The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-07-20
FARMERS HAVE STEADILY I'M
PROVED
(Continued from Page One.)

&SOfit11uS0 1IOHi age ohC-J
until. the farmer would decide to clear
up some more land, Or let his land"lie
out" a year and rest from all its
labors. But now it has been learned
by many farmers that it is more prof.
table to rotate the crops, not raising
the same crop on the same land twice
in succession. It is now now that
by planting cotton one yea corn and
peas another year, wheat and pea or
clover another, etc, a better crop in
each instance may be made. The far
mers that used to let their lands lie
OUT to rest were not aware Of the
fact that they were at the same time
rotating their crops by allowing the
land to bring forth one year a crop of
weeds and grass. Also, instead of
combining themselves to the use Of the
guano, although there has perhaps
been no diminution in the amount of
that it is profitable to produce on the
farm a large part Of the anu hat
they use. Thus the LAND is being
permanently improved.
hen I used to observe that many
people had the idea that the more
land a man cultivated, or pretended
to cultivate, the better farmer he was
thought to be. Now I note that the
idea prevails that a small farm and
that we'll titled, is a greater evidence
Of good farming than that of the man
who tries to have many horses and
cultivate all the land of the commune
ty.\ I have seen many farmers who
seemed to want to spread out over the
whole neighborhood, as the old ne
gro said, like thin 1asseS". 1t is a
good sign now to see the farmers try
ing to ccnfine themselves only to as
much land as they can cultivate welL
thus producing more than they did,
w ION thQx, tried To cultivate tower the
whole creatiOn'.
1 used to see men girdle trees, "cut
around them, as it was Called; in
order to kill the tree, a cruel waste
of Gods blessings to man. Now the
tree is cut down.. split UP in wood for
the fire, and made to render some
| service to man as our Heavenly Fa-
Their intended it.
Twenty years ago there were very
few farmers who selected their seed
inte1ligently. When they were ready
to plant corn, they went to their crib,
and picked out their seed corn, +he
largest ears to be sure: but each one
of these ears might have been the
only ear produced on the stalk. When
they were ready to plant cotton, they
went to their seed room and got the
seed, there being no way then to
tell what per cent. Of the seed were
good or bad. The only care exercised
in the selection of seed. was in that Of
sweet potatoes. When "digging time"
arrived the farmer Would select as his
seed potatoes for next year the
smallest and stringest potatoes n the
pie and put them in a 'hill" to them
selves to keep till the next spring
time for planting. What the idea was
for selecting small potatoes for seed,
I lay never been able to see. Now
I note that the intelligent and pro-
gressive and successful farmer does
not use such taste in the selection
Of his seed For instance, at corn
gathering time, he goes through the
fields and gathers off his seed from
those stalks that have the greatest
number Of the largest ears. [ have in
| mind acorn field in Robson county
that I saw in 'O4 whose owner had ex-
ercised such care in the selection Of his
corn seed in this> way that, at that
time. his entire field was fIler+with
stalks having on each one from three
to six large ears. The yield per acre.
from that field must have been i'm
mense. The selection of cotton seed,
when intelligently made, is made from
the talks in the field. In the Sc
lection of potato seed, this progress
sive farmer goes through he field, as
the potatoes are being dug. and selects
the potatoes from those "hills' that
have a large number of large, healthy
looking potatoes in them. He takes
in saying that such carefully selected
seed are worth twice, perhaps four
times. as much as the seed taken at
random.
Mr.. Editor, in saving the sGils and
preventing them from washing away,
by rotating their crops and otherwise