FARM NOTES
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CAKE OF THE HARNESS.
Everybody can see the importance
of good harness, but very many do
not take good care of their harness.
Besides the fact that neglected har
ness wears out sooner than if kept in
good condition, there is real danger
in using it. Many a runaway could
have been prevented if the harness
had been kept in good condition.
When not in use, harness should be
kept under shelter and should be
greased regularly. Now that leather
has advanced so much in price, there
are more than the usual reasons for
taking care of the harness.
Money to Bum.
The limit of profligate wastefulness
has often been illustrated by the
case of the spendthrift who lighted
his cigars with ten-dollar bills. Yet
in a reccnt trip through some of the
best trucking sections of Florida, we
saw the flames of burning money in
many fields, being put into condition
for winter crops. The phenomical
prosperity ? of which we see less than
we hear ? could not account for such
utter disregard of economy. Wealth
actually earned in productive industry
is never so intentionally dissipated.
The wastefulness to which we al
lude consisted in the general burning
of dead summer grass in cultivated
fields. No justification for such a
course is possible. Inexcusable igno
rance alone is responsible for the
practice.
Suppose we take an actual case we
recently saw. It was in Lake County,
Florida. The soil was first#class truck
land provided with overhead irriga
tion. As we passed it two mules at
tached to l>ixie plows were furrowing
for fertilizer. One of them had just
been taken from a hay rake which
still stood against the fence. On one
side of the field was heaped a great
pile of dead grass, just raked from the
plowed soil. As we stopped to see
what was going to happen next the
owner scratched a match and demon
strated that he had money to burn.
The whole great pile was in a blaze.
In a few minutes only a small heap
of smoking ashes remained to mark
the place of his folly. These were not
even gathered and broadcasted over
a part of the field. They were left to
the mercy of the winds and rains.
The old story was then repeated.
(Irass was a nuisance. It could not be
turned under and was so in the way
of the plows that it wr.s removed by
the quickest possible means ? fire. As
a matter of fact a little more summer
cultivation ? less hr.ste to lay-by and
that grass would never have been in
the field and the plant food of which
it was made would have remained in
the soil from which it had been use
lessly extracted. Or had it: growth as
; ummer cover to protect the soil from
the effects of the burning sun been
advisable it might easily have been
xcturned to the soil from which it
came. The two good mules taken
from the little make-believe plows
and hitched to a single real plow ?
< ither turn or disc ? would have put
that grass out of the way of all fut
ure cultivation. Moreover both soil
and crops would have been greatly
benefitted. Had the grass really prov
ed to bo in the way ? had it been used
for bedding or litter for these name
two mules, it would have been turned
into extremely valuable fertilizer.
Money to burn! Let us see. This
crop of grass raked up with many
of its roots would probably have
weighed a ton. This dry vegetation
would huve contained f>.4 pounds ol
phosphoric acid worth six cents per
pound; 28.2 pounds of nitrogen worth
twenty-two cents per pound, and 31
pounds of potash worth thirty cents
per pound. On this basis, the material
burned would have an actual market
value of $18.74. In other words, the
actual plant food burned would have
actually cost $18.74 if returned to the
soil in the shape of commercial fer
tilizer. Freight handling and other
items would have actually increased
the value of the material which went
up in smoke to over twenty dollars.
Had the perpetrator of this sinful
wastefulness known something of
what he was really doing and saved
the ashes from his burned money, he
would have still thrown away in
smoke $6.20 in nitrogen, to be replac
ed in the form of nitrate of soda,
cottonseed meal, dried blood or other
nitrogenous fertilizer. Had he been
told that he had money to burn he
would have indignantly denied the
assertion. Yet he really burned money
without excuse or justification. Yet
in that very county, among the very
men among whom this case occurred,
the constant theme of discussion is
the great increase in cost of fertilizer
and the impossibility of any present
solution of the potash problem. They
"TVTVVT ".'TTVTTTT T "V T T x r r T ? ? ? X
are hard grossed to meet their inevit
able fertilizer bills, yet they have
money to burn.
Though we locate this particular
occurrence in Florida, it would be
easily duplicated in every section of
the South with equal lack of justifi
cation, except, perhaps, where fire
may be justified as protection against
the boll weevil. Moreover, farmers
nre not the only people who seem to
have money to burn. The condition ia
typical of our present national ex
travagance. The general complaint of
the "high cost of living" is largely
due to our inherent extravagance. We
have money to burn and then com
plain when the fire scorches our own
fingers. ? Dun's Review.
Why Some Farmers Make Money.
It is often asked why one farmer
is more successful than another when
both seem to have equal opportunity
for success. A study of the Johnston
County, Missouri, management sur
vey region with this point in mind
has indicated that the reasons for a
difference in the degree of success
attained by the different farmers lies
in the following points:
The first is a good sized business.
A man must have enough land so
lhat he can use his time and the time
of his work stock and tools with the
greatest efficiency. This means not
less than 120 acres and not more than
f>00 acres for general conditions, the
preferable size being between 200
and 400 acres.
The proper amount and distribution
of capital. The investment should
not vary widely from the average of
the region ? either in investment per
acre or in the distribution of invest
ment.
A farming system which furnishes
a maximum amount of labor from
which returns are realized either di
rectly or indirectly, and which in
cludes a minimum of labor from
which no return is realized. Each
workman on a farm should have pro
vided for him not less than 160 days
of productive labor, and each horse
should have not les s than r?0 days of
productive labor. Marty farms run
much below these figures.
The second essential is a business
of high quality. The first point in
this connection is crop yields. Yields
should run from average to about
one-fifth above the average for the
region. The man who falls below
the average in yields has an up-hill
job.
Not only must crop yields be good,
but on farms where some feeding
is done the feeding operations must
be efficient. All classes of live stock
should return at least $140 for every
$100 worth of feed consumed, if good
wages are to be realized for a man's
tiin;\ Some of the best feeders get
much more than this. Some classes
of stock can pay a profit by returning
Icns than this, but in general this
rate of return will give good wages
and pay market price for the feed
consumed.
A reasonable degree of diversity is
also necessary for successfully oper
ating a farm. Unless special or un
usual conditions justify a highly spe
cialized type of farming, a farm
should h;ive several sources of income
to depend on. The cotton farmers of
the South at the time the boll weevil
appeared serves as a good illustration
of the danger of having only one
source of income. A man who is de
pending entirely on the sale of hogs
is in bad shape if the cholera gets his
hogs one year, but if a man has sev
eral sources he can lore one or per
haps two sources and still have some
income. The most successful farm:; in
the region studied had from three to
seven or eight sources ? probably
three to six sources will give the best
results. ? O. R. Johnson, Missouri Col
lege.
The Farm Loan System.
The Federal farm loan board has
completed the task of dividing the
country into farm loan districts and
designating the cities where farm
loan banks will be established. The
organisation of the system will now
be accelerated, and within a few
months it should be at the full ser
vice of the farmer? of the country.
The experience of European na
tions is sufficient evidence of the
value of readily accessible rural cred
it based upon that most solid of all
security, real estate. One of the most
important underlying factors of Ger
many's strenr-th is the thorough
organized system of rural credits,
which enables every farmer to devel
op his property to the utmost, thus
utilizing the lands of the empire to
the best possible advantage.
The general use of the rural credit
system in the United States will
work a wonderful transformation in
agriculture. The output will he im
mensely augmented, the acreage en
larged, the yield per acre increased
and the standard of living on the
farm greaily improved. The cost of
living, so far as it relates to food
stuffs, should be reduced, without re
ducing the farmer's net income. The
waste now so injurious to both pro
ducer and consumer will be eliminat
ed to an appreciable extent.
By enabling farmers to mobilize
their resources the farm loan system
will make better business men of
them. They will keep track of their in
come and outgo and will learn habits
of thrift. It will be money in their
pockets when they mft their obliga
tions promptly, to see that crops are
fitted to the soil, keep their imple
ments in good trim and utilize sur
plus in feeding stock. Their neigh
bors will be their financial partners
in the loan associations, and there
fore every farmer will be put on his
mettle to maintain a good reputation
as a farmer and citizen.
The new system will not get under
full headway at once. Farmers will
l>e backward in some communities,
perhaps suspicious of the "new-fan
pled" plan for providing him easily
negotiated loans at low interest. But
when they learn that the plan is their
own, that they have in their own con
trol their community association and
that they are merely adopting a sys
tem which has been in successful op
eration in Europe for more than a
century they will take advantage of
the opportunity to improve their con
dition Washington Post.
The Value of a Good Name.
Along with the value of good soils,
good seed, good livestock, and good
farming methods, the young farmer
who would achieve success must ever
bear in mind the value of honor
whose reputation for square dealing
is known to all the countryside, has
an asset of incalculable value.
Most of the world's business today
is done on credit, or confidence in the
ability and willingness to pay, and
were credit abolished business of all
kinds would of necessity largely stop.
And just so it is with the young
farmer struggling to get on in the
world. Very frequently without capi
tal of his own, if credit is denied him
he labors at a sore disadvantage. He
may need credit to buy, clear and
drain land; to build a home; to buy
improved livestock; but without capi
tal and without credit these things
must be gone without, and a possi
bly excellent farmer badly handicap
ped.
To all of our young men we would
say, then, diligently as you cultivate
your prize acre of corn, look even
more carefully to your good name;
fine and famous as your prize pig
may be, strive ever that the fame of
your good name may spread farther.
Your crop may fail or your pig may
die, and still the loss would not be
irreparable; but once a young man's
good name is gone something is lost
that a whole life's woik may never
replace.
Make debts, if you need to in order
to better your business, in order that
you may become a better farmer; but
when you give your promise, either
verbally or in writing, make it an iron
rule to let nothing on earth keep you
from fulfilling it. The good name you
will win will be more priceless than
gold. ? The Progressive Farmer.
Keep the I. and From Washing.
No hind can be made rich that is
being washed and gullied by every
heavy rain that comes. The first step
toward improving the rolling lands of
.he South is to prevent their wasting,
by washing or erosion.
The gently rolling lands that are
lot washed into gullies except by the
heaviest rains and when bare of
'rowing plants, may be saved or kept
from washing away by a growing
.?rop, or a cover crop, as it is gener
illy called when grown largely for
hat purpose only. Such lands are
held by sods or by pasture or meadow
-?rops. Grain crops or those not re
quiring cultivation during their
growth will also usually prevent the
washing of such lands. Hut even these
lands, or those having any apprecia
ble slope, are likely to wash away if
left bare during the winter season of
heavy rainfall.
The steep or hilly lands and even
those of moderate slope wash badly
as a result of our heavy rainfall
and the character of the soil, unless
considerable care is taken to run the
rows of drilled crops so as to pre
vent the collection of large quantities
of water at one place, and unless ter
races are made and crops are kept
growing on the land all the time.
Many of our rolling Southern lands
can only be held and washing and
wasting prevented by the use of all
the means known ? terracing, cover
crops, deep plowing, rotation of crops
and the addition of large quantities
of organic mater. ? The Progressive
Farmer.
Electrically-driven musical instru
ment makers will combine with elec
trical manufacturers, central stations
and contractors in celebration of
"American Electric Week," Decem
ber 2nd-9th.
IF YOU MOVE.
If you move the coming month, it
should not be necessary for you to
lose a copy of The Herald. Do not
send us word about changing youi
paper and do not depend on the post
master or the mail carrier to change
it for you. If not convenient for you
to call at The Herald Office and tell
us about it, then just write us a
postal card saying: "Change my pa
per from R. F . I^?
No to
R. F. D. No " Be bure to
give both your old and new po^t of
fice and the number of your route.
FOR FINE SILKS CALL ON?
Cotter-Underwood Co.
LAND FOR SALE.
On Saturday, January 13, 1917, I
will offer for sale, at the Court House
door in Smithfield, to the highest bid
der, a tract of about 45 acres of land
adjoining the lands of N. G. Rand,
and Paul Whitley. This is an excep
tionally fine piece of Corn, Cotton
and Tobacco land. All prospective
purchasers are invited to see me and
I will show them over the tract.
Wm. A. SANDERS.
Smithfield, N. C., R. F. D. No. 1,
Box !!8.
In order to accommodate our friends and customers,
we have just received a full supply of the best selections
of new tobacco seed. We can furnish you any variety of
Slate's Improved seed, or we can give you the very best
selections oi Home Grown seed. Call at the Farmers
Warehouse or write us a card and we shall be glad trt
supply you.
Anywhere about the house
that extra heat is needed, you're
sure of comfort if you have a
Perfection Heater. It means
preparedness against sudden
changes in the weather, com
fort insurance when the fires
are out.
As easy to carry as a work-basket.
Clean. Handsome.
It's cheap ? inexpensive to buy and
costs far less to use than any coal
fire.
There's a Perfection drivinp away
every chill from each of .2,000,000
homes today. Ask your dealer.
Every Kirstln Is
mar an teed for 15
year*, flaw or no
flaw. Your money
back if the Kir
sthx bond does not
Hti up to its
promise. The
Klrstin method
clears land from
10 Co 50 percent
cheaper than any
other. We guar
antee this, too.
For nearly a quarter century theKirs'in Horse Power Stump
Puller h.'s proved its superiority on Southern stump lands.
Thousands of Southrm farmers have been started on the road
to prosperity by a Kirstin.
It is designed for Southern work and will pull anything
it tackles, be it a thick, green pine, a deeply imbedded tap
root or a field of hundreds of heavy stumps. The new triple
power and automatic take-upenable it to perform the heaviest
work with rapidity, certainty and without strain on man,
horse or machine.
The One Man Puller Rets the biccest stumps, too. Horses
unnecessary. Double leverage gives you a giant's power; a
push on the handle means a pull of tons on the stump. Clears
an acre from one anchor and dears it ready for the plow.
Bmgiti! another
well-known make
of poller but don't
like it at well as
icy Kirstin. The
Kiretin triple
power method is
much better. I
know because I
have cleared over
100 acre*.
-M. B. WW chain
Enterprise, Ala.
Send for New Free Book ' ' ,1
"Th- Golil in Your Stump L?nd." It gives yoil
valuable information about twentieth century land
clearing met nods and explains in detail all Kirstm
) models. It tells about Kirstin Service, forever free
to all Kirstin machine owners. Don't buy a puller
until you read this book.
A ? - ???? - ?"?<-?* ?
Big money to those who order early. To first
buvers in every locality we offer a special oppor
tunity to join in our profit shannK plan.
No canvassing; just a w-llinKness to ,
show vmir Kir t:n l> your nciKhtors. ? mLB I
Don't v. ait, senu the coupon today. | !*? J
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