The Bulletin. o-'j 



The above is to be applied at tlje time of sowiiij,' the seeds in the fall and 

 a top dressing of 50 to 75 pounds of nitrate of soda to l)e ai)plied in March. 



I may add that in soils that have i)een very considerably improved by a 

 regular rotation of crops, the quantity of cotton-seed n)eal may be still 

 further reduced, say 150 pounds, in the fall, to be suijpliunentcd in the spring 

 by such amount of nitrate of soda as may be judged necessary. The need 

 for additional nitrogen in the spring may be judged by the appearance of the 

 plants, with a fair ap])roxiniation to accuracy. If the plants are of a rather 

 pale green color, and especially if they show a yellowish tinge, it may snfely 

 be assumed that a top dressing of nitrate of soda is needed, the amount to be 

 also determined by the judgment of the farmer, but rarely exceeding 50 or 

 75 pounds per acre. 



SOME suggestio:n^s for the improvement of 



FARM homes. 



By FRANKLIN SHERMAN, Jr., Department of Agriculture, Raleigh. 



INTKODUCTION. 



* 



Fifteen or twenty years ago, it might have been thought entirely inap- 

 propriate to discuss a subject of this sort at our Farmers' Institutes, and 

 no One realizes better than I the fact that for many long years the simple 

 problem of securing bread and meat has been the leading one with our 

 country people, * and there was neither time nor money to devote to the 

 beautifying of the home. It is for this reason, and because T might by som*^ 

 be accused of discussing a subject that is not "practical," that I have ven- 

 tured to discuss it only after the most careful deliberation. We are here to 

 consider our own home affairs, and the matters which I shall mention bear 

 directly on conditions as they actually exist in our State at the present time. 

 I do not wish to say anything to hurt the feelings of anyone, and if I touch 

 any tender spots, remember that I wish to do so in kindness, just as the 

 most gentle doctor may have to feel the painful fracture before he can set 

 the bone. 



If conditions were still such that the majority of our people could not 

 afford to live comfortably, if there were no remedy available for the evils 

 which I shall mention, it would be cruel of me to say anything about them ; 

 but, if you will make inquiry at the country banks all over our State, you 

 will find that there is more money on deposit to the credit of our farmers 

 than ever before. The prices of the common farm products, such as cotton, 

 peanuts, wheat, meat, eggs, ppultry, fruit and vegetables, have averaged so 

 high in recent years that those farmers who have mastered the art of 

 economical production, by rotation of crops, deep plowing, use of stable man- 

 ure, the intelligent use of commercial fertilizers, use of good seed, and other 

 like methods, are making a very gratifying profit. Positive evidence of this 

 is abundant in all sections. In the seven years that I have been in North 

 Carolina, I have seen many farmers build new homes, and the new ones are 

 almost invariably larger, brighter and better in every way than the old ones. 

 But this evidence of progress should not bring us to stagnate, in the idea 

 that we are already doing well enough. Rather it should create within 

 every one of us a healthy and generous dissatisfaction, a dissatisfaction which 

 shall be pacified with nothing less than good homes, not only for ourselves, 

 but for every neighbor as well. A young daiiyman once wrote me : "I intend 

 to have just as good a barn as Mr. Anijhody" ; and I wish that our people 

 would make that same determination with regard to our homes. Do not 

 think that I would advise anyone to attempt to live beyond his means, but 

 I do plead that the home life of every family be made just as bi-ight, happy 

 and attractive as the means will permit. 



