Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / June 15, 1918, edition 1 / Page 10
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" " w. rHEMS FARM . EMSTirB) Ti can ten ky mtn't tana irbctker faereadittornot" PUBLISHED EVERT ATUKUT f The Progressive Farmer Company, (Incorporated under the lawi of North Caroliniuy OFFICES: Blrnlniham. Alt., 1702 Fourth Avt.? FaUlflh, N. C, 419 W-Htrwtt ft: Hi. Tim. UttMfk BU.; Dallai. Ttxtt. SUuflhtw Bld. COMMUNICATIONS REGARDING ADVERTISING OB BUBSCBIP W0N8 MAY BE ADDRESSED TO HITHER OFFICE. ENTEBBD At THH POSTOFFICE AT BIRMINGHAM. ALA., UNDER THB ACT Of CONGRESS OF MARCH- 1, 1879. A CLARENCE POB. . IAIT BUTLER, B. L 1IOSS, . ' r W. F. MASSET, ; UB9. W. N. HUTT, JOHN 8. PEARSON. I. A MARTIN. . 1 t Prttldtnt and Editor lea-PrMidtnt mod Editor .. Maniging Editor Contributing Editor Editor Woman'! Dapartmnt . Saattary-Vraaaurar . . Adftrtlalag U anagat THE cost of producing pork and dairy products is greatly reduced by good permanent pastures and a rotation of grazing crops. In fact, it is un wise to attempt to grow livestock of any kind with out first providing good permanent pastures and a rotation of grazing crops, and especially legum inous crops. DOLL weevils are appearing on the young cotton, living on the terminal buds until thesquares appear, then puncturing these and depositing ggs in them. Where weevils are at all numerous, we believe it will, pay to pick and destroy them. A pair of weevils now may increase to millions iy August. It will also he well to 'gather and destroy the punctured squares. TYRY cowpeas are very riehin protein and will take the place of meat to a great extent in human rations. In fact -a pound of dry cowpeas contains as much digestible protein as a pound of the best beefsteak. Now is the time to plant the white and black-eye varieties, .which are the most desirable f or table use. Plant in tows on a level and cultivate on a level. Thresh the seed soon after harvesting -and put them in barrels or boxes. The hulls may he (ed to livestock. TTHE;. County Board of Education of Madison County, Ala., lias decided to have all the schools pnder its control open about July 15, and then close for a month or six weeks during the height of the cotton-picking season. During normal times we would doubt the wisdom of such a plan, but the fwesent times are abnormal. "Where the labor shortage threatens to become acute this fall, and tkis will probably be nearly everywhere in our territory, this plan may well be considered by county boards of -eddcation. fTHERE is no man or set -of men seeking office in North Carolina this year whose election means half so much to the state as the passage of the pro posed 'Constitutional amendment for a six months' wdbool term. The adoption of this amendment will do more trhan anything else that can happen this year to raise North Carolina in the eyes of other sections, as , well as in the estimation of its own people. We again urge every Progressive Farmer reader to try to put his precinct on the "White list" with regard to this great step in state pro gressthis "White List" consisting of those pre cincts in which not a single vote is cast against the Oieasure. If any man is not willing to vote for the amendment, urge him not to vote at all. STATE Pood Administrator Henry A. Page, of North jCarolina, presents a good slogan for the war when he says : "We must not only substitute out we must , economize. We must eat less,, wear less, spend less money for non-essentials, conserve not only foodstuffs and clothing tut labor as well. Every hour of man-power should be made to produce as nearly as possible 100 .per cent effi ciency toward the winning of the war," Another thing to be remembered is that this doc trine is going to be needed not only during the war Ibut after the war is-over. So many men will have been killed and crippled that there will long be a shortage of labor. So much property will have been destroyed and so many billions spent in pros 'ecuting the war that the warldwill be poorer than it lhas been for a ilong time previously. We must indeed therefore discipline ourselves in economy, thrift and efficiency not only for the war (period put after the war. And if we in the South will keep thisup tmtU'it bec&tnes a sort of ""second tia tare" with us, we will have the greatest section of America. . ':V-V-.;: More Money (or Community Fairs T A meeting of the State Board of Agriculture lastjweek, it,wasyoted..to.make. $5,000, instead of $3,000 as formerly decided on, available for premiums in community and county fairs in North Carolina this year. As the amount for county fairs is limited, this means a great increase in the amount available for community fairs. In effect, it ' means that every North Carolina community wishing to hold a fair this fall can get $25 for premium money from the State Department of Agriculture, provided the farmers and businessmen of the section will them selves raise $25 or more. Everybody interested should write S. G. Rubinow, Chairman Fair Com mittee, State Department of Agriculture, for full information, asking at the same time for free copies of his three new bulletins just issued, "The Organization and Management of Fairs," "Fairs and Their Educational Value," and "Com posite Premium List and Judges' Score Cards for Fairs' Vhat It Costs to Grow Cotton : Some Figures on the 1918 Crop THE cost of growing cotton of course must vary greatly in different localities, with different farmers in the same locality, and in different seasons. In the drouth-'stricken ' por tions of Texas last year, for instance, no doubt many a farmer's cotton cost him fully 50 cents a pound to grow, while in. more favored sections the cost was much less. Here we propose to take the state of Alabama, where probably average conditions prevail, in 50 far as factors affecting the cost of cotton growing are concerned, and analyze the probable cost of the. 1918 crop. The average per acre yield for the state in 1917 was, according to the Bureau of Crop Estimates of the United States Department of Agriculture, about 125 pounds of lint. It is generally agreed that last year the season was more favorable than the average, the comparatively small yield being due to the boll weevil rather than unfavorable weather. The weevil now, however, is in every important cotton-growing state except North Car olina, and wherever this pest is present it is a most serious . factor to be reckoned with in growing cotton. The following we consider a fair estimate of the cost of growing cotton in Alabama at the rate of 125 pounds of lint per acre during the current year: Rent of land " ; .. 5.00 Fertilizers (160 -pounds 150 ;per ton) . 4J)0 Breaking And re-breaking land 8.00 Putting 'out fertilizer 1.50 Seed 1.00 Harrowing and planting 2.00 Three hoeings $3 each.... q.qo Six cultivations f2,each 12. 00 Picking 400 ipounds seed cotton f 1.60 .per hundred 6.00 Hauling to gin, bagging and ties and ginning 2.00 Total cost $ 50.50 Total cost per bale of 500 pounds 202.00 Less ton iseed $70 per ton 3500 Net cost of producing 500 pounds lint. ......... .$167.00 Net cost per pound of lint .334 Let us now look at the items of expenseone by one: Rent of land at $5 per acre, we believe is con servative, and not above the average. The item of 160 pounds of fertilizers is about the actual amount used tinder cotton in Alaoama, and $50 per tpn is about what a 10-2-2 fertilizer has cost this year. ' In the actual making of the crop, we are valuing horse labor at $1 a day, a conservative figure, as anyone who has experienced the cost of horse and mule upkeep will agree. We doubt if many owners would care to feed and care for their horses and 'mules and rent them out at anything like this figure Human labor is always the biggest single factor ' in cotton production and relatively -human laoor is right now the scarcest and highest-priced of all man ' PROGRESSIVE FARMEa the things that enter into cotton producti norant, unskilled Negro labor is easin-, ing $3 per day at nearly every industrial D1 theSouth, and; the iarm labor supply ha'T depleted ..to an extent never before known' m ;if cotton is be Raised in the future, it must W tainly pay the grower as much as he can get T hcre. rIf;itdoesTiot, then theworker win evitably drift to the industry that pays the h' T wage.:,' '--Z- '' ' lg et ' Fating tne labor co" at $3 per day;,' Any man who objects to this being too high is simolv ...1. . i. -I. t . T - -"v. man. pay lur ins uay s waiK as tne no more skilled' n who works in null or mine. w piviwint oi.jrcii were . s n- l. area m many, sections, ana we don t expect to see much cotton picked for less this fall. Indication! vy vv 4111,0 wi KiniiuiK ana wrann ,:n . . . - XO '"11 be around $5 per :bale, and this plus the cost of 'hanlinir and markprinor will hp armm to i . 0 o " " awuuu pj- Daig On this basis, estimating seed at $70 per ton price we are by no means guaranteed, we have a 1 net cost per pound of lint of 33.4 cents. Of course where the yield is above 125 pounds per acre the cost will be less, but as the yield falls below this average the cost will be correspondingly higher. "Cotton can be grown for much less than 33.4 cents a pound," the men who are interested in cheap cotton will say. It can; but the only way to do it, where conditions are like those in Ala bama, is to deny to the grower anything but starva tion wages; to deny his family comforts and con veniences that the families of even the most un skilled workers are getting in industrial plants. It is time for the cotton farmer to assert himself; time for him to demand what is rightfully his. He wants no more, but he is .going to be satisfied with no less. The Loan Fund for Farm Boys and Girls TTTE HOPR everv reader of The Progressive ww rarmer win reaa oi me pians ior a wm: fund to help North Carolina farm boys and girls as .given on page 116. . ine pian ainers irom xnat oi many iuau ui general character in that Iboth principal and inter- 1 1..t ' it. . A!n1 nr. n Inon f 11 IT H and the interest as prize nioney. This plan also offers , an opportunity. for tie man who would like to give but fears he might later meet reverses which would cause him to need the money. Gifts are preferred of course ; but -H any man does not feel himself in a position to give, and yet would like to 'do something to help the farm boys and girls of the state, he can lend some amount without interest. Thus at 6 per cent interest,, it will cost a man only $60 a year to give the fund tthe use of $1,000, or $39 a year to ;give iit thejuse of Jj500. A tbmtsand -mn 4n North Carolina who know something of the need for encouraging our farm boys and girls ought to be willing to give $100 to $1000 in Liberty Bonds or War Savings Stamps or cash to help this movement.; and those who do not wish to give should .be willing .to lend as just id eated. And if a man cannot give largely, let him at least give something. It will reflect credit on North Carolina to "have a large number of con tributors. ' Most of our larger farmers and business wen have prospered notably these last two or t r years. We hope many of them will take this PP portunity to lend- a helping hand to ambfJ country boys and -girls who need help. Full in mation will be sent to any person writing Gover"Je Bickett, or sending the following blank to 'Progressive Farmer : """""" .fnri' lditoT Progressive Fikrmer: lHee send ae inu " tion about the plan for Loan JF.und for North cofl farm boys and Ms. I Jmlght consider making 80i trlhutioQ to Jt. v " " ' " ,,.' (Nam ........... V w- ::v----ZC:r-rZ ' ' ; Address . .U.. '., , , . . . . " '
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 15, 1918, edition 1
10
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