The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-01-07

Our Washington Correspondent Tells What
Progress Is Being Made in the Various
Sections Of the Country.

AOO 1@G' "44SOAS 00OGOOchEy "a
Agriculture, yesterday and asked
him what he thought of the Inter
national Live Stock Exposition.
"Grand grand - he exclaimed. 81
never saw it's equal. It was not the
size of the show that appealed TO me
but the immense number of pure
bred animals, every one of which
possessed exceptional merit Ny
only regret was that did not have
more time to study them. Cattle,
sheep, swine, every department. was
filed and everywhere the same per-
fection of the breeders and feeders
art was evident"
In reply to my inquiry as to what
was the chief lesson to be learned
from the show, the Secretary said
that from his standpoint "the pre-
eminent practical ability of the
Station men" was most notable
and gratifying. ''It has been Gus
tomsry in the past" he continued,
''for the farmers and breeders to re
gard the scientific men in charge of
the agricultural experiment stations
as more or less visionary and i'm
practical, up in the clouds, 80 to
speak, but the Station men brought
their fat stock into the ring and
beat the practical feeders and breed
ers at their own game and demon
strated beyond any question of
doubt that their methods were as
correct from a practical as from
scientific standpoint"
The fears felt for
THE FUTURE OF THE POTATO,
owing to the fact that it has for so
long been cultivated exclusively
from ''eyes'' and not from seed, have
been increased by news received
from France describing a new potato
disease that is ravaging the fields
there. 1t is well known that all
plants propagated by the above
means gradually lose their vigor and
in time-after century or two-be-
come so emasculated that they lose
the power of producing seed and be-
come subject to diseases that would
not have affected them during the
days of their pristine vigor. The
disease now running the plants in
France is said to be identical with
that which once attacked tomatoes
and egg plants in this country, but
which was then resisted by the po-
tato, which now, in France at least,
seems to have become subject to it.
The only remedy so far found is to
revert to seeding-a difficult task,
in view of the fact that not one po-
tato plant in hundred now natures
it's seed.
SEED FOR DISTRIBUTION.
The Department of Agriculture is
getting ready to distribute some of
the several carloads of foreign seeds
received last season from the Medi
terranean countries and the Trans
Caspian region. In the ''oradle of
the world" the Department explor-
ers found many curious plants,
grown by the natives from time i'm
memorial. At any rate the Depart
partment and the experiment sta
tions are testing large number of
new species as we'll as supposed Inn
proved varieties of some of our
staple crops.
ROTATION OF CROPS
Crop rotation has long been recOg-
nized as first principle of farming !;
but the reasons for such benefits and
the best systems to be followed have
been studied only in recent years.
The Department of Agriculture and
many of the experiment. station
have been carrying on some inter
esting work along this line. The OBJ
jects to be attained in Il system of
rotation are the maintenance Of fer
tility with the continued production
of crops and the increase in product
iveness of naturally poor or of worn
out soils.
The reasons for rotating crops are
stated to be as follows:
All plants do not draw TO an equal
extent extent upon the manurial in
gradients of the soil.
They send their roots to different
depths and have a different solvent
action upon the constituents they
reach.
By rotating crops insect enemies
are more apt to be dispersed.