The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1894-07-05

pondent to the Baltimore Manufacture
ers' Record. writing from Asheville,
i gives some account Of Bill Nyes farm
a. follows
Buck Shoals Is not very romantic
name for country seat. nor i the To-
caitv very accessible. In fact, it is
nearly fifteen miles from Asheville and
over three miles from the nearest rail
road However, if one is tond OF riding
in the saddle a good horse will take
| him there in two hours or 50. At the
Shoals the visitor will find some OF the
finest mountain scenery east Of the
Mississippi and a complete modern
! home erected in what seems almost a
wilderness. Near by is the Swannanoa
river, and the Vanderbilt lands can be
seen from Mr.. Nye's porch. He is very
glad to show one the different points Of
interest, and evidently takes pride in
his beautiful residence, for beautiful it
really is.
Yes, Bill Nye is farmer actually
and seriously; not large one, it is
true, but farmer in all senses of the
word, raising grain, vegetables, small
fruits and fodder. He has seventy five
acres of land, much of it nearly worn
out by over half century of bad Guilt
walton. He is showing his neighbors
what he can do with these seventy-tive
acres, and his success has astonished
them. But his experience is more in
teresting put into his own words.
II know people have no conception
that ! am doing anything but making
a burlesque at farming" said he as we
strolled over his clover patch, ''but it is
not So ! had to be farmer when
was fifteen years old. Though born in
New England, our family moved to the
Northwest and | was obliged to care for
Il place of over 200 acres at the age
mentioned. This knowledge has been
very valuable to me here, and / can
also say | know something about the
Northwest. When | bought this prop
erty my nelghbors smiled at the idea
of my raising anything on it. / was
called Belgian-block farmer and 9th
er titles of that sort, but | have con-
vinced them to the contrary, and have
brought the land up to point where
what I raised last year paid me one
fifth OF the original cost Of the proper
ty. While | did not sell SO much,
what / raised for my own use amount
ed to that sum had | been obliged to
buy it.
'In starting purchased modern farm
implements and plowed deeply-not
merely on the surface. By turning up
subsOil l secured richer elements for
planting corn, potatoes, beans, peas
and the usual garden vegetables. /
also reserved a space for fodder crops,
and am now endeavoring to find the
best fodder suited to this section. AS
YOU see | am growing clover now and
mixing it with grass. We are purchas-
ing very little of supplies. When
| first took the place | imagined I
would have to buy everything, and
have been very agreeably surprised at
the fertility of the soil, even In such a
mountainous country as this is.
Then the conversation turned to la
Dor, and Mr.. Nye continued, "Cfcourse,
only need few hands to work this
place. We had white servants when
we first came, and | was at a loss to
know whether I could do anything
with negroes or not, but the whites
gradually returned North, and | found
[ could secure colored labor which was
capable and reliable at much less ex-
pense. We get along with them very
| /
might add that my Southern neigh
bors, while they may have doubted at
first my ability to raise anything, have
always been cordial and courteous to
us and the other Northern families now
located in this vicinity. They never
talk politics with us, but are frank and
free on other subjects, and we are al
ways welcome ut their homes. This is
one of the most pleasant features of my
experience as Northern man who has
adopted the South as his home, for this
is what | have done.
"Speaking OF immigration, l am
heartily in favor of any legitimate plan
TO bring the proper class of people into
the South. In my opinion it is going
to be one of the means of solving the
negro problem They are here to stay
and we must consider the matter from
this point of view. / have had my
views changed considerably on this
point since | became familiar with the
southern States by lecturing and tray
cling in them. There is no section of
this country that excels the South as a
whole in fertility of soil and in its va
riety and abundance Of crops, while the
States abound in minerals, timber and
other sources of wealth. / do not know
of any region where a farmer can set
tie down and prosper as we'll, provided
he will give the care and attention to
his farm that he does in the North.
! My residence in the Northwest has
taught me that the climate cannot be
compared with this, and the planter
here can work his land several months
| in the wear longer"