Thursday, October 24, 1907.
THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER. .
9
North Carolina Fair; Cotton and Tobacco Meetings.
Cotton Growers Association, said it was with the
cotton growers of this State-to let their organiza
tion live or die. .The farmers, he said, are not
supporting it as loyally as they should; their en
thusiasm was all right; but the fees had not been
paid, i
; The masses of the people he finds to be in favor
of the warehouse. plan. A local company can be
organized at every market by a few live men- wit
ness Scotland Neck. Red Springs. Fairmont, Con-
perhaps, toy do with the great attendance was the Cord and Mooresville. Farmers and business men
ability of the people to put up the price ior tne are tmnKing more tnan ever Derore aDout tne real
v holiday This big attendance is the more commercial value of cotton, the plea for gradual
we .. . j . t 0 WnA marketing is being heeded, and thousands of farm-
gratifying from this standpoint inasmuch as there ers are now holding cotton where, formerly they
was and has been all summer the Jamestown Ex-. sold from the gin. The campaign of the spring of
citinn in full blast just across the Virginia Dora- 190 6 and 1907 in favor of more food and feed
Last week was Fair week in Raleigh. The
weather was fine and the attendance every day
reached a new high-water mark. Of course, the
weather had something to do with the record
breaking attendance, the ordinary attractions and
special meetings had something to do with it, as
did also the extraordinary attraction of a speech
bv Mr. Bryan on Thursday. But what had most,
Prot Maooey'o
Weekly Letter. I
er. An agricultural fair, it was attended very
largely, but by no means exclusively, by the coun
try people. 1
Contrasting it with the Fairs, of twelve or fif
teen years ago, one was impressed with tne larger
crowds, the better appearance in dress the gayer
attire of the feminine folk, and the happier mood
of all. These things show a marked advance in
the condition of North Carolina people. Better
days are upon them, they have more money, they
are becoming better educated, they" show more
marks of thrift, and if they have ever neglected
what the New England Hawthorne called the "for
gotten art of gayety," they are happily picking it
up again. In all of which there, is just cause for
thanksgiving.
The Cotton Growers Meet.
During Fair week there were two important
meetings of interest to Progressive Farmer read
ers. One was the meeting of the Southern Cotton
. Association Wednesday night and the other was
the gathering of the Tobacco Growers Friday
night; both in the legislative halls in the State
Capitol. . '
The Cotton Growers' Association was addressed
by Mr. Harvie Jordan (whose speech at the Fair
crops was perceptibly effective. As a result, the
farmers of North Carolina have more corn, wheat,
oats, truckr cattle, and hogs than at any time in
the. history of the State, and owe less money than
at any time since the Civil War.
.If the farmers and business men, said Mr.
Moore, were as loyal as the newspapers generally,
cbtton would to-day be bringing fifteen cents a
pound. If the Association had the small income
of ten cents per bale, it could be a power in build
ing up a prosperous State. ' ;
Mr. Moore reminded the Association that he had
served nearly two years, doing the best he could,
and devoting his whole time to the service. He
asked those interested to take notice and relieve
him at the January meeting by selecting another
man. Meanwhile during the remaining time he
would vigorously push .the work as he1 had f been
doing-and invoked the aid of all influential and in
terested men. ' -
A resolution was offered by Mr. Parker provid
ing a plan for raising funds by the January meet
ing with which to discharge the indebtedness of
the Association.
Tobacco Growers in Session.
Friday, of Fair week. was Tobacco Day. Mr. J.
O. W. Gravely, of Rocky Mount, who is the Secre-
grounds during the day had been cut in two. by the tary and state Lecturer of the Tobacco Growers
ballon ascension, and bv its President. Mr. C. C
Moore. Short, interesting speeches were also made
by Mr. J. A. Brown, of Columbus County; J. J.
Lalghinghouse, of Pitt; Mr. S. H. Hobbs, of Samp
son; Mr. Ashley Home, of Johnston; Mr. R. C.
Reed, of Mecklenburg, and a few others.
Mr. Jordan declared that the South is just be
ginning to appreciate the" worth of its cotton crop,
and to realize its opportunities. The raw cotton
exported to other countries brings back to the
South every year a tide of money richer than the
output of all the gold mines of the world!
NOTES SUGGESTED BY RECENT ISSUES.
Mr. Blacknall is perfectly right in saying that
the uplands of North Carolina will not, in their
present condition, hold the rainfall even if deeply
broken. And they 1 never will if the practice - ,of
keeping them- always in hoed crops is followed. "
But with a good farm rotation in which there is
always a sod to turn under when the land is brok
en, the conditions will become such that there will
be no washing at all if the crops are cultivated
level and shallow and no furrows are made around
the hills to catch a head of water. But until the
soil -has some fibrous matter and humus in it
there is certainly need for the terraces. If the
whitish surface soil around Kittrell had some of
the clay mixed with it ajid had a sod on it fre
quently, there is no doubt that finally the terraces
could be done away with , to advantage. I know
this from the experience I had with the steep red
hills of the Virginia piedmont, where I worked
hills steeper than any here, and while there were
great gullies on the lands all around me, I never
had a new one to start, and never made a terrace.
But the land was kept sodded, as much as practi
cable, and when plowed there was fibrous matter
to hold the soil together. It is not only the shal
low plowing, but the clean cultivation, and the
wearing out of all the organic matter in the soils
here that s causes them to wash. They did not
wash when first cleared, and will not wash now If
the new ground conditions are restored and deep
breaking and shallow and level cultivation are the
rule, and! hoed crops stay on the land but one or
two seasons at fartherest.
Mr. Poe is very modest in asking tor a circula
tion of 30,000 There is noreason why a paper
like The Progressive Farmer should not have at
least 50,000 subscribers in the South. The farm
papers North are all reaching out after Southern
circulation, and they know that the South is the
Association, addressed the tobacco growers at the
Fair Grounds and made a tremendously strong ar
gument for better prices. The trusts were smit
ten hip and thigh. They have taken from the farm
ers $148,000,000 in the past twenty-one years by coming field for agricultural journalism, tor in n
paying less for tobacco than it was bringing when section is there a greater waking up to the import
yet the farmers are losing millions and millions
cotton is marketed. After pointing out the neces
the trusts came into the field.
At night the meeting in the Hall of the House of
Representatives was addressed by Mr. C. C. Moore,
Mr. Gravely and other speakers. Mr. Gravely ex-
And pressed energetic impatience with newspapers that
iayor tne trusts, ana look occasion to commena
the work of The Progressive Farmer and the Ra-
ance of agriculturalimprovement. If the South
ern farmers will but stick by. their organizations
for mutual improvement and protection the South
will continue prosperous, for in the great manu
facturing development that is going on there are
thousands drawn from the farms who must be fed
hv those who remain there; and with her great
w . ..
annually because of the manner in which their , ,,i01 crh staple crop the South has the 'whip handle on the
with an urgent appeal to the farmers to profit by world.
rUir -P n A lrtOltT AfT010 Kola ff O
. " ' , TraTVrririt compact and thorough organization,
size of 48 x 22 x 18 inches, and the great saving it v - 0
Would cause in freight, storage, and insurance, Mr.
Jordan appealed to the farmers to abandon the
present lack of system in storing cotton and ex
pressed his favor for laws that compel the protec
tion of cotton against the weather. Taking up the
matter of the exchanges, he showed that even if
Mr. Moore spoke of adulteration of smoking to
bacco with alfalfa and grass leaves, and suggested
pure food inspection. V .
Mr. T. B. Parker made a practical talk on the
value of better organization for the tobacco grow
ers, and gave the greetings of the Farmers' Alli-
they were removed, the spinners and growers ance.
would not be able to agree upon a price for. cot
ton; that the advancement in the price of cotton
could only come as a result of system, of organiza
tion. " ' ' .' -
The present depression in . the price of cotton,
he said, was due to three influences: (1) the large
amount of cotton thrown upon the market flooded
it; - (2 ) a large percentage of the producers have
"to give liens and the merchants who take their cot
ton in payment for supplies were obliged to dis:
ioseof it; and (3) the severe money stringency
in this country arid in Europe.
A. system must be devised, declared Mr. Jordan,
by which the crop can be financed before it leaves
the hand? of the farmers. " First, a system of ware
houses would be necessary, then a system to fin
ance the stored cotton, so that the weak or "dis
tressed'" cotton will not be allowed to break the
market. The greatest' bear of all, declared Mr.
Jordan, was not the man who offers a low price,
but the man who accepts' the low price for his cot
ton; '
Mr. Jordan believes that a new day is dawning
for the South, and he called upon airthe people
to stand together in the future and do their part
to hasten its coming.
President Moore Asks For a Successor.
Following Mr. Jordan, President C. .C. Moore,
of the North Carolina Division of the Southern
In cotton, while the second picking may make
as good or better plants than the first, the element
of earliness will always be more likely in the seed"
from the earliest opening bolls. I hope that the
Experiment Stations will take up this matter of
the best seed of cotton, and plant separate plots
from different pickings side by side. Earliness in
cotton is ve"ry important in the upper South, beed
from the middle or lower part would tend to make
less long limbed and weedy plants doubtless. The
average of the whole Cotton Belt one season with
another is not over 200 pounds. North Carolina
v.00 q rrtA nr hpttpr an average than any. but
ua,a ua w--rs . www . - - -
Colonel J. Bryan Grimes pointed out what had
been accomplished by home companies handling
tobacco, citing instances at Greenville and Apex.
Colonel John S. Cuningham thought tobacco
should bring fifteen cents; and urged organization.
Dr. Tait Butler did not thiijk it would be easy with good farming made general all over the State
to organize the dependent farmers, for it was a there is no reason why the average should not ex
task to organize those who were in better cohdiceed Mr. Hobbs's 250 pounds. His advice in re-
tion; yet in organization; was the, only hope for gard to selection of heavy seed is all right, and? it
better prices. " would nay to hand-pick the seed over for a seed-
President R. K. Simmons, of Westfield, Surry breeding patch, so as to get - only the best for
County, who is at' the head of the Farmers' Pro- breeding.
tective Association, congratulated the body on the '
good work done during the year, and the meeting
I had a call from a man a few days ago who
adjourned after adopting the following resolution says that he has a machine that will mow peas in
offered by Mr. Graveley: rows and clean them as it goes. I am to have an
"Resolved, that the tobacco farmers of North opportunity to see the machine work in a few days,
and if it does all that is claimed, it will work a
revolution in cowpeas for seed, for he claims that
he can mow and clean the seed at a cost of fifteen
cents per bushel.' Another man In Tennessee has
invented a thresher that he says will thresh tne
Carolina never cease their efforts till they obtainr
in an honest way, profitable prices for tobacco."
. Mr. J. H. Currie President.
Rut in ypf hark tn thft Fair. Mr. TC. TV Dansrht.-
ridge, of Edgecombe, the retiring President, is sue- mown vines and clean the seed without breaking
ceeded by Mr. J. H. Currie, of Cumberland Coun- them; and he is so sure, that he offers to pay my
ty, as the head of the State Fair management, expenses to go to Tennessee and see it wo rK :. JJ
He is a farmer of large public spirit, progressive want to see both machtaes work, for there is n
nni siirppssfiii; and in this nromotion from the one machine more needed now than one tnat wu
vice-presidency will not find his work totally new save the expensive hand pickingf pWgE y.
or suaugc. -.-v. . . -