The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-07-12

q record Is kept me icSuiS
experiment will be tabulated and pup
lished. OF this demonstration WORK
Capt. Parker repOrts as follows.
LAS to the Importance OF demon
stration work ] need only to call your
attention to the fact, according 70 sta
~tistics, that the Yield per acre OF some
of our principal crops has MADE no
material progress within the past
thirty or more years. For instance
the cotton crop of the south mas 1ndue
no substantial increase per acre anu
the increase in the size of the crop -
due to increased acreage piah.su
rather than to increased yield per
acre. In tobacco, l think there IS a
falling off in yield per acre. "hiie
corr shows an increase.
TT is a well known fact that the
average cotton farmer will plant cot
ton on the same land
for years, never thinking or a sys-
tematic citation of crops and depend
ing for the increase in yield upon an
increased quantity Of commercial Ter
tilizer per acre.
"At the test farms it has been shown
thai with a proper rototion OF crops,
bringing of the boy into close re
lationship with the department hat
tbs movement cOntemp1ates Will not
only produce better m WITHIN
the next few years, but will cement
the friendship that should exist be-
tween the department al liz Oh IL
ers of the State. Nearly 1900 appli-
cations representing "A counties have
been received and they are still com
ing in.
THE letters received from these
boys clearly indicate their interest IN
the contest and also gives evidence of
their purpose to stick to the farm:
The $500 appropriated by the board
for this work was in the judgment a
wise appropriation. In addition to
the boards appropriation, Mr.. J. Rice
Smith, representing the Y. {. {. Co,
of Richmond. Va. has promised US
5000 for this work. the Armour Fer
tilizer Co, has given 800 for the
same and the f. S. Royster
Guano Co, has donated five tons of
fertilizer to be given to prize winners
i nthe contest. The Norfolk and West
ern Railway Co, has offered a sill
YER cup or trophy with the name Of
the boy each year growing most corn
per acre, engraved on it, to be lett
permanently In the State museum.
The Progressive Farmer has offered
more than $1,000 in prizes to be dis
tributed to the managers of that pa
per TO the boys growing most corn
under conditions very similar to those
governing our State contest. The
editors of a number of other papers
in the State nave become interested
in the Boys Corn Club movement and
Have oliCieo NJ III 4 Z
localities. which have been
supplemented by contributions from
bankers, merchants, manufacturers
a normal appreciation OF fertilizer and
the use of legumes the yield of crops
can be very materially increased.
1.-The farTners of North Carolina
probably spend annually 100000 600
for fertilizer of which forty per cent
or more is for nitrogen. ] believe by
the general use of legunes, the clo-
vers, Vetches, peas, soy beans, etc.
that for general farming the expense
for nitrogen could almost be eli1nina-
ted. and taking the state at large, in
Guiding all our rop the expense for
nitrogen could be reduced half. The
test farms furnish US proof Of this.
By the use of the 1eguTnes, rotation Of
crops, SEED selecrron, etc, the crops
on the test farms have been increased
in some instances fOurfold and with
out any increase in the quantity of
fertilizer used.
by taking this information to our
farmers and proving to them that
can grow the lgeumes by moe
ulating the soil with the necessary
bacteria and letting them see the re-
suits on their own farms, we prove
to then the effectiveness Of the work
of the department and that our con-
not merely imaginary. This is the
work Of the demonstration and it is
worth while.
Boys Corn Club.
The Boys Corn CLUB movement be-
gun a year and a half g has had a
remarkable growth. Possibly no
movement ever put forth by the de-
partment has proven to be more pop
u1ar or promising in its results. The
and other enterprising citizens, max
ing a numbe OF attractive premiums
for boys who may not win one Of
the prizes offered by the board of ag-
riculture.
With these many premiums and
possibly others 20 follow it is not at
all strange that the Boys Corn Club
movement should sweep the State and
bring to the front a harvest Of the
most promising corn growers the
State has ever had.
For uniformity In Judging corn at
our corn shows and at the Bows Corn