The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-05-15
The @essenger.
IMPROVED FARMING.

Our farmers are beginning to pay
more attention to the science of farm
ing and stock raising. A few years
ago not many men who made a living.
on the farm knew or would admit that
there was any science in raising crOns
and preparing land for farming pur-
poses. Thanks to federal and state
agricultural departments and to 'he
many agricultural colleges, these old
ideas are being rapidly done away
with. and every man who takes up and
practices the new methods understand
;ngly finds that there is more money,
with less drain on the land, in them
than IN the old way of growing crops,
which was to keep in the old ruts ard
stubbornly repudiate anything that our
ancestors on the farms did not know
about or practice. The old idea is
fast dying out that all men who write
books on farming or contribute art
cles on the same subject to farm
journals or agricultural papers are
frauds who know nothing about what
they are writing or are ~purposely try
ing to deceive the men who claim TO
know all about such matters.
The successful farmer of today and
of the future is the one who realizes
that "he does not know all about it"
and has come to realize that there are
some things better than the old unde-
waiting laws Of his predecessors upon
the farm, and that he can learn some
thing by paying attention to the writ
ings and advice of the men who have
made a study of the science of farming
as regards quality of soil, plant food.
best kinds of crops for certain quail
ties Of soil, the best milk producing or
flesh building food for stock and cat
tie, etc.
Often the farmers may nOt fully un-
derstand the why's and the wherefores
of the advice given to them by such
writer's, but they find that they sue
coed better when they act upon such
advice. For instance, many who reid
the following, written for The South
ern Farm Magazine by Professor An
drew NJ. Soule may not know the
meaning of the words 'protein' and
carbohydrates' or why a cattle food
containing these should be desirable
but the practical ones, when they act
upon his suggestion and find a feed fol
stock composed of corn and cotton
seed meal to be an ideal feed for tat.
tening, they ask no questions as tc
why it should be so, but simply admi1
the value of the suggestion and adopr
it. professor Soule in the article re.
ferred to, says:
1t is a very hard matter to compar,
cOrn and cotton seed meal or a final
so essentially different. Cotton seet
meal is particularly rich in protein
and fat; cOrnmeal, on the other hand
is low in protein and high in carbohy
drates and fat. The latter is not ex
celled for fattening purposes; the othe
the h protein food known. Thu
combination of the two for feeding
young animals is better, therefore
than the use Of either one alone, as i
supplies a greater variety of food nu
triments. If you wish to purchase {
protein food to balance up cornmeal
there is nothing superior to cottor
seed meal. owing to the fact that i
contains about 37.5 per cent. of digest
tible protein. On the other hand, i
o wish to purchase a food to bal
ance up cotton seed meal and MAKE
an ideal fattening ration, there is moth
ing superior to corn, as it is rich il
carbohydrates and we'll suited to tn
needs of fattening cattle.