The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-09-06

nC Du11oJln issued fhto
summer by our Agricultural Denar,-
1nent on Canning Fruits and Voc
ldoieS IN the Home" created uuita q
commotlon among the good honea-
wives OF the State, and venture the
assertion that it has already accom-
plieiieu as much Tor the helping of the
homes as all the farmers bulletins is-
sued Tor men by that department in
I'VE years. And the reason is solely
Que to n fact that the women arc
not only willing, but eager to learn
lnank God their worth in the home.
us church, and the State, is being
more and more recognized and shame
upon the slovenly man who would NOT
plu them Godspeed with all his heart.
ana forthwith set himself to work to
iinltate their good When
such a day shall come, the homes on
ehe farms IN the South will speedily
lesail Whatever of prestige poverty
and the lack Of schools has cost them.
and we shall go on producing that
NOBLE race of chivalrOus men and
pure women for which our State has
long been famous.
Better Farming Now "a Cold Neces-
sity."
IL is no longer a matter of pride
or sectional sentiment that makes i'm
proved farming methods desired. but
a matter Of cold necessity. Slovenly,
unbusinesslike methods have rough
farming face to face with
the question Of better methods or
disastrous failure. Our free lands
have been exhausted. In one genera
ton we have burned the humus out
OF the SOIL OF a continent, and while
our population is steadily increasing
the pr~OductiveneSS Of our farms is
rapidly decreasing. Our people con-
sumed more than three hundred
pounds Of meat per capita in 1910.
but in 1900 our supply was only about
$50 pounds, and last year. in spite Of
the high price of meats, the supply
Of cattle in this country decreased
more than two million heads. In 1906
we exported a surplus Of 7~33,000,Oco
pounds of beef, but last year this
surplus fell to 100000 0 pounds,
with the price steadily going up. The
great ranges of the West have reached
the high-water mark of production,
the cattle and corn producing lands
of the East are not getting any
cheaper, and the demands for meat
and bread are becoming more insist
ent each year., and with one Or two
crop failures this new country would
be on the verge Of a famine nearly
as distressing as the one Joseph fore
told in Egypt.
Finest of Opportunities.
I'm all this I can see nothing but
the best kind of an opportunity for
the Intelligent, Industrious North Caro-
lima farmer. From the coast to the
foot of the mountains the clovers,
vetches, and pea grow in luxuriant
profusion. and the cattle ranges Of
the Mountains are famous. Corn,
oats and rye are staple crops in near
ty every county in the State, the
winters are mild. and there Is gener-
ally enough moisture in summer to
keep pastures doing good work GER
tainly in the eastern part of the State,
q nd u-o on aOrioI,1fIrQ nn0p1o have
to pay freight on most of our beef.
pork, pats, corn. hay and other staple
farm products for more than a thou
sand miles. There was not enough
corn on the farms Of some OF the
eastern counties on the first day Of
June to las one week and like the
widow who fed the prophet, they only
had meat enough Of home production
for one meal. Now this all means
that we are mighty poor or
else we have mighty poor land.
What Is the real trouble? Is the
We don't break it properly. We don't
plant winter crops. We don't
plant enough legumes. We rely upon
chemical fertilizers purchased on time
very largely. We don't begin farming
operations until about the middle OF
March, and then we plo" with one
spawned mule, the most Of us do,
and break the ground in streaks four
inches wide and from one to two inches
deep, making a succession Of clods
laid in ridges that never feit a narrow
and never will until the man behind
the plow gets the scales knocked from
his eyes and he begins to realize what
a farce his farming is becoming to be
regarded. The production OF the
farms on the coastal plain Of this State
can be doubled next year by drain
age and thorough blowing in the fall
Their Yields can be increased three
hundred per cent. in twelve months
by draining, fall blowing. the sowing
Of winter cover crops, and the turning
in next fall of a heavy legume crop.
| Add to this program the helpful IN
1uence of ten cattle for each forty
acres in cultivation. ten good soWs.
four good percheron mares, a smali
| flock of sheep and a pound OF DOG