The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-12-29
BiON III. BUTLER.


Southern Pines, Dec. ga little
ess han two years ago a number Of
ehe leading men of the sandhills
fcountry met at Aberdeen ard formed
Ian organiza ton which they called the
Sandhills Fa.~,ers' Association. Back.
OF that organization were men Of
4 means and men of what is more than
means, men Of ability. There were
men like Leonard Tufts, whose energy
and progressive enthusiasm for the
development of North Carolina has at
tracted attention all over the United
States Men like Henry Page, a clean
cut. business proposition, a versatile,
courageous, pioneer in many lines OF
new thought as applied to business
and public affairs. Men like Roger
Derby, q fearless, original pathmaker
in that task of trying out new ideas
in their application to old things Men
like a lot OF the wideawake fellows
who seem to have sprung up all
around here in little groups, the Ty-
sons the McConnells, the Pumpellys
che Powells, the Wiieys, the Camerons,
the McDonalds, and as the sale bill
says when winding up with the de-
scription of the articles to be sold, q
lot of others too numerous to men
tion.
come into notice in numbers too many
to single out, and they have accom-
plished q job that it is worth the
notice of the people of the rest of the
StateDfor except that it has involved
q lot of work and sticking to the
schedule, it is job that can be &C
complished by any other community
just as we'll as by this one. Possibly
other sections can do the trick with
less bother for when the sand nils
country undertook to make a Iavor-
able place in the eyes of the world II
started out cheered by all OF the unen
viable comparisons that the Jokers OF
a hundred years could make. Iha'
ancient apostle Of Joe Miller, VINO Is
reputed to have said that if he owned
the entire sandhill country he would
be glad to trade ii for a town LOT on
some back alley in Hades, voiced the
general sentiment concerning this re-
giou.
Cotton From Sand.
it is only three or four years age
that an expert from the Department
of Agriculture at washington Wa
looking over a field of cotton, where
about ten bales of cotton was subse.
uuently taken from about ten acres O.
sand, and he insisted that in spite g
the unaccour able exhibit in front O
him cotton could not be raised in TN:
sand, at least not according TO al
logic concerning cotton and sou ier
tility. About that time came Souti
Carolina philosopher up to ADerueei
to discuss buying cotton farm mere
and he remarked to Henry A. Page
that he did not want fertile lano' pu
just room for his cotton Stalks u
stand on, that he would provlCe IN
table board for his crop, and that h'
wanted TO run his cotton 1arnl Oh LII
European plan, room only.
Melons, Too.
John Blue had been planting som
cotton on Drowning Creek, and }. r
Buchan got in there, and laid tn
foundation of a mighty successru
plantation, and surprised himself am
his neighbors. w. A. Blue, superln
tendent of the Aberdeen and Rock
fish railroad, like old Noah in TIL
early days Of navigation, made zoo
break and cleared farm on the tol
of the ridge where everybody kneV
nothing would grow, and in some wa
he got crop Of cotton. then he mao
lot Of watermelons, and some oIhe
things, and as of old the fellows wh
had pointed out how Noah was q Zoe
and confessed that this thing WOul
be lesson to them, so the rest OF u
around here stole Blues watermelon
and sprinkled the Raeford road Wit
melon >rinds end joined the wise me-
in pointing out that this is one
the greatest watermelon countries O.
earth.
Peaches. Grapes and Dewbcrries.
This experience meeting did no
convene at the order OF any head.
Van Lindley set out a peach orchar
several years ago, and that becanl
an experimental station. +. 4. Steb
bins ard DIR. W. =. SWEET tried ou
grapes H u. Bilyeu became tn
"a p~<1 ~ hY1p of
OF dewberries shipped ont from thi