Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1906-04-06
AN INSIDE VIEW
fThe Agricultural Department interest
inq 10 Farmers,

Tie Richmond, Va, March 81. 1906
tll During the last month, Com III asi n
no er II. W. kolner of Tue Agriculture
'el Department of Virginia. sent out b,
If mail, from his office in the librarl
th bulldogs here about 81, 600 of his an
in nnal reports Il neatly printed hand
te sOmely illustrate volume of 1871 pages
II with pretty cover in three colors. This
useful farmers book went into many
- larn houses In every one OF the one
Ie hundred counties in this broad COM
Is monwealth, carrying useful iuforma
e tlon upon every subject of interest to
10 our agriculturists, whether of field.
meadow, orchard. stock, vineyard, gar
den or trucking land also of poultry,
}, flowers, seeds, insects, fertilizers, not
o forgetting good roads, and the most
a important of all The farmers boy
!. Not line in all those pages, fails TO
e reach practical subject and not one
: or the fifty attractive pictures in the
e BOOK, but impresses "a useful thought or
idea, or points lesson.
. That this book prepared with great
care and research and at the cost of
much time and labor by the commits
sloner. most of it in the night hours, |
his own personal tune, is appreciated |
en- the pains. to let him know, aud the
knowledge. to say the least, Is most
encouraging to him. In many letters
running through his large correspond
ence, there are such expressions as one
from a Danville gentleman, your re
port does credit to our state" Here
ID another from Rappahannock cOun-
W: The annual report has been re-
celved and as usual is brimfull of good
things 1t ought to be in the hands of
every farmer III the State;" another
from Orange county: II wish that
homeseekers all over the country could
see your annual You will not likely ,
ever know the amount of good they
are DONG In encouraging our farmers
TO adopt improved methods in every
thlng that pertains to good farming.n
"A otaunton man writes: Il am very
much pleased with it and delighted to
see t1e good work that you are doing
1or virginia. Yours is the success -
might quote many more such ex
presslons, but thtse are enough to show
the appreciation that thousands donbt
less feel, but do not take the trouble
TO express, though many of the more
ooServant newspapers in the State.
nave spoken for their farmer consti.
,uency in mOst.graIeful words of praise
or the hard worked commissioner of
agriculture.
Only those who are familiar with the
letall OF Mr.. koiner's Office, have any
dea OF the work done here and as the
Vriter mas, during some weeks past,
lad an opportunity of observing 1t he
Kinks something along that line will TO
interest the readers of the SPECTATOR
mo are so largely agriculturalists and
ruit growers. tn
Ihlrty two thousand annual reports, sci
JAILED from the Department means del
railing list larger than any papers in KIN
lrglnla which printed on slips pasted no.
,get1er would measure many yards. Cal
ney are posted just as the newspa ful
srs DO it and stuck on a large stout Oh
lvelopes. Correcting and labIing this the
st and printing and pasting these lar,
ames, for every man who writes for ia
gets one, occupies one person fully mu
Tree weeks. The 80, 900 books weigh
g this year three quarters of pound l..
ch made "a 900 pounds, one hundred
'oks weighing rs pounds, were put in =.
ch mail bag and twelve of these bags f.
ere loaded into one horse wagon,
cry day, which drove up to the back 5.
or and took off a load as fast as they
me III from the printer and binder
d driven to the Richmond post office 8.
Jus lt took 26 WACO loads of 900 o.
unds each 26 days to get these "a 900 o.
OF books from the Department to O.
e pOstofhce, two men working at it
Veral hours each day
Ibis is not half of the mailing work.
'ery quarter the commissioner sends
a bulletin averaging 80 pages on 2.
ne special subject to the 80 900 per. 8.
Is on bis list, sometimes it is on T.
heep Husbandry in Virginia" then
rult Growing in Virginia" "Vir- :
Tia as Horse and Mule Producing s.
ate" Cattle Raising IN Virginia. -
oultry Raising in Virginia." SO On Z.
70 81 different bulletins he has is
"a. During the year there were 12s, D.
OF these bulletins, 80, 900 annual re
is, 1900 Virginia Resources, 5000
mers bulletins printed and mailed
LIZ i.o,ooo puoiicatlons sent TO by tt
,e, ni a. Iarnels aoa home-seeKers' enter
~ 'no D1a'e ouC ieaculhe tnou- vent
ds IN the west and many in foreign II
:. oil ire ahu welcome. De- ed b
70 Is "uIon MI; hoiner slenograp ner, hood
n uo"h anu ~ioUe lor MIN Io,ooo hear
-, gram
III vi poouoee vi the ann uais and
lie, will be interesting. although the and
n $50 an,o VI "C low la1e Cue posC- agaiI
cost $240 at cent per pound. The ed tn
,nue to run the department comes of tn,
ly from the fertilizer tax when
may be stated here that the fer. Nv ho
er tax being from e-fourths of hear
mt to II cents per bag, is so small rions
=. ~ uooo NY increase III the cost TO one.
farmer and is paid by the manu-. aud;e
urer who hardly feels it. In the
Y reason as much as 81 600 to 81,
worth of tags have been sent out
day from this office
lis fertilizer law is one of the most Ratio
)rtant laws to the farmer that is Tht
be statute books Of this State. 1t hers
e 70 W 1ne" propaoly nall mill denou
dollars every year since Its pass press
~ .ne purify tue 1ertliizers that benefi
buy, they spend annually four who +
ions dollars for then) No doubt helm +
OF high smelling sand were sold peoplt
rmers at big price for good fer relief
'rs. They had no means of find cal sc
tut the fraud, and the law is also -som
otectlon to the honest manufacture why +
galnst the fraudulent one Com when
Toner koiner wrote this bill and hooks
neered its passage through the leg nlv re
ure the first session after his ap. wbile
tment by Governor Tyler, in Jan. which
:, 1893 r. ~
concluding this article, l will