The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-05-23
MARTIN COUNTY.

III compliance with your cqueS |
must say that we cannot. as yet. Judge
the future prospect of crops. except
that of fruit. OF wheat and oats,
there is at this time all Indications Of
a bountiful crop, and Will doubtless be.
if 40 serious disaster takes place 10
blight the bloom that now decorates
the whole face of Nature, making it a
scene of beauty and grandeur to the
eye of the eager beholder. There has
been more wheat seeded this year than
has been for the past twenty years,
and the prospect now for an abundant
harvest is inevitable. There has been
a vast amount Of oats seeded this
spring, larger, by so per cent. than
has been for many years past, and the
present prospect of a good crop is
prOmising,-all of which marks a
change, indeed, in the agricultural
pursuits Of our people, and must in no
distant day rebound to their best in
terest. They are becoming more and
more sensitive to the great danger of
seeding S o much cotton, to the exclu-
sion of all other necessaries of life,
and are rapidly resorting to the Gull
ture of cerials and stock raising, which
is the only means of making our
homes 1.-The homes of a people blest
with plenty, and happiness unal-
Logged" Stock raising-There has
been for years past a great decline in
the interest taken in this important
branch of industry, owing to the
many disadvantages under which we
had to labor, and the most important
of them all was the seeding of too
much cotton, and neglecting the mat
ter of raising corn, wheat, oats, and
other grains and grasses, necessary to
the success of raising stock. A very
important disadvantage in sheep rails
ing, is the unnecessary number of
dogs that are now being raised
throughout u entire country. These
are nothing more than a nuisance to
the people, proving as they do a pest
to destroy their sheep, which are
worth more than ali the dogs on the
globe for they not only supply US IN
a great measure the material that,
after being converted into cloth serves
to shield US from the cold and chilling
blasts of winter, but serve to sustain
life by their flesh, it being II Of the
most delicious and palatable Of all
meats. Were the Legislature TO take
some active measures IN regard 10 the
unnecessary quantity of dogs, and the
dangerous practice Of letting them
run at large, the business Of sheep
raising would become more healthy,
and thereby offer an ayanue more
prosperous to that one important
branch of industry, and we would soon
have our forest lands dotted with
sheep. Mechanism is being improved,
and new modes and new inventions
are being developed daily, by which
mankind may live cheaper, and within
the bounds of his own if he
will but p~ersevere and learn to econo-
mise. The stock law" Is now the
matter in controversy. As 10 its good
or evil results, the opinion of the PEG
pie is somewhat diyided-some in
favor and some against the enactment
of such a law. But it must ere long
come, Is all close-observing eyes must
see, let the after result be as il NAV.
As regards the crops 10 which insect.
are more or less subject, l have but
little to inform you, as none Of oul
present growing crops are pestered
Dur fruit trees are more or less dam
aged yearly by the caterpillar, a wei
known worm throughout the South
shall forward samples as soon as they
are sufficiently matured. when you
can behold the productions of our