The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-04-25
Col. Folks Catawba Speech

there are - different products repre-
sented Tor the State OF North Carolina
= oil These viii grow successfully IN
0atawba county. Catawba produces
more wheat IN proportion - tire num-
Der OF acres ofland n cultivation than
any other county IN the State. Last
year TINS county raised more than
2a-oy bushels of wheat. You ar.
ahe"d OF all other counties i'm this
state IN the WHY Of agricultural impls-
ments- You have IL. grain drills. -
reapeTs and - threshing machines.
two OF which run bv steam. From
one point referring ID Hickory in this
county There was l2.35J pounds "f
butter shipped during the month II
November. For three month, ending
Jan. lSt, ISIS, there were 5c0. 80
pounds Of dried fruit 27.-35 bags of
flour and LOO bags OF buckwheat
nour shipped. These arr only 4 few
Items 10 illustrate the immense pro-
ducts OF this section. The mou OF
money realized for eggs alone shipped
from tins county now exceed that OF
flour shipped from this county e5year.
ago. In addition TO the amount that
leaves this county by rail a large
quantity Of flour and other products
are hauled in 10 South Carolina by
private wagons. You have only two
factories but have water power almost
sufficient to run all the machinery in
the United States. You have a good
quiet and law-abiding people. You
are out OF debt and have no ~bankrupts.
Why not be happy and turn all your
attention 70 the development and i'm
~prONeinent OF your county resources
God has blessed you with a soil and
climate unexceiled by any county in
the State. Why. on last Saturday you
stood knee deep in clover among the
full blown cherry and peach trees,
famed by the gentle zephyrs of a
balmy spring day and saw the lofty
hills along the western horizon man
tied with snow Young man. after
considering these things fairly can
You cave this county ID seek a home
among strangers In thu u~nfriendly
and Wild regions of h West: In
this county you have So churches. ~
schools. a large humble of shops, man
u~factories, tanneries, gold mines, lime
kilns, &c. You have all kinds Of tim
Der for manufacturing purposes, you
have a soil admirably adapted to the
production OF a large variety of fruits
and all kinds Of staple crops, YOU have
d llAIa Al hlih CNO OltCLC, do IL
is waited from the ~cloud-capped hills
which skirt the horizon north and west.
instills vigor and paints the red glow
of health upon every cheek, Notwith-
standing all these and many other add
vantages afforded you, you do not
properly appreciate them. will have
to quarrel with you a little. In
searching around l find that you ship
hay from other places to this county.
This is wrong. Should raise it your
selves. You al do it. This county,
viii produce just AS fine hay as ever
grew in the SuSquehanna or Shanan-
doa Valley of Virginia. 1t is your
own negligence that you do not
have waving fields of hay and
Clover. Turn your attention to
this at once and do not be lingering
behind in this respect. Grow large
quantities Of hay, which you can do
at almost no expense, and raise fine
cattle and make the hay an article of
commerce to slip elsewhere, can sell
your butter at a fair price and will
always find a market Tor the beef, for
it "a be u down to Baltimore,
from whence there are large cargoes
Of beef shipped to foreign countries.
Our beef on account of its quality is
dI" III ocLAldIlo LII lkc LOIluOI
market. In this county you have
little over 1900 sheep. You ought
to have e. 1000. When properly
one of the most profitable bushes
for a farmer in Western Carolina
You can grow a pound of wool
with less expense than a pound of cot
ton and then get three times as much
for it as you would for a pound Of cot
ton. Yes, l hear you say that the
dogs kill all your sheep. Kill the
many worthless ours that now
over the county and fill their places
with fine sheep and but few years will
roll around until you see a wide diff
ference Elect some man to the next
Legislature who is not afraid to lift
up voice against dogs and the desired
end will soon be accomplished. And,
again, the fence law" is a question
that has been discussed in various
parts OF the State and | learn that it
has agitated the farmers of this coun-
ty ID some extent. Now, it is not my
province to tell you whether YOU shall
adopt the no fence system or not, it Is
for you to say yourselves. But will
present you these facts for your cor
sideration. In this county there are
39.2O3 acres OF improved land. DIVIDE
this II fields of nine acres each, with
a fence OF 1856 panels at a cost Of 20
cents per panel, and you have a total
cost fencing one time, $292. 1890
This expense is repeated every ten
years. The value of the live stock In
this county is 1852 .5S3. farming i'm
plements, $685., amount of State
tax, school fund and county tax,
$14.2G7. total, S204.2l7. Thus we see
that the fencing OF the county n
time cost about $SS. 900 more than the
value of all the live stock, the farm
ing implements. and the amount of all
the tax combined. In this calcula-
ton there is no record made of the
many cross fences, water gates, draw
bars, &C., which are always a consid-
cradle item in making fences. Study
these figures carefully and see wheth-
er it IS to your advantage or not to