The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-09-07

iioilie " d complete encyclOpeO1d OIL
agricultural information, and if ne
does not find in his collection a bull
Ietln on the subject in hand he writes
to the Agricultural Department for
What he needs and it comes in about
six days.
This is not particularly a work for
the benefit of the farmer. 1t is far
more. It is for the benefit of the
whole country. When the farmer can
make Increased crops and d to the
production Of the soil, he will be able
to feed the people better and for less
money. which is the first necessity Of
the country. AS the farmer advances,
farm supplies are bound to be cheap
er and better.
Their are a number Of good farm
ers around my ne~ighborhood who are
awaiting themselves Of this generosity
Of the governme nts, and as a result the
tenor Of farm life is making decided
advances That is the case not only
in this State but in every State Of the
Union. The community that Toes not
avail itself Of the farm bulletins from
the State and Nation is a rare one
these days, and in farm
ing is forging ahead in a way that the
last generation could never dream Of.
1t seems funny to me to read Of the.
efforts of land seekers to get in on
the government lands On the Indian
reservations thrown open occasionally
in he far West, when SO much land
can be had in every Southern State at
d price almost nominal, and which
can be reached at an outlay for car
fare so much less than it costs to go.
to the inaccessible ountry beyond the
Rockies. Then the climate here is 50
much. superior and the markets 80
much more accessible that all is in
favor Of the South.
But the change Will come with a
wider distribution Of farm bulletins,
for it is showing people how to farm
scientifically, which means how to
farm intensively and i~ntelligently and
to provide the tremendous wants Of
the markets that are at hand.
A man in my township will take
than a settler in Dakota will get from
ten acres Of wheat, anG in doing it
will live in a climate thai does not
shut him in the house big portion OF
the year. He will get as much from
an acre Of lettuce as a Kansas man
gets from an acre Of corn. He s lear
enough to the East, which is the mar
ket, to sell quantities of everything he
a make, and the market is one Of
the essentials.
Mcneil is the type Of man who is
seeing these things all over the coun-
try. A letter a few days ago told of a
crop Of between two n three thou
sand bushels of apples that an ac-
q~uaintance proposes to load direct for
Liverpool, where prices are usually
satisfactory for good fruit.
These fellows who are in touch with
the government experimenting sta
ions and who are WOrking out the
farm problems Ire the mem the entire.
country is depending on now. You
have observed the price Of flour dur
ing the past year. Do you know the
$1,000 VI -, ~ o~,,1o%;oy ir
drawing aginst the surplus hat this
country has been sending to Europe.
There will be but a small surplus
this year for the Old World, for our
population is greater each year, Whie
the wheat crop is limited by the num-
Der Of acres that can be titled.
It is a long distance yet before the
wants Of the people will oveftake the
power Of this country to provide, but
it is not a long distance until the pres
ent acreage will be pressed to the
limit unless different methods Of farm
ing prevail.
The government estimates that the
corn crop this year will reach three
billion bushels. which is the biggest
crop of anything ever raised any
where on earth. Yet this corn Grip
will come toAfnd the bins empty of
last years crop. We have used up
the surplus. The country has grown
SO large that it is crewding its foed
supply.
The acreage cannot be increased
again as it was by the free farms.
from the fertile lands of the States.
Now the land already occupied must
be brought into SERVICE, and more in
BUTLER'S LETER-TWO
teligent system Of cultivation must
supply the continually increasing
quantities wanted.
IT is there my friend Mcneil begins
to. figure. He is studying the theories
Of farming, and he is getting his
farm into shape to give bigger returns
to the acre and bigger returns to the.
dollar invested. He is the type Of
farmer all over he country who is
doing the same thing. In our State
this season the dairy representative
of the Federal Government tells me
g uirifine fffr-fnllr fHFfaeFS who