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tages there are in utilizing all the manure that can be made on the 
farm, and superadding chemical and other fertilizers; in deep plow- 
ing and thorough cultivation; in draining and under-draining; in 
adjusting soils, fertilizers, and crops to each other by rotation and other- 
wise ; in superseding, or at least improving, small, scrubby native cattle, 
sheep, and hogs, by thorough-bred stock; and in increasing the stock 
capacity of the farm by the culture of new grasses and other varieties 
of green fodder. He was also to be the agent of the association for 
bringing within the reach of farmers in that locality, and furnishing at 
cost, or nearly so, selected seeds, improved agricultural implements, 
and blooded stock, and for organizing agricultural clubs and awaken- 
ing a spirit of inquiry and enterprise by lectures on farming, circulating 
agricultural newspapers, &c. The results of this practically benevo- 
lent enterprise have equaled the most sanguine anticipations of the 
association. In the winter following the purchase of the farm, through 
the agency of its superintendent many farmers’ clubs were organized, 
nearly four hundred subscribers to agricultural papers were obtained, 
and about two tons of clover-seed were distributed at cost. In 1871 
(no reports have come to hand for the intervening years) the superin- 
tendent reports, not only that the farmers in the immediate region are 
making rapid strides in agricultural improvement, but that the central 
leaven is extending from them into regions more remote. Among the 
evidences of this are noted, first, the greatly increased demand for clo- 
ver-seed. At the time the farm was purchased, throughout that region 
the want of pasture and hay was an insuperable obstacle in the way of 
keeping stock to any extent. To meet this want the association made 
special efforts to secure a general introduction of clover. In 1868, in 
addition to two tons of clover-seed, several tons of the best Peruvian 
guano were forwarded to the superintendent, with instructions to fur- 
nish both the seed and the guano at cost to farmers willing to test them 
in conjunction. It was found that after once “setting” the clover on 
exhausted soil with guano there was no necessity for further use of it. 
In 1871, as a direct consequence of the example and facilities afforded 
by the association’s farm, over 10,000 acres had been successfully seeded 
to clover, and the superintendent was confident that very soon clover 
would be largely cultivated on every farm in western North Carolina. 
A second evidence of a growing interest in agricultural improvement 
was found in the demand for improved agricultural implements. Among 
those he had furnished were mowers, reapers, wheel-rakes, iron and 
cast-steél plows, cultivators, clover-seed gatherers, &c. And it was ob- 
served that, into whatever neighborhood one of these agricultural ma- 
chines, which supersede hand-power by horse-power,. goes, it imme- 
diately becomes a silent orator which successfully pleads for the remoyal 
of stumps, stones, knolls, and filling hollows, and for the under-draining 
of places too wet and soft for horses and machine to pass over. A large 
amount of under-draining had been done on almost all the farms for 
many miles around. A third evidence was apparent in the increasing 
numbers who visited the farm for the purpose of seeing what is done ou 
it and how it is done. In the spring of that year strangers came in such 
numbers that it required nearly the whole time of the superintendent 
to show and explain the improvements they had come to see and learn | 
about. 
Of thorough-bred stock, kept for production on the farm and for propa- 
gation in the surrounding region, there were five head of Alderneys, a 
Southdown buck, a Chester sow, a Berkshire boar, and, in greater or 
less numbers, offspring and crosses from the same. During the year, on 
