The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-03-07

writes IN TtSdTo ~ d IcCeHk RAP III A'N
South: Most people in the South thai
{ talked with seemed to realize the
necessity of putting more humus lnLo
the land, out very few Of them seem
disposed to go ahead and do IL ana 4
Judge that the most OF the Opinions
around were in of using more
Fertilizers. = > Travelled about
1000 miles over the Southern. the
Seaboard and Atlantic Coast Line, and
certainly wherever We went in day
light there was mighty little evidence
that the teachings of the Experiment
stations or the better armer was De-
ing followed. II the railroads
would take narrow strips, haIf a miie
long, let US say, and narrow enough SO
that the contrast would be clear for a
long d%istanct, and develop these In
alfalfa clover and similar things 10
show what could be done, l am sure
II would be a remarkable advertising
for the South. This was tried in north
ern Michigan on the pine barrens with
immense success, and 1T would be well
to stir up the Southern roads TO some
hin of the SORT
The idea is a good one, for nothing
gives q traveller a worse idea sof the
South tina the general appearance or
the lands along h railroads. But.
unfortunately, the industrial agents.
of the railroads seem to spend all
their CilOIlS III dlOlt1H LAC
boomers, and nothing to show what
can be done with the land lying waste
along their tracks. Take the line OF
the Seaboard through southern. North
Carolina and South Carolina, and the
traveller sees a wilderness OF scattered
pines. sand and scrub, and wonders
how the towns have grown up and
what the people live on, if he does
not understand that there are better
lands lying back on both sides of the
railroad. But if the industrial agents
were to inaugurate the improvement
Of some of the lands right along tine
tracks, and show how easy 1t is 70 get
these lands to producing crops by
good management, the. roads would do
far more for the country through
which they pass than they now do
with newspaper advertising. Demon
strations, such as DIR. Knapp is max
ing, will do far more than simple real
estate booming, and would pay the
railroads u great deal better.
rapidly. The disk harrow is one OF
these. and the cutaway form Of disk
is, in my opinion. the best. True, it
takes a good team. and is not the i'm
plement for the One-hOrSe farmer.
But the man who has energy enough
to get out of the One-horse class will
find that the cutaWay disk will greatly
increase his ability to repa his land
in time. Then the disk is all that is
needed to p land for small
grain after corn. Running lightly, so
as not to cut too deeply, and going
over and over till the surface soil is
made fine, it will make the best posi-
BILE preparation for seeding wheat or
oats. The oiiing device may be the
weak point of the disk, but the neglect
Of oiling Well all machinery used on
the farm is the weak point Of MOST OF
the Many valuable machines
do not live out half their days because
Of the failure of those who use them
to attend to the oiling.
Poor EconOmy-PrOfessor Fox is
right in regard to the proper prepa-
ration ofthe land for peas and soy
beans. Narrowing in these after
blowing is a poor way, for many Will
not be covered and some covered
deeply. 1t pays to get the seed in at
n uniform depth. The crop will be
enough better to pay for all the extra
labor in preparation several times
over
The Cotton Picker-Through the at
tention of DIR. Charles Dabney, presi-
dent of the University Of Cincinnati.
[ have received q bulky pamphlet
telling about the Price-Campbell cot
ton picker. From this it would seem
that the successful cotton picking ma
chine is actually on the market, a
self propelled machine that not only
picks cotton, but with other attach
mentS cuts the stalks, plowS the
ground. harroWs 1T, and chops out the
cotton to a stand. And it is claimed
by a great list of prominent men who
have seen it work that it gathers the
cotton clean and does not injure the
unopened bolls. If this machine will
do all that is claimed for it, it will
certainly revolutionize the cotton
growing industry. 1t is claimed that
it Will pick as much cotton in one
day as 90 or~30 men can pick by hand.
Mi. Rhoads, of Vernon, Texas, says
that he picked rows HOO Yards long
IN 81 minutes. 1t really looks as
though the South at last has a ma
c1ine THAI can Compare with the
reaper and binder of the whea; grow
ers. One man operates the machine
That picks as much as twenty hands.
hon &