The gold leaf., 1905-08-03
Agriculture in Vance County,
By ". :. PARKER.

When Adam and Eve partook OF
the forbidden fruit, the Lord said to
Adam: Cursed is the ground for thy
sake, and it shall bring forth thorns
and thistles, and by the sweat OF thy
face shalt thou eat bread" And the
curse put on poor old Adam is still
hanging over the human race. If We
could only eliminate the thorns and
thistles what a blessing it would be
to the poor farmer. The labors OF
the agriculturist of today are scarcely
harder than those ofany other workrr
who has to labor for his daily bread.
The improvements in farm imple-
ments and machinery in the last 80
years have done much to tighten the
labOrs of the farmer When We read
OF the crude implements used by the
Egyptians. we can but wonder how
the teeming population of Egypt
ever managed to get food. Contempt
is often expressed for the scientific
farmer, but the day is at hand when
scientific farming must be adopted
by those who expect to succeed. Our
experiment stations are proving the
advantage OF fewer acres and a higher
cultivation. This is one of the fav-
Ored sections for farming-nature has
done more for it than for many other
sections of North Carolina. Our soil
and climate are adapted to the
growth OF more kinds of crops than
perhaps any other section of the
Stntn Tho f.f
crimson clover and most all garden
vegetables grow to perfection in our
light, sandy soil.
And our gray lands produce the
finest favored tobacco for cigarettes
and pipes that is produced in any
section of the world. Some of our
lands look barren and have been ex-
hausted by poor cultivation, but
there are no lands SO easy to culti-
vate, or that will respond more
promptly to good tillage and good
fertilization.
Our clay subsoils are capable OF
great improvement and high cultiva-
tion and We can and do grow cotton
| corn, peanuts, clover and all the
cereals and most of the grasses with
success.
Our advantages are much greater
than most sections of this State on
account of good water, Il climate
that is free from malaria and exemp-
tiOns from many of the insects and
pests with which other sections are
| more or less afflicted. Our better
class of farmers have made wonderful
improvements in their mode of farm
ing in the last ten years, and more
land is devoted to the cultivation of
corn and to the sowing of grain, more
| peas and grasses are cultivated, and
| the number of hogs and cattle have
more than doubled. A few years ago
we considered Vance county the hub
! of the fine tobacco belt. Our people
were among the first to introduce
the finer breeds of cattle and the i'm
provement in quality and quantity
of milk and butter has added greatly
to the comfort and convenience OF
our housekeepers. This is the natural
home of the small fruits, and no sec
tiOn OF North Carolina grows finer
Strawberries, raspberries and other
small fruits. Our people were the
| pioneers in the cultivation of the
dewberry and the blackberry, and
these fruits are now grown to perfec.
tion and have added materially to
the prosperity of those engaged in
their cultivation. No little attention
has been given to the introduction OF
better breeds OF poultry, as the in
crease in the market value of eggs
and chickens can testify.
The old system OF mortgagiDg the
crops before they are made is grad
ually giving way under our more
improved methods of farming, and
not a few OF our best farmers have
money to their credit i'm our banks
and are able to pay cash for theil
supplies. Most of our farmers try t6
cultivate too much land, they los,
sight of the fact that it is mucl
cheaper to make ten barrels of corr
to the acre of land than it is to max,
five, or to make fifteen hundred
pounds of seed cotton than five hun
dred pounds to the acre. 1t takes
many years to get poor land up to /
high state of production, and it cal
only be done by diversified cropping
| and home raised manure, and tn,
planting of peas and clover and othe
legumes. In China d farm consists
of two to five acres OF land, and il
Italy eight to ten acres are cultivatet
for the support of large families, ant
as rule, both men and women worl
in the field. Every ounce of materia
that has any fertility in it is CAREFUL,
saved to increase the production Oh
these small farms.
Our farmers expect too much AM
give too little as a rule The poe
has truly said: 'He that by the plo,
would thrive, must either lead tn
horse or drive" We never hear tn
lines from Gray's Elegy,
THE curfew tolls the knell OF parting day,
. The lowering herd winds slowly o 'er [ he lei
The plOwman homeward plods his weary way
but we wish we were again "a boy o
the farm with its Joyous sounds an