The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1886-06-30
NORTH CAROLINA ENTERPRISE.
Moving to the Front.

There is no more pleasing duty
connected with our work than to
present to our readers the develop
ment of such home enterprises as
illustrate our onward march in ma
terial progress. W. are proud to
note the substantial progress made
in manufacturing-we are especially
grateful for the suspicious outlook
in our educational interests.
A new era is dawning upon our
State. Changes are silently but
surely going on which, when fully
wrought out, will present thorough
ly developed revolutions, that will
place us far in advance Of the posi-
ton we hold to-day. And these
changes are being moulded and
fashioned by bold, aggressive, enter
prising men, whose pluck and perse-
verance justly entitlc them to the
profound regard and gratitude OF all
true friends of progress.
1t will be the pleasure, as it is r
tainly the duty of The PROGRESSIVE
FARMER, from time to time, to bring
forward such examples among these
pioneer spirits as may aid in giving
character to our State, as well as TOR
the guidance and encouragement OF
our young men.
Prominent among them we name
J. Van Lindley, of Pomona, N. G..
His father, MI. Joshua Lindley, when
quite a boy developed a decided taste
for the nursery and for fruit culture.
Before he was grown he spent two
years in the northern states, study
inc the business. After an experience
in the business of about 80 years, in
Indiana and his native county, Chat
ham, he finally settled at New Gar
den in Guilford county in 1850, where
he built up quite a successful bust
ness.
In 1874 J. Van Lindley started the
business on a Is acre farm, without
money, without help and with only
a limited education, but possessed of
indomitable purpose and energy. He
now owns 600 acres, OF which 225
acres are smiling in the varied shades
of green, which mark the neatly ar
ranged plats of his numerous varie-
ties of shrubs, vines and trees.
At first his trade was confined to
North Carolina; now it embraces n.
Y, Penn, Md, R. l., Del, No, Va,
n. c., S. c., Ga, Tenn, Ala, Miss,
Fla, Ark, Tex, Kansas and Califor-
mia, employing the services of IS
travelling canvassers. When he came'
into possession of these lands they
were marked by quilted hillsides, and
covered with brush, briars and vines,
and general dilapidation greeted the
eye on all sides. Now with a hand
some residence, beautifully located
Immediately on the r. & ID. r. r. at
Salem Junction, with comfortable
and>well arranged barns, out houses,
an office, grating and packing house,
graft storage house, packing sheds
all supplied with abundant water,
thrown to the spot by a Wind Mill,
with Is comfortable tenant houses,
with telegraph office, post Office Gin
Guiding m~oney-order office a neat
school building ("the best investment
l ever made" said he) in which are
held good Sunday School, a weekly
temperance meeting; fish ponds, and
225 acres in nursery stock, presents
not only a striking proof Of what
may be accomplished by pluck, en-
ergy and skill, but one of the most
attractive and pleasant homes to be
found in the State, and the largest
nursery, except, perhaps, n that is
to be found south of Baltimore.
He employs constantly, eight
horses and thirty hands, on the farm
and during the packing season (usu-
ally about six weeks in the fali) he
employs about IS hands.
"Can you use negro labor profit
ably in your business?' we'enquired.
NO." said he, ~ tried it. They
r unreliable, will not stay, and
besides it requires a skill and intelli-
gence which l found they do not
possess. l get the very best and
most reliable white labor and pay
good prices for it and it stays with
me. Indeed [ have so systematized
it that I have but very little trouble
with it,"
"What number Of trees and vines
have you now in bearing?"
II have 1000 peach trees bearing
(Which, by the way, are on land that
10 years ago was worm out and in a