The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-01-15
.CLODHOPPER's TALKS.
I / I

III.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
L was in town this morning and
saw an incident that set me to think
ing. A gentleman had ordered a
peck of apples from his grocer. Pick
ing up two of them and wiping them
off, he said to me, "Wen, I know 1
am eating a North Carolina apple
now.
E-HOw?" asked.
Because" said he, ''these apples
are unwashed, slightly dirty, and
while there are many fine ones
among them, they are not carefully
assorted. A Yankee would have
carefully washed and assorted them,
whereupon they would have com
mandea twice as much per bushel as
our farmers get for theirs. In this
State the farmers do not pay enough
attention to putting their products
in marketable condition and so lose
much of the profit"
And really, now, wasn't there
some food for thought in his re-
marks?
Now is good time to order an in
cubator and prepare to make some
money out of poultry this year.
Are you using up-to- date farm i'm
plements and machinery? If not,
think about it and try to count up
how much you are losing by your
unprogressiveness The best thing
have read on that subject in long
time is Prof. Irby's editorial in The
Progressive Farmer of January LIST.
Get it and read it. It will give you
much to think about.
[ always read Mr.. F. J. Merriam s
articles with great deal of interest.
One of the best he has ever written
for The Progressive Farmer was that
in this weeks issue on "Cotton Cul-
tivatiOn."
Free rural delivery Of mails is won
derfully successful here in Wake.
We farmers feel now that we couldn't
get along without it,
Now is a good time to get sub
scribers for The Progressive Farmer.
And really do not know how you
can help your neighbor more than
by getting him interested in good
agricultural literature. If you have
friend who is reading farm paper
from New York, Kentucky, Penn
sylvania or some other far-away
place, and which must of course be
unsuited to North Carolina cOndi-
tions and people, get him to try
North Carolina farm paper where he
can get the experiences of men who
understand things as they are in our
State. Our products are different,
our soils are different, and papers
printed for conditions in the North
and West are not suited to us here.
Save the leaves that litter the yard
and lawn. Dump them into barrel
or box for the hens to scratch over
this winter. You will be surprised
at the amount of exercise and enter
tainment dozen hens will get out
of barrel of leaves thrown in the
corner of shed or in warm nook.
Just mix few handfuls of wheat or
other grain in the leaves and let
them scratch for it.
It is none too soon to begin to
think about and discuss the problem
of home mixing of fertilizers. Hun
dreds of thousands of dollars can be
saved to the farmers of North Caro-
lima by intelligent home mixing, but
would not advise every farmer to
try it. Only those who understand
in some measure the value and
properties of the three ingredients
potash, phosphoric acid and nitro
gen-should attempt it. Undoubt-
edIy the best treatise on the subject
is Prof. E. B. Voorhees, book, ''Fer-
tiIizers. . At least authorities say
so, and I have studied the book and
believe it. CLODHOPPER.
Wake Co., n. G.
Plaster renders crude materials
available, and prevents the escape of
ammonia till the D1ant roots can use