The Cherokee agriculturist : and patron of husbandry. (Dalton, Georgia) 1875-????, August 01, 1875, Image 5

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TAKE IT, THE CHEROKEE Agriculturist AND Patron of Husbandry PROSPECTUS OF THE CHEROKEE AGHICUITUBIST, A MONTHLY EIGHT-PAGE PAPER, Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, and all Branches of Farming Peculiar to this Soil and Climate. TO APPEAR ABOUT AUGUST 1, 1875. The title of this paper indicates its field of labor. The intelligence, energy and prosperity of the farmers of the best Agri cultural district in the State, is considered a sufficient guarantee of the success of such a journal. The same necessity which urges an active co-operation of the tillers of the soil, for their advancement and well-being, sug gests the importance of a channel through which their theories, their practical experi ments and successes, may be made known to each other for the general good and profit of the entire section. We hope therefore to make the CHEROKEE AGRICL LTURIST a farmer's messenger, bear ing the glad tidings of successful husbandry from one unto another, until each little farm that dots the hills, the coves, and the val leys shall shine out in their verdue and majesty thus transforming this lost Paradise of ours into an ever-blooming Garden of Eden. Through the sound logical wisdom of the sun-browned husbandman, rather than from the sanctum-shaded editor, arc these bright hopes to be realized. Froni the fullness of ev ery good farmer’s experience, therefore, do we intend to gather the treasures of a life’s time of toil. We intend to make the main feature otthe AGRICULTURIST its correspondence columns a large number of which are promised by the most successful farmers of Nqjth Georgia, We shall also secure the editorial assistance of a number, whose ability and success is well known. Altogether it shall be a paper which shall prove a welcome and profitable visitor to every country home. It will be a handsome cight-page paper, prin ted on good paper, from cleai new type, the Ist of every month, and mailed free of postage. TERMS—FIFTY CENTS A YEAR. Special Rates to Granges. I trust to the kindness of my old friends to give me a helping hand, and a good start. The courtecies of the Press will be duly con sidered and appreciated. Address ail communications to H. A. WRENCH, Pub’r and Propt’r, Opp. National Hotel. Dalton, Ga. Timely Farm and Plantation Top ics. THE DARK SIDE OF THE PICTURE. The prospect is not very cheering just now, it must be confessed. The last cotton crop is sold -and has not brought much money—or rather, it has not put much money into the pockets of the planters, bur fences arc bad and getting worse ; our farm buildings are dilapidated; our stock is lean and badly cared for; labor is “unreliable;” debt and liens hang heavily oyer us; our lands need ma nures, but we have no money to buy them—but we need not go on with the enumeration. There is much unseem ly’ and unnecessary croaking among us, as there always is everywhere ; but the conditions wc have indicated arc sad facts with too many. They’ arc making no progress toward prosperity, but getting poorer and poorer, year by year. This is the dark side of the picture, but it is the only’ side that many are able to get a glympse of at present. In some parts of the South there may be few indications of any change for the better, and the croaking we depricate is scarcely to be wondered at, and we are slow to blame those who are running down hill for not seeing those who are ascending, and not be lieving it possible to ascend. THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THE PICTURE. This wc fear is too seldom looked at. Some nmy’ doubt its existence, because they do not see it. It is as clearly established a fact, however, as the reverse. It shows, first, a slow but steady progress in both the theory’ and the practice of farming in the South; second, that the use of fertili zers, both home made and commercial, is becoming better understood and, as a consequence better results are se cured by' their application ; third, that a large and increasing number of far mers are improving instead of deteri orating their lands, year by year; fourth, that good farmers (and their number is increasing) are making more per acre and more per hand than they ever did before ; fifth, that an in creasing number of farmers are diver sifying and planning to diversify’ their crops; sixth, that that class called (formerly with something like pity mixed with contempt,) “small far mers,” are generally’ more prosperous than they’ ever were before, and are in a fairway to become large farmes in a legitimate manner, through a strong healthy’ growth in prosperity and wealth. They put their own hjnds to the plough, as occasion requires.— Pa red Carolinian fur June. A Model Hen Farm. Os a hen farm near Marietta, Ga., the Atlanta Herald says: Mr. Laubere keeps his fowls in flocks of fifty. To these fifty hens are added about four cocks. To each flock of fifty he gives one acre of ground ; that is, he allows them the run of one-half acre this year and the other half acre next year, cul tivating the unoccupied half acre every year with some paying crop. The farm, with its eight hundred occupants, thus occupies sixteen acres. Half of this is all the time under cultivation, so that only’ eight acre really’ detract ed from agricultural purposes. The farm lies pretty level and is a beauti ful sight; its regular succession ol fences, its alternation of cultivated spots, its scores of crowing chanti cleers and clucking, matronly hens, make a picture worth going a hundred miles to tee. A dispatch from New’ Orleans states that a riot is apprehended at East Feliciana, where the negroes have assumed the offensive and are col lecting and arming through the parish for the supposed purpose of capturing the town of Clarion. A bolt of lightning struck a car rii:“g in a funeral procession in New York, on the 26th, knocking the dri ver from tLe box, fatally injuring him, and throwing the inmates of the car riage into the road. ... —— - —• A monster baby was born in Spring field, Massachusetts, a short time since. It weighed 20 pounds and 2 ounces, and was as fully’ developed, in every particular, as an ordinary babe a year old. Cincinnati quotes wheat at 1.65 to 2.75 per bush.; Chattanooga at 1.05 a 1.10. What is the true Policy of Farming. The true policy in farming consists in our own corn, wheat, rye, orts, peas, hay, stock and meat. When a farmer has for himself, his family, his hands and his stock an abundance to eat raised at home, when he does not need to purchase anything but groceries and clothing, he may’ depend upon it, he is pursuing a better policy than the plan ter who raises cotton at 10 or 15 cents per pound, perhaps sells it at a loss, and buys his corn at $1.50 per bushel, his meat at 18 or 20 cents per pound, and has no flour but what he buys at the store, and all these things on a credit. Let any man who pursues this policy who thinks he is making money by’ raising cotton and buying all his provisions at market prices, calculate the expenses of making his cotton crop, and he will find that his policy is far from being the true one. To ena ble the South to recover as speedily’ as possible from the ruinous losses re sulting from bad government and the war, w-e will have to adopt a diversi fied husbandry, by which we will make nearly- we need at home and have our cotton as a surplus crop. When this true policy’ of farming has been brought into general use, it will result in independence, abundance, credit, and, in time, wealth. As soon as we have plenty of pro visions made upon our own soil for man and beast, there will be plenty of mouths to eat them. The tide of im migration which now flows westward will turn to the South, and foreign skill, muscle and money will be direct ed to our country, which is richly’ en dowed in all that constitutes natural wealth and prosperity. We have now every’ facility, capital and skilled labor excepted; and as soon as we make an abundance of supplies our political status is fixed and society becomes re organized upon a firm and enduring basis, w-e can have as many’ immigrants as we desire ; but, in the meantime, we should out ever inducement for farmers of the West and the North to come and settle among us to buy’ our sur plus lands, and help us to build up and beautily our waste places. Noth ing will conduce more tr this desirable end than for our farmers, as they’ have done to some extent this year, to pur sue the true policy’ in farming, and make all their provisions at home for home consumption.— Farmers Vindi cator. • -♦ Beyond the Stars—What 1 ’Tis easy to trace the soul to the hour That deprives the form of its breath ; But who shall follow the spirit’s flight, When it seeks the portal of death? Who rend the vail that hides from our view The future, beyond the bright stars ? Who follow the spirit’s upward flight, When it breaks through our earthly bars?. What—ah! what is that future state? And where, oh where is the goal Which Christians say is the resting place And home of the deathless soul? Is it beyond the dark blue sky— Beyond where the stars now shine; ■Where the angels sing their songs of praise To the spirit of God divine? Can life be the end of all our hopes? Is the struggle with death all o’er? Oris there a life beyond the tomb, ■Where the soul lives evermore? Does the soul exist when life has flown, Or sink, like the corse, into night ? Let us rather believe the brilliant mind Still continues its upward flight. Let us think that the soul can never die— That its mission will never end ; That there is a land beyond the sky, Where friend will still meet friend ; That, freed from the turmoil and ills of life, troubles, wounds and scars, The soul will worship the God of Light In His mansions “beyond the skies.” Isaac M. Singer, inventor of the Singer sewing machine, died in Europe on the 2Gth. He was born in America, Oct. 11th, 1811, and was nearly’ G 4 years of age. He was worth millions, and leaves a wife and children to enjoy it. Wheat at Nashville. The Nashville Union and American of Tuesday says : There was much excitement this morning among millers and wheat bupers generally, owing to the contin uation of wet weather throughout the west, causing widespread damage to all small grain. The market was buoyant, advancing fully’ 2i- cents per bushel, but closing so unsettled as hardly to be quotable. Some buyers quoted best at $1.30, but the highest price we beard of in actual sales was $1.27|. Very little wheat was offered and receipts were small. Flour was also buoyant and unset tled on account of scarcity as well as the condition of the grain market. We quote 25 cents per barrel higher. It is conceded by’ our merchants that Tennessee will get more money’ for her wheat crop now than she would had not the wheat of the country, in cluding her own, been so damaged by the wet weather. The Dog Nuisance. The value of sheep killed by rrogs in the Unigid States for 1866, is esti mated by the Commissioner of Agri culture at two millions of dollars. The subsistence or the whole number of dogs in all the States is estimated by him to cost annually fifty millions of dollars. These sre startling figures to an overtaxed community, and should com mand the attention of the Commis sioner of Internal Revenue. Ffty-two ■ millions per annum lost by dogs, to say nothing of the frightful deaths from hydrophobia which they occa sion I We say lost, for, with the ex ception of a very few terriers, sheep dogs, pointers and hounds, they’ furn ish little in the way of set-off to the enormous charge resulting from the depredations and consumption of food. Not five in a hundred are of any value. The efficiency of the watch dog is ren dered of little avail against profes sional burglars, who use chloroform or stry’chnine when a regular job pre sents itself, which they administer even when a door is interposed between the burglar and the more respectable an imal. Five hundred thousand sheep are annually’ killed, amounting in value to two millions of dollars, and the num ber, annually injured is three hundred thousond, at an estimated loss of six hundred thousand dollars, and this wholly’ by’ dogs. The mere statement of these as tounding facts, and that fifty’ millions of dollars are required to feed the five millions of dogs within the limits of the United States, would seem to be sufficient to call upon Congress— which brings everything useful toman kind within the vortex of taxation, to afford immediate and effectual remedy’ and we submit that the time is now propitious for this effort w’hen a fond ness for fox-hunting will readily be yielded to demands for food and for that species of agriculture which will speedily enrich overworked fields, and furnish, in the same instrumentality, a means of clothing our own population. So far from the movement being un popular it will be hailed with delight in the great wool-growing states, and by’ all the Southern States which have the benefit of mountan ranges, and particularly, also, by the western part of our continent, whose interest as wool-growers will be promoted by the tax. “The Southern and frontier States (says the Commissioner) show greater losses in proportion to extent of flocks than more central regions. The reason is plain—there are more dogs under fewer safeguards. In many of teese localities wool-growing is attempted and abandoned for the sole reason of these of these uncheck ed ravages.” The dog is accounted the friend of man. The St. Barnard is a noble ani mal, and frequently saves human life, and constitutes an exception, but the details of the ravages of the common dogs among sheep—the better friend of men—proves this to be otherwise. The instincts of the sheep inform them that the dog is a natural enemy. He is so, not merely’ for food, but for ma licious mischief, as having once tasted blood, he will kill large flocks at a single raid. One is the consumer to the tune of over fifty’ millions of dol lars per annum, the other a producer to the extent of uncounted millions.— Exchange. Hollow Horn. A remedy’ says the Piural Nev: Yorker, for the cure of the hollow horn, in cattle, is to dissolve a table spoonful of copperas in warm water, and mix it with the creature’s mess, if it is not past eating; if it should be pour it down. This dose will seldom need to be given more than once. It has been our remedy for many years, in a large dairy. Mules. If you want mules for farm work, select mares of medium size, not over three years old, train them to the work you want them to do, by gentle treatment, speak kindly to them in gentle tones. Do not get in a passion and swear. The mule never swears, does it comprehend its meaning any further than to know that the swearer is not its friend. Feed just high enough to keep it in good working condition; if fed too high its feed and legs become too weak and give out Stock Journal. • Take cur paper and profit by' it. Orchard and ilineifanL Renovating old Orchards. Several modes are recommended how this can be successfully done; but we do not see how it can be more effectually done than by the one we have frequently recommended. That is to cut out all the dying wood, and three-fourths of the suckers, scrape the trunks of the trees completely, removing all the old, hard, broken bark; wash with a preparation of whale oil, soap and Water, a pound of the soap to a bucket of water ; and give the orchard, not merely’ under the trees, but every part of it, a heavy top-dressing of good barnyard manure. If there is any’ life or productiveness left in the trees this will bring it out. The suggestion that the trunks of the trees should be shorn of all the boughs and allowed to sucker, and some of these when large enough graf ted, will prove a failure. The graft ing of the ordinary’ suckers growing from the trunks of old trees can rarely be done with success. We tried this several times and the grafts all died at the end of the second or third year. Far better to graft the old trees wheh cver there is any smooth-barked wood near enough to a main bough. They w’ill not only’ grow, but in most cases fruit the second year, and always the third year.—(jerman/own Telegraph. How to Apply Sulphur to Grape Vines. There are convenient but expensive apparatuses for applying sulphur to grape vines as a remedy for mildew and the destruction of insects. Those who cannot afford to purchase them may’ cheaply supply themselves with a very duster by getting a tin ner to cylindrical box, about a foot two and a half and three inches inWameter. Have it perfora ted with sirfall holes at the front and all around, but not at the rear end, as it is not pleasant to have it fire in that direction. Let the (JTp be like a pep per box lid, but on, fastened with a little wire to work into a notch like a bayonet fixhire, or the lid will fly off. Have two stout tin rings, about an inch in diameter at one side and one at each end, for the handle, which may be six ten feet long to suit the one Fill the box with flower of sulphur, fasten on the cap, and you are ready for work. If there be the least bit of wind, be sure to go against it, when applying the sulphur, or it will blow dust on you. Walking backwards, giving your ma chine a vigorous jerking backward and forward, under and along the vines, and the dust will touch almost spot on the foliage. This simplJßqi paratus is recommended by Mr. Sam uel Miller in the Hural World. Mulching. Mulching is the process of spread ing a substance not a good conductor, upon the surface of the ground, to prevent the moisture from escaping therefrom. Trees, shrubbery, etc., newly’ transplanted, should without delay’ be thoroughly mulched to insure success. Rotten straw from the barn yard, or decayed chips from the wood pile answer a good purpose. This not only answers the purpose indica ted, above, but prevents weeds or grass from interfering with the steady’ growth of the trees. Raspberry, blackberry and strawberry plants require this to insure large, juicy and delicious fruits. In their native wilderness they seek these conditions, and succeed perfect ly’ in no other. With this care, which requires but little labor, the soil retains its fertility for a longer time, is kept cooler, and the conditions of moisture kept more evenly supplied, which will give the plants a more uniform growth, and a greater certainty’ of a long lease of life. Keeping Pears. When mid autumn pears are so plentiful as not to pay’ the growers for sending them to market, they should have recourse to heat for the purpose of keeping them out of the market, and thus regulate the supply. Let a quantity’ be picked off the trees a fort night before they are ripe, and expos ed to the sun ; if under glass so much the better. Let them lie until the skins are shriveled a little ; then store them in a dry room, and they’ will not soften and be ripe till a month or six weeks after their usual time of ripen ing. The loss of water they have sus tained by’ evaporation renders them less disposed to soften towards ripe ness, yet their sugar and flavor remain, good.