The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-03-05
HARRY FARMERS TALKS.
XVI,


and hear of so much improvement in
our part of the State. A little head
work and experimenting will be dol
lars in the farmers pockets. Here
are more items from our Colonists in
and around Chadhourn, N. G.. Harry
Farmer offers no apology for calling
names.
This tells of a success in stock
raising and what work will do in the
pine woods. Mr.. II. B. Goodrich
commenced four years ago right in
the woods. He cleared six or eight
acres of land which he cultivates
and keeps about eight head of stock.
Keeps them up all the time and
makes a nice living. Messrs. T. H.
RamsbottOm, E. B. Baily, and II. w.
Whiting are engaged in raising
peaches. In order to pive some idea
whether they are making or losing
money, there have been 5000 or 1O,-
600 fruit trees set in the colony this
winter. The strawberry business
turns out from $50 to 5000. per acre.
One man who is a native, saw some
of his new neighbOrs planting berries
and concluded to try his luck, so he
planted about ~ acres, gave them
good attention. He did not use much
fertilizer, as he was too poor to buy
it, but when his crop was sold he
went to his merchant who had helped
him little to count his checks, and
after paying all expenses he had over
5000. He never had as much as $50
at one time in his life before.
These farmers plant beans, Irish
potatoes, oats, corn, peas, and sweet
potatoes, but little cotton. Here are
some of their crops. Oats are sown
in February and cut early in June.
The land is then planted in corn and
peas a little later. The corn is cut
after the Western style and the peas
left to mature, then cut and made
into hay.
Irish potatoes are planted like oats
and dug the last of May or first of
June. The large potatoes are shipped
to the Northern markets. The small
potatoes are planted in a very deep
furrow and covered, after which COW
pease are sOwn broadcast and a drag
or leveller run over the land. AS
soon as the peas are mature enough
they are cut for hay and the pOta-
toes cultivated and a nice crop is the
result Just think of two money
crops and one fertilizing and forage
crop in nine months Mr.. J. A.
Allen is the father of this plan. On
every hand you can see improve
ments.
Occasionally there are failures,
and some of the people get dissatis-
fed and more away, but the Colony
is on the increase all the time. One
reason for their success is they take
farm papers and study them. They
have good schools. 1t will pay our
farmers to visit Chadbourn and see
what is being done.
A farmer said an agent tried to
sell him some land plaster at the
pric5 of acid phosphate. Plaster is
very cheap-usually sells at Sc or 81
per ton. Some farmers use it on
peanuts with success. l would ad-
wise them to go slow. If our farm
ers would study the agricultural
bulletins more they could always de
tect impositions like the above. We
have Just read the Bulletin issued
January 18th and read with interest
the answer to the sorghum syrup
question. The answer requires too
much money to be used for the aver
age farmer to make any profit. Harry
Farmer has made thousands of gal
Ions of syrup both from sorghum
and West India cane. It depends a
great deal more on the land in max
ing a fine syrup than anything else.
To make fine quality plant very
light land and cut when seed on the
lower part of the head is ripe, grind
at once, and boil in any of the i'm
proved evaporators just as fast as it
comes from the mill and you will
have good syrup. In order that it
may not be favored by the barrel,
have it thoroughly cleaned and dry.
We prefer to have the syrup cooled
in an open vessel like a tub or barrel
with the head out Some lands will
not make good syrup from sorghum
no matter how you treat the juice.