davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07
CHEMICAL MANURES.

In manuring, it depends greatly
upon the condition of the soil and
partly on the crop grown as to what
fertilizer or combination of fertilizers
to apply.
If there is suficiency in the soil
and in available form, of the fertilizer
applied, there will be no increase of the
crop, but if there is a deficiency in that
one element alone, it's application in
however small quantity will result
in a large gain in the crop.
This is one reason of the wide differ
ence in results in using chemical ma
nures, and also causes waste in guam
tity apple and consequently increased
cost.
Frequently half ton is used when a
much less quantity would produce as
good, if not better, results.
Some times a fertilizer is applied
which, coming in contact with another
element in the soil neutralizes it, and
the fertilizer is rendered valueless, and
it's cost lost by ignorance in regard to
the action of the chemicals.
Farmers who are interested in grow
ing crops cheaply and successfully (and
what farmer is not2) should apply soil
tests to their land, that they may know
what their soil most needs, and, with
proper application, what crops would
be most profitable to grow on that soil
Soil tests will show that some lands,
not now favorable to large crops of
corn, can be made so at q trif1ing ex
pense; and the same in regard to wheat
the land can be made to produce a
larger crop and more proitably, if it is
known what the soil lacks.
Soil tests furnish this information,
and every one interested in agriculture
may learn of his own knowledge and
under his own eye what his soil needs
and what his crop wants.
Until farmers know what their soils
lack and what their crops want and
the effects of the constituents used for
their growth separately and combined,
rational system of manuring is i'm
possible. e.-Andrew H Ward, Boston,
Mass.
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07
A BETTER OUTLOOK FOR BUT,
TER.

Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer.
The year of 1895 bids fair to start in
with higher prices for dairy products,
especially butter, to which article this
item will be devoted.
Even during the year 1895, though
butter has been very low, it has brought
better price than any other form of
product, or at least any the writer now
recalls to mind this taking it the whole
year through.
December 2. 1895, on the Etgin board
of trade butter sold for 36 cents, which
was nearly two cents higher than it
sold the previous week and three cents
higher than it sold the corresponding
week in 1894
1t is not desirable to have the price
go much higher, for if it gets too high
the tendency will be to induce con
sumers to call for lower grades or use
bogus butter.
The low price of butter that has pre-
vailed the past two years has been to
the dairy interest blessing in disguise,
as it has resulted in a good article OF
butter being used by large class OF
consumers that for many years have
been eating-perhaps unconsciously-
oleomargarine, or butterine, as it has
been called.
We say uncoDsciously, because the
dealers of whom they purchased it
sold it for genuine butter. But, when
the same dealers could get the genuine
article at such low prices, they prefer
red to handle it, hence an increased
consumption. And one of the results
is that thousands of persons have &C.
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07
IMPROVING STRAWBERRY VARI
ETIES BY SELECTION.

Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer.
While the following will apply to
fruits of all kinds, it is specially effec-
tive with the strawberry. There is no
other fruit so susceptible to improve
ment and none 80 variable and liable to
run down under neglect.
To improve them one should follow
the course pursued by succe ssful breed
ers of fine stock and poultry-breed up
by selecting the most perfect individ
uals to raise from. Just before the
berries ripen go yourself over the best
rows of each variety and carefully
select young plants conspicuous for
vigor, earliness (if earliness is of value
to you) productiveness and general ex
cellence and symmetry of fruit. Pull
all fruit and blooms from these plants
at once. Then with a garden trowel
remove as large a clod as practicable,
containing the plant, and set in rich
soil well prepared, each variety sepa-
rate, of course. From these, we'll cul-
tivated, raise plants to set your young
field the coming year. And from the
fields thus set again likewise select the
best and so on forever.
The good effects of this plan will soon
be manifest. It cannot change bad
varieties into good ones, but it will
surely make good varieties better
Having tested it for years, I can speak
from experience.
When it is not practicable to remove
the selected plants, they can be marked
with stakes and left in the fields; but
great care will be required to keep the
young plants from running among and
mixing with others.
0 W. BLACKNALL.
KitfreII N q
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07
Clinton, Iowa.
QUALITY OF CHEESE IN THR
WORLDS FAIR DAIRY CHEESE
TEST.

Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
While the Jersey COWS in the Chicago
Worlds Fair dairy tests exceeded the
Guern seys and Short Horns, their COM
petitors, in the quality of milk and
cheese produced per herd and per head,
it was a matter of surprise to many
who were not familiar with this breed
to learn of their ability to make large
quantity of cheese per hundred pounds
of milk. This test at Chicago has pretty
we'll settled the question as to the value
of milk rich in butter fat for cheese,
making purposes, and has quite con-
clusively demonstrated that the solids
follow the fat" think was among
the first to claim that the Jersey milk
was, through its very richness in but
ter fat, the most desirable for the pro-
duction of cheese, not only On account
of the quality of the cheese produced
therefrom, but also from the quantity ;
and it was especially gratifying to me
to have the opinions whicn / expressed
some years ago so amply demonstrated.
The ott-told story of the yields of the
breeds in milk and cheese has proved
conclusively the great victory won by
the Jerseys in the cheese test; and in
asmuch as all the cheese was scored by
experts and the value given by the
quality, according to a scale of points
fixed by Cnief Buchanan, the figures
below demonstrate that the quality of
the Jersey cheese exceeded that of the
other breeds, the average value per
pound of cheese being as follows:
Jerseys. ...... 13 SO 1OOc. per pound
Short Horns .13 100c g
Guernseys, II 96 100c. g g
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07
THE TESTING OF MILK.

A bulletin recently issued by the
North Carolina Experiment Station
(No. 113) describes the different meth
DDS employed for testing milk, cream,
buttermilk, etc., also for testing the
adulterations in milk The Babcock
milk test is the chief method employed
for the purpose. 1t is described in de-
tail and anyone with care and short ex-
perience can soon learn how to conduct
a test. Anyone who has several COWS
should know the relative value of each,
and it often happens that COW eats
more food than is returned in her pro-
ducts. It is a waste to keep such stock.
The Babcock test affords an easy plan
for learning the richness and value of
the milk. A person possessing the ap-
paratus, which is simple and compare
lively inexpensive, (costing only about
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07
POULTRV "a RID
WHY GREEN BONE MaKEs HaNs
lay.

This important question ia the sQD
ject of much discussion. Enthusiasts
claim so much for fresh-cut bone that
the earnest desire of practical poultry
men to know the truth OF the matter
has led to & careful investigation. The
results have been very satisfactory and
the reason so simple as to excite sur
prise that e was never thought Ct be-
fore. No intelligent farmer weald. ex
pect to reap q rich harvest Who sowed
the seed in poor and worn ous soil. II
is fact that is well known that all
plant life needs food and the highest
development is attained when it's own
particular kind of food lie furnished. "A
hen has to ind the material to form an
egg from the food she gets. If that
food is rich in the egg constituents, she
lays well, bat if lacking in them she
lays poorly. A chemical analysis o
green bone shows that it contains every
element found in the whtee. the yoIk
and the shelI vi Une egg.
The accounts for the avidity with
which green bone is devoured by the
hen. Instinct implants ia all aniuafs
a taste and desire for foods that are
suitable for them. A hen viii leave
any other food at any time for mess
of green bone. In summer when
allowed free range, bugs and worms
supply this craving for animal food
and that is one reason why hens Law
better in summer than in winter. Dur
ing winter, or when confined, bugs and
worms cannot be had, end the hen has
to wait days and some times even
weeks to Accumulate from she insult
cient food supplied her Insufficient net
in quantity butin egg making elements)
enough material TO make an egg. But
when given q daily allowance Of green
bone rich 10 every constituent OF she
egg, the her no longer has TO wait, each
organ receives it's necessary noUrish-
ment, the egg is formed quickly and
the hen has got to lay. It is priciseIv
the same principle as feeding the soil
with fertilizer, it does not hurt the soil
to enrich il, neither does it hurt the
hen to supply her natural cravings;
she is healthier, stronger and better IN
every way for it. So instead of trust.
ing to blind chance, or luck, we invoke
the aid of science and pFoduca q living
egg machine, just as truly as science
has made living milk machine Of the
cow.-Percy Franklin, Providence Co,
Rhode Island.
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07

$1O can easily test the milk Of tns
COWS belonging to his neighbors ana
charge a small amount for the service.
Such pleB would be- helpful and say
ing to be b parties o. elae seVerssi
could buy the test appsrat1s Ii COM
mon. An illustration (from photo
graph is gwen in the bulletin showing
the appearance ct two cows, one oL
which pre- d1ced 22G poun5s Of butter
per year, ~hjIe the other produced 2s5
pounds This was determined IN the
above way - tho testing Of the milk,
and show the variation which nsy
and often occurs in two cows Of shs
herd, Tha difference is 81 per cent
greater than the poorer COW. The mix
of COWS varies in quality, and unless
the quality ia known together with the
yield it often happens that cows are
kept that are not profitable, and should
be turned into beef.
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07
HORTICULTURE
HORTICULTURAL HINTS.

Do not bother producing seedlings.
Let the other fellow, with more time
and perhaps patience, do that.
The maple, birch, and some others
are better il pruned after the surplus
sap has been taken by the leaves.
Cultivate flowers in the window.
Nothing adds more beauty to the home.
Get a flower stand and fill it with
potted f10wers.
Il is easier, seasons together, to grow
grapes than it is to grow potatoes, and
yet there are thousands of farms with.
out grape vine.
If we will go into the business of
fruit growing with a determination to
give the trees and plants all the culti-
walton they need, just as we treat other
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07

AND GRovER NEVER SMILED.

DR.. Talmage made q remark in the
course of his sermon on Thanksgiving
Day which ticklad many Of the politi-
clans now in the city when it was
quoted to them. Mr.. Talmage was dis
cussing the general productiveness of
the country. There is the great
West" he said, (which produces our
cereals, the South, which yields such
quantities OF cotton, and there is the
Hudson river, and there is Buzzard's
bay, which supplies our fish," And
right in the audience sat President
Cleveland, and never smiled. Wash
ington Post.
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07
AsoUT RGGs.

The shell ct an egg is porous, aid any
filth on it viii taint the meat. A good
reason for cleaning eggs as soon es
gathered. some times dirty looking
eggs are fl 9sher then some that are.
clean, but 5lyers viii not believe It.
and as thel u1uss 8 ge an egg By fta
outward az o8arancs anly, eggs aI1 id
be made a. attractive looking as poe.
sible before being seat to market. Legs
are preserved in two way q: By cold
storage in q dry atmosphere, at a TEN
perature of Sc 70 40 degrees and by i'm
mersing in q pickle of lime and salt ii.
clean oak barrels. The pickle IL made
by Stacking two pounds of lime I'D hot
water and ad ding one pint of salt and
four gallons of water Twenky gallons
will cover $50 dozen. Put fresh eggs
in the clear pickle uatil the vessel Is
nearly full, spread clean cloth oger
them and cover this With the ssttlines
of the lime. Ice house eggs and picked
eggs are edible If put IN fresh and prop
erly kept, bat are greatly inferior t0
fresh stock. II sold for what t1sr are
it is all right, but It is ali wrong and 4
fraud on consumers 10 palm them OFF
as newly laid eggs. Southern Farm.
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07
TO EXTERMINATR YELLOW
BRTAR.

Correspondence of the Progressive Farmer.
CUMBERLAND Co.
Your correspondent, John Brock, in
issue of Dec. oath, asks how to exSer
inmate what farmers in this section
call the yellow briar." have friend
and neighbor, Mr.. NJ @. Campbell, who
has piece of rich bottom land that
had been abandoned for years to this
troublesome pest. In the early spring
he burned off the accumulated mass Of
dead top briars, so shat no could get at
the ground with horse and sword
pillow; he sliced the land into 8-inCh
slices one way only with the sword
plow; he then sowed three bushels OF
corn to the acre, and made the best
headWay he could in turning over the
slices with turn plow; he then turned
In a lot of hogs to root for the corn ;
they thoroughly pulveriz9d the land,
brought every briar root to the surface,
when they were rakad into piles and
burned. Mr.. Campbell says this will
work we'll to clear any new ground.
JOHN MCDUFFIE
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07
AGRICULTURE.

a great many Of our Southern farm
ers are trying to get along without a
good agricultural newspaper. This is
a mistake.
The Southern situation is summed up
by bright Northern journal in this
wise: The corn is full OF kernels, and
the coIonels are full of corn"
1t is said that more money is an
nually spent for eggs than flour, which
shows that poultry on the farm is Of
good deal more Importance than many
think it to be.
Diversified farming is one great need
of the hour. Considerable progress has
already been made in the South during
the past few years. We hope no back
ward steps will be taken during 1896
The boy who is given a garden to
plant and care for, and who IS assisted
to stick to it until results are realized,
is sure to get as valuable lessons IN
discipline as he would in several terms
of school.
discovered q method by which horse
shoes can be sue e ssfully manufactured
from paper. The paperis impregnated
with turpentjne to make it waterproof.
The inventor claims that horse wear
i ing these shoes cannot slip on greasy
roads.
b Where the cheapest production of
meat is desired a small breed Of hogs
T maturing early will give better results
than any Of the large breeds. The
kinds of hogs that will attain $50 to 28O
pounds weight in nine months are bet
ter than thos9 which will run up to five
or six hundred weight, but will r. quire
two full years to do it IN.
There are very few farmers who
would burn corn, oats Or other grains
in a stove as a means Of keeping stock
warm In winter. They do practically
much the same thing when they allow
+ domestic animals to be exposed to cold
blasts, and feed heavily with grain to
keep them warm. Tee grain is then
burned just as truly as if 1t were put in
furnace. The only advantage OF the
grain fed is that it is consumed inside
the animal, and the heat it furnishes is
less subject to waste.
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07
THE DAIRY.
FROM A TALK ABOUT SHORT
HORNS IN THE RURAL NEW
YORKER DEC. Fl, 1905.

us the noise made by breeders of
other stock damaging the sale of Short
horns9"
''No; on the contrary, it is doing
them more good than harm; the more
competition they have the more clearly
are their virtures apparent by contrast,
and the Short Hort business was never
IN more prosperous condition than it
is today"
what ought an average three year
old Short Horn steer to weigh9'
''Two thousand pounds."
''What is the average gain of a steer
from birth to one year old9"
The average ought to be from 90 to
IS pounds per month. By experiment
| have had them go up to 100 pounds
per month, and, il one instance, with
an unusually promising calf, made a
net gain OF 12O pounds, or exactly four
pounds per day"
What ought they to average from
one year old TIL two9"
Fifty pounds per month"
rs there any money in scrub cattle
at three cente7"
There is some profit, but good ones
pay better, as they command : TO II
cents per pound more"
How do the Short Horns stand in
the milk business7"
They are as good general purpose
COWS as any. The Short Horn dairy
COW came in second at the Worlds Ex-
position, and one of ours, Cherry. beat
Mr.. Jewett's 81, 600 Jersey at the 2 mes
vile, o., Fair"
"How are they as feeders"
They will winter on as little, and
look as well in the spring, as any of
them"
''How would you advise man of
limited means to start Short Horn
herd9"
That would depend. If he could
afford it, he might buy a COW or Two,
but sd he could not he could probably
bI1-=sonne calves and wait for them
Inc COWS, however, would be cheaper
in the long run, as he would save years
By breeding them to the best bulls he
can get good herd in a few years, if
he knows how to breed them to advan
tage, which, by the way, is of moreim
portance than most stockmen seem to
think"
"Is the raising of stock from mongrel
COWS and purebred bulls a profitable
practice4"
Better than not to breed at all; but
if man purposes to stay in the bust
ness any length of time, it is better to
have both sides pure, that is, if he is
prepared to give the care that good
cattle deserve"
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07

qulred such taste for good article
OF genuine butter that they will never
be satisfied with any imitation of it.
The recent advance in price of but
ter can be traced to several causes.
First, there has recently been a de-
crease in the stock held in cold storage
Second more laboring men and skilled
mechanics are having employ ment
than at this time last year. The same
can be said of railroad men and many
other classes of wage earners. Third,
bogus butter received mora hard
knocks during the year of 1895 than it
ever received before in any twelve
months.
The writer has not time to enumerate
the hard knocks above referred to. but
will quote from the Elgin Dairy Re
porter an item to show one important
effect of them. 1t is as follows:
The October statement of the inter
nal Revenue Bureau issued by Com
missioner Miller gives some Important
facts regarding the income OF the gov
ernment for the month of October.
1895, compared with 1894. All along
the line an increase is shown over 1894
Spirits, tobacco and fermented liquors;
but when we come to oleo, the great
substitute, great fraud and great coun-
terfeit, the decrease is something
worthy OF note.
Considering that a portion of this
increase has come from the lesser mum
Der of parties taking out licenses for
the selling of oleo, yet leaves large
margin for the decrease in receipts of
the two cents per pound tax. Presum-
ing that all of the increase comes from
the taxation, it would make the output
of oleo for 1895 1. 767, 18O less than for
1894. We will cut off the three quar-
ters as belonging to the lesser number
of licenses, which would make the de
crease in round numbers 1000, 600
pounds. This shows two things: One
is that more careful execution of the
national law is being had, and that the
States that have prohibitory legislation
against selling it for what it is not are
enforcing their laws. a most crafty
ing result to the producers and con
sumers of pure goods"
F. W. MosELEY.
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07
RALEIGH, N. c., JANUARY 7, 1895.
crops, there will be a pretty certain
promise of success.

crops, there will be pretty certain
promise of success.
Cereals and fruits attain their high,
est perfection near the northern line Of
their successful culture. It ia SO OF
wheat, it is so of oats, barley, corn and
potatoes, and it is so of fruit. New
England, for instance, is good apple
country.
When a man is asked to subscribe
for newspaper be will ask what kind
OF paper it is and who edits and pub
fishes it, and he will not be likely to
subscribe until he is pretty certain that
the paper is what he wants. But the
same man will often buy trees Of the
peddler without knowing~any thing
about him or his stock.-FarmerB'
Voice,
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07

Every farmer should have hot bed
in which to start early plants, and now
is the time to begin getting up the ma
terial necessary for it's construction. A
hole for the bed may be excavated and
planked up, and load of woods dirt
hauled in to cover the bed or to fill
boxes in which seeds are to be planted
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07

For remedy for warts on COWS a
writer says: Take old strong bacon
tryings, or grease and thoroughly
grease the the warts and around them,
about every other day for couple of
weeks or longer. You may not notice
an improvement at once, but they will
gradually disappear.
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07
ORIGINATING NEW FRUITS.

There is a great deal OF misdirected
eff )rt in planting seeds of fruits for the
originating of new varieties. Crossing
ard fertilization with improved sorts
are not all the points to be looked after.
It is quite as important that the speci
men fruit from which the seed is taken
shall be thoroughly ripened, and as
perfect of it's kind as possible. II is
partly because propagators of new
fruits have disregarded this, that their
efforts have so often been failures
After a good season for fruit, seed from
any well-ripened and well-formed speci-
men will be apt to prove an improve
ment on it's parent. 1t was thus that
the Concord grape was originated from
the wild grape of the woods. 1t was
cultivated, and after an extremely
favorable season the seed of this wild
variety was planted. In a year of
fruit failures there is no use in plant
ing seed, with the expectation of get
ting improved varieties of fruit. Even
that which should be an improvement
because crossed with an improved
variety will not be SO good as if it was
from fruit grown in favorable year
and under like favorable circumstances
otherwise.
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07

At this season Of the year the axe is
the Southern farmers uncompromis
ing enemy. Don't cut down your tim
Der land. Clean up the briar patches,
restore the old fields to cultivation if
you need more land, but leave the
timber land alone.
The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-01-07

The varieties of ducks are many.
Main describes 81, and some nat,1ra :,
lists number many more. The most
profitable for domestic use, aside from
the common one, are the Black Cayuga,
the Aylesbury, and Rouen, all being of
much larger size, and richer and more
delicate flavor of flesh.