The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-08-16
DOCTOR OF COTTON
Editorial Correspondence.)

Panther BTanCn lOW isl EAuS. -
There is a new spirit in the agrlcui'
tural air Of Wake county, and Of al
North Carolina for that matter, and
this old township is now TAX
ing the lead for the best agri-
cultural revolution that is stlrr-
ing the State. The farming school
master is abroad in the land and he
is teaching the people that there is a
wider application Of the truth hat the
man who makes two blad es Of grass
grow where one blade grew before is
a public benefactor than has hereto
fore been given to it. It applies to
grass, but the word grass includes
also cotton and corn and everything
else, and means that the man who
raises one bale Of cotton to the acre
where a half a bale was formerly
grown, and the man who doubles the
yield Of corn to the acre is a public
benefactOr; and, in keeping with the
practical spirit Of this age, 1t also
means that the man not only helps
the public, but puts more shekels il
his own pocket, provides more com
forts for his wife and children, and
travels toward Easy Street. It is Sc
ordained in the of u world
that the mar who helps others helps
himself, and that proper altruisn
DAYS better than s~elfshness.
This township is the Leader in our
new agriculture. Last year, when
prizes were offered for the best acre
of corn grown in Wake county, Mr..
J. T. Bats, OF this township. won the
first prize, and my young friend VII
liams, son of that sterling Democrat,
the late Sion d. Williams, was second
The best corn | have seen this year Is
in this township at the Bats place
and on Mr.. Sauls' farm in his town
ship. And that is not all. Panther
Branch township lays claim to the two
most widely known Wake county
farmers-Nr. w. A. Simpkins. who
holds the worlds record for the larg-
est yield of cotton per acre, and Of
- a. LoAlS, Il lIiS >
record for the largest yield of corn
per acre. Mr.. Sin1pkins no longer lives
here, but his happiest r~ecollections are
Of his youth here, and he loves to
come back and swap experiences with
his old n~eighbors. Not many days ago
Mr.. Willard Turner, the highest type
Of the country school teacher and well
i-fo--n-] o;4s-~- ~ - 49, - go
experience he never had a pupil who
learned SO rapidly and SO thoroughly
as Mr.. Simpkins. H had a strong
mind as a boy, and when he had a
problem to solve he never ave it up
till he mastered it,. and would work
all during recess and nights until he
had mastered it, said Mr.. Turner.
This is another proof that the boy is
father to the man"
l have been reading about and watch
ing the modern intensive system of
farming and seed selection with great
interest, and have been going to school
to find out all about it I could, and in
going to school l determined to study
the Corn Problem under Bats and
the Cotton Problem under Simpkins,
SO that after a while from their col
lege / may set the degrees Of L. L, @.
learned doctor of corn and cotton
the degrees which they both worthily
wear. And in taking my lesson I
have found q fine co1iege-the auto
mobile of Mr.. Simpkins. Some weeks
ago he allowed me to m~atriculate in
that college, and we speeded to the
Bats farm, where, between drinking
good cider and ealing juicy peaches,
we walked through the fine corn till
We almost got lost in the corn forest
hat makes the Bats farm look like q
section OF Egypt. Today I visited Mr..
~Sirnpkins' cotton farm east of Raj
aiCh whcra no will noaLa mora fhon