The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-06-13
THOUGHTS FOR FARMERS.
The Oat Drill.

The oat Drill.
Some time ago j. o. Greene, of Franklinton,
N. c., made some inquiries in regard to an oat
drill He answered through The Progressive
Farmer Recently another North Carolina farm
er who reads The Progressive Farmer, wrote for
the name of the manufacturer of the drill. We
will state for the information of all farmers that
oats planted with that drill we're not injured by
the cold of last winter Even the Appler and Red
oats, tender varieties, were fresh and luxurient
after the February ice and sleet melted. The
Appler oats sown October Goth to November 9Th,
were ready to cut the last days of May. Oats
sown February or March may be put IN with
wheat drill, for all danger of freezing is then
over But the best time to plant them is October
when they should go in the open furrow.
Nitrate of
Farmers in this county who have used nitrate of
soda on small grain satisfied with the results
Nitrogen is the most expensive OF the commercial
fertilizers and nitrate of soda IS the most active
of all the nitrates used. Sometimes it fails be-
cause applied at the wrong time. The writer
used SO pounds to the some oats when
they were three four inches high. When they
were ready to reap the indications were that the
Weld had ben increased 80 to so per cent. There
was lot of wheat close at hand that had been
well manured in. the fall. 1t seemed that there
was ammonia enough to make the wheat But
nitrate was applied to small portion OF the ground
and in two weeks the wheat dark green, and
| now when ready for cutting. it looks as II the
yield would be doubled. In sowing small! gram IN
| the fall ammOnlated fertll1ZefS. IHey Will
| be inert or go to waste during the winter months
| Wait till March or April and SO to 100 pounds
| of nitrate of soda which will cost about $275
| hundred pounds when bought by the ton. Fifty
| pounds to the acre applied at the right time will
make great difference in small grain
| The Negro IS a Laborer.
| Immigration Commissioner Watson, OF this
| State has established office in New York, and
is ready on application to furnish aborers or ten
| ants He advertses that farm laborers will cost
/ $500 month with board and comfortable lodg-
i ing That no doubt includes the washing. That
| will bring the price up to $21.00 month. OF
S252 90 a year which is about six bales of Scent
| cotton That will be quite satisfactory to the
farmers provided each hand can make at least
$3.50 worth of marketable produce year. But
immigration will come slowly We have laborers
here now. They need encouragement and help
In this State negroes make and gather three
fourths of the cotton crop The hrst duty OF the
landlords is to make this labor more elective
can he done Build better houses for them. I'm
n1ov them for long terms, so that they may plan
gardens. set out fruit trees and have mllch COW
Give them a square deal. Instruct them In bette
methods Furnish good horses, mules and TOOLS
Never cheat them. Make them give opinions a.
| tp best methods of work Make them feel ina
{ thew are intelligent men and not mere hands
Treated in this way nine. negroes In ten Will d
recently. The landlord saw them about every tw
= weeks. There was one white man on the place
, who was an adviser and not an overseer. Ines
negroes have good mules. They take pride
their work A few days ago they were all out Q
the GRASS when three four Of their white nelgn
hors were still in the light We sure tina
negro labor can be made much more effective a