82 The Bulletin. 



will make this plain : Suppose we immerse a cubic inch of stone in water and 

 then remove it. Each of the six sides of the stone will be covered with a thin 

 film of water. There will be six square inches of water adhering to the stone. 

 Now, if the cubic inch of stone be split one hundred times there will be 200 

 more square inches of surface exposed. If it be split again there will be 200 

 more square inches of surface, and if again split two hundred times there will 

 be another increased area of 200 square inches, making 600 more than the 

 original cubic inch had, or 606 square inches of surface, each square inch 

 capable of holding its share of water and 606 square inches exposed to water, 

 air, temperature, bacteria, the juices of decomposing organic matter and the 

 direct action of the roots of plants, and by these agencies forced to give up its 

 composition for the use of growing crops. Other things being equal, the differ- 

 ence between a very poor and a very rich soil may be entirely controlled by ths 

 fineness of the soil particles or the surface area of soil particles exposed to 

 air and water. 



RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY FARMERS' CONVENTION. 



Resolved, 1. That an executive committee of one man from each county be 

 appointed, the duty of each committeeman being to act as adviser in the gen- 

 eral work of the convention. 



2. That each county committeeman be expected to bring at least ten mem- 

 bers from each county. 



3. That in connection with better roads and the extension of rural mail de- 

 livery, we should also insist upon the enactment of a parcels post law. 



FARMERS' PLATFORM. 



Whereas, The Farmers' State Convention of North Carolina holds its 1909 

 annual session under peculiarly auspicious circmustances. Never before in 

 the history of the State has there been such an awakening to the importance 

 of better agricultural methods, never before such enthusiasm among the 

 farmers themselves, their wives, their sons and daughters. We feel that the 

 farmers of the State are entering upon a new day, an era of marvelous devel- 

 opment which we should all be proud to have a part in hastening. The North 

 Carolina Department of Agriculture, Experiment Stations, the farmers' insti- 

 tutes, the demonstration and extension work, farmers' organizations, farm 

 papers, and last, but by no means least, the Agricultural and Mechanical Col- 

 lege in which we meet and which is now more efficient than ever before — all 

 these agencies are working together in one great movement for doubling the 

 profits of our North Carolina farmers and for bringing a new dignity to agri- 

 culture such as it has never before known.. We urge every farmer in North 

 Carolina to put himself in touch with each of these movements, work with 

 them, and make himself a fighting soldier in the great crusade of agricultural 



progress. 



2. In outlining a brief platform of progress we, first of all, call attention to 

 the fundamental importance of preserving and building up the land, the heavy 

 rains of the last twelve months having emphasized afresh the paramount 

 necessity for better care of our soils. We must give special attention to better 

 drainage, the formation of humus to prevent the land from washing so easily, 

 and we must also make it our ideal to have a cover crop upon every acre of 

 our land in winter to prevent the fearful leaching away of fertility, possible 

 only in our warm Southern climate. 



3. In general farm methods we wish especially to stress the importance of 

 the great movement for better implements and machinery— more two-horse 

 and three-horse plows, cultivators, and other implements and machinery 



