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Consolidated, 1904, with The Cotton Plant, Greenville, S. C.
PROGRESSIVE FARMER VOL. XXI. NO.
THE COTTON PLANT VOL. XXI II. NO. 7.
RALEIGH, N. C, APRIL 5, 1906.
Weekly-$I a Year.
REDUCING COTTON ACREAGE.
The "How" of It as Mr. Hoyle Sees It Money in Sweet Potatoes, Sor
ghum Hay, Cowpeas, Etc.
Messrs. Editors: I believe the far
mers are in earnest when they say
they will reduce their acreage in cot
ton to 75 per cent of the 1904 crop.
Occasionally, however, I meet one
who says he knows 'this reduction
and a prudent marketing are the
only means we can use to put and
keep cotton culture on a paying ba
sis; but he says it is "impossible" for.
him to make that reduction. Let me
say to that friend, and to all that
think as he does,, it is only an im
aginary impossibility. We fully ap
preciate the argument that you have
a good force of hands of your own
family and must teach them to work;
and, that much of your land is. not
well adapted to corn. Suppose that
is true: does that condition force
you to plant cotton on all your land
not good for corn, simply to keep
your hands at work?
If you think it does, before you do
plant, please stop and consider the
possibilitr'aa adaptability -of your
fields, and the home and distant de
mand for so many things you see
growing in your neighbor's fields
that give better profits than cotton.
Take Sweet Potatoes for an Ex
ample, and while the labor expended in their
culture and care is much less, the
profits are greater per acre than that
of cotton. But, you say, , if we all !
cultivate the sweets for market the
supply will exceed the demand and
.we cannot sell them. There is truth
in this, too; but the hog, the cow, the
horse, and every other animal can
help you save your potatoes, and
there will always be a good demand
for good bacon, good beef and good
horses. Any land that will grow cot
ton will grow good potatoes, and with
much less cultivation. Put part of
your land adapted to cotton in sweet
potatoes. Then you have not forgot
ten that field of your neighbor's that
produced ,
l our or Five Bushels of Good Sor
ghum Hay Per Acre,
wc-th more than-the cotton grown
on twice the area of land; and it
grew with one-fourth the labor re-
Quired to produce the cotton.
Then, again, consider its kindred
valuable crop milo-maize, kaffir
corn and the millets, all of which
aie relished by all farm animals,
stand drought well, and produce
au' ruiantly. Your argument of over-
action will not hold good here,
't part of your cotton land in
; :m, kaffir corn, millet, etc. No
igses that does not present to
" view fields of cow-peas that al
make your "mouth water," and
' iably make you say: "I am go
' sow cow-peas next year." You
nest; you think you will, but
as ft.e year opens and you remember
you do not
pro
fall
yo.
mo?
inv,
ing
ar-
lUdl cotton is "money,"
treat your own judgment honest
ly, and you think you must put the
whole plantation in cotton. While
we all recognize cotton as a money
crop, and a valuable money crop, we
must not forget that it' takes more
money to make it than any other
staple crop.
Don't Forget Melons and Cowpeas.
Put part of that cotton land in
cow-peas. .
Now, if the 75 per cent cotton,
the sweet potato field, the sorghum
field and the cow-pea fields, will not
keep' your force of hands at work,
give each of them a good-sized patch
for melons, "goobers," chufas, or
some other useful vegetable you and
they may choose, and teach them
to work these; and if you still have
some "cotton" land left, and some
children not fully employed, let the
land grow up in weeds and briars
and "rest" as our forefathers taught
us, and send; the children to school.
TheyeedTnhat'encquragement; they
deserve "it, and you owe " it ' to " them?
and if they fall to get it they will be
less adapted j for future "citizenship
than your "cotton land" is for corn.
No, my friends, I don't tbink it is
impossible to reduce the acreage, do
you? "Where there is a will there
can be a way." If we do reduce acre
age, and market sensibly, the farm
ers will win, and the speculator
loose; but if we do not, we give our
labor to the speculator who has
grown rich on the supposed impossi
bilities and misguided toil of the
farmer. P. A. HOYLE.
Catawba Co., N C.
The Old Red Gullies How to Re
store Them to Life and Beauty.
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Messrs. Editors: Recently I have
seen the advice given in two good
agricultural papers, "Increase your
acreage by deepening your soil."
Now this is very wise counsel, and
easier done than to increase your ac
reage by filling up the gullies, but it
will not improve the appearance " of
your farm as much as the latter
course. During the present winter I
have added about one acre to my cul
tivated land by this means, and can
testify that is is cheaper than buy
ing, in our section, at $30 per acre.
I don't mean to insinuate, Mr. Editor,
that readers of your up-to-date paper
allow gullies to form in their culti
vated fields, but I am referring to the
old ones with small trees and stumps
on either side of them, which causes
the plowman turning on both sides
instead of plowing , straight on.
The first and most difficult job Is
to dig out the stumps and sprouts
and then you are ready for a good
two-horse turn plow, a scrape, -and a
strong, steady pair of mules. I use
one man to drive and another to
. . 1 t
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, Courtesy of S. L. Allen & Co.
How Progressive Mexicans Cultivate Tobacco ' ?
the gullies, but the sprouts and limbs
should be burned. Sometimes it is
necessary to dig off the edges of the
gully so that the team can walk along
the sides. Commence plowing as near
the bottom as! you can and plow to
the top, and six to two feet on either
side. Next use the scrape, pulling
dirt from both sides to center of
gully. r:
This wbrk can be done much easier,
when the soil is soft. It will pay to
have one extra man with mattock to
dig . up roots when scraping. . These
who have no experience will be sur
prised how fast these old eye-sores on
our. farms can be filled and then the
satisfaction of looking on an un
broken field.
john Mcdowell.
Mecklenburg Co., N. C.
VARIETIES OP CORN.
Sometliing About the Kinds Found
Most Satisfactory at the Virginia
Station.
. Messrs. Editors:. Twenty varieties
of corn were planted on the Station
plats April 29, 1905. They matured
from September 4th to October 25th.
Early Learning ripened in 128 days.
This is a yellow corn which is well
adapted to almost any section, of the
State.. Boone County White, an im
proved strain from Indiana, niatured
in 132 days; Virginia Golden Dent
in 152 days; Hickory King, in 156
days; Cocke's Prolific in 175 days.
Our experience with Virginia and
Western grown seed Indicates j that
the climate has a determining influ
ence on the shape and character of
the grain. Our climate does not fa
vor the development of a long deep
grain with a rough top so character
istic of the Western corn. This in- j
mers' must undertake ... the "selection '
and improvement of strains . of
Western corn for themselves and
that they cannot use the West
ern grown product, except 'posV
sibly for foundation stock. These
varieties of corn were j planted in
.checks 39.6 inches apart in each di
rection, which gave 4,000 hills per
acre and 8,000 stalks.
The importanceof selecting corn
carefully and using standard varie
ties was shown by the ' fact that
there were only ,7.5 per cent-of bar
ren stalks in Blount's Prolific - as
compared with 43.75 per cent in Vir
ginia Ensilage. There was 16.88 per
cent of barren stalks in Boone Coun
ty Vhite and Hickory King; ' 12.50
per cent in Virginia Golden Dent and
20 per cent , in Learning. Boone
County White led in yield with 50.35
bushels; Virginia Golden Dent : was
second, with 47.50 bushels; Cocke's
Prolific third, with 43.92 bushels;
Hickory King, fourth," with 42.85
bushels; Blount's Prolific, with 40.35
bushels; Johnson County White
sixth, with 37.85 bushels, and Learn
ing seventh, with 37.31 bushels.
These are some of the best varie
ties as revealed by one year's investi
gations, and it is a question of such
importance to the majority of our
farmers that the work will be pushed
vigorously this year. When it Is re
membered that the yield of these
twenty-six varieties grown' side 'by
side varied from twenty-five to fifty
bushels, the importance of Selecting
and improving strains of corn adapt
ed to a given- locality becomes ap
parent, and it is with the idea of em
phasizing this point that the above
suggestions have been made.
ANDREW M. SOULE,
Virginia Experiment Station, Blacks
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