The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1888-02-02

have an average attendance of over
300 students, who are taught not only
book agriculture, but also the actual,
practical work on the farm, garden,
stable, dairy, etc, as we'll as in the
machine shops, smith shops and draw
ing room.
Then they have all the breeds of
cattle, sheep and hogs. A boy attend
ing there only one term would not
have to be told to what breed fine
colt belonged Too many Of our peo-
pie can't tell one breed from another
Then they have ten steers two years
old testing the feeding qualities of
various breeds; the qualities of each
breed for laying on flesh fed upon the
same kind and quantity of feed, weigh
ing all the feed to each, valuing it and
weighing each animal every two
weeks. A test that will be immensely
valuable to everybody in that State,
and ours too, if we can get as liberal
legislature to enable our Commits
sioner to publish that test in full as
we had few years since when they
published Dumont's book [ hope
you will not think | objected to that
expense, for it was a valuable book;
all | regretted about it was that some
body set down on it.
The Governor of Michigan, (who is
a Master Granger and has great in
terest in agriculture) told me they
were discussing the opening of their
doors at the State Agricultural Col
lege to females, which | was glad to
be able to encourage, for we have in
this county one of the best institutions
in North Carolina-'' Friends School,
that has been in successful operation
81 years without interruption even
during the late war, in which the boys
and girls have been taught, classed to-
gether and both receiving the same
instruction; and during all those 81
years not a single case of scandle ever
went out. The success of this institu-
tion has been such that at the last ses-
sion of the trustees it was resolved to
enlarge it's professorship and charter
it college, Guilford College,"
Well, back to Michigan, the only
State on record whose Legislature at
the outset appropriated enough money
to erect its capitol building, and whose
building committee returned to its
treasury one-sixth Of the original ap-
preparation, and yet no State capitol
is larger or more magnificent that [
ever saw.
The State Commissioner of Rail
roads, Maj. Ransom, gave me his last
years report, and from it | learned
the greatest tonnage of freights on the
entire network of railroads in that
State was grain. In riding along on
the train the sight Of wheat fields be-
come as mOnOtonOus as pine forests on
some of our lines in North Carolina
There they have about seven months
to work in; here we have all Of twelve,
and yet our vast fields are over half
the time without crop, either of
grain or grsss:
What can we do to stimulate our
people to activity ? If we could chuck
them into one Of those Northwestern
| believe all who could live
through the trial would work better
the following season. We have the
climate equal to the best; soil when
properly treated will yield as good as
any. and the crops when husbanded
are worth more money than in the far
West or Michigan Then who is to
blame?
| believe that no three other inn
provements or changes in our plans
can work half the good to our people
and our country that good system
of making roads With good roads,
all our evils will vanish, for [ see
wonderful Improvement in our schools.
With good roads ! would not swap
North Carolina for any other State,
her climate being superior and soil
equal to any
| saw in Lansing two horses draw
ing two cords of wood, not Tess on any
team; here two horses can't bring into
Greensboro half cord. Our heaviest
taxes are the bad roads; the railroad |
taxes and the other taxes all combined |
do not equal our dirt road taxes. [
conclude one reason why our farmers
raise no more produce, IS that they |
cannot now haul enough over our