The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-06-12

feeding as they are North and if YOU
keep on as you have begun YOU can
have a rich stock farm right where
people who have been thinking of
nothing but King Cotton. and what
cotton YOU grow will be grown at a
smaller cost than that of others. If
YOU have peas enough TO keep 200
hogs growing. it will pay YOU to buy
if they can be had at a reasonable
price. and You will need to feed corn
only a few weeks before killing to
harden the fat. OF course it will pay
you better to feed your corn than
to sell il. | was out in NebraSNI
some years ago in the fine corn co,ln-
try Of the Elllhorn valley, where corn
was worth - cents per bushel as the
top price. One man there told me
that he got 30 cents per bushel for
his corn by feeding it to hogs and
selling them on foot. told him that
he could make it pay still better by
curing the meat himself. He was
there depending on corn alone. You
have the great advantage of the nitro
genons food Of the pea and other crops
that can be grown here better than
there and it will not need to use 50
much corn. In cured bacon at an
average OF 10 cents per pound. the
corn ought to pay nearly 81 90 per
bUshel With YOU. and the fodder will
make q good balance for the ration
OF pea hay for cattle. 1t NAV not
pay YOU directly on the corn to apply
the fertilizer YOU mention. but it will
pay in the folIowi, o crop Of wheat.
But in Your climate and soil why SOW
wheat at all? | should think that
where yOu are making stock an
object that winter oats viii pay you
better than wheat. for YOU can never
hope to raise BIG crops of wheat in
NGur section. and while | believe in di-
Versified farming | do not believe kat
we should pay attention TO crops that
can be grown far better in other soils
and climates. You can buy your flour
better than YOU can raise If in East
ern North Carolina. not one crop
farming. should be the rule. and no
man should atterHpt to GROW every
1hITT-r- 10 make a rotation that will
be best adapted to the development
of his soil. Winter oats are far
more certain crop in your land than
wheat You can bring that land up
TO - bushels Of oats per acre. while
yon can never get it to make % Of
wheat | would suppose. You are on
the right track and will surely get
l4lere II YOU perseNere.
\ Granville county friend sends
me cut Of a sort OF plow that is adj
vertised as q pea and bean harvester.
and wants TO know what we think
of it? My object in planting peas
is primarily to improve the land. |
gather enough for seed and then let
the hogs gather the rest. | am 4
young farmer and am determined to
get my living from something better
than ) cent bright cotton. For the
past two wears | have followed your
adl ice. whenever | could adapt it to
my circumstances. and have improv
ed my land and am getting something
more than good living from il. while
| my neighbOrS are sl<innino their land
| for Il poor living out of tobacco. and
| they consider me q crank for not
| following in their ways. In connec-
! tion With the peas. | prefer TO make
! pork rather than milk and butter,
as ! have no good market for butter,
ard have already a reputation for fine
! cured bacon. Thanks to your advice.
! | Will have Il lot more Of questions
to ask later on Well trust YOU will
not be bashful about asking the
| questions. We want to make this
page help the preachers in their work
! for when a preacher or laNmen gets
! something more than a good living
out of his farming he begins to feel
more liberal towards the church and
her work. As regards the pOw you
send Il cut of. it is simply Il plow with
some cradle like fingers to throw
the vines Off. 1t may work i'm the
white bean fields of the North or in
the Canada peas. but it will not do for
a tangled mass Of Southern peas. Even
- IL I l.
do not want the roots disturbed. but
to stay there for the benefit Of the
land. The moving machine is the
! thing to cut the peas and we Will ere
long. | feel certain, have a machine
that will thresh the peas from the cut
vines and save the great labor Of hand
| picking You are right; stick to the
pig and we will bring YOU out. Well
cured country bacon will always sell
at Il paving price whether tobacco
| is cents or 80 cents. and the man
who works for the upbuilding Of his
soil will be in a better position to
make mOney out of tobacco when the
! price comes up again than the one
who has been starving himself and his
land in the vain effort to fight the
Trusts by feeding it cheap. SO long
as the farmers will grow ) cent to-
bacco. the Trust will thrive. When
they quit doing this and go to work
10 improve their lands and make mon
ey out Of better things, the Trust
will soon find it necessary to pay
better prices. If il was but possible
TO organize the farmers and to get
them to stick to an organization for
their material benefit. they could die
tate TO the Trust. In the meantime
LET the tobacco alone and feed the
tobacco growers on good bacon. It
is the .Cranks" that make the world
| move.