The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-11-29
NORTH CAROLINA FIELD CROPS.
WHEAT.

lence Of the produce OF Our liFunN- -
dorman greed OF avaricc Il malhlnd
exercises al influence in spite Of lht
good intentions with which W are alI
endowed. Hence we see quantity tue
ruling passion instead Of quality. But
sooner or later the conviction comes even
rrop the m%ercenaTy that quality pays
best in the long run.
Nv recent experience in serving upon
the Jury of awards at the Omaha eXposl-
ton. especially in the agricultural dlVl-
sion of that great fair. has emphasized
IN my mind the superiority Of the 1aflh
produtS Of this State over those Of the
TranS-AIisSiSsippi region. The aspect q
the agricultural country there j III sharp
contrast with our own. e>peclllly 50 III
the abs nee Of forest ana undulatlonS
which give grace and beauty to our
landscapc. Vet the absence Of these
features makes the cultivation Of the
Western fields easier and affords the
widest scope To the improved agricultural
indictments of the age. enabling them .
cultivate more ground At less expense
than we can. On the other side We nave
the great advantages of Il saIubflouS
climate. an abundance of rainfall for all
crops equitlhly distributed throughout
the wear and the production Of higher
gIttt'S t. liz NI'f@ -
stated. better quality.
Your article in Tuesdays News Il
Observer under the caption Of North
Carolina Wheat points out these re-
Elections by your correspondent. North
Carolina is no;. when compared with
the great wheat-growing States. popular
" regarded as a whcat-growing State.
Put the fact IS undeniable that certain
parts Of the State compare faTorably
with the best regions Of any of the
States. This idea is best illustrated by
the census return>. The average wheat
cr0n in this State is about oOU.ou
bushels: some years it runs higher. but
has never reached the o,ooO.~n0O-bushe
market. Unquestionahly the best wheat
~orion in the State is in what is called
the Piedmont plateau. and the finest
crops are produced i'll that region though
the +rans-mountain plateau has great
possibilities. as pointed out by General
Hoke in the article referred to. HE
Mitchell county crop of 49, bushels TO
the acre III ten acres proves the adapta-
bility Of that region to wheat and an
urea che> the average yield Of the crop
crown by the late Governor Thomas NJ.
Holt. on his Davidson county farm.
where he produced IS bushels to the acre
40 ItItS- TX dudlitN VI 49,
Carolina wheat is superior to that grown
in most of the States: this is proven by
the plumptness and helft of the grain.
The normal weight of wheat to the
bushel is SO pounds. but much Of the
wheat grown here is above this and
some has beer known to reach the
enormous weight of - pounds TO the
hushol. This was grown in Stan1y
county. But enough is known Of the
value Of wheat culture to incite our
farmers to the most careful considera-
zion Of the crop as il promises better re-
Enumeration than some of the crops nov
grown as money crops The price Of
wheat until recently has been too low 10
tempt the farmer. but With the advent
of the roller mill and its product of whit"
flour the prospect * decidedly more en-
c~ouraging.
Another illustration OF The value OF
quality over quantity Is fnrcihiy pre-
sentcd in the tobacco crop Of the State.
Kentucky IS the leading tehaccO-Froduc-
ing State in the Union. growing 10 less
than 1I9.553.O0O pounds in 1895. which
was worth S9.526.909. In North Caro-
lima the same year were grown 11i.o25.-
600 pounds, thus making it the SECOND
State in the number of pounds produced.
'ti1h - AiiA0 Ni'p tIN iti =
so. :563. $500, or more than a million dol
lars in excess of the value Of the Ken
lucky crop. and placing the State FIRST
Of all the States III the money value of
its crop. When one reflects that the
North Carolina crop was some io,eO.O0O
pounds less than the Kentucky crop.
the value Of quality over quantity be
come very clear.
The quality Of the corn produced in
this State is Of exceptionally high grade.
and perhaps leads all other section in
this particular. That is Il broad state
ment but it can be substantiated by tes-
tirnony which ranks high. For instance.
The facts developed by the comparison
OF the grain grown in all the States
shown at the Worlds Fair at Chicago in
1898. was entirely III our favor. In the
great Agricultural Building were col
lected the corn grown not only by all
the States in the Union. but from many
foreign countries, notably Central and
South America and Mexico. The Board
Of Agriculture Of the State OF Illinois
came to the exposition in Il body and
made Il most rigid examination Of all
the corn exhibited: after making the
rounds, requiring several days. they re-
turned in a body to the North Carolina
space and said: we have come back
here to tell You people that YOU have
the finest corn exhibited in this building.
We have given the subject very careful
investigation and reaching this conclu-
sion we deem it but just to report the
fact to you. The points in the eXamina-
ton Of corn include size, heft. compact
ness Of grain on the ear, size of the cob.
size of the prain. trucness to type ard
general uniformity OF all these points.
After a careful scrutiny of all the corn
exhibited at Oman upon which awards
Were made, l came back to North Caro-
INA III time 10 see the agriculture ex-
hlblt at the State Fair. To my astonish-
ment. though | have been familiar with
our crops for years. | found the AVER
of the corn exhibited at the Fair
above the average of the corn shown at
Omaha. | found several lets Of corn
grown in Forsyth and Burke counties
superior to the gold medal corn Of the
great 1rans-MisSissippi region.
I. Il. BRU\ER.
November 22. 1898.
men II comes to real llci work