The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-01-17
An Intelligent Scotchman's View.
e itOr Far ler and Mechanic.

RUFFIS, y. c., Jan 2, 1878.
SIR Yours of the Goth December,
1877, anne to hand this morning. You
Of this State. may say | am a native
Of the parish Of Coupar Angus, Perth
shire. Scotland. Have been in America
for nearly 80 years. l lived 2 years in
Delaware county, New York 26 years
in Carroll county. Ohio, and 3 years in
Monroe county, Michigan. l sold in
Ohio a farm Of 20 acres for s., 800. and
came here and looked around for three
months, and bought n Of $50 acres
for 81, 500, which l consider a better
one thar | sold in Ohio for $3, 500. The
land here in the woods is about as good
as where l lived in Ohio, but many of
the old farms hereabout are much
worn and exhausted by over cropping.
The climate is excellent. the best |
ever saw, neither too hot or too cold.
For four years and six months that /
have been here the hottest was 81 de-
grees, and only for one day. The
coolest was once 5 degrees below zero.
AS a general thing it is mild and plea
SAINT. Wood good and of different
kinds, of oak, hickory, gum, dogwood,
and sour wood, and there has been
plenty of chestnut, but that is now
drouth.) Water soft and in abundance I;
l nave never lived in a better watered
country-springs, branches and creeks
never failing. Mills, grist mes plenty.
Soil of two kinds, red and grey, and
could be made, by a proper mode of
farming, Uery productive.
Before / came here | thought the
French people in Michigan bad farm
ers, but they are the worst here l EVER
saw. No system of rotation in crop
ping little or no clover or grass sown !;
few stock kept scarcely any sheep.
Now this part of North Carolina can
be made a good stock country; fine
for sheep, and tLey would clear our
fields of briars and cumbersome weeds,
besides they would help greatly to
keep up our soil, and they would pay
well also. But until our Legislators
pass some law against the depredations
of dogs, sheep cannot be kept. Wheat
of a good quality is, and "a be raised.
Corn and winter oats do well gene
rally, better than spring ones, though
l have raised both pretty good. Last
year, at threshing time, the thresher
said the winter oats was the best he
ever saw, and he came lately, some 10
! miles, and got 10 bushels for seed.
Glover does well where the land is in
fair condition but / have not had time
yet to speak of timothy, &c. l have
sowed clover every spring, and it does
we'll when the land is in order. The
country hereabOut is rolling and hilly
on the edges of the creeks the soil is
not hard to work, and one can work
| all the year, excepting about 10 or IL
days in winter, then perhaps it might
be too hard to pillow. There are cry
few two-horse plows used, and it would
be much better if they were used. Too
little attention is paid to making man.
| ure at home, and never can be until
the farmers SOW grass and keep stock.
This can be made a beautiful country
by industry and a proper mode of
farming. Grass should be sowed NOW
the first year for hay, and pasture af-
forwards for two years then break up
for corn or some other crop, and in no
case should more than two or three
| crops be taken off, the last one well
MANFRED and sowed down again into
timothy, mixed with clover, orchard
| grass, or red top. Our lands would
then get richer we would have better
crops, and all would be better off.
This is a good country for making
butter, and no doubt also cheese. Our
markets are good we are nearer the
seaboard than Ohio or Michigan, and
it is there the highest prices are.
like this country, but it is no one
for laboring men to come to hire out.
Negroes will work cheaper and live on
corn and bacon, where white people
from the North or Europe would not
stand such an ordinary diet. But
l consider it a desirable one for those
who have capital to buy a farm to
come to. Here is where a good home
can be selected in a mild, pleasant eli
mate. Tolerably good and hat will,
and can be made fertile and produc-
tive for wheat, corn, oats, rye, and no
doubt barley (but ! have not tried it
yeti, and grass. Good for fruit-ap-
plies, peaches, cherries and grapes.
Late frost will kill apples, &C., but
proDoo hayo not failed with mo vet