions are all right in every .way for live stock. If live stock hus bandry does not pay it is because live stock ma chines are not good enough. You remember that the average milk production in North Carolina is but 2,000 pounds annually, and in New York 5,000 pounds annually. Dairying pays in New York with prices not nearly so good as those prevailing in North Carolina and neighboring States, simply because Ne,w York cows are. better machines. v In beef production it is much the same way The average steer in North Carolina sells on the market for $22. In the Western States he sells for $50 or more. Why this difference? Because he is a better bred, more efficient meat-maker than is the beef animal of the South. Our need then i3 better live stock. ' But if you, for any reason will not become a live stock farmer, then there is nothing in the way to prevent your being a legume farmer. If you will grow cotton, all well and good; for cotton is the best -all-round money crop the world has. If its fiber only is sold, it is the least exhaustive crop that comes out of the soil. Hence rational farm ing is not a difficult proposition. It means cotton no more often than once in three years, legume3 for winter and ' summer growth, deep plowing, plenty of green crops or such material plowed un der, a thorough cultivation; and the land will im prove and increase in .its fat. Be always then a legume. farmer. . C. W. BURKETT. FIFTY BUSHELS OF CORN PER ACRE. Some weeks ago Mr. A. J. Moye sent us seven farming questions, six of which were readily an swered, but the seventh found no one to tackle it it being an inquiry as to how to make fif ty bales of corn per acre-; on ordinary Southern soils. Now corn growing is really; quite as important a sub ject in North Carolina and the adjoining States as, cotton growing. In fact, the last census year we made $111,000,000 worth of corn against $104,- 000.000 worth of cotton. Accordingly, Prof. E. W: Kilgore and Mr. C. B. - Williams, who have managed the Agricultural Department's Test Farm experiments with corn for several years,, are going to tell in The Progressive Farmer how to select the seed, improve the soil, cultivate the corn, and rotate the crops, so as to work toward the fifty bushels per acre Mr. Moye has sug gested. These articles will begin in a week or two, and every subscriber who raises corn can get a dollar's worth of instruction from them for they sum up the teachings of tests made on a scale of many thousand of dollars. - The Best Investment. About the best investment a farmer can make is a postal or postage stamp used to apply for the free catalogs-of our advertisers. These books are often worth several dollars apiece for the information they contain. The highest talent is usually employed in writing and illustrating our advertisers' catalogs, so that they may be of the utmost service. Aside from purely advertising matter which of itself is often' just what you must want to know about almost ; every trade booklet contains , technical instruction of rare in terest and real practical value. The farmer and his family who send for catalogs early and study them closely, are the ones whose plans for the season are sure to succeed. " , THOUGHTS FOR FARMERS: Sowing Spring Oats. A wise rotation, a gradual deepening of the soil, and sowing small grain is the foundation of successful farming. The best time to sow oats is October 15th to December 1st. There are no oats that are specifically Winter or Spring , oats. Some varieties are more easily killed by cold than others. All, even the hardiest, are often killed The tenderest will stand the hardest winters if put in with a drill in the open furrows. - These are general principles. Now, there is not enough small grain sown in all the cotton counties to inaugurate a desirable rotative system. Since the middle of December the plows have been standing still on account of rain. Let. every farmer sow all his. spare' land in oats. He has until the 10th of March to do this work. The sooner it is done the better, provided the ground is dry enough to break and harrow. If you wish a good yield of heavy grain, sow the Appier or Red Rust Proof, Southern grown seed. The Brest or ninety-day oats are the earliest and well suited for bottom land, for they will come off the first week of June, in time for a corn crop. The Georgia Grazing oats and other sim ilar varieties make much straw, but the grain is light. The advantage of planting the early varieties is that they will ripen June 5th to 15th, giving time enough to sow cowpeas. Land that, with the aid of 200 to 300 pounds of fertilizer to the acre, will make 1,000 pounds of seed cotton, will make 25 to 30 bushels of oats and a ton and" a half of peavine hay. The cost of the two crops will be about half the cost of a cotton crop. Do not use ammoniated fertilizers with oats, but if nitrogen ' is wanting apply 50 to GO pounds pounds of nitrate of soda; March 20th to April 15th, and run a smoothing harrow over the land so ' as to cultivate the oats and level - the ridges. . Mix 600 pounds of 14 per cent acid and 400 nrmnls rvf ' TTninit nnr" aniilv r , Sflrt Trvnnf1a to the acre with the oats: It is better to put 300 pounds, for the peas will need all , that is not required by the oats. We have found the Gantt drill eminently satisfactory. A lively , hand, can put in two acres a day with that,.. the" rows being 12 to 15 inches apart. There may be other drills on the. market as good. Some of . these days a manufacturer may make- a two-horse drill that will plant four rows at a time.- Such a machine would require smooth land free of stalks, stones and stumps. ; CHARLES PETTY. Spartanburg Co., S. C. A Voice From Tennessee. Messrs. Editors: You are' certainly on the right track i as regards patent medicine and other fraudulent and doubtful advertisements; and if it isn't presuming too much, I wish to congratu late you on your action. The Progressive Farmer as been absolutely clean ever since I have known it ; but I am glad to know that it is going to be not only personally respectable but also aggress ively reformative. There are few .things needed more by the country than absolutely clean and independent periodicals of all classes ; and the demand f otand appreciation of such is daily growing greater. . ' I am confident your declaration of indepen dence from questionable business interests', will be to vour financial interest as well as ' to the broadening and strengthening of your moral in fluence. If it is not, I am mistaken m bouthern farmers. , Yours very truly, , E. E. MILLER. Morristown, Tenn.
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Jan. 18, 1906, edition 1
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