The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-06-13

-" - AhFfNf
n \ soil would grow richer from
Year to year; the farms were too large:
a five hundred acre farm was a curse
and a burden TO its owner illustrated
TIA by relating the case Of a farmer
who. at the close Of the war. owned
~thlrty-fve hundred acres OF land. and
had 1900 in gold in endeavoring to
hold his land he had expended all his
gold. and had nothing left but his land.
II then the intrinsic value greatly
de~terIorated.
Gle contrasted the systems OF slave
and free labor, under the old system
of slave labor large farms could be
profitably cultivated, but under the
free labor system, small farms were
essential to success these, under
proper cultivation with improved far
ming implements. and deep blowing,
would amply repay the farmer for his
labor5 We live in a progressive age,
and must keep pace with il.
County Statistics He asked if any
one could tell how much wheat, corn.
cotton. tobacco, sheep, dogs. &C.,
were raised in the county: No re
sponse,-when Col. Polk proceeded to
give all these items. embracing all the
productions OF Iredell, together with
the number of churches. schools. soci-
cites, mills, factories, professions.
&c. &c. stated that he had raised
the black flag against dogs in the first
speech he made after taking charge of
the Department, and that ne intended
to fight under that banner until he
succeeded in having a tax levied on
dogs that 1t cost more to feed the
dogs in the State than would be neces-
sary to educate every child in North
Carolina between the ages of ten and
eighteen years that dogs were enc
mics of sheep, and sheep husbandry
could not be prosecuted profitably
without greatly reducing the number
of dogs, and this could only be done
by taxation. Twenty-three out of
twenty-four native products OF the
United States, according to the censu
of 1870, had been raised in lredell.
Spoke of Wallace Bros. of S~tatesville,
to illustrate native talent and enter
prise, they had shipped to all parts of
the world over sixteen hundred varie-
ties of herbs, roots, &C. The county
was one hundred years old, and the
forests were fast disappearing this
should be stopped one great cause of
the destruction of timber was the
large numbe of fences there were
1900 acres of improved land in the
county, and it costs S7.474 to fence it
one time, and this expenditure is re-
peated every ten years.
tie advised the farmers to beautify
and adorn their homes. thereby ma
king them attractive to their children,
and young men would not leave these
beautiful homes to seek their fortunes
III other lands not near as good as ours;
that energy, industry and well-direct :
ed effort would develop the ~inexhaust-
lDlc IeSOuICtS Ol Tie SUI =. lIdb liz lliu
seen, that day, in Iredell, growing side
by side, clover and cotton fiourishing
an unusua sight advised the far
mers if they We're in debt, to get out,
if they had to sell a portion of their
lands to do it don't give liens for
raising crops make your own ma
nures, raise your own provisions
bread, meat and forage, and make cot
ton a surplus crop.
Agricultural Museum He spoke of
the Museum, and its objects-the few
products Iredell had on exhibition in
it. and urged the farmers to send on
specimens of all the native products
of the county. at the expense Of the
Department.
stated that the Board of Agriculture
had established this agricultural paper
in connection with the Department
that it was published weekly under the
auspices of, and controlled by, the De
partment, and that every farmer in
the State ought to subscribe for it
and that whether they subscribed for
that paper or not, they ought to read
newspapers largely.
The Newspapers Of the Country
Col. Polk paid a glowing tribute to the
press of the State, and stated that it
had, without exception, given a cor
dial support to the Department that
it was the first time in the history of
the State when a great enterprise had
received the unanimous support of the
press that the Neus and Observer had
sent reporters throughout the State TO
report his speeches and that the edi-
tors of those political paperS had writ.