The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-05-15
Agriculture.
-rrr TWENTIETH CENTURY AND WHAT
IT HAS IN STORE FOR THE FARMER.

.orvative folk. Old and tried ways
.-o hard to replace even when better
ores are fairly in sight. This dispo-
.ition to cling to the past no doubt
has IFS good side. But after all, it is
-ba alert man who keeps his ears and
arps wide open, who recognizes Op-
cor+unities for improvement when
they do come, and not 1.-The man
,ri+h the hoe" who plods along in the
same old rut, whose face is always
Inward the past, and whose honest
conviction is that "book farming"
and agricultural colleges" and
~bulIetins'' and farm papers" and
al such fancy nonsense" are en-
rrelv outside of and apart from the
hard. back-aching work of digging a
living out of the soil.
And vet, those whose memories
reach back to the early fifties can
see no reason for discouragement.
The nast half century has been pre-
fminently an era of progress in agri-
.rIture. Artificial fertilization with
chemical manures, the general use
Of improved farm machinery and
above all, the successful study of
the laws of plant growth and by
fene. hardly date back beyond the
memory of living men, and there is
the best of reason for believing that
this advancement will go on at an
accelerated pace. Indeed, no one
can look out upon the century thatis
inst before US with calm eyes and
dear vision, without the most hope
tul authorizations. Progress is every
where. 1t is in the very air. 1t
prvades the literature Of farming.
Even the reStlessnesS and discomfort
nth present methods and results,
which are at the same time the hur-
bncors and most potent stimUlants
70 change, all point in the same
direction. Farmers cannot stand
tuif they would. They mustmOve
m and to those of Us who have
Ought our fight, good or bad, and
Who arc now on the reminiscent side
tIfe. it i no small source of graft
ication that the keen-eyed, brainy
7Ourg men who, in our agricultural
colleges. are now studying one Of the
most difficult and intrinsic of the APP
rIed sciences, will find an army of
0ilerS ready for their leadership,
much more disciplined and tractable
han those that we have known, and
hat they will make more rapid
marches and more brilliant cOnquests
han it has been our good fortune to
Fima~s.
In addition to changes already
EintaI out in the farming methods
tthe country, and especially of the
south, there is probably nothing
more certain than the utter aban-
mmcnt Of the one crop system. 1t
lever was a good system, and tits
Homing worse every year. A one
fop country IS always on the border
td~a~rcr. Bad seasons, low prices,
insect pests, half a hundred open
1oroughfares all lead that way,
'm,c success must be fought for
a0ng a single narrow and rugged
pathway The worlds experience
caches that with this system long
nunU"d, an impoverished soil,
oandonedfelds, ,unkempt, unpainted
.o0No~, neglected fences, and all the
@coUraging cOncOmitants of profit
@~ tllluge sooner or later are sure
ooppear
Inc South cannot hope to reverse
us seemingly universal law, and it
'o0d not be at all difficult to find
'aAuo~ that already only too clearly
oafrm it.
vi the other hand, diversified
'1AS ntelligently pursued means
improving country, richer soil
<>pf..-nr men. A map of the United
1,s>. most interesting and in
al..0"" 1ind, could be made, in
,'.-l III. prosperity and wealth of
.-sn" community might be
>. exactly gauged by this very
10aorl
>,5 5-." 'Tarvthing practicable is
,,- 1.,...t IN horticulture, fruit grow
sa5 market gardening and
~. IE'p~. there the highest pros
oty is found. In a lessening ratio
wealth recedes until the one crop