The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-10-13
bushels to the acre. prove h fertii-

INK III Va I1S
States Of the Union. The record OF
the last ten years is instructive Ten
years ago. Kansas produced ABOUT .he
same amount of corn 1t IS producing
now, but requires a million ana a nan
more acres to make the same amour.
of corn. North Carolina on 2o0.oOe
more acres is making seventeen NIL
lion bushels more corn than ten years
ago. The State is lakin a few more
acres of corn. but more to the acre,
and this is manifest not only IN Lee
County. but in every other county OF
the State
The reasons for the increase of the
corn crop are more than one. Corn Is
one of the most important food crops.
1t is a feed for stock as well as tor
man. While clothing is an important
factor in human welfare the food sup
ply is of vastly greater proportions
than the clothing supply. Cotton is
The only important clothing material
which is not the b~y-product of some
thing else. Wool. which is second in
Importance as a clothing material, is
the by-prOduct of the sheep. which
is a meat producer.
4 Staple That Is Coming in Demand.
Corn. oats. wheat. potatoes, rye.
and rice, either one, makes a crop
| each year worth more than all the
cotton and wool made in the same
year. to say nothing of the meat crop
and several other crops that go in
with the food crops. When North
Carolina k up the culture of corn
in serious earnest it has a crop that
is a very important staple, n one
that is coming in demand a
supply.
Because North Carolina can make
corn with any State in the Union, and
because the increasing call for food
is pressing or the supply North Caro-
lima is rapidly turning to the produc-
ton of corn. We hin in this coun-
try we are getting short Of cattle.
But the United States has more meat
animals than any other country in the
world, even India with five times as
many people, having a less total than
our country. The United States, Ar
gentina and Australia are depended
on to supply the world with meat, and
hey cannot do it. 1t is safe to say
that the world will never again have
enough meat, and that the world will
never again have enough corn to feed
enough meat. Or to shorten the pre-
diction it is probably safe to say the
corn crop will never again be big
enough to meet the made
against it.
North Carolina is becoming a corr
State because conditions of soil and
climate have made here an ideal corn
State and because the demand for
corn is making n will make corn
an ideal and profitable GRO for this
ideal corn country.
corn is a cash crop like cotton. II
is a staple, always in demand. 1t is
an cas- crop to make, and it is a
crop that has a tendency towards the
fertility Of the soil because it inclines
the farmer toward the feeding of at
least a few head Of stock, and the
farmer who feeds stock maintains
soil fertility.
Not So Much a Tenant Crop.
Lee county at the present time is
feeling less of the financial trouble
than the more exclusively cotton coun-
ties are, for Lee county is more of q
small farmer county. Corn seems tC
be less Of a tenant crop for some rea-
son than cotton. It looks as if the
man who farms his own place runs
more to cotton than the man whC
has a tenant or who is a tenant. II
is certain that the man who has corr
: is in a better frame Of mind just nov
: than The man who is a strictly cottor
. farmer. The reports from the various
, counties of the State indicate that thu
= corn counties are less hurt tina tn
cotton counties.
The reason is plain enough. TIL,
n man who raises cotton cannot ever
4 prepare his cotton for his own use
1t must so to a gin and a mill and b,
manufactured. The man who make
: corn can max meat of the crop O,
his own place and with the mea
satisfy his wants. He can satisfy tn,
> needs of his neighbors with his corr
, and corn products. He cannot Will
: cotton.
. But the big fact is thai the cor,
' States of the North and West are n,
longer able to care for the corn need
Is Of the world. and that North Caro-
lima has classified as one of the bes
r. corn States of the American continent
This means one Of the best meat max
10 Ing States, for meat is going hig]
- enough in price so that North Caro-
lima farmers can afford to make it.
le The price of meat is not going t
h be set in the future by the pleasur