The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-09-02


Samuel l. Patterson. North Carolina $
Commissioner of Agriculture. who is also
the president Of the Association OF Com
.aissioners Of Agriculture ol tne Cotton
States. Mr.. Patterson was asked seye-al
questions intended 10 bring out NoiuabIc
facts as TO agricultural progress IN
North Carolina. IL said ii reply
You ask what the present agricul-
tural condition OF ne state is compared
with former years. whether there i i'm
proVement.
II answer unhesitatinGly yes There is
Improvement; Improvement in the policy
of farming. Improvement n methods
Improvement in the moro Intelligent use
OF commercial fertilizers. improve mont
in farm stock. Improvement in barns. I'M
provement in farm machinery. ana as
results Of all these improvements. i'm
proVement in products aui inproV ameut
in profit
i mean by Improvement in the policy
of farming that farmers have quit buying
from abroad many IF tnCir necessary
farm supplies. which can and ought 10
be and are being raised ~ homo no.
that q complete change Of policy has
been adopted, but certainty there has
been decided improvements our far
mers passed through severe ordeal in
1898 and the years following For that
experience they paid dearly but hey
learned a lesson which atays With them.
They not only learned the folly and dan
ger of stalking the years outcome on l
single crop, but in avoiding this they
have found other sources Of profit from
the farm
Their methods have improved. They
are looking more and more to the i'm
prCvement of their lands ana striving for
large yields. The of the pea crop
the cheapest of all fertilizers Is or the
increase, both as fertilizer and as a
hay crop. Many inquiries como to this
office for the best methods of saving pea
vine hay. l need not discuss the Ques-
ton here whether the hay should be cut
on land on which the crop is sOWn mainly
for fertilizing purposes or left to die ana
decay on the land. The main thing is to
SOW the peas While on this question of
fertilizers | may add that our farmers
are studying moro carefully what xmas
Of fertilizers, what combinations of fer
tiliZing ingredients are best adapted To
the particular soils SO as to use thom
with less loss from needless material and
With greater profit from the particular
ingredients found to be needed. few
years ago our Board of Agriculture
provided for system of test farms On
ly two have as Yet been esta blishcd
Others Will follow. \ farm is selected,
typical as far as possible OF Il large
area On this farm tests are made of diff
ferent fertilizers and combinations Of
fcrtilizing materials in different crops
to be pursued for series OF years with
H., ~
and profitable OF course the results are
published in our department bulletin
which are carefully scanned By the far
mers We confidently expect profitable
results from these tests which make
actual, practical application Of scientific
discoveries and theories. 1t is the pur
pose of our Board of Agriculture even
tuaIly to establish such test farm in
every section of the State containing
large area of homogeneous soil
Il said there was Improvement in farm
stock. This relates rather to the indi
vidual stock in hand than to an increase
in number Probably the weakest point
in our agriculture is lack OF stock. The
larger part of the State is under tho
"StOck law" The adoption of this law
tends to decrease the number and to i'm
prove the grades of stock, especially Of
cattle, hogs and sheep The low prices
until recently of these animals have not
stimulated formers to provide the ne
cessary pastur&ge for maintaining SO
large numbers as formerly roamed al will
in the free ranges. But the stocq is bet
ter Let us put in word here about
stock raising in our cotton country. You
know how we'll adapted the mountain
and piedmont countries are to stock rails
ing and how important the industry IS
in them But I believe cattle. fine cat
tie, big beef cattle, can be raised more
cheaply in the eastern part Of the state
than in the western, and the same thing
may be said of North and South Georgia.
The only problem, presenting a difficulty
is carving the cattle for several weeks
in summer With shredded corn, pea
vine hay. corn neal cotton seed meal
and hulls to say nothing OF hay from
our native grasses, and of such early
spring grazing crops as crimson clover
and the vetches cattle can be made in
to first class beef more cheaply than else
where in the United States
We have set out 70 extermlnate the
cattle tick in North Carolina, that in
significant but deadly enemy Of the DO
vine tribe and we are going to DO It.
Rv the way, do you know that our
hav crop is nearly IS profitable per acre
as our cotton crco2 And Georgia : is
more profitable? ours is counting rela-
tive cost of production.
Here are some figures, Il VIII give
only a few taken from the government