The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-09-18
Agriculture.
ITgERN AGRICULTURAL PROBLEMS.


,-,-ovements Needed to Make Farming in
Torth Carolina and Other Southern States
prosperous-Address of Hon. Jas. Wilson,
v.+ionsl Secretary of Agriculture, to
s.n+bsrn Commissioners Of Agriculture,
Rslsigh, N. c., Aug, %, 1900.
Today am North Carolina man,
.dvising you to bring your farms to
tba very highest condition of pro
5nction, so that to as great an ex-
tont as possible you cam feed your
own people. You mayerest. assured
tba GREAT Northwest will find mar
tats for all its surplus have looked
carefully into the agricultural pro-
dnctions of North Carolina reported
bv.vour statisticians in 1899.l You
raised in that year 81, 953, t68 bushels
of corn. The Department of Agri-
cnlture is cooperating with scien-
fists outside with regard to the i'm
movement of corn You raised
2 8495. .59S bushels of wheat, and the.
Department of Agriculture has now.
AGENTS in northern Russia seeking
wbeats that are rust proof, rich in
gluten, etc., while the Division of
vegetable Physiology and Pathology
is cross breeding wheats in order to
GET new varieties from which to
select something which will be bene-
fetal to the people of the country. I
notice that you produce, in consider
able quantities, oats, rye, buckwheat,
hav. etc. You can extend the pro
duction of all these things you can
improve the quality and yield of all
these things. If you produced 1885,
789 bales of hay in 1899, you can
grow grasses from which hay is
made, Indicating that you can ex
tend the production of domestic ami
mails as far as you see fit. You pro
duced IS, ,629, 10 pounds of tobacco
in 1896 (the year of your latest re
porb. The Department. of AgricuI-
ture has tobacco under careful con
sideration. We are 'inquiring where
the flavor comes from and how, that
information may be made profitable
to the people of the country. You
produced 5000, 900 bushels of sweet
potatoes in 1899, and I have this to
say to you regarding that crop, that
We are sending trial shipments to
various parts of the world to asoer
tain whether the people in foreign
countries can be taught the value of
sweet potatoes, so that we can find a
market for you over there. The total
value of your corn crop in 1899 was
$4,000, 22O.
LIVE STOCK. fl.l 'i
I find by inquiry into the produc-
ton of domestic animals that North
Carolina must be we'll adapted to all
Of them. January 1, 1900, the De
partment of Agriculture estimates
that you had 148, ,164 horses, 120, ,512
mules, 243, ,298 dairy COWS, 274, 843
other cattle, 235, ,260 sheep and 1, 1863,
703 hogs, with a total value of S27,.
1874 Your capacity to produce
domestic animals of course depends
entirely upon the condition of your
soil and the standard OF your agri-
cultural management.
MAINTAINING SOIL FERTILITY.
OF the reports received by your
Labor Commissioner in 1898, 67 per
cent. say that the fertility of the
land is we'll maintained, while 33 pei
cent. report that it is not. My re-
marks today a1e for the benefit Of
the 80 per cent. I find from the
same source-your' Labor Commits
sioner-that the greatest industry
in the eastern section of your
State is the saving and dressing Of
lumber, which is only exceeded in
the entire State by the manufacture
Of cotton and tobacco. The time has
come when the condition of our for.
ests requires careful inquiry. The
destruction is decidedly greater thar
the growth. The sections lying along
the headwaters of your streams are
now being considered by the Depart
ment of Agriculture in conformity
With authority from Congress, il
order that those waters, to which
you look for power in turning YOU
mills, may not be dried up through
the utter destruction of the wood.
Where the streams rise.
LOSS OF HUMUs on. Souls AND, ITS DAN
GERS.
The Southern States have have a n mruc5i / Il
heavier rainfall tban tba Norr+tb or 8