The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-06-18

10 was 1OunQ 6nab Wn6r0 Smyrna ngS
were considered as indigenous there
was little wasp that fertilized the
blossom of the fig trees, and it was
insisted in those peculiar sections
where the Smyrna fig tree prospered
that it was this peculiar fertilization
by the wasp that brought success to
the crop. SO the Federal Govern
ment while importing fig trees, i'm
ported the wasps that made them
successful, and the next experiment
resulted in raising some fifteen or
sixteen tons of perfect Smyrna figs.
We may look to forestry as field
for the exercise of skill and scientific
training, and I am sure that the
South is interested in the develop
ments going on under the care of the
government. How to secure all the
wood that is needed for the various
purposes and necessities without de-
stroying forests is very grave ques-
tion. We have all seen here, and in
the North and in the West, great
forests actually slaughtered for the
purpose Of securing small results.
Now with the application of skill
and science this slaughtering of the
trees can be avoided and yet the
products secured. A great paper
ErnCE Or oo - uhOI,15 1o oo11o1 n
great combination Of paper interests,
has recently purchased thousands Of
acres of spruce lands in the State of
Maine, but instead of going over the
forests as the driver of q moving
machine would run through wheat
field, cutting down everything and
using all sizes of spruce trees for the
manufacture of pulp, the company
has set a corps of scientifically trained
fOresters at work, so that the trees
that are fit to be cut, that are of a
size to be cut, shall first be used, and
the others allows allowed to grow
until they have reached maturity.
Thus while securing a sufficient sup
ply for the manufacture of pulp, the
company is constantly increasing it's
supply from among the smaller trees.
And suspect that here in the South,
in the use of Southern pine, there
has been little or no discrimination,
no attempt to save for future use by
culling the suitable sizes from the
rich pine forests.
These illustrations might be ex-
tended as seen in the development of
roads, the propagation of grasses,
the composition and use of fertilizers,
the introduction of new crops
everything that means the develop
ment of varied products, and hence
of wealth.
Perhaps one of the most useful
directions in which this science I
speak of is being utilized for prac-
tical purposes is in the matter of
soil. How much waste there has
been, both of labor and of effort, of
time and of money, in trying to pro-
duce from particular soil crops that
could not thrive in it The wrong
crop and the wrong soil for other
crops has been the rule rather than
the exception. Now science comes
in and tells the agriculturist how to
use his different soils, what crops
will flourish best in this or that field,
how to mix his soils. The farmer
had a primitive knowledge which
taught him that if his soil was sandy
he had better cart upon it a sufficient
quantity of muck, which when
mixed with the soil, gave something
profitable or, if he had a black,
mucky soil, how to mix sand with i,
and thus reverse the process. But
when it became a question Of the
chemical elements of the soil and the
necessities Of different plants for
specific chemical elements to secure
their growth and success, the farmer
was at a loss. Now he has learned,
or he may learn if he feels so dis
posed, how TO utilize his different
soils by planting different seeds. He
knows what is essential. He has
learned by practical experience that
he may return to the soil some of
the elements of the tobacco plant,
and thus prevent its exhaustion. He
has learned from practical experience
the science of rotation. But he needs
to know something more that he
may become familiar with what we
know in these days as intensive
farming. All these things mean
wealth, prosperity, development, the
the best and highest possible use Of
the gifts of nature; by them man
learns how to develop and thus to