The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-06-17
Especial to News and Observer

much to say that the address that made
the greatest "hit'' at the Bankers Asso-
citation in session here was that by DR..
George T. Winston, president of the A.
and NJ College He spoke as follows:
A Gentry ago North Carolina rank
ed among the foremost States IN
wealth and population. We held our
own. as long as agriculture was the
sole pursuit of the country and popn-
lation was confined to the Atlantic
Seaboard. But the settlement OF new
States. with soils more fertile and
better adapted to agricultural ma
chinery, and the development Of man
ufactures. mining and commerce in
the middle States and New England
sent us gradually down in the scale
of wealth, until in 1890 our per capt.
ia of wealth was the lowest iii the
Union.
For the last thirty years il has been
impossible that any State on the At
lantic coast should accumulate wealth
through agriculture alone, unaided
by other industries. North Carolina
made the attempt with marvellous per-
Al
roic, but she paid the penalty in Sc
we're and pinching poverty. with a
large number and greater variety
of wealth producing factors than any
4 State in the Union she became the
poorest.
NORTH CAROLINA AN UNDEVEL-
OPED STATE.
But there is great possibility for
North Carolina. She is practically an
undeveloped State Her resources
still exist. awaiting finer skill and lar
ger knowledge for their full develop
ment.
The State possesses eight principal
sources of wealth: l. The Soil and its
CROPS. II Forests. III. Mines. IN.
Fisheries V. Water-power. VI. Health
and Pleasure Resorts. VII. Climate.
VIII. Population.
HOW AGRICULTURE WILL Be
COME PROFITABLE.
I. The Soil and its Crops. 1t has
been said that North Carolina will
produce any crop enumerated in the
census. Under proper conditions this
variety of soil and climate may be-
come a source of great wealth, but at
present it is yielding small returns.
Our soil is poor, far poorer than the
average. The Yield per acre of corn
in the United States is 2S bushels. in
North Carolina. 10; of wheat. 13 bush
els, in North Carolina. Z: of oats. 26
bushels. in North Carolina, -. Our
WELD per acre of cotton and tobacco
is apparently more satisfactory. but
the cost of production is greater than
elsewhere. owing to the use of COM
mercial fertilizers. 1t will be hard
struggle for North Carolina to pro-
duce profitably under present condi-
tions any agricultural products which
must be sold. either in whole or in
part. as raw material in the markets
of the world. | say under present
conditions" for conditions must be
changed in the future as they have
been in the past. The fertility of our
soil must be increased by better meth
DDS of cultivation and fertilization,
and the cost of production must be
diminished by better skill larger
knowledge and the use of machinery.
In these ways the present cotton crop
of the South has been made pos
sible. Improved methods in cultiva-
ton, in ginning and in marketing the
crop, together with the invention of
new uses for cotton seed, have saved
for the South no less than fifty mil
lion dollars annually. 1t is this saw
ing that makes possible the cultiva-
ton. of cotton in North Carolina to
day. In the next generation, when
familiarity with machinery shall have
improved the skill. and industrial ed
ucation shall have enlarged the
knowledge and quickened the inven-
tive faculties of those who shall con-
tend with this problem. it is likely
that still greater saving will be eff
fected and that the cotton crop of
the South will again be trebled in
size as it has been during the pres
ent generation.
HELP FROM FACTORIES AND UR-
BAN POPULATIONS.
Meanwhile much relief will be
brought to our farmers by the growth
of manufactures and the building up
of home markets. Rapid progress is
already making in this direction.
Within the last twenty years our
mills and manufactures have doubl, !
and quadrupled, cities and towns have
sprung up over the State and thous-
ands of health seekers have songht
our precious climate, all producing
local markets for farm produce. BY
these causes the condition of or far
mers has been greatly improved. The
value of farm lands in our State. as
shown on the tax books. is greatest
in those counties where the food con-
Stunning population is largest in pro
portion to the food producers. The
banner county is Durham, whose
farm lands are valued at more than
twenty dollars an acre; county
where farmers may find find every DAY
sin the year a market for the products
of the garden, the orchard. the pn'l-
try yard and the dairy or for the an
nual increase of focks and herds. Iiv-
ing under such conditions a farmer
may bring up the fertility of his
land, and. is he choo ses 10 raise them
as surplus crops, may compete with
Texas in cotton, with Kentucky in
tobacco. with Missouri in corn, with
Minnesota in wheat Or with Kansas
in oats. Next to Durham in the val,.e
of farm lands is CAST IN, which stands
first i'm cotton mills. and next is Al
;ob 80 ok IN, 49,