The National Co-Operator (Mineola, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 11, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 8, 1905 Page: 3 of 8
eight pages : ill. ; page 20 x 14 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Y
Up-To-Date Field Crops.
Upon the Held* have sifted down
The beautiful Hake* of ituow.
Each laden with h morsel rich,
To make the Held crop* xrow,
J
K.
Will spring iind the farm tools
in bad order?
Prepare to grow good crops,
but, at the same time to get
good prices.
It is surprising that able pa-
pers have so long trught farm-
ers how to produce stuff without
ever yet making suggestion as
to get good prices for it.
Decide right now to put no
crop in ground that will not pro-
duce it. If you have no good
ground, make what you have
better, and cultivate fewer acres.
There ought not to be any non-
productive ground where the
legumes will grow—clover, peas,
etc. These will make the soil
productive, whether cut or taken
off for feed, pastured down or
turned under.
Our plan of getting the most
out of the legumes—the most of
renovation and fertility—is to
pasture them some, and then
turn under.
If you are in a grass country,
a hay-making country, try a field
this way, and see if it don't pay
you more dollars to the acre than
any other field on the farm.
Break early in September, pul-
verize well, and pack down with
a heavy roller. Seed between
the twentieth and the last of
September to timothy, good,
clean seed, about a bushel to
eight acres, applied with a good
wheat drill (unless you have a
special seeder) with a fertilizer
attachment, applying at the same
time about a hundred pounds of
ammoniated bone to the acre.
Early in March, sow baoadcast
two quarts of clean red clover to
the acre. Harvest a good crop of
hay the first season. Pasture
lightly until the middle of Sep-
tember. Next harvest take off a
heavy crop of hay, which is likely
to be mostly clover. Pasture un-
til the first of September, and
then turn under, le tlie a week or
two, work down and seed to tim-
othy as before, except that the
bone may be omitted. Seed to
clover again in the spring, and
repeat as before. And so on, we
do not care for how long. You
may once in a while interject a
crop of wheat, or corn, or pota-
toes very profitably.
There's one fact we wish to im-
press upon farmers more than
almost any other, and that is the
importance of good seed. No
matter what crop you propose to
grow, the best is none too good,
and less than the best is not good
enough. And we are not saying
this in the interest of any seed
house, for it must be confessed,
and we are sorry of it, that all
seeds from seed houses are not
of the best, but we are saying it
in the interest of farmers. A
difference in seed often makes a
difference in yield and quality;
representing the difference be-
tween a profitable crop and an
unprofitable one.
^"e advise farmers to test
their seed corn; it is an easy
"thing to do. From a representa-
tive ear, or several representa-
tive ears, take, say 10U grains,
|lant them in good, moist, sandy
>il in a box, basin, or even a
dish. Cover with two or three
thicknesses of wet brown paper,
or old newspaper, and keep in a
warm place. Within a week every
good grain ought to be sprouted.
Unless as many as eighty out of
the hundred sprout, it is not fit
to plant. Be sure that the soil is
moist all the time, but not wet.
A good deal of money is lost,
and bad opinions had of farming,
by depending for too many years
upon the same seeding to grass.
People used to think a meadow
ought to last always, but that was
in the days of Uncle Threadbare.
Uniformity in size of grain is
very important in seed corn.
Corn is mostly planted by ma-
chinery now, either drills or
check rowers, and no machine
can evenly plant grains that dif-
fer much in size, and the success
of all subsequent operations, and
of the crop itself, depends upon
even planting, upon even distri-
bution of the grains in the row
so as to insure a good and even
stand. In selecting seed corn
farmers should be mindful of
this fact.
The export of corn is rapidly
on the increase. The following
steamers recently left Boston in
a single week, laden as indicated:
The Bohemian, for Liverpool,
with 150,000 bushels of corn; the
Philadelphia, for London, with
CO,000 bushels of corn; the Bra-
zilian, for Glasgow, with 51,000
bushels of corn, and the Idaho,
for Hull, England, with <32,000
bushels of corn. Corn raisers
need not be afraid they have
raised too much corn. All they
have got to do is to stick to it till
they get their price-
ItlCE.
Rice is an important, almost
universal article of food, in some
countries, like China and Japan,
constituting the principle article
of diet. In the United States,
however, though very generally
used, it may be regarded as a
"side dish" only, and does not
constitute any considerable bulk
of our food, though found very
generally on American tables.
Rice is grown commercially in
but five of the United States,
North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.
In the first three production is
rapidly on the decline, how rap-
idly the following figures show:
North Carolina in 1899, 22,279
acres, in 1904, 18,000 acres.
South Carolina in 1899, 77,057;
in 1904, 83,300 acres. Georgia
in 1899, 21,998; in 1904, 9,000.
But in Louisiana and Texas it is
as rapidly on the increase. In
the former state the acreage in
1899 was 201,685; in 1904 it was
807,500. In the latter it was
8,711 in 1899, and 234,200 in 1904.
Last year the three Atlantic
states produced 1,124,820 bush-
els of rice (in the rough) and the
two Gulf states produced 19,759,-
700 bushels.
The price of rice has ruled low
for some years in the centers of
production, and this is given as
one reason for its abandonment
in the Atlantic states, but in the
centers of consumption prices
have been well maintained, which
undoubtedly indicates an excess-
ive margin between the producer
and the consumer. As in the
case of live stock and beef, some-
body between the grower and the
eater is getting more than his
share of the rice crop.
The home is the hope of the
nation.
A Bit of History.
It seems remarkable that a for-
age plant that has been cultivated
since the first twilight of civiliza-
tion should be so little known in
the South. It was a familiar plant
to the iKirvptians, Medes, Assy-
rians, Persians, Greeks and Ro-
mans and no doubt trrew on the
plains of Mesopotamia and sup-
plied herbage to the flocks of
Nebuchadnezzar. It has long
been known in France and Italy
under the name of lucerne. The
Moors introduced into Spain in
the eigth century, and called it
by its Arabian name, Alfalfa,
(best kind of fodder). The Span-
iards took it to South America;
from Chili it was carried to Cal-
ifornia in 1853, and from thence
eastward to the Mississippi river
and to the regions beyond. It
was brought from Europe to New
York as early as 1025, but it did
not give satisfaction, and its cul-
tivation was practically abandon-
an.
Alfalfa is a leguminous plant
akin, botanically, to clover and
cowpeas, and it has the power of
assimilating nitrogen from the
atmosphere through tubercles on
its roots, and so improves the
soil upon which it grows. Unlike
clover and cowpeas, it is a peren-
nial plant, and will grow many
years upon the same land with-
out reseeding. Clover is a bien-
nial and must be resown after
two crops have been produced.
The cowpea is an annual. The
great advantages which alfalfa
possesses over any other forage
plant is the number of cuttings
it will bear every year ana also
its permanency.
Generally the most desirable
situation for the growing of al-
lalfa is a well-drained river or
creek bottom, high enough to es-
cape overflows. Standing water
is fatal to the alfalfa plant, and it
will prove fatal if the water ta-
ble under the plant rises to with-
in a few inches of the surface.
Any soil that will produce a good
crop of corn will grow alfalfa,
provided always that it is not sub-
ject to inundations.
After all,if it can be shown that
the thinner soils of the south may
be made to grow successfully
this valuable plant, it will be a
gain worth millions of dollars to
our southern states.
A Letter From Smith County.
Gladewater, Texas, Feb. 28.
Editor Co-Operator :
I will try and write you a few
lines in regard to your valuable
paper, The National Co-Operator.
I think it is all o. k., and have
given out several copies to my
friends and they are all pleased
with it—think it is the very pa-
per we farmers need.
I would like to speak a word in
behalf our highly esteemed ed-
itor. I have known Brother
Pyle for a number of years, in
fact ever since I was a lad of 7 or
8 years of ago. He will call to
memory when we all lived in the
same community, Wire Grass
Prairie, Hunt county Texas, near
the little town of Wielimd. Many
a day, while a school boy, have I
played with our beloved editor
and sisters. We then moved to
Wood and Rains county, where
Bro. Pyle taught the Alba high
school for a number of years,
after which he engaged in the
printing business in Mineola,
Texas, where ho now resides.
To make Bro. Pyle remember
me I will tell him more of my-
self. I am the youngest son of
B. F. Morrow, of Emory, Texas.
I was very proud indeed to see
the picture of my old friend, Kit
Hart, of Weiland, in your paper.
Now in regard to the union,
brethren, be careful about this
Cotton Association organized at
New Orleans, La. I am afraid j
they are setting a trap for us lit-
tle farmers. We have got a un-
ion of our own and lets hold to
it, and let their association alone.
In regard to the boll weevil
will say that if wc don't want to
raise too much cotton let the
boll weevil have his share and he
will help us reduce the number
of bales. We must not kill the
boll weevil for he is our friend
indeed.
I will close by wishing the
Co-Operator much success. Will
send a club soon.
Fraternally,
M. T. Moukow,
Small Fruit.
There are not enough of small
fruits grown on the farm. There
are families in which a dish of
strawberries are never seen, and
where raspberries are as much
of a stranger. The universal
growth of wild blackberries fur-
nishes these in greater or less
abundance, but the cultivated
sorts are too much neglected.
Plan to have a better supply of
these delicious fruits in the fu-
ture-set beds of them this spring.
For beginners we recommend
the self-fertilizing sorts of straw-
berries—there are many excel-
lent varieties. Select a rich piece
of ground that is well drained;
prepare it about as you would an
onion bed. For a small bed we
would put the plants in rows IS
inches apart and 12 or 15 inches
apart in the rows. Cultivate well
and especially keep the weeds
down the entire season.
Blackberries orraspberies may
be planted in rows two or three
feet apart. Thev are very hardy
and easily grown.
Grapes are not difficult to grow,
are very hardy and may be set in
nooks that are not accessible to
other culture—in corners that
are now idle, and have been for
years.
As we have said, if you have
not already a supply of these
fruits, prepare to start them this
spring.
It is something of a puzzle to
Chi'.'agoans to see the street car
magnates putting millions into
the business with franchises ex-
piring all around them. They
evidently feel that the city coun-
cil is "safe."
Russian honor appears to b«
bent on getting another licking
before accepting overtures of
peace. Japan will supply the
lickings without any trouble if
Russia still insists on them.
The home is the hope of the
nation
GOLD
Health In better
than gold. That In
what you net bv
nultii; 1'rlee DlH'nfectttiit IteMtoratlre,
which I'urew Ni-nld head, Kciemii, Tetter,
Itch, Kliiit-worm, KrynlpelitH, I'oInoii oak,
Ith«>iiinntImn, I'lleM, i'hroulc mire*, Sore
e.vi'x, I'Vninle illHeaNcH, IihIIkchIIon ot the
■toinach, Kin*. IHarrhea, Catarrh,Uorim,
Jlnrnn, Snake anil all polMonoiiN blten or
HtliitfH Price no ctr.. AOENTS WANTHI>.
For I ii f< ir in it 11< >ii iitlilrcMH J. I! PKICH,
Sole Mniifnctiiror, It F. I). No. :i, PILOT
POINT. TEXAS. I am a Union man.
THE PROBLEM SOLVED.
j . No more Worry or
Expense in Sorting
Irish Potatoes.
The Tilting
Potato Sorter
fills the bil!.
TviiiJe by the
TRUCK GROWERS'
SUPPLY MFG. CO.
COR8IOANA, TEXAS.
SOLD DY IMPLEMENT DEALERS.
V
I
w
i
PRICE ONLY 98.00.
PUTS MERCHANTABLE POTATOES IN ONE
SACK AND CULLS IN THE OTHER.
B
OWKER FERTILIZER CO
OWKER'S HIGH-GRADE FERTILIZERS
1 FOR COTTON AND GRAIN. FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
\
Have ■toorl the tent of thirty year,, and plenwed l untoiner*
In twenty-tlve KtateH. For particular*, literal lire, ami whole-
Kale price*. Addre««
| JOHN MARTIN, 8TM&nt. Paris, Texas
I FACTORIES:—Clnclnatti, Ohio, Brlghtoa, Mui. and Ellzabcthport. N. J.
Short Horns.
Polled Durhams.
Red Polls.
Registered Cattle
For Sale!
Three hundred head In liertl. I«ocated below fever line. Healthy, hardy ntock of
bent Scotch Strain*. Iteanoniihle price* and ea*y term* to rf*pnn*lble buyer*.
Will Stake Home good land at market price In part pav for round lot*. Add rent*
Landa Cattle Company,
Breeder* of Kegintfred Cattle Onlv.
New liraunfels, Texas.
I*
THE BEST IS THE CHEAPEST
GENUINE KING S IMPROVED
COTTON SEED
Rained under Government Nupervl*lon and controlled and recommended by Prof.
J. H. Council, Prof, W. I). Hunter, Prof. A. W. ICdnon and
other* an the bent cotton need.
SPECIAL RATES IN CAR LOTS.
E. S. PETERS, CALVERT. TEXAS.
"1
" " ' ' ' '* :f
EAST TEXAS FERTILIZER CO
High-Grade Fertilizers
Acid Phosphates, Etc
= Importer* of
Nitrate of Soda, Sulphate
of Potash, Muriate of Pot-
ash and German Kanit
EAST TEXAS FERTILIZER CO
•*&"' Write us for Prices.
TYLER, TEXAS
{ r J
v
- <
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Pyle, O. P. The National Co-Operator (Mineola, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 11, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 8, 1905, newspaper, March 8, 1905; Mineola, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth254299/m1/3/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Mineola Memorial Library.