Hoe ond Da con Opoolal MoxiVJcGlt!
Title Registered In U. 8. Patent Office.
A Farm and. Home Weekly for the CarolinaB, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia.
Vol. XXII. No. 41.
RALEIGH, N. C, NOVEMBER 21, 1907.
Weekly: $1 a Year.
WHAT YOU WILL FIND IN THIS WEEK'S
PAPER.
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Begin Now for .Early Cabbage, P. J. Merriam
Dairy Notes . .,..... . . ... ..... . . V, . . . .
Dollar Farming; How Live Stock Will Help
the Cotton Grower. . . '. . . . .... .... . .
Farmers' Alliance News ....... ...... ... .
Hints for Hog Raisers. . . . .". . . . . . . . . . . . .
How to Make a Lot of Corn in One Day.. . K .
Making Hens Lay in Cold Weather. ... .
One Month's Dairy Money, Prof. John Michels
Plant Spinach Now, Mrs. C. S. Everts. . . . .
Poultry Show at Jamestown, Uncle Jo. . . . .
Pruning Scuppernongs, Prof. F. C7 Relmer. .
Strawberries for Home Use, Prof. A. B. McKay
Silage Better Than Fodder, A. L French . . .
Suggestions for a Thanksgiving Dinner, Aunt
Mary ... ... . . . . . r . . . . ; . . . ... . ... . . . . .
Subsoiling Land . -. ..... . . . . . . . .
Spurs for Poultrymen . . . . . . . . -. ... .". ... .
Texas Cotton Crop is Short
The When, How, and Why of Seed Corn Se
lection, C. B. Williams. ... . ..... . ... . .
Virginia News Notes ... . . . . . . . . ....
Young People's Page . ... . . . .... . . ..... .
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THE TEXAS COTTON CROP IS SHORT.
There is much evidence coming to light to cor
roborate iteti&iaent' ma-liyJPld'efNeilli- of
the Texas Farmers' Union in our issue last week,
namely, that the Texas cotton crop is only 45 -or
50 per cent of an average crop. Prof. W. C. Wel
born, College Station, Texas, writing us in regard
to the boll weevil, for example, declares in the
course of his letter: " .
"This year the weevil has been very destructive;
and, along with other unfavorable conditions, has
made the cotton crop of Texas very short so
short that I believe if the trade knew how short
it is, cotton would go to sixteen cents a pound.
Last winter was ' favorable to large numbers of
weevils living over, and then cotton was late start
ing last spring.". : - "
THE. PRUDENT MARKETING OP TOBACCO.
The warehouse reports to the Department of
Agriculture show that the October sales in North
Carolina were a million, pounds less than those of
September, the total for October, with resales, be
ing 20,499,504 pounds, Winston taking in Octo
ber the lead which Wilson held in September.
If . in conjunction with the restraint in money
movements .there" had been a big crop of tobacco
and the stream of selling had run as a freshet
onecan, easily conjecture what aA depressing slump
there would have been in prices. Even with the
short crop of this year, the prudent, conservative
marketing of the tobacco farmers appears to have
had a good effect against a stringent money mar
ket. ' " '
Somebody Must Have Cotton or Put Up Cash.
The New York Exchange has sold cotton to pur
customers, the spinners, for delivery November,
December, January, and February, at a price far
below our .'minimum, and must deliver, the goods
or put up the cash. The only thing for the farm
ers to do to put them out of business absolutely
is to hold every bale of cotton out of their hands:
There has not been enough cotton delivered In
the last sixty days to run the mills by 400,000
bales. -President C. S. Barrett to Farmers' Union.
Selecting Seed Corn : The Right Kind of Stalk fend
Ear. to Choose.
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CRITICISM OF EARS:
A is too tapering ; C has too wide a space - between the rows;
B is the best shaped ear.
CRITICISM OF STALKS:
A Is the best t pe of stalk from which to make selection of seed
corn : it will yield a large quantity of shelled corn; and has the
ears of a medium height. B is a poor type of stalk : it has a small
quantity of kernels, and the ear is too high and stands too straight.
A B
Read Mr. C. B. Williams's article about Seed Corn Selection on page 4.
THE FARMERS AND THE BANKS.
It is no new thing for The Progressive Farmer
to urge its readers to have a bank account if pos
sible; that is,- to keep in the bank what money
they have that is notneeded for immediate use.
Right now, it seems to us that a renewal of this
advice cannot be out of place. At a time when
money is tight, , holding it out of circulation will
not help but will aggravate the evil. We do not
urge that the farmers sell their cotton; but the
point we make is that when they do sell it the
money received should not be carried home and
locked up, but should be left in the bank where
it can help to keep up circulation and thus main
tain better prices for the next cotton they sell. As
they sell their cotton and corn and other surplus
crops and receive money for them, the farmers
can do a great work in easing the money market
and thus in promoting better prices for all farm
products by simply turning their surplus dollars
back . into the bank again until they are neded for
actual use. " , ; -
These points were recently elaborated in an edi
torial in the Charleston' News and Courier to
which our attention is called by Mr. J. W. Den
mark, Chairman of the Executive Committee of
the North Carolina Farmers' Alliance. -He en
dorses the suggestions as important and timely,
and believes that the farmers; especially at the
present time, could help themselves as well as
others by heeding and acting upon these wise sug
gestions. - - 1 - ;
A COUNTY OF CANTALOUPES AND COTTON.
, The little county of "Scotland : has. the repute,
area considered, of being the greatest cotton-producing
county-in North Carolina and, according
to some of its enthusiastic citizens, the greatest
in the United States or the world. But when prof
its are considered we are not sure but that the
cantaloupe is to be reckoned with in the distribu
tion of honors. , In this county there are a great
many cantaloupe farms and the crop this year has
proved splendidly profitable. Mr. J. McN. Patter
son, in' a recent note, says: 4
"Conservative and careful figuring places the
net profit per acre, for every acre planted in can
taloupes, in the county, at not less than $150, and
this on land valued at $60. to $100 an acre. Thus
it is seen that this single crop, would have bought
the land and paid 'for, it twice over. Nor is that
the end of the story. From every acre of this
land there was afterwards cut from 1,500 to 2,000
pounds of good pea vine hay, the land being thus
left, furthermore, in the best possible condition
for a big crop of cotton or corn next year.'
This is truly a remarkable exhibit of profits
and values, and shows what can be done when the
advantages tff soil, climate, and market are com
bined with-intelligent farming. -
Keep the cotton picked often enough so that
bad weather will have little chance to injure the
grade. It is certainly poor business to lose a large
J part of the year's profit through delay In picking.