The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-04-08

pc as. decisive as one years experience
can make il.
Here is another instanc. of what
.nese folks are doing tor the state.
ihey are not going at their work de-
pend1n on themselves alone. on the
contrary they are in touch with Raj
elSn and Washington. with the best
sources Of agricultural experience and !
information III oil lines. and thew aro
N~iiueagoflna 10 apply the results OF
me pest thought and research IA every
that is taken.
| nuulred AS 20 the number az a-rce
mat would he feared.
IN reply MI. Gates said as many
acres RS could b. Ia To bring =
prolltahie return. The first thousand
WALL pc ready for next years crop. Be
tween five hundred and q thousand
WIZ De ready for this years planting.
Inc results oil this sUinme viii. tn &
considerable extent, influence the eH-
tent to which the clearing will be con
tnued during rhe winter. Il will not
however, be taken As final. for the first
crops are not the basis OF "A long null
III agriculture.
The question Of clearing the land
appears TO be solved with no trouble.
NOW comes the problem Of making a
prOhtabIc crop. Mr.. Gates to
hire labor and plant and till his farm
with day hands. He has been select
ing and gathering about him sufficient
TOT the operations that are III progress.
and he has made conditions right for
his employees. He has built nearly a
''ozen houses, each OF which,
stands IN q large plot of ground which
is reserved Cor The tenant. The house
is a comfortable cottage of several
sood-sized rooms, lined with the best
building paper, with ceiling inside, sid
ing outside. double floors, brick fire
places, and everything that will make
for comfort in summer and winter.
Current ages will be paid, energet-
ic work eNacted. and the hands viii be
encouraged to help themselves toward
thrlft and permanent employment.
This system is not adopted as q certain
one. 1T is possible that the tenan,
system may be inaugurated in the flu
ture III modified form. but it has tc
prove it's worth 1irst. The objection
to the tenant system is the tendency
to deplete the soil. which is contrary
TO the ideas of Mr.. Gates. who is de
termined TO maintain an improving
form Of farming. If he finds hat day
hands do not prove satisfactory he vii
try to devise q tenant system that viii
be satisfactory or something else.
J, Mr. Gates ,nodestly insists that his
work IS an experiment. In a way tha'
!, is a fact. Yet in another way of loo
!, ing at the proposition his work is {
certain eX position OF what can be dom
) in this section Of North Carolina witt
money and the application Of intelli
. gent method and management. MI
3 Gates and his sons come here from
New York, where are exac
These men do not TAX anything 70
granted. Before n furroW is starte,
Z they know pretty surely where ii viii
--1 - " --.Iy =
what II viii cost. and they nave 4 pref
y good idea what will come from tn
O furroW in the fall. They are intro
q luciig that factor OF Nankte precision
which lifts a project from the expcrj
+ mental stage to an alo,nst certain
stage.
Farming is always attended viii
the uncertainties that follow the pos
4sible combinations of weather and &C
: cident. Yet accident can be figure
out in advance and most Of its result
discounted by bearing in MIND Vha
accidents are likely 20 do. An
weather effects can be discounte b
bearing in mind what unfavorabl
weather effects are likely to be. Nj
4 Gates and his boys are planning thci
. campaigns with the full knowledg
that certain contingencies are To b
"a counted as against them. They GT
\ planning to benefit from all the cor
Il ~tingencies likely to favor them. The
- after they have counted all the visibl
n chances for and against them they ~
= bringing to the work all the best mar
,f agement, the best intelligence and ~
best methods and combining these !
II their work on the farm.
The Gates experiment is Of high in
portance. The Gates example seems
g me to be Of equally as great mome,
n to the state. A group of men came
come from New York and mark ~
II gigantic task like this without attrac