The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-03-29
IT Is GROWING.
Stock-ltaising i'll North Carolina-Statf
is Well Adapted for 1t.

Stock-Itai>ing i'll North Carolina-State
is Well Adapted for 1t.
lit is next to impossible to give an ade-
quate idea of the possibilities of stock
raising in North Carolina in a brief arti-
Gle. One can tell but little of what has
been accomplished. and less of what is
in store for the future. Stockraising can
lie carried on successfully in almost
every county in the State. But. OF
course. to better advantages in some
sections than in others. y large portion
of that section of the State west of
Raleigh is especially adapted to stock
raising. But many of the finest horses,
COWS. hogs and other animals ever pro-
duced in thc State We're raised east OF
Raleigh. For instance the Kennedy
stock farm n Lenoir county, about
eighty miles east from Raleigh, has pro-
duced ~trotting horses Of great beauty
and speed.
If YOU will look 1T Il map. YOU Will 10
ticc 4 chain of counties along and near
the Southern Railway. from and includ-
ing Wake, to the Tennessee line. all Of
which are adapted to grain and grass
growing. | will name some Of the cOun>
ties. as follows: Durham, Orange, Ala
nance. Randolph. Guilfor0. Davidson.
ForSythc. Davie. Rowan. CabarruS. Ire
dell. Mecklenburg. Lincoln, Catawba,
Burke. Buncombe and others. In these
counties much of the land produces
wheat, oats. corn, clover, timothy and
other grasses ablmdantly. and of the
very best quality. \ great deal Of the
soil is red lime stone. the very best for
clover. The climate is admirable, TIM
Der is plentiful, water excellent ca very
important matter in stock-ra:sing of any
tiDh Tho ahnyn COMMITTEES won rnnn-
premiums for farm products at the CO.
lmnrbian Exposition. especially for spcci-
mems of grains.
Our ancestors were induced to believe
that North Carolina only raised cotton,
rice and ~tuTpentine. Ihcy CLEANED this
information from old biographies. Sixty
or seventy years ago, those products gave
tie State what little prestige it had in
agricultural affairs. Bat to-day North
Carolina is 4 great agricultural as well
as 4 manufacturing State. and stock
raising is an important feature on many
farms. North Carolina up 70 Il recent
date. was the home of the 'rlzor back
hog and other scrub animals. Thirty
or forty years ago a SiNty-pond pOrker
was a rarity. By and by. a few farmers
began to raise hogs that would weigh
100 or 200 ponds. The natives were
aStOniShed.
To-day, hogs weighing four. five and
SIX hundred are almost as common in
TINS State as they are in Illinois and
Iowa. Scrub COWS are giving away to
Jerseys and other fine strains. Sheep
that produced two or three pounds Of
wool per annuIn are giving away to i'm.
proved breeds that produce several
times as much wool and mutton. Superb
t%rottcrS are going by the four and five
-.
years. dozens of horses have been brcu
in the State and have entered Tire 81,
class before they were three years old,
while a number of others have made
their mile in less than 30. "Pamlico."
now dead. was raised i'll Raleigh. His
best record was 2.1O1@ only Il fraction
Of Il second behind the fastest stallion
in the world. He was less than eight
years old when he died. and was rapidly
clipping off seconds from previous rec
orlls.
When we consider that North Caro-
llnlans raise and spin more than 3OO,-
GOO bales Of cotton annually. raise and
manufacture many million pounds Of to-
bacco. and in addition. raise 50 many
ether things. filing every blank in the
census reports, the Granger naturally
wonders lrow much has been done in
stock-raising. The business is yet in it's
infancy. Improved breeds and methods
have been started here and there and are
sweeping over the State like an cpl
demic. Probably twelve years ago. Mr.
w. G.. Upchurch. of Raleigh. bought th4,
first Jersey COW ever in the State. Now
there are hundreds of fine herds of .Ier-
seys. short-horns and other noted breeds
scattered over the State l wish /
could name q number of those who are
entitled to credit for bringing blooded
stock into the State and demonstrating
the possibilities in that line. l can only
recall Il few: j. w. Kennedy. Lenoir
Co.; Capt. B.. p. Williamson, Wake Co.
Col. J. S. Carr, Durham Co.; Col. Ben.
and others in Alamance Co; J.. Nj. Har.
rison Rowan Co.: DR.. j. J. Mott, of Ire
dell Co.: and many others. All these
gentlemen have proven, beyond a doubt,
that the finest horses. cattle and hogs
can be raised as successfully and as
cheaply in North Carolina as elsewhere.
A number Of them are successful dairy
men. The fact that Mr.. Vanderbilt
has spent several million dollars FOR
Western North Carolina land. and for
improving the same. which he is rapidly
converting unto a model dairy and stock
farm ought to be proof that he thinks
North Carolina the ideal country for such
an enterprise. 1T has been said that Mr..
Vanderbilt as just playing farmer'
that fancy farming cannot be carried OH
anywhere except at great loss. But
) MI. vanderbilt rs now prepared to and