xOq. ' .. -> O^ <^ ^ * » ^ 'c> V -- '^ .S- * (^ ^^' 'hi o ^^- .^^^' >o^ v^q.. * -,^' • ft <b O -1 -^ J -■^ J * A. O "^ '0 <^ ° • >• A N c , "V- G » ,f .^<^., i^jiBiaEiasacsiraiaBaisaBiaciaciiaoaEaEi^EjaEaE^BiaEaBaEiaBiaEaiBiaEiiaBaB ■^ Biia . Ga ^ uu uu nn uu BSI Eiia Bia BQ Bia BQ BSi BQ Bia BQ Bia BO B!a rl^apsas The Southern Fanner's Guide. What, How and When to Plant in the South Bia BQ Bia BS Bia BO Bia BO Bia BO Bia BO Bia BO Ba Bg BO Big BO Bia BO BS BO Eg BO Ba BO Bia For Profit. PREPARED FOR THE LATIT BO BQ BO Bg BO Bia BO Bg BO Ba BO Bg IS . Price 25 CentsS::.^:^^)!!!^ ^ ^^ 2 - ^'H By BO BH Ba B'IjI bo Bgri3i!Si3EaBaEgEaEaBS5P!gTs?nEanaEaEgngrigBaBaBaBiaBaBaBiaBaBaEa BOL]OUOUOt£OliOeOi£yk2!iik£yiuOISOIuiOBOBOQy£:OlL20BOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBO ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT CO., LITTLE ROCK. Bia Bg BO Eg BO /Bg 'BO G. F. Baucum, President. M. H. JOHNSON, Cashier. W. E. ToBEY, Vice President. R. O. Hopkins, Ass't Cashier BANK OF LITTLE ROCK, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. OiVt^ITArv P*A.ID, ^300,000.00. .WE SOLICIT YOUR BUSINESS AND INVITE CORRESPONDENCE. IDIPiElCrrOPiS : G. F. BAUCUM, President. M. H. JOHNSON, Cvshiek. W. T. WILSON, W. E. TOBEY, of \V. T. & R. J. Wilson, Wholesale Grocers. ^ President Carl & Tobey Co., Wholesale Grocers. D. G. FONES, ] JOHN S. MAJOR. President Fones Brothers Hardware Company. j Treasurer Kearney Lumber Company. J. H. McCarthy, [ CHAS. N. fowler, New York, of J. H. McCarthy & Co., Cotton Factors. % B. J. BROWN, Capitalist. MAXWELL COFFIN, CHAS. S. STIFFT, of Coffin & Ragland, Bankers and Brokers. Wholesale and Retail Jewelry. FURNITURE, CARPETS, Etc. We are headquarters in Arkansas for any and everything in the above line SEND US YOUR NAME And we will mail you one of our Illustrated Catalogues, and will prepay the Freight Charges to your nearest railroad station on all orders amounting to $10.00 and over. Arkansas Carpet and Furniture Co. Menlicn this Pamphlet. LITTLE ROCK, ARK. The Soathern palmer's Guide CUhat, Hocu and CXihen to Plant for Profit in Af^KA]4SflS Price 25 Cents Ovdeps for this Book, and all Coprcspondenee should be addfessed • to E. m. PHlliUlPS, Uittle I?OGk, Apk. (aiir©®ei iiQeeg. FARMS •:• AND •:• HOMES IN ARKANSAS. Two Million Acres Farming, Grazing, Fruit, Timbered and Mineral Land SOLD IN TRACTS TO SUIT PURCHASERS. Mild Climate, Variety of Products, Low Prices, Low Interest. EASY TERMS. S'' Maps and Circulars free. Address G. A. A. DEANE, LAND COMMISSIONER. St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern, and Little Rock & Ft. Snnith Ry's LiITTIiH ROCK. ARKflNSflS. Copyright iSqs h E. M. PHILLIPS. All Rights Reserved. • Si,, INTRODUCTORY. MANY farmers are now leaving the Northern ) y^ States and finding homes in the South, where conditions of soil, climate and products differ so greatly from those they have been used to, it has seemed best to publish this little volume for their benefit, hoping also that they may, by mailing it to their friends and relatives who have not yet started on their pilgrimage, induce them to come to this goodly Southland, The State of Arkansas has a population, according to the census of 1890, of about 24 persons to the square mile, Massa- chusetts having 278 and England 550. This State has as small, if not a smaller, percentage of waste lands than either of these countries, and is fully able to sustain as dense a popula- tion. It is, therefore, true that there is plenty of room here yet for thousands upon tens of thousands of good people and their families. This is an inviting land to come to. The immigrant will not have to suffer here many of the hardships which confront him in the States of the West and Northwest, Here he will find water plentiful and excellent, rains seasonable, irrigation unnecessary, winters short, summers delightful. Here timber for building, fencing and fuel is abundant, and the immigrant can build his own house with his own materials, even to the foundations, root cellars and chimneys, for good building stone is found in almost every county. Here failures of crops are virtually unknown, and with fruits and vegetables in plentiful supply, and pasturage for his cattle with small expense the year round, the incomer may lead a joyful life. The experience of the writer, who came here from Illinois twenty-five years ago, and of thousands of others who have re- sided here for many years, has proved this to be an exception- ally healthful climate. To such, then, as have lately come to this State, or who are investigating the question of migration hitherward ; who are tired of cold winters, blizzards and drouths, this book is respectfully dedicated ; the design being to show what has been and what can be done here in the way of good and profitable farming, stock raising and horticulture. .... GRASSES .... AND OTHER FORAGE CROPS FOR ARKANSAS. The cultivation of grasses, both for hay and pasturage, is considered by all the prominent agricultural authorities of America and Europe as at the very foundation of good farming. The South is eminently a grass country. Arkansas has over 150 varieties of native grasses, and all the cultivated grasses of the North do excellently well here; and here too other excel- lent varieties that cannot be grown at the North, thrive and are exceedingly profitable. BERMUDA GRASS. As a permanent pasture grass at the South, Bermuda is unexcelled. It furnishes an abundance of rich, sugary herbage of which cattle, horses, hogs and sheep are very fond. The method of propagation is very simple and inexpen- sive. Small pieces of the plant are dropped 3 or 4 feet apart on land that has been plowed and harrowed, and pressed in with the foot. Another plan is to cut the Bermuda sod up fine in a hay cutter, and scatter it over the ground, rolling or har- rowing it in. It will cover the ground with a strong sod, and when once established it is permanent; close grazing or tramp- ing will not kill it. When the ground is damp in the spring or fall, is of course, the best time to plant. It affords a vast amount of the best of pasturage for nine months in the year; and while it is not considered a hay grass, on good soil it grows tall enough to cut for that purpose, and will yield 5 tons of hay in a season. It is a much more profit- able grass, either for pasturage or hay, than timothy, as it is 6 The Southern Farmer'' s Guide. perennial, costs nothing for seeding, and yields a greater ton- nage when cut. On a dairy- or stock farm, it is almost invalu- able at the South. JOHNSON GRASS. FAVORABLE AND UNFAVORABLE POINTS. This is one of the most wonderful hay grasses of the world. It grows from 8 to lo feet tall, and can be propagated either from the roots or from seed. It should be cut when half grown. Being a member of the sorghum family, it has a sweet juice and stock are exceedingly fond of it. It is a very fattening and healthful food, keeping stock in prime condition. It can be cut profitably four or five times in a season, yield- ing from 6 to lO tons per acre, according to the richness of the soil, and the hay should bring as good price in the market as timothy, as government experiment tests show it to be richer in fat and flesh producing elements than timothy hay. It is a perennial grass, like the Bermuda, and when once established all expense and care of it ceases, excepting as to cutting and curing of the hay. Getting fodder in this way is much easier and less expensive than "pulling corn fodder." A big barn full of Johnson hay can be secured at less cost than it takes to pull, tie up and stack 200 bundles of corn fodder; and a barn full of Johnson hay means fat calves, cattle and horses in the spring. We advise all our Southern farmers to try a few acres of this wonderful and easily grown forage plant. A few words of caution should be added. It should not be sown and left to ripen its seed so that it can spread itself by this means where it is not wanted, for once in the ground it is very hard to eradicate. It will take the entire farm if allowed to seed itself. It is best not to sow it close up to fences, where it can get into fence corners, go to seed and catch over in the next lot. Better leave a belt of land 20 or 30 feet wide all around the patch next to the fence and plant that in corn or field peas — anything that will keep the Johnson grass out of the fence corners. The Southern Farmer' s Guide. y These two grasses (Bermuda and Johnson grass) will sup- ply the Southern farmers with abundant and excellent pasturage and hay, but if a diversity of feed is desired, or fine hay to sell at a good price in some town near by, put a few acres into ALFALFA. It is a mistake to suppose that this valuable food plant will only thrive in California or Colorado, where it can be irrigated. It grows splendidly in Arkansas wherever the land is rich, or is made rich by fertilizers, and is thoroughly and deeply plowed and pulverized by harrowing. This plant should never be pastured, but cut and cured, or fed green, and should not even be cut the first year, as the great thing is to secure a good stand ; after it is once established it is good for twenty years, and will yield from 5 to 10 tons of hay, or 30 tons of green feed, per acre; and one acre will keep five horses, mules or cows in prime condition the year round, or will feed and fatten as many hogs as 3 acres of average corn. It should not be sown in a shady place — it likes sunshine — neither should a wet and poorly drained piece of ground be selected. In order to secure a good stand, drill in the seed in rows 18 inches apart, early in the spring, and keep it clean with small horse hoe or cultivator. After the first season it will take care of itself, and is ready for use very early in the spring and can be cut three or four times each year; but it is best to leave a good growth on the ground in the fall, to act as a win- ter protection. Ten pounds of seed are sufificient to sow per acre, and should cost from 10 to 15 cents per pound, according to quantity bought. It can be bought in St. Louis. See the advertisement of the Plant Seed Company in this book. THE COWPEA. This Southern fodder plant has great value in several ways. It furnishes a heavy growth of green feed of a highly nitroge- 8 The Southern Farmer' s Guide. nous character, and with care to prevent its heating and mould- ing, can be cured, forming an excellent hay for neat cattle. Two crops will mature on the same ground in one season in the South. The peas (or beans rather, for it belongs to the bean family) are a valuable food for man or beast. As a fertilizer, to be plowed under, either green or dry, this plant is not surpassed by clover or any other known vege- table growth ; even the roots which remain in the ground after each crop is harvested, contribute to the fertilization of the soil; and this plant can be profitably grown after oats or wheat, to better the condition of the land for the next season's crops. At the United States Experiment Sub-station, at Newport, Ark., it was found that cowpea vines, with pods on the vines, plowed under, increased the yield of wheat over 250 per cent above unmanured land, while vines with the pods off increased it 200 per cent, and cowpea roots alone 100 per cent. As it takes two years to grow a crop of red clover suitable to plow under, while two crops of cowpeas can be grown in one, the great value of this plant as a fertilizing crop is apparent. THE COWPEA. The only drawback to the use of cowpea hay as fodder, has been the difificulty found in curing it without having it heat and mould. If thoroughly sun dried, the stems are hardened, and the mature pods are broken off and lost. Dews also dam- age the hay, and the leaves, the jnost important part of the plant excepting the peas, drop off. To overcome these diflficulties, Professor R. L. Bennett, of the United States Experiment Station, at Fayetteville, Ark., has devised a "stack frame for curing and storing cowpea hay." By the courtesy of Professor Bennett we are allowed to present here the cut which he had made of this device and to give the fol- lowing abridged description: The plan of construction is a series of open shelves ar- ranged one above the other. The shelves are made of fence The Southern Partner'' s Guide. g rails placed 12 inches apart, their ends resting on horizontal sup- ports. The supports are nailed 2 feet apart to upright posts put with one end securely in the ground. Strips 1x4, with one end resting on the ground, are nailed diagonally to the horizon- tal supports for braces. They are essential to prevent the frame from inclining, and for supporting and holding in place the ends of the horizontal pieces. The length of the stack frame can be increased indefinitely by erecting frames similar to the one shown, in the front end of the stack and distant from each other the length of a fence rail, or whatever is used. These cross frames can be made on the ground and then set in place. The sides of the stack must be perpendicular, since pea vines will not turn water. To give the top the proper pitch to turn water, the top shelf is made nar- rower than the shelf below by leaving out the side rails, as shown in the cut. SuflBcient straw or grass hay should be used for covering, and it must be made to project over the edges of the first wide shelf so as to turn all the water off the sides of the 10 The Southern Fartner' s Guide. frame. The dimensions used were as follows: width, lo feet (made so because the planks used were already cut that length) ; length, three fence rails, each fence rail ii feet. Shelves or floors 2 feet apart. Rails placed 12 inches apart on the hori- zontal supports. Capacity 4 tons dry hay; 5 tons if covered with tarpaulin. STACKING THE HAY. The first floor of rails is put about 12 inches apart on the horizontal supports and one man unloads the hay from the wagon while another places it. When hay has been put evenly on until it is a few inches above the place for the next floor, the second set of rails is put in place. They press down the hay, but as it dries it settles, leaving a space. This process is re- peated until all the floors are laid and filled, and the hay cov- ering, or tarpaulin or boards, are in place on the top. When feeding, remove the hay first from the lower floors, leaving the top covering in place until the last. Small poles, taking up less space, and longer ones, can be used and the number of cross frames lessened. If tarpaulin cover is used, a ton or more of the grass hay for topping out can be saved, and this will more than pay the cost of the cloth covers the first year. A permanent roof of boards can be used ; and in that case, instead of using the di- agonal braces, posts similar to the middle one can be used and the ends of the horizontal supports nailed to them. The mid- dle posts can then be taller to support the comb of the roof, while the eaves would be supported by the outside posts. SORGHUM. One great feature in the South about the raising of sorghum is the fact that it can be successfully grown as a second crop. It need not be planted until the middle to 20th of May, and a crop of early Irish potatoes worth say $150 per acre, can be grown and marketed by that date. Then sorghum can go right For RAILROAD LANDS at JLOW PUICES See A<ivertisement on Page 3. The Southern Farmer'' s Guide. ii in on the same ground ; it will mature in August and can be followed by a crop of cowpeas that will be fully ripe before frost. The government experiments with sorghum juice in Kan- sas and other States, prove that 1,875 pounds of sugar and 10 gallons of syrup can be produced from an average acre of good sorghum. The farmer's account with his acre of land will stand at the end of the year thus upon the credit side: Irish potatoes $150.00 1,875 pounds sugar at 4^ cents 84.38 10 gallons molasses at 40 cents 4.00 4 tons fodder at $5 20.00 25 bushels sorghum seed saved from first cutting at 50 cents 12.50 Loose fodder and strippings from first crop, one ton 5.00 $275.88 No account is here taken of the value of the cowpeas or of the bagasse, which can be used as fuel or a fertilizer. From the gross proceeds must of course be taken the cost of pro- duction, milling, etc., but it is easy to see that in this plant the South has a very paying crop when handled in the proposed manner, with potatoes as a first crop and cowpeas or turnips as a final crop. This arrangement is not possible at the North, the growing season not being long enough. We quote from United States Commissioner Coleman, in regard to the new process for making sugar from sorghum, as follows : "The experiments consist in the trial of a new process in making sugar in this country, which dispenses entirely with the costly and ponderous mills and steam engines, etc., and uses a far simpler and less expensive method of extracting the juice, by which all the saccharine matter is obtained, while by the former method, from 30 to 40 per cent on the average of the juice, even with the Southern sugar cane, is left in the cane after passing through the mill, and with sorghum a still greater quantity because of greater difficulty in extracting. * * * A yield of 15 tons of cane to the acre was being secured, which would produce, by this new process, 1,500 to 1,800 pounds of sugar. This sugar is worth by the carload 5/^ cents per pound at present ( 1890). 12 The Southern Farmer'' s Guide. A complete sugar factory will cost about as much as a flouring mill, and can be run at a great profit, according to the present experiments." This opens a most promising field for both the farmer and the capitalist, especially as it is well known that our Southern sugar plants are all richer in saccharine properties than those grown at the North. SORGHUM FODDER. Sorghum raised exclusively as a fodder crop can hardly be outclassed by any other plant; yielding as it does 8 to 9 tons to the acre of the best of sweet nourishing fodder, 4 to 5 tons the first crop or cutting, and a like amount the second. These cuttings should both be made before the cane gets hard and woody. Sorghum is a much better fodder plant than corn as it yields two crops or cuttings, corn only one. It produces double as much forage, and is more easily cured than corn fodder. Amber cane is the best variety for this purpose, and should be sown early in May or as soon as all danger from frost is gone. Plow and work the ground well and sow i bushel of seed broadcast per acre, and cut as soon as the heads begin to form. On fair land it will grow 6 or 7 feet tall, and on rich land twice or three times that height. It furnishes a most ex- cellent feed for cows, and increases both the flow and quality of milk. Sorghum grows rapidly, chokes out weeds, and puts the ground in excellent condition for the next season's crops. ARTICHOKES FOR HOGS, SHEEP, ETC. This plant, commonly known as the Jerusalem artichoke, {Hclianthus tuberostis) is one of the easiest fodder plants to raise, yields immensely, and does excellently in this part of the South. From 600 to 800 bushels are produced on good land per acre, and hogs and sheep are very fond of this food, the former digging them themselves. They are grown from root sets the same as potatoes. For RAILROAD LANDS at LOW PRICES See Ailveitisemeiit on Page 8. The Southern Farmer's Guide. JJ Plant and cultivate them as you would potatoes, the rows 4 feet apart running north and south, and set from 2 to 3 feet apart in the rows. Eight to ten bushels of the tubers plant an acre, and cost from $i to $1.50 per bushel at the seed stores. They will grow on almost any kind of soil, but of course do better on good, rich land. The stalks also, if cut and cured before frost, make excellent and ample fodder, and all kinds of stock — horses, mules, cattle, sheep and hogs are very fond of it. Artichokes are a good crop for orchard growth, if not placed too close to the trees. Pigs can be turned in and will cultivate the ground thoroughly while finding the tubers. At the end of the year, put on a top-dressing of manure, harrow down smooth and the small roots left in the ground are ample seed for the next year's crop. Hogs thrive on this food, and it is estimated that an acre of artichokes, grown on good land, and where both the roots and stalks are utilized, is worth from $300 to $500 to the farmer. OTHER GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS. All other fodder plants common to the North grow here luxuriantly, such as red top, red clover, crimson clover {trifo- lium carnatum) , timothy, millet and the root crops — turnips, rutabagas, mangel-wurzels, etc. We cannot say that they are grown here largely, yet enough has been done in the way of testing them in this State to prove their eminent adaptability to our climate, and that they can be grown here as profitably as in any other part of the United States. While upon the subject of forage plants, we desire to call attention to the great value of sorghum for this purpose, as see remarks on sorghum fodder on page 12. WINTER PASTURAGE. The Northern farmer has little use for winter pastures as snows would cover them up for months, and when the snows melt, the ground is too wet to let the stock out on it. Stock of l^ The Southern Partner' s Guide. all kinds must be penned up and fed for half of the year; but in the South green winter forage can be successfully grown and pastured. Cattle men should note this great advantage and secure stock ranches here in the South, where stock can be handled and fed in winter so much more economically than at the North, and their profits correspondingly increased. Orchard grass, fall sown oats and rye, and on soils rich in lime, blue grass, afford excellent winter and early spring pasturage. CEREALS .... CORN AND WHEAT. Winter wheat is the variety of wheat sown here, and yields well when the ground is properly prepared and is rich, or has been fertilized. Nearly all the counties of the State have fur- nished fine samples of their grain at the Arkansas agricultural exhibits. In corn, the State has lately made a good showing, as compared with some other States, as is witnessed by the census of 1890, which gives returns as follows: ACTUAL YIELD OF CORN IN SEVERAL STATES IN \\ STATES. BUSHELS. STATES. BUSHELS. 33,982,318 27,154,633 29,261,422 13,770,417 30,073,036 25,783,620 3,701,264 13730,506 380,662 3,097,164 988,806 1,700,688 253,810 1,330,101 1,471,979 California Michigan Colorado 2,381,270 Virginia Georgia South Carolina Alabama 28,785,579 1,511,907 583,489 24,696,446 82,535 183,929 238,203 New Mexico Minnesota Arizona Florida North Dakota. Oregon Washington 156,413 Delaware Wyoming 25,162 New Hampshire 14,225 24,095 Idaho Rhode Island Massachusetts Utah Nevada 84,760 6,540 Connecticut Arkansas is in States and her crop the lead in the past year comparison with the above ( 1894) was undoubtedly much The Southern Farmer' s Guide. ij larger than that quoted above, as the price of cotton having been low, farmers have turned their attention to corn raising. UPLAND RICE. This crop can be grown successfully and profitably on any of the good uplands of Arkansas just as easily and more prof- itably than wheat. The average yield is larger, the price higher, and the labor in raising and harvesting no greater. Upland rice is in every respect as good as lowland and sells for the same price. A 40-acre field yielding as an average crop 40 bushels per acre, if sold at $1.25 per bushel would bring $2,000, and the rice hay, for the plant is cut while the stalk is' still green and makes excellent hay, would yield 60 tons, worth $7 per ton or $420, or a total of $2,420 from 40 acres, besides the aftermath or second crop growth from the roots, which fur- nishes excellent pasturage until frost. Rice should be sown early in March and is ripe and ready to mow in July. After it is cut, leave it on the ground until it is cured, then tie in bundles and stack for a few weeks until it goes through a sweat and whitens and hardens the grain. BROOM CORN. This crop is best raised in drills, not in hills although some growers plant it so. In drills about 10 quarts of sound seed will plant an acre, the drills being 3^ feet apart. A kindly loam soil is preferred to a stiff clay or a sandy one, although any soil that will grow a good crop of field corn will grow broom corn and it should be made rich by applications of well rotted stable, pig or sheep manure, if not naturally so. This may be worked in after it is spread broadcast, by the plow and harrow, or if the land is quite poor can be applied in the rows. A grain drill which opens the rows, plants and covers the seed, all at one operation, can be used to advantage in the extensive growing of this crop. Land should not be run in broom corn more than See HOLL.ENBERG Music Couip:iiiy's Announcement, Outside Back Cover. i6 The Southern Farmer'' s Guide. two years in succession as it draws heavily upon the strength of the land; it is better then to alternate with root crops, clover or cowpeas. Broom corn should not be planted until the ground is warm, say the first of May in Arkansas, and when it is up run between the rows with cultivator or pony harrow, keeping the soil mellow and well stirred, working also with hoe so that weeds and grass get no advantage. Thin out the plants when 2 or 3 inches high to about 3 inches in the rows or four to six plants in the hill^ according to the fertility of the soil. Long and straight staple is the main point and this can be secured only by encouraging a strong growth by heavy manuring and good culture and by bending down the brush part, called "lopping off, " at a point a foot or foot and a half below the brush. When ripe, that is, when the blossoms shed, cut the brush off at the point where bent over, with a sharp knife and lay the heads where they will cure perfectly straight, and dry under cover in a barn, shed, or curing house. This curing will be perfected in three or four weeks, and can best be done on light slat racks, so that the corn can be dried in thin layers on the different slat shelves of the rack. When fully cured the seeds are removed by combing them out in a hackle made of iron or hard wood bars with pointed ends set firmly upright, not more than a quarter of an inch apart, in a wooden frame. The broom corn should then be packed in a square bale, heads upon heads the butts outside, evenly and smoothly, the length of the bale being 4 or 5 feet, and the height and breadth about 2}^ to 3 feet, with slats or thick laths at the corners and sides (not at the butt ends), and all held in place by strong wire or heavy twine bands. The present price of broom corn is only from $35 to $70 per ton according to quality and length, but is sometimes worth about double these figures. That which has a green color and yet is perfectly matured and cured is esteemed very much better than that having a yellow or red appearance. The Southern Far?ner' s Guide. JJ Broom corn seed hackled out from the brush, though not sufficiently mature to use for planting, form a good feeding grain when ground with corn for hogs, sheep or poultry. Broom corn fodder is valuable for feeding purposes after the brush has been removed, and cattle should be turned in on it in the field to help themselves. The stalks make a good fertilizer and should be run through a corn cutter and cut 3 or 4 inches long and put in the barnyard where they can be tramped down by the cattle and absorb the urine and other nitrogenous products, or they can be burned in the field and the ashes used as fertilizers. The former is, however, the best way of securing the full value of their chemical constituents and making them useful. . . . .TOBACCO .... "Tobacco is a filthy weed; It was the devil sowed the seed." So says some "machine poet." Be this as it may, and we leave the question of its origin to others, mankind seems to love it, and as a money-making plant in the South it has a promi- nent place, Arkansas has not given .much attention to its culture as yet, having produced in 1889 but 1,156,000 pounds, but her lands and climate are declared by good tobacco farmers to be as well suited to this plant as those of any other State. In North Car- olina, land that will grow fine thin golden leaf tobacco is very valuable, while equally good lands for this crop can be bought in Arkansas at from $3 to $5 per acre. In the year 1882, I. W. G. Wierman planted 15 acres in tobacco, in Saline County in this State, of which he says: "No finer crop ever grew on American soil." We give here a few points in the growing of fine tobacco abridged from his directions. Sow the seed early in January where a large brush heap has been burned, raking the ashes into the soil, then sprinkle the seeds over the bed and press them down with a flat board. Set Pz i8 The Southern Farmer' s Guide. out the plants in April — the earlier the better, when the weather is favorable. New land is not as good for tobacco as that which has been cropped for several years, but it should be rich or fertilized with wood ashes or well rotted manure, applied broadcast or in the hill. Set plants from 2 to 3 feet apart, ac- cording to variety. Nearly level culture is best. Work well and often; after a rain is a good time to cultivate it. Tobacco should be "topped" before if blossoms — how high or low is a matter of experience — about the eighteenth leaf from the ground is the general practice. All suckers should be pulled off before they are 3 inches long, but let all the leaves grow; the lower leaves prevent the sun from dry- ing the ground about the roots, and protect the leaves above from dirt when it rains. When a tinge of yellow comes on the leaves or they as- sume a mottled appearance, or they break when folded over between the thumb and finger, the tobacco is ripe. Then with a hatchet cut into the stalk to the heart, 10 inches above the ground, then split down the middle of the stalk to within 3 inches of the ground, turn up all the leaves and chop it off close to the ground. The stalks are then hung on laths and are ready for drying. The best time to cut tobacco is after 3 o'clock. If cut on a hot day and allowed to lie in the sun for fifteen minutes it is burned. The drying barn must be got ready for use before the crop is ripe and should be 24 feet wide by 48 feet long and 14 feet high, with three ventilators on top of roof, and lines of posts 4 feet apart, resting on rock bases and nailed to the roof rafters. These posts hold the cross pieces which support the laths of drying tobacco. Care must be taken to hang the laths so the tobacco on one does not touch that on any other. No fire is used in curing fine, thin tobacco, such as is used for cigars, but heavier, such as is used for pipe smoking and chewing, is fire-cured. For RAILROAD LANDS at LOW PRICES See Advertisement on Page 8. The Southern Farmer'' s Guide. ig .... FRUITS .... APPLE ORCHARDS. The fame of Arkansas apples may justly be said to be almost world-wide, as she has carried off first honors wherever she has exhibited her fruits ; such apple countries as New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Canada and the Pacific Coast States having been beaten again and again in the compe- tition, and the leading pomologists of the country have sung the praises of the matchless fruit she has exhibited. In that part of the State lying north of the Arkansas River the business of apple raising has passed the experimental stage and has assumed large proportions, some of the counties having hundreds of thousands and will soon have millions of bearing trees, and the quality of the fruit is unsurpassed. Apple trees one and two years old cost here from $4 to $5 per hundred. It is best to buy trees grown in the South, as there are large and reliable nurseries raising such varieties as are found to succeed best here. The favorites for profit are Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Mammoth Black Twig, Ingraham, Jonathan, Shockley, Winesap, Ozone Red, Rome Beauty, Huntsman's Favorite, Hoss, Springdale, Clingman's Yellow Forest, and the Tull apple; and for early varieties, Early Har- vest, Red Astrachan, Arkansas Red, and Red June. A failure of the crop was unknown until last year, 1894, when a freeze in March ruined almost the whole crop of this State. For the southern lowland portions of Arkansas and ad- joining States we can highly recommend the Arkansas seedling "Tull" apple, now being introduced by C. B. Davidson, of Little Rock, a large, beautiful red-striped apple, which does not rot, maturing perfectly, a good bearer and winter keeper; and also the "Yellow Forest" apple, another excellent South- ern variety, grown and offered to the public at the Clingman Nurseries, at Homer, La. 20 The Southern Farmer'' s Guide. We consider these two apples as almost invaluable upon the cotton lands of the State, having originated on the alluvial lands, they have, after trial for the past fifteen years, proved their eminent adaptability to this section. (See the advertise- ment of these excellent fruits). The market for Arkansas apples is mostly in Texas, Col- orado and the Northwest, and the price in carload lots is from 50 cents to $1 per bushel. Taking the lowest figure as the price, apple raising is a very profitable business. Trees planted 20 feet apart give 100 trees to the acre. The more prolific sorts, such as Ben Davis, will bear at five years from the nursery a bushel to the tree, the sixth year they will bear 5 bushels, when ten years old from 10 to 20 bushels, and above that age from 30 to 50 bushels. Supposing that only 50 trees are set to an acre instead of 100, and that they bear an average of only 20 bushels to a tree, this would give 1,000 bushels per acre, and if sold at the lowest price, 50 cents per bushel, would make the income from i acre $500, or $5,000 from 10 acres. When it is remembered that root crops, such as sweet or Irish potatoes, can be successfully grown between the rows of trees while they are coming into bearing, an idea is gained of the profit there is in apples on the exceedingly cheap lands of Arkansas. Thousands of immigrants have already found out these facts, have settled here and are raising Arkansas apples, but we have still room for hundreds of thousands more. There is no danger of overproduction, for England stands ready to take all the surplus of good apples we have to ship. The export from American ports the season of 1891-92 was 1,448,712 barrels; since that date not so many have been ex- ported, because the country hadn't them to spare. For RAILROAD LANDS at LOW PRICES See Advertisement on Page 2. The Southern Farmer'' s Guide. 21 PEACHES AND PEACH LANDS IN ARKANSAS. The whole State of Arkansas is a peach country. From the earliest days of the settlement of the territory fine seedling peaches have flourished and borne beautiful fruit by the side of every farm house throughout the entire State, but in a commercial way interest seems at present to center in three different local- ities, namely, Hempstead and the adjacent counties in the south- west, Drew County in the southeast, and Crawford dnd Frank- lin counties in the northwest. Other counties may ultimately prove to be full as desirable locations as these, but for the pres- ent these are recognized as the leading peach districts. Any soil adapted to the growth of corn is said to be good for the peach; yet, upon investigation, a rich, friable loam, with well drained red clay subsoil, seems to produce the best results; elevated sites, or the presence of bodies of water near by, lessening the danger of injury by late frosts, are desirable. Sandy soils are not objectionable where they are enriched by the application of ashes or marls, as is done in the famous peach lands of New Jersey. Speaking of the lands in Hempstead and adjoining counties in Arkansas, Professor John Branner, a most eminent geologist, says: "The sandy surface residual soils of these marls, are no doubt the finest soils possible for fruit trees, and especially val- uable for growing peaches. In this connection it is interesting to note that they present the same physical condition and oc- cupy the same geologic horizon as the celebrated peach grow- ing regions of New Jersey." CULTURE OF PEACH TREES. Peach trees are set by orchardists all the way from lO to 2i feet apart; or from loo to 400 trees to the acre, and do well at either distance, according to variety and soil. Perhaps the best way is to plant 400 to the acre, and when trees grow large, say at eight years old, cut out the alternate trees in the rows. 22 The Southern Farmer' s Guide. Peaches begin to bear early in Arkansas, and are as long lived as in any part of the United States. At three years from setting out, trees often produce a good crop, and when in full bearing the best varieties yield at the rate of from 300 to 400 bushels to the acre. Choice peaches will bring from $1 to $2 per bushel net, 10 acres of peach orchard often yielding as much as from $4,000 to $5,000 from a single crop. A like profit can also be made by evaporating the fruit, which should be first peeled and stoned to secure best prices, although good results are obtained without peeling. Mr. A. W. Poole, of Ozark, Ark., has trees in his orchard that bore fruit in 1892 and 1893 which sold at prices equal to $1,600 per acre. The peach crop of the Delaware and Chesapeake peninsula in 1893 was 6,000,000 baskets, which were sold at an average price of 35 cents per basket, or $2,100,000 for the crop. The fruit growers of Arkansas have not only a Northern market but the great Northwest to supply, and there is no danger of over- stocking the market. The peach now attracting the most attention at the South is the Elberta, a large, freestone peach, 9 inches in circumfer- ence, very juicy, melting, and of good quality; color yellow, with a brightly colored red cheek. It was esteemed the best out of 14,000 seedlings. It ripens early, but not so early as the Amsden or Alexander, but is infinitely better and a surer bearer and ripener, the tendency of those being to rot on the trees be- fore they are ripe. The Elberta is one of the handsomest peaches ever grown. The Crosby, a "frost proof" variety, large, handsome, yellow, freestone, sweet, delicious, with very small pit, is well worth trying, so also is C ling man'' s May Peach, introduced by A. K. Clingman at his nurseries at Homer, La. It is a very early freestone peach, blooms late, large, prolific, flesh white, deep crimson skin, delicious in flavor. It is recommended to those wanting a very early good peach. The Southern Farmer' s Guide. 23 PEARS. The pear is one of the finest fruits the Lord ever made, and the South is the place to grow them to perfection and of the finest flavor. In Arkansas are found many old trees bearing annual crops of large luscious pears, many of them doubtless native seedlings, but as yet very little has been done here in the way of raising this fruit for market. This business presents a very inviting and lucrative field; who will enter upon it? The Le Conte, which originated in Georgia, has made good money for many planters in other Southern States, why not here on our cheap red clay lands, which have all the chemical properties required by the pear? Mr. William Jennings, of Georgia, gives his method of the management of these trees as follows : "Begin with one-year-old trees, which are really the best for orchard planting. Three feet of the top should be cut off before planting, or, in other words, the tree should be cut back to 2 feet. "During the summer some of the low buds should be rubbed off, throwing the growth into the upper bud. This top bud should make a growth of from 5 to 8 feet, and during the following winter should be cut back to 4 feet from the ground. "Subsequent pruning consists in annually cutting back the leader, and the longer branches, and removing the inside branches. A Le Conte pear should at five years be of sym- metrical cone shape. If the leader and longest limbs are an- nually cut back, leaving the leader somewhat the longest, and the useless buds and limbs removed, the tree naturally assumes the shape described. "At five to six years old the tree commences to form fruit buds and will require but little pruning thereafter. An average twelve year old tree is 30 inches in circumference above the collar, 20 feet high and 20 feet wide. * * * We find them profitable and so treat them generously." Our own experience would not sanction the use of stimu- lating manures for pear trees. It causes them to throw out too 24- The Souther 71 Farmer' s Guide. large a growth of long immature wood, deranging the shapeli- ness of the tree and predisposing it to blight. Ashes and lime are exceedingly valuable fertilizers for the pear, and salt in moderate amount sown broadcast in the spring around the tree as far as the roots extend. A good location for pear orchard is a northern slope on loamy soil, with clay subsoil, and if these have gravel intermingled or rest upon a porous shaly base so much the better. If the land has not good natural drainage and you cannot furnish it by good under or surface drainage, you had better not set pear trees there, for they will be unhealthy, dwarfed and die soon. Pears on suitable soils and best locations are very long lived. Cole's American Fruit Book gives instances of pear trees now in vigorous life and bearing that are from fifty to sev- eral hundred years old. One in England is mentioned, the branches of which have bent down and taken root until it now covers half an acre of land. Another tree near Vincennes, Ills., bore 184 bushels of fruit in 1834. It is still living. Pear trees can be propagated from the seed and budded in the root, or from suckers where they spring up from the roots of the parent trees, or by cuttings. If by the latter mode, the cuttings should be started in a shallow box filled with sand which should be kept moist, and at an even warm temperature. Set the cuttings sloping in the sand, packing it tightly around them. We do not recommend the use of dwarf trees, which are obtained by grafting the pear on quince stocks. At the South standards are best, and most long lived. Pears sell well, bringing from $1.50 to $2 per bushel, and at this rate would net the grower from $800 to $1 ,200 per acre. Other favorite varieties in the South besides the Le Conte are Keifer, Flemish Beauty, Bartlet, Louise Bon De Jersey, and of lately introduced varieties, the Idaho and Vermont Beauty. See HOLLENBEKG Music Company's Anuouiiceuient, Outside Back Cover. The Southern Farmer'' s Guide. 25 PLUMS. The plum is a native of the South and will do well on any soil that will produce corn, and now that spraying is so largely introduced, the curculio is no longer feared. For this pest and for other insect depredators upon apples, peaches, or plums, a few young pigs are also a good medicine, as they eat up the falling fruit and destroy the next crop of insects. But if you have potatoes or artichokes in the young orchard, better keep the pigs out, and use the insecticides by spraying. Plum growing at the South has proved very profitable; the average net price to the grower for the past ten years having been $2 per bushel. The trees are usually set 12 feet apart each way, and at five years old will average a bushel to the tree, or 300 bushels to the acre, which will net the grower $600; or $6,000 from a lo-acre orchard. Plums bear transportation well and are sent to market in one-third bushel boxes. By planting three or four different varieties, the bearing season can be extended over three months, so that the work of picking and shipping need not come all at once. The favorite varieties are Wild Goose, Damson, Green Gage, Lincoln, Wolf, and the Japanese varieties, Abundance, Burbank, Kelsey, etc. There is good money in plums in Ar- kansas and those who have tried find it so, CHERRIES AND QUINCES. Some sorts of cherries do well here, especially the Morello and the Louisiana Ironclad. This last named is especially well adapted to Southern culture — is vigorous, hardy, enormously productive, fruit large, dark red, growing in clusters, often twenty on a twig 6 inches in length; flesh acid but juicy and pleasant. This fine cherry was introduced by Mr. Clingman, of Homer, La., who also introduced the Clingman's Early May peach and Yellow Forest apple. Quinces do as well here as anywhere. They are usually 26 The Southerti Farmer' s Guide. shy bearers, and the trees have to have age to show good re suits, somewhat as orange trees do in the orange growing States. We have had several good crops from our trees set out about fifteen years ago. GRAPES. When the Spanish and French explorers first visited Ar- kansas they found immense vines of wild grapes on the hills and in the valleys, and here fifty years ago Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati, Ohio, the nestor if not the father of intelligent grape growing and wine making in the United States, found growing wild such large, luscious grapes as were not native to any other State of the Union; and to-day commercial vine- yards in various parts of Arkansas supply our State markets with fine Ives, Concords, Delawares, Wordens, Niagaras, etc., at prices ranging from 7 to 20 cents per pound. There is big money here for the man who will raise them in large quantities and ship them North, where they will have the market all to themselves for at least a month before Northern grown fruit is ripe. L. H. Bailey, of Cornell University, in his "Annals of Horticulture for 1893," states that the money invested in the New York, Chautauqua and Lake Erie grape district is $1,000,- 000; that the business gives employment to 15,000 persons the year round, and that the grapes net the raisers 2 cents to 2^ cents per pound, or from $40 to $50 per ton. He. adds that "it is these facts and figures that have induced so many people to go into raising grapes. * * * There has been a demand for grape land, and at the present time the price ranges from $100 to $200 per acre without a vine on the soil." ( !) What a commentary this is upon the prices of Arkansas grape lands, which can now be bought at from $3.50 to $5 per acre. Good, well-rooted grape vines can be bought at from 3 to 5 cents each of the leading varieties in lots of 100, or even at less prices by the thousand. The Southern Farmer^ s Guide. 27 The various methods of planting, training, and pruning vines would take too much space to be given here, but are easily learned and understood by those who wish to engage in the business. I will merely say that wires and posts are not necessary; vines can be economically grown and trained on stakes 8 feet long, driven a foot in the ground close by each vine, which should be set 7 feet apart each way. Grapevines to bear good crops must be pruned both in the winter and in the spring, the latter being done with the finger and thumb nails, pinching off the ends of the young sprouts just beyond the third leaf above the last bunch of grapes, as soon as the buttons or bunches of blossoms, which will mature into the future bunches, show well upon the vines. THE SCUPPERNONG GRAPE. The Scuppernong is a native grape of the Southern States, a distinct variety that needs no pruning, bears prodigious crops of large, delicious, sugary grapes, of a russet golden yellow color when ripe. They should be transplanted not later than February and set from 30 to 50 feet apart, and will in a few years cover almost any extended trellis room that may be given them. It is best to prepare a permanent arbor, which should be of cedar or some other indestructible wood, with posts 4 to 6 inches square, 8^ feet long, set 18 to 24 inches in the ground. These may be set 12 or 15 feet apart in square form with one in the center, on the south side of which the vine should be set, and a flat trellis constructed from one to the other as shown in u u n r the diagram. This trellis can be extended as the vine grows larger. It need not be built until the third year after the vine is set, as this vine is a slow grower at first. 28 The Southern Farmer^ s Guide. The Scuppernong does not take kindly to fresh manures, and all fertilizing should be done upon the surface and worked in with a fork or plow. When in full bearing immense quan- tities of fruit are produced upon each vine, which can best be harvested by shaking the branches over a cloth, made hopper fashion, over a large, flat basket or wagon bed. This vine can- not be propagated from cuttings but by layering, which should be done any clear, warm day in February. .... BERRIES .... STRAWBERRIES. The first thing to be sure of in strawberry raising (as is also measurably true of other fruits) is that your location is right as to a good, near-by market, or has good shipping facil- ities, so your crop can reach the consumer in prime order and with little delay. The following directions for the cultivation of strawberries are given by Dr. H. McKay, a noted Southern small fruit raiser : "Having selected fair medium land, with good yellower red clay basis, latter preferred, sloping, if possible, to the south or southeast, plow and work thoroughly and then lay off in ridges or beds as if for cotton or corn, but letting the middle of the bed rest on two deep subsoil furrows, and elevated 3 to 5 inches above the general level, rows being 3 to 3^ feet wide and run so as to secure good drainage. Set the plants in the center of these beds from 12 to 15 inches apart, and about an inch deeper than they formerly set, pressing the earth tightly about the roots. For early planting, October and November, or late Feb- ruary and March. Some berries will be produced the following spring, generally 100 to 300 quarts per acre, which, however, are not well suited for market, being more sappy and trashy from growing closer to the ground. If it is desired to pick these berries, give them only surface work with a sharp hoe. The Southern Farmer' s Guide. 2g and commence the regular working after the crop is gathered. If this crop is disregarded, and work commenced earlier, the stools will be stronger and go through the warm weather better. In any case the working should continue upon thin land until middle of July or on rich land until ist of August. "It is best to give two or three workings with the plow, following each time with the hoe, running the subsoil plow in the bottom of the turn plow furrow, so that the land . is thor- oughly broken and pulverized at least 8 or lO inches deep. The grass is then allowed to grow for winter protection and to keep the berries clean. No further work except very light surface hoeing until the crop is gathered the following spring. "It is my deliberate conviction that cheaper and better berries can be made in this latitude on medium or thin land than on rich or highly fertilized." For Arkansas the early varieties we have found best are Hoffman, Haverland and Crescent, the latter fertilized, with Michel set every third or fourth row. Parker Earle is a good medium early, and hardy if it escapes the rust. It is a very heavy bearer, having been said to yield as many as 15,000 quarts per acre, but produces but few plants. For a splendid late berry the Gandy holds first place as yet. It is not good as a shipper North, however, as it ripens too late for that market. The towns of Judsonia, Beebe, Austin, Alexander, Benton, Arkadelphia, Prescott and Hope, on the main line of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad, and the towns on the line of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railway are all well situated for this business, and several of them shipped straw- berries in 1894 to the amount of 60,000 cases each, a case containing 24 quarts. RASPBERRIES. Of black cap raspberries we find the best here to be the Palmer. The Gregg and Tyler are both somewhat subject to For RAILROAD LANDS at LOW PRICES See Advertisement on Page 3. 30 The Souther?! Farmer^ s Guide. blight, but Palmer seems to be rust proof and bears large crops ripening well together. There may be a good late variety but we have not discovered it. Of red raspberries the Turner leads as yet. The Cuthbert seems unsuited to the climate, and though it produces some splendid berries, the crop is light and the canes die out. The Golden Queen is here a moderately strong grower, producing delicious golden colored fruit. Another promising berry is Child's Everbearing, which came into bearing the first time for us in 1894 and continued in bearing until frost. The fruit is rich in flavor and of dark red color. We think it may prove very hardy and good as a very late bearer here. BLACKBERRIES. This is a noble fruit and well worthy of more attention than it has yet received from our Southern fruit growers. We find Early Harvest, Taylor, Ancient Briton and Warren all good. The Early Harvest as its name indicates is a very early berry, and valuable on this account, though not as sweet, rich or large as the others. The Lucretia Dewberry produces heavily of fine large lus- cious fruit, but is of such a spreading habit, rooting as it does from the ends of its long octopus like canes, we fear it will get away from us and invade the territory of all other neighboring plants ; it is a wonderfully strong grower. .... VEGETABLES .... IRISH POTATOES. It used to be thought that early Irish potatoes alone could be successfully grown in Arkansas, and these, while profitable for early shipment North, or sale in our larger towns, would not keep well ; but within the past few years it has been found that a late crop planted with seed of the early one dug before they The Southern Farmer'' s Guide. 3^ are fairly ripe, say when they are as large as hen's eggs, or better still, with seed of a late crop grown the previous year, produce a second crop which keeps admirably. H. Strother, of Fort Smith, Ark., writing to Coleman s Rural World, says: "The finest of Irish potatoes have been in the markets here for some time, dug from the second crop of potatoes on the same land this year. * * * The first crop was shipped North the last of May and first of June, and netted the shippers $i per bushel, and furnished the grower the cash to run his farm with, and now the second crop is selling at from 75 cents to $i per bushel (at retail by grocerymen here at $1.20)." Mr. A. W. Poole, of Ozark, Ark., who raises from 20,000 to 40,000 bushels of potatoes each year, states that every potato planted for the second crop should be cut in two or more pieces, to insure germination. The Arkansas Experiment Station, at Camden, Ark., rec- ommends the bedding out of the seed potatoes in July for the second crop (dug from the first crop), the same as sweet pota- toes are bedded, covering the potatoes 6 inches deep with good soil, and watering the bed until the sprouts are well started, when the sprouted tubers are taken up carefully and planted. A yield of 400 bushels was grown on i acre, on "choco- late" river bottom land, near Clarksville, Johnson County, Ark. — 225 bushels the early and 175 bushels the late crop. Arkansas second crop potatoes find ready market North, as seed potatoes, coming as they do out of our root cellars and potato pits in the spring, in prime, fresh condition. A crop of cowpeas the previous year, plowed under, puts the land in prime condition for Irish potatoes, also supplying the nitrogen which this plant is found to require. An ideal mode of culture as recommended by Mr. Elbert S. Carman, editor of the Rural New Yorker, is to plow a piece of well-drained land thoroughly, 6 inches deep, then lay off with the plow trenches running north and south (if the slope of j2 The Southern Far?ner'' s Guide. the land is favorable), 6 or 8 inches deep and 3 ieet apart; run a subsoil plow in the trench 6 inches deeper, pulverizing the soil thoroughly. In this trench plant the sets 6 inches below the natural level of the ground, i foot apart (this is said to give better results than if farther apart), covering with earth evenly, or with straw, old hay or leaves and manure, scattered on top. This method insures the retention of moisture, which is essential to success in raising potatoes. The subsequent working should be shallow and level, not Jiilling the potatoes, which has a tendency to run the water away from the roots and to cut off the fine long rootlets upon which the plant depends for the nourishment of the growing tubers. Potatoes pay well at even 100 bushels to the acre, sold at 50 cents a bushel ; but kept in root cellars or out-door pits until spring, they will bring 75 cents to $1 per bushel in our towns or railroad stations in carload lots for shipment. On testing grounds in New Jersey, over 1,000 bushels have been raised per acre by the use of high grade fertilizers and best methods of culture. Potatoes are an excellent crop to grow in young orchards while trees are growing to maturity. They are a fine money crop at the South. Mr. Poole, referred to above, gave some valuable hints on potato raising at the late meetings of the Arkansas State Hor- ticultural Societies. He does not exactly use the trench system, but breaks his land deep and harrows, then plants in shallow furrows, by hand from a short sack, hung by a strap around the planter's neck, near his waist. As each cut piece of potato, which he prefers to have of large size with two or three eyes, is dropped about 16 inches apart in the furrow, the planter steps on it; this, Mr. Poole afifirms, is of the first importance as it packs the potato firmly in the ground and the soil snugly around it, and this packing tends to bring or retain the moisture so necessary to the strong growth and productiveness of this plant. For KAILROAD LANDS at LOW PKICES See Advertisement on Page 3. The Southern Fartner'' s Guide. jj After thorough trials, Mr. Poole recommends the use of late crop seed, grown the year before and kept over, for the seed of both his early and late crops, the latter being planted not earlier than the middle of July. He recommends the Par- son's Prolific, and says, "I cut any way to get as much meat as possible to the two or three eyes I leave. I never split at all." Mr. Poole emphasizes these points in planting Irish po- tatoes: Plow land deep, furrow shallow, step on the sets with a good heavy shoe or boot as you plant, cover deep, especially for the late crop, then as soon as they begin to sprout harrow or knock off ridge over potatoes so as not to leave the potatoes more than 3 or 4 inches deep, then cultivate as nearly level as possible. In regard to the time to plant the late crop, this will vary in the different parts of the State — in the northern and higher altitudes they should be planted in June or July; in the lower part of the State the ist of August may be better. SWEET POTATOES. Almost everybody knows how to raise sweet potatoes, but a few hints may be acceptable to our Northern friends. To raise the "slips," select a sunny piece of ground, shel- tered from north and west winds by buildings or fences ; here make beds 4 feet wide sloping them a little to the south, dig- ging them thoroughly and working in plenty of well-rotted manure. It is best to box the edges with 6 to 10 inch boards to prevent washing of the soil. On these beds lay smooth un- bruised potatoes, side by side, an inch or so apart over the entire bed ; cover with 3 or 4 inches of fine soil and water them frequently until the sprouts are well grown. The bed should be prepared the last of February or first of March, From 5 to 10 bushels will furnish enough slips to plant an acre, some varie- ties furnishing more sets than others. Remove the slips from the beds by pressing down the earth over the potatoes with one hand, pulling off the sprouts with the other, so as not to disturb the fibrous roots, as the parent potato will continue to furnish slips for several months if not disturbed. P.1 34- The Southern Farftier^ s Guide. Two crops can be grown the same year if slips for the early crop are grown in a hotbed, and the plants set in the field just as soon as all danger of frost is over. If only one crop is grown this can be planted to good advantage after a crop of winter oats is harvested, say by July ist. The crop of potatoes should average 300 bushels per acre, worth $150, and the oats say $20, or $170 for one year's crops. In planting sweet potatoes the rows should be laid off 3^ to 4 feet apart and the slips set 18 inches apart in the rows, care being taken to have the rows broad at the top. Keep clear of weeds by light hoeings until vines cover the ground, then go through occasionally with a pitchfork and carefully lift the vines from the ground to prevent them from taking root and drawing away strength from the growing potatoes. <'KILN DRIED" SWEET POTATOES. This does not mean dessicated or evaporated sweet pota- toes, but is a new idea and enterprise, easily managed by any raiser of this vegetable, and is a matter of prime importance to Southern farmers. Kiln drying is simply extracting the surplus moisture from whole potatoes. This is done in a building to suit the require- ments of the size of the crop, say 40x60 feet, 16 feet high, without windows and with but one door at the end. When the frame is up take thick building paper and tack on the studding inside and out, under ceiling and weatherboarding; put same material in roof, floors and overhead ceiling; this makes a frost proof and air-tight building. Then when the potatoes are ripe and properly air dried, the merchantable potatoes are "ricked up" in this house. The ricks are made by putting upright 2x4 studding 6 feet apart. The potatoes are then corded in straight as you would rick up cordwood until the house is full, excepting a space 10 feet square in the center directly under the ventilator in the roof, which should be made to close when needed. The Southern Far?ner's Guide. J5 In this space put a stove, a coal base burner is best, build fire in this and close everything, provide a thermometer and let the temperature run up to from 90 to 1 10 degrees. Within thirty-six hours little white shoots will sprout from the potatoes, and in sixty hours (still keeping the temperature above 90 degrees) the surplus moisture in the composition of the potato will be carried off, the tubers being at the same time covered with the white shoots. Then the potato is "kiln dried, ' ' and will keep for two years if left in the racks in this air-tight building, or from six months to a year in barrels. The best variety to dry is the Yellow Nansemond or Jersey Yam. The larger whiter fleshed varieties cannot be easily kiln dried. The shoots are rubbed off with the hand at packing time by boys or women, and barrels filled and headed up the same as in packing apples. The potatoes are of a fine nut brown color and of superior flavor, and are the only sweet potatoes, excepting a few very early ones, that will sell in any Northern city. These sell f. o. b. in carload lots at $3 per barrel, but others will not sell at any price. Thousands of carloads of kiln dried can readily be sold. CABBAGES. TWO CROPS PER ANNUM. We find cabbages can be just as successfully grown in Ar- kansas as in Illinois or New York; the only difference being that here you can grow two crops in the year, there but one, "How to do it?" Sow your seed in January in boxes in the house, or in hotbeds or "cold frames" with covers made with cotton cloth tacked on slat frames, which will usually be suffi- cient to keep off frosts, but which must be supplemented during hard freezes with extra covers of matting, gunny sacks or old carpeting. These beds should be in some warm corner, on the south side of buildings or fences, where they will be protected from cold winds. The plants will be ready to set out (if they have j(5 The Southern Farmei-'' s Guide. been watered and tended well by giving them plenty of air and sunlight so that they have not grown spindling and "drawn") the middle to 20th of March. If, however, it is desired to have earlier plants, to set out say the ist of March, sow the seeds in October or November (in poorer soil than in January) and when grown large enough to set out, transplant them into another bed or cold frame in poor soil, putting them close together to stand over winter, giving them all the cold air possible night and day, only covering them during hard freezes. The best very early variety we consider the Jersey Wake- field, though some prefer the Winningstadt. Cabbages will do well only on good rich clay or loam soil, with clay subsoil, and should be heavily manured with the best of well rotted manure, cow manure being preferable. Applications of lime and salt the previous fall and winter are beneficial, tending to destroy and keep off cutworms, and also to act chemically upon the manures, rendering them more easy of assimilation by the plants. It is highly important that the ground be worked deeply, either with spade or fork if in the garden, or with plow and subsoil plow if in the field, before setting the plants. The Jersey Wakefield variety can be set i6 or i8 inches apart, while the larger and later sorts, such as Flat Dutch, Drumhead, Fottler's Brunswick, etc., should be set not less than 2 feet, and all plants of the cabbage family should be set in the ground np to the first leaf, no matter how long the stem may be, and the earth pressed tightly about the root. Setting the plant deep is one of the most important points in cabbage cul- ture, they will not head otherwise. Another important point is to work the ground frequently, especially when it is damp, early in the morning or after a rain. For the second crop, sow the seed in June or July in a bed on the jiorth side of a building or fence, watering the bed regu- larly, and setting out as soon as the plants are large enough ; work them well and frequently, as directed above, and the crop will be ready for market before cold weather comes in the winter. The Southern Partner'' s Guide. J7 A good crop of beans or of some other quick growing veg- etable can be grown on the same ground, between the time of gathering the early cabbages and planting the late ones. The early crop of cabbages should be ready to cut from the first to the middle of June, and the late crop should be planted about the ist of September, and will be ready for use in December or January. Cut worms are pretty sure to trouble cabbage growers early in the spring, eating the plants in the night and burying them- selves in the soil near the stems in the daytime. They must be dug out and killed; a small stick or a large nail are good tools to do this with (the cut leaves or stems will show where the worms are) . The patch should be "wormed" every few days. Later the ^r^^;^ worms will appear, generally lying along the central ribs of the leaves, and these must be picked off. A few broods of young chickens are good things to have near a cabbage patch. Applications of dry wood ashes and a little Paris green mixed are recommended to kill worms on young cabbages, but this should only be applied before they begin to head at all. It should not be used on cabbages that are heading, as it might lodge and be retained in the head. Paris green as is well known is an arsenical preparation, and a deadly poison. Water heated to 120 degrees (no hotter) can be used on cabbages to kill worms or lice, and does not injure the plants. Keep sufficient plants back in your seed beds to reset where any have failed to live or been eaten off by cut worms. Remember then, if you please, the main points in cabbage growing in Arkansas are : Rich soil deeply worked. Early plants or very late ones. Deep setting. Firm packing of the soil about the roots of the young plants. Frequent workings, especially when ground is damp. Worms well fought and destroyed. For RAILROAD L,ANDS at LOW PRICES See Advertisement on Page 8. j8 The Southern Farmer' s Guide. Attention to these points will bring success, and success in cabbages, while it means lots of work, means also lots of money; sometimes with a good market as much as $500 or $600 per acre for one crop, or twice as much for the two, ONIONS. Twenty-five years ago these vegetables were grown here almost exclusively from "button" onions, or from "sets," small onions, about the size of a swallow's egg, which were all imported from the North. We have found it to be just as easy to raise fine large onions from the seed as from sets or buttons, and that if seed or sets are wanted they can be grown here just as well as at the North. L.et the ground be well plowed or spaded and enriched — there is no danger of getting it too rich, provided the manure is well rotted — then harrow and roll with a light roller. Ap- plications of ashes, salt, lime, bone dust and gypsum or sul- phur will supply nearly all the chemical elements this crop requires. Peruvian Guano (which Is much richer in phosphates and nitrates than the droppings from domestic poultry), mixed with pulverized charcoal and bone meal is highly recommended, but we have found no difficulty on good rich clay or loam soil fertilized with well-rotted cow manure and chips and sawdust from the wood pile, with some ashes, in growing crops of fine large onions, both from seed and sets, without using any of the more expensive fertilizers enumerated above. Plant or sow in February or March, as soon as the weather will permit, putting the rows i to 15 feet apart. If buttons or sets, put them from 4 to 6 inches apart in the rows, or if seeds are sown drop them about an inch apart. When as large as pipe stems thin out to 3 or 4 inches apart, transplanting those pulled out to other beds. The Fayetteville Experiment Station finds that transplanted onions yield about 15 per cent more of marketable size than The Southern Far?ner' s Guide. jp those not transplanted. It will be well, therefore, to have other ground ready on which to set the surplus plants. Be sure your seed is fresh ; old onion seeds will not vege- tate. Test them by sprouting a few, keeping them damp in a shallow dish set in a warm place. If good they should show sprouts in thirty-six to forty-eight hours. Buy your seeds of reliable seedmen, such as the Plant Seed Company, of St. Louis, whose card you will find in this book. Never sow onion seeds broadcast, as they cannot then be properly hoed. If you intend to work onions with plow or cultivator, the rows must be put 2 to 2^^ feet apart, but for hoe culture 12 to 14 inches is enough. The best hoe is one that has a long, nar- row blade, not more than 2 inches wide, running to a point at one end, the other having a chopping edge, the handle being in the middle. Such a tool as this is invaluable in ' onion cul- ture, for working up close to the rows; the middles can be worked out with plow or a common broad bladed hoe. Onions should not have the earth hilled up about them; work it away rather than towards the plants ; they are said to grow larger and keep better thus. It is easy to keep a large onion patch clean with hoes of the pattern described, but grass and weeds in the rows must be pulled out by hand. Onions can be grown year after year on the same ground and the crop does not deteriorate. They have been success- fully grown in Europe for over 100 years on the same land every season. Of course if this is done the strength of the soil must be kept up by applications of fertilizers. We have found the Yellow Globe Danvers onion a very satisfactory sort, but the; large Red Globe is also a strong grower and produces well. We prefer the globe shape to the flat, as they are better keepers and with us produce larger crops. The oniop is an easy plant to raise from the seed if the ^O The Southern Farmer's Guide. ground is made rich, they are sowed early, worked and weeded well, and given plenty of room in the rows; from a late sow- ing it is almost impossible to get a stand. In hot weather the seeds although fresh are hard to germinate. When the tops begin to die, harvest and put in a loft out of the sun, spreading them out and giving them plenty of air. To raise seed, set out either in the spring or fall some of the largest and best onions of the black seed varieties and har- vest the seed when they begin to turn black in the pods, when they should be carefully dried. By planting "button" varieties you get buttons on the top of the seed stalks in place of seeds To raise "sets," sow black seed thickly in rows 4 to 6 inches wide, rows i foot apart, in poor soil; work a little be- tween the rows, but let the onions grow thick together, weeds and all, and they will be stunted and small, and should be kept when harvested in some dry place where they will not freeze, and will be as good for late fall or early spring setting as any Northern grown sets. ASPARAGUS. This vegetable is an excellent shipping product and is pro- duced in Arkansas of fine size and flavor, and can be made here in every respect a commercial success, with as little ex- pense and trouble as anywhere in the United States. Plants are grown from seed, or can be obtained from any nurseryman, ready to set out in permanent beds. These should not be more than 4 feet wide so that trampling upon them may be avoided. Previous to making the beds the ground should be worked deeply, either by plowing, both with turning and subsoil plows, or by digging and trenching, filling the trenches with an ample supply of well-rotted manure. A large amount of fertilizing material is all important in asparagus raising, as the beds once For RAILROAD LANDS at LOW PRICES See Adveitiseijient on Page 3. The Southern Farmer' s Guide. 41 established last twenty or thirty years, and the vigor of the plants and size of the edible shoots depend greatly upon the richness of the soil. A shady place is to be avoided, as the plant likes the sunshine, and comes earlier where the location is sheltered, warm and sunny. Forty-six inches will be found a convenient width for beds, with a path 24 inches wide between them. Set the plants 8 inches from the outside edge of the bed, 12 inches apart in the rows, and let the rows be 15 inches apart. The crown of the plant should be set so it will be cov- ered 2 inches deep with earth. Give the beds a good, heavy top-dressing of well-rotted manure each fall, after cutting off the dead canes, and in the spring sprinkle with salt or pour on brine which will tend to keep down weeds, and is beneficial to the plant. In marketing, cut the shoots off when 6 or 8 inches long, having them of uniform length, tie them in bundles 3 inches in diameter, and pack in the ordinary one-third bushel cases, such as peaches are shipped in. There is an almost unlimited market for early asparagus in Northern markets, as it comes in before any other vegetables, unless it may be onions, or hotbed pro- ducts ; in fact the growing of asparagus in hotbeds or cold frames will pay admirably, as it can then be got into market fully a month earlier than by open air culture. An acre in as- paragus, well set and manured, would help many a poor] man to lift a mortgage, or build a fine, new barn, or a young man to get money enough to take him through college. The ship- ping facilities, however (by express or fast freight), must be good. CELERY. This vegetable will bring money into the hands of the market gardener in the late fall, and if he provides himself with a cellar to house it in, in the winter and early spring. It can be as easily raised in Arkansas as in Michigan. Hear what members of the Arkansas State Horticultural Society at their meeting at Fort Smith had to say about it. We quote from the published report: ^2 The Southern Farmer'' s Guide. "Mr. Foltz — I experimented on celery and met with re- markable success; found it to be profitable and better than any that was shipped into this place. I think we can grow it fully as well as they do in Michigan and other places. It is easily propagated; plant in moist ground, ground that in the spring is too wet for anything else. Let it grow there until late in the fall, then cover over and bleach. "Mr. Hightower (colored) — I have raised it for six years, after having been told that we could not grow celery in this country. I got Mr. Foltz to make out my order for seed, and told him to put down some celery seed. I had some land that was fit for nothing else. Your plants will be strong by the middle of July, then throw a furrow and work the dirt away. By September you have a full growth. For fear of a freeze or frost, get some hay and cover with it. You will have fine cel- ery. It has been preferred to any celery shipped here. I re- alized $8 from two rows the length of this building, and I find there is more in raising celery than in any other vegetable you can grow." One thing especially in favor of celery culture is that there is always a splendid home market for it in the towns and cities of the South, with all the leverage of the long freight haul in favor of the Southern grown article as to price and profit. OTHER VEGETABLES. In the growing of early vegetables, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, peas, beans, cauliflowers, watermelons^ canteloupes, etc., there is ample and profitable opportunity for the enter- prising truck farmer all along the lines of our railroads. A few of our towns have made a good commencement in the growth and shipment of these products, but we have still room for thousands more. Every such shipper should provide himself with hotbeds for the early starting of such vegetable growths as cabbages, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc., and so get into market months before those Northern grown are ready. The Southern Farmer' s Guide. 4.3 NUTS PEANUTS. Peanuts are an exclusively Southern production. The plant thrives best on rich sandy loam, but good crops can be profitably grown on light sandy soils. A green crop of cowpeas turned under the preceding fall (on land that has borne some other crop in the early part of the season) puts land in fine condition for planting peanuts early the following spring, say middle of March to ist of April. They continue to grow until frost, and will produce from 75 to 200 bushels per acre and sell at from $1 to $1.50 per bushel. The Spanish variety is said to be the best, and also yields 2 to 3 tons of forage of a superior character, being very nutritious and especially valuable as a food for cattle. If raised solely as stock food, mow the vines when the nuts are ripe, and when the hay is cured and saved turn in your pigs and they will dig the nuts themselves ; they are said to be worth twice as much as corn to fatten pigs. If you wish to save and sell the nuts, plow out the vines and nuts, then go through with a fork and shake the dirt off and pile in cocks to cure. In a week or ten days gather the nuts. They are full as easy to cul- tivate as potatoes; should be planted in rows 3 feet apart, the plants 2 feet apart in the rows ; keep down weeds by level cul- tivation and only hill slightly when laid by. The blossoms do not form the fruit, but this grows under the ground. In plant- ing put three or four pods in a place to insure a good stand, and thin out to two. You cannot double crop land planted in peanuts as you can so many other crops at the South. It takes the whole season to grow them, but as one man and horse can tend 40 acres it is a profitable crop. PECANS. Probably there is nothing that will prove a better life in- surance at a less cost than a pecan grove. Pecans seem to suc- ceed on almost all kinds of soils in the South, and are indige- nous to Arkansas. 44 The Southern Farmer^ s Guide. Nuts freshly fallen from the trees should be taken, to insure germination, and should be planted about 3 inches deep, either in nursery rows or where they are to remain, the latter being preferable, as the pecan has a long tap root, which in good soil will in one year be longer than the stem. They can be set from 16 to 35 feet apart and will begin to bear at from ten to twelve years from planting. The location of each tree or place of planting the seeds should be marked by good strong stakes of oak or some other lasting wood, driven into the ground. The ground between the rows may be cultivated in a crop, such as potatoes or cotton, for the first five or six years and after that let the trees have their own way and take care of themselves, A good plan is also to plant peach trees alternately in the rows, if the location is a good one for this fruit, or plums, cutting them out when the pecans have grown large. The outlay for a lo-acre grove of pecans is not heavy; it will cost in Arkansas about as follows : Ten acres of improved land $100 00. Nuts and planting. 50 00 Interest and taxes, 12 years 190 00 Total cost $340 00 If forty trees only are set per acre, and the yield the twelfth year but half a bushel to the tree and sold at $2.50 per bushel, which is a very low price, would bring $50 per acre; when twenty-five years old the trees will bear 5 bushels, to the tree, or 200 bushels per acre, worth at least $500; or from a lo-acre grove the snug sum of $5,000 per annum. Surely, then, we are not in error in saying that pecans furnish an excellent life insurance policy at a very small cost. BLACK WALNUT GROVES. The black walnut is another splendid nut to plant in the South. Prepare the ground as if for a corn crop, then lay it off in Tor KAILKOAD LANDS at LOW PUICES See Advertisement on Page 2' The Southern Farmer' s Guide. 4.5 check rows 16 feet apart and at each intersection drive in a stake of dry oak or some other lasting wood and plant near this stake three or four nuts (just off the tree) to insure a good stand, removing all but one of the plants as soon as they are well established the second year. Trees at 16 feet apart give 170 to the acre, and it is esti- mated that the fruit after the eighth year will be worth $40 per acre and after the fifteenth year double that amount, while the trees at their fifteenth year would furnish lumber worth over $2,000 per acre, or if allowed to stand until fifty years old would cut into lumber worth $8,500 per acre, and at the same time would each year have been producing nuts worth from $80 to $100 per acre. Black walnut trees, like pecans, have a long tap root, and derive the most of their sustenance from the subsoils, and crops can be grown between and in the rows while the young trees are growing, to the advantage of the trees, and such crops can be made to pay all interest on the money expended in land, taxes and interest while the trees are coming into bearing. .... MISCELLANEOUS .... HOW TO BUILD A ROOT OR FRUIT CELLAR IN THE SOUTH. Do not build it under the house; it is much easier man- aged when built independently. The best place is in a hillside, or where the ground is sloping. Commence on the lower side, where a roadway can conveniently come in, and dig say 15 feet wide and 30 to 40 feet back into the bank, sloping the floor a little to the front for drainage. It is best to have it front south or east. A good rock wall, laid up with mortar, 18 to 24 inches thick, should then be carried up 8 feet high, with air ducts or chimneys built on the sides from the floor to 2 feet above top of wall. ^d The Southern Farmer'' s Guide. Bank the earth you have thrown out, around the sides to near the top of the walls. Frame a roof and cover with boards laid close together and shingle the same as you would a house. It might be well in the north part of the State to put building paper under the shingles to make the roof more imper- vious to cold; in fact, the whole building should be both cold and heat proof. The ventilators which may be built as directed above, or put in the roof, must be closed when the thermometer drops to 20 degrees or less above zero. Put the potatoes in piles 10 feet deep on the dirt floor, if it is not damp, or on a cemented floor or board decking raised a few inches. Keep the temperature 50 degrees. The tubers will not sprout if kept at an even low temperature, and Arkan- sas late potatoes will keep in splendid condition thus until the following May or June. The cellar should be kept dark. Apples keep admirably in bins or long trays in such a cel- lar, so they can be looked over from time to time and any decaying fruit picked out. LIVE STOCK IN ARKANSAS. From what has been said herein in regard to grasses and forage plants, which furnish a plentiful supply of excellent pas- turage and fodder, it will be readily seen that Arkansas is a favored land for stock raising. But in addition to these advantages other features should be noticed, such as the abundant supplies of fine stock water, and the long genial summers and correspondingly short and mild winters. There is another great advantage enjoyed here in the emi- nently cheap and yet exceedingly valuable food found in cotton seed, cotton seed meal, and cotton seed hulls, both as daily rations in small quantities to young stock, and as fattening food in the place of corn to grown cattle. After full trial it is found that a daily ration of 7 to 8 pounds of cotton seed meal with 20 to 24 pounds of cotton seed The Southern Farmer' s Guide. ^7 hulls, fed daily 100 days to 100 head of cattle, increased their weight on an average 4 pounds per day each. But this is not all; every farmer should know that a poor steer weighing but 800 pounds will only sell for about $15 to $16, while the same steer if well fattened up to 1,200 pounds will bring $50. This results not only from the additional weight gained but in the greatly improved quality of the entire beef. The Arkansas Cotton Oil Company, of Little Rock, Ark., who run one of the largest oil mills in the world, will furnish cotton seed hulls and meal or cake at lowest market prices, delivered in any part of the country. See their advertisement in this book. If the Arkansas farmer lives remote from any of our great cotton oil mills, and from railroad station, so that he cannot well supply himself with cotton seed meal and hulls so cheaply furnished by these manufacturing enterprises, which have proved to be of such immense value to the South, a ration of cotton seed, corn and corn cobs ground up all together will be found a very cheap and excellent food. But whether the cattle are fed with the commercial meal and hulls or with home ground cotton seed, corn and cobs, the stock should always have free access to plenty of pure water and of salt. The farmer who lives remote from railroads would do well to provide himself with a good horse power mill for grinding such foods as those spoken of. The Dickinson Hardware Com- pany or the D. E. Jones Company, of Little Rock, whose ad- vertisements are found in this book, will furnish such mills. Once a week, say on Sunday, the cattle should be fed hay or fodder only, or should be turned into a good pasture, thus keeping the bowels open and the stock in fine healthy growing condition. These are not matters of speculation, there is no guess work about it, but for the past six or seven years thousands of cattle have been fed in the yards near our great cotton seed oil mills with results above quoted. There are now See HOL,L.£NB£KG Music Company's Announcement Outside Back Cover. ^8 The Southerti Farmer' s Guide. in the yards at Little Rock about 5,000 head of cattle being fed in this manner. Why should not every Southern farmer avail himself of these splendid fattening foods and fatten his own cattle? .... ADVANTAGES .... THE FARMER AND CAPITALIST FINDS IN ARKANSAS. In addition to the inviting fields for enterprise in Arkansas set forth in the preceding pages, there are others of great value. The first we will mention is the raising of cotton. As everybody knows, a cotton crop, like a wheat crop, does not at present prices pay large returns, but if half of our Southern farmers will make a square turn and raise such crops as we have set forth herein, the price of cotton, when prosperity has again come back to our country, will again reach 8 or 10 cents per pound, at which price cotton is a good crop, when economically raised, and when one is not tied up to it but raises his own fod- der and bread and meat. Then there are the other textile crops, such as flax, hemp, rammie and silk, all well adapted to the South; also sugar beets, millet, buckwheat, barley, hops, melons of all kinds, and in the south part of our State, sugar cane, together with other crops which we have not the space here to enlarge upon. All of those we have mentioned have been found to succeed excel- lently well here. There are also here the advantages of our long summers, giving opportunity for double cropping land, to a far greater extent than is enjoyed at the North, The early springs are also a very great advantage, enabling our fruit and vegetable raisers to put their products into Northern markets from one to two months earlier than those Northern grown, thus securing the very best prices. To the man who is feeding and fattening cattle and hogs our long summers and short mild winters are also a great advantage. The Souther?i Farmer' s Guide. 4Q It is well to remember that while soils can be changed and ameliorated by fertilizers, by drainage, by irrigation, etc., the climate man has to take just as God gives it to him, and surely He has blessed Arkansas wonderfully in this respect. An experience of over t\venty-five years in the North and over twenty-five years in Arkansas enables us to say that here life is a continued pleasure; winters are not dreaded, the sum- mers are genial, and the heat not so great as at the l^orth. Here a man can work out of doors, comfortably, nearly if not quite 360 days out of the 365, and a delicate child can play in the open air the year round, in about the same proportion. No wonder it is a healthy country. In timber, minerals and water power, this State is unsur- passed. Here, too, will be found good schools, good laws, good people. This is certainly the land for the man seeking a home ; for the invalid whose health has run down under the rigors of Northern climates ; it is also the land for the small farmer or the large farmer, the rich or the poor man — for any man of enterprise and brains. L4 J. W. CHKKK, District Agent Land Department St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern and Little Rock and Fort Smith Railways. For the Counties of Pulaski, N^evada, Saline, Ouachita, Grant, Hempstead, Garland, Howard, Hot Spring, Sevier, Dallas, Lafayette, Clark, Little Piver, Pike, Miller. FOR SALE Large Tracts of Pine and l^ardwood Timber Lands Suitable for General Farming, Fruit Growing, Stock Raising, etc. IIVrPROVED KARMS CORRESPONDENCE SOLICITED. Office Land Department, St. L., I. M. & S. Ry. Co. I.ITTJLE ROCK, ARKANSAS. Land for the Landless, Bargains for the Boys, their Mammies and their Daddies. .A.LFALFA FARM, 14 mile from Malvern, suited for Apples and Apricots, Arti- chokes and Asparagus Price, $1,000 JtSLUEGRASS FARM, joining Malvern, of 160 acres, 100 cleared, with two-story house, barn, well and brook, suited to Blue and Bermuda grasses, Beets and Broom corn Price, $2,500 CLOVER FARM of 6c acres, all improved, 2 miles from Malvern, suited for Corn, Clover, Cabbages, Carrots and Celery Price, $1,500 I>AIRY FARM, Vt mile from Malvern, of 40 acres, part cleared, spring, brook, suit- ed to Dairying, iJucks, Dewberries, etc. Price, $1,000 EVERGREEN FARM, V2 mile from Malvern, of 40 acres, part cleared, suited to Evergreen grasses. Endives, Eggplants and Esculents Price, $1,000 F^LOWERY GROVE in Malvern of 4 acres, suited for Figs, Flowers, Ferns, Filberts, etc Price, $ 500 GtRASSY GROVE, near railway switch, of 200 acres, suited for Grapes, Geese, Grass and Gooseberries Price, $1,000 HICKORY RANCHE of 200 acres, i mile from railway station, suited for Horses, Hogs, Hops and Hoops Price, $1,000 XVY RANCHE, of 200 acres, 20 cleared, house, stable, well, creek, 5 miles from « Malvern, suited to Indian corn and Irish Potatoes Price, $1,000 JESSAMINE PLATEAU, 160 acres, 10 cleared, 7 miles from Malvern, suited to Johnson grass, Jap. Persimmons, Jap. clover and Prize fruits Price, $1,000 ICALEGARDEN of 40 acres, part cleared, Vi mile from railway station, suited for Kitchen vegetables. Kohlrabi and Kale .. Price, $ 500 IL«ILAC LAWN, 3 lots in Malvern suited to Le Conte Pears, Lettuce, Leeks, Lilacs and Lillies .. Price, $ 250 IWIIGNONETTE GROVE, 2 acres in Malvern, suited to Melons, Mulberries, Moss roses. Mushrooms Price, $ 500 ^IINA'S KNOLL, 3 lots in Malvern, suited to Nectarines, Nightblooming Cereus, Narcissus and Jasmine Price, $ 300 OUACHITA FARM, 2 miles from Malvern, of 200 acres, 20 cleared, suited to Onions, Okra, Orchard Grass and Orchids Price, $1,000 I*ECAN PLANTATION of 1,000 acres on river, 3 miles from station, for Pecans, Peas, Plums, Peaches, Peanuts and Pigs Price, $5,000 QUERCITRON RANCHE, 640 acres, ■; miles from station, suited to Quinces and Tanning from its yellow oak, pasturage and sheep Price, $2,000 lelCE PLANTATION, Vi mile from station, of 320 acres, for Rice, Ribbon Cane, Rutabagas, Raspberries and Red Top Price, $1,600 ISUNNYSIDE, 2V2 miles from Malvern, of i6o acres, for Strawberries, Sweet Pota- toes, Squashes and Sugar Corn Price, $ 800 TOMATO FARM of 40 acres, V2 mile from station for Turnips, Tomatoes, Tobacco, etc Price, $1,000 "UNTER-DEN-LINDEN" lands, where umbeliferous fruits and flowers grow in unequaled beauty, 40 acre tract Price, $ 200 "VINELAND, 21/2 miles from Malvern, of 160 acres, for Vegetables, Vines and Vetches Price, $ 800 '^^J'lLLOWDALE, of 400 acres, i mile from station, for Watermelons, Willows and Wintergrasses Price, $2,000 3CHELVITIA, of 160 acres, near station, excellent timber for Axhelves, Spokes, Hubs, Bolsters, etc Price, $ 800 "y E above lands have plenty of timber, for buildings, fences, fuel and shade, and can mostly be re- duplicated many times over, on our Railway Company's lands at from $3 to $5 per acre according to soil, timber, and distance from stations. 55ENOBIA WATERPOWERS, near Iron Mountain Ry., to manufacture Electricity for Light, and Power to run Cars, Spindles, Looms, Turning Lathes, Saw, Planing and Grooving Machinery, etc., and to smelt Antimony, Aluminum, Copper, Lead, Nickel, Silver and Zinc, at $5 to $25 per acre. SeC We have some select locations of Coal and Lignite to bake Crucibles, Glassware, Queens- ware, Stoneware, Firebrick. Tiles, Paving and Building Brick, all of which raw materials are here in abundance, and can now be had very cheap. For further information apply to WM. KILPATRICK, K. R. Land Agent, Malvern, Ark. ALFRED PLANT, Prest. GEO. URQUHART. V. Prest. FRED S. PUNT, Secy. Established 1845. Incorporated 1873. PLANT SEED COMPANY. GARDEN, GRASS and FLOWER In Any Quantity. Trite us in Heference to Anything Ifou Need for \m hm or Carden. 812 & 814 N. FOURTH STREET, C^ T ^tttc Mr\ 815 & 817 N. THIRD STREET, »J 1 . LUUl^, 1 lU. Chas. T. Abeles & Co. .. 3Iamifacturers o£ , Sasn, Doors, Blinds, mouliimgs, AND GENERAL MILL WORK. .... Jobbers in .... Paints, Oils, Window Glass, Wall Paper, Window Shades, Picture Frames, Artists' Materials, Etc. Main Office and Store, 215 IVIain Street, Factory, 212, 214, 216 & 218 Scott Street, Branch Store: 301 & 303 Second Ave., Fine Bluff, Ark. LITTLE ROCK, ARK. THE5 Stock Food FOR CATTLE. COTTON SEED HULLS AND MEAL Fed in the proportion of one part Cotton Seed Meal to four of Hulls, they are found to be an ideal fattening ration. We put up for shipment COTTON SEED MEAL In strong, loo-pound bags, and COTTON SEED HULLS In loo-pound compressed bales, and in bulk. These are the best and cheapest fattening- foods known ; 800 pounds of Cotton Seed Meal and 2400 pounds of Hulls, at a cost, including labor of feeding, of about $10.00, bring a lean steer worth only f 20.00 up to a fat beef in prime condition worth $50.00. Prices by the Ton or Car Load on Application. Arkansas Cotton Oil Conapany, LIXTLE ROCK. ARK. Ca.T.^H. J. Wilson WHOLESALE Cor. Scott and Second Sts., LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Till irlkiisii iif s@ri@s Offer for sale a large stock of ARKANSAS SEE D LING FRUIT TREES and other varieties mostly of Southern origin, that have been tested and found to be adapted to the soil and climate of the Cotton Belt. Also offer a limited number of the New So uthern Winter Apple, the "Tull," the only winter apple that will mature perfectly in the lowlands of the South. The most profitable apple for Southern planters. Send for catalogue and prices to C. B. DAVIDSON, Gen'l Agt., 212 W. Fifth St., Little Rock, Ark. A. D. SiAZKN, Real Estate Broker and Insurance Agency. GOVER.\MENT TITLES A SPECIALTY. PRAIRIE OR TIMBER LANDS. Have now for sale the B. Cramer Perfect Title Lands ; also the very desirable lands adjoining the city, owned by Revs. A. and M. Buerkle. Correspondence Solicited from Investors and Land Owners. Office. One Door South of Post Office, STUTTGAHT, Af^I^AflSflS. ARKANSAS BOOK # PAPER CO. Wholesale and Retail BOOKS, STATIONERY AND WALL PAPER. store and Office, T ITTT 17 DrtPIf II DV Warehouse, 307 Main Street. LlllLCi KUI&, At(K. 1 1 1 & 1 1 3 E. Third St. The Leading House of the State. Eastern Prices Duplicated. Correspondence Solicited. CLINGMAN NURSERIES, A. K. CLINGMAN, Proprietor, HOMER AND KEITHVILLE, LOUISIANA. ESTABLISHED, 1873. SOUTHERN TREES FOR SOUTHERN PLANTERS Fruit and Ornamental Trees, Grape Vines, Ever- greens, Shrubs, Roses, Etc. We are the owners and introducers of the following valuable new varieties : YELLOW FOREST APPLE. Native and suited to the South ; color, clear yellow ; rich, aromatic, tender, juicy ; a long keeper. Trees healthy and productive. CLINGMAN'S MAY PEACH. The best large, very early, free stone peach. A boon to the South. Just what Southern planters have been looking for so long. LOUISIANA IRONCLAD CHERRY. Fruit large, dark red, grows in clusters, frequently twenty on a twig six inches long. Tree vigorous, hardy and very productive; succeeds where all others fail. Correspondence solicited. Special inducements to large planters. CAXALOQUES ON APPLICATION. Gleason's . Hotel, f\fT\(ir\Qai) plai}, -,»^_$2 to $2.50. EUROPEAN, i^oo/n $1 to $1.50. pipe Sample F^ooms, St(?am fleat. Corner Second and Louisiana, LITTLE ROCK, ARK- DUDLEY E. JONES COMPANY, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. DEALERS IN Machinery and Machinery Supphes, IRON AND WIRE FENCING. A Large Variety of Roofing, SewerlPipe,!^ Lime, Cement, I Plaster, Etc. MANUFACTURERS OF THE SAILOR COTTON ELEVATORS. JOHN rHJisirHJisifzjLsirHJisi Had some plowing to do, so he went to town and on the sign, over the door of the 151 RJ 151 fell LSI fSJtSlR. leading dealer, he saw the word DEKRK He knew what that meant isirHJi5irHJL5iRJi5iraj and before long he came out is]faJi5irHJi5iraJi5i[2j with one of the OLD EELIABLE C. H. D. CULTIVATORS -AND A- PIvOW Send for Descriptive Circular, to DEERE & COMPANY, MOLINE, ILLINOIS. Kurnislned. with Fertilizer and. Corn Planter Attachments vv'hen Desired. We also make POTATO CUTTEKS, PARIS GREEN SPRINKLERS, POTATO DIGGERS, POTATO SORTERS, Etc. JVriie for our Free Illustrated Catalogue of Potato Machinery. flSPINWflLL niflNUFflCTURlHG CO., '•*S^Ih°''- H. J. GEORGE & CO. WHOLESALE AND RETAIL 1 201, 203 East Markhanj Street, LITTLE ROCK, pK. Are in a position to make CLOSE PRICES. BEFORE MAKING YOUR PURCHASES WRITE THEM FOR DELIVERED :• PRICES NEAREST •:• STATION. Correspondence solicited in GERMAN, POLISH, BOHEMIAN, FRENCH, ITALIAN OR SPANISH Languages. All Letters answered by return mail. "The Arkansas House," «-™ Printers, Binders, Stationers. CATALOGUE AND PAMPHLET WORK A SPECIALTY. Largest and Most Complete Print ing Establishment in the Southwest. CORRESPONDENCE INVITED. Address : Arkansas Democrat Co., Nos. 214 and 216 East Markham Street, Little Rock. Sole Agents for. f Buckeye Double-Acting Force Pumps. 1 Oliver Chilled Plows. Our Specialties : Maninelle and Nebo Cook Stoves • Arkansas Chopper Axes. Our stock is the largest and our prices the lowest in Arkansas. Correspondence solicited and promptly answered. HEADQUARTERS SPORTSMEN'S SUPPLIES. iiiifusii mm$ iiiPiiif , THE ONLY EXCLUSIVE SPORTING HOUSE IN THE STATE. Agents for Winchester Repeating Arms Company, Marlin's Firearms Company, Parker Guns, Smith Guns, Chamberlin Cartridge Company, Austin and Hazard Powder Companies, Columbia Bicycles, A. G. Spalding & Bros. Sporting and Athletic Goods, Geo. Barnard's Hunting Clothing. Have the exclusive sale of the Layman Pneumatic Sporting Boat. Boxing Gloves, Striking Bags- We handle all the Black and Nitro loaded Shells. We have an experienced gun and locksmith, and solicit the most difficult repair work. BROWN'S IRON TONIC, WILL ENRICH THE BLOOD. Cures DYSPEPSIA and INDIGESTION, regulates the LIVER and KID- NEYS,— destroys the effects of MALARIA, removes habitual CONSTIPATION, increases the FLESH, and restores the HEALTH and VIGOR OF YOUTH. DOES NOT BLACKEN THE TEETH, And is the very best of all Tonics. Insist on having IRON TONIC. LINCOLN'S RHEUMATIC CURE [TAKEN INXERNALLV.] Cures RHEUMATISM in any form; a sure Specific for Rheumatic Gout, Sciatica and Lumbago. Three to Six bottles guaranteed to cure any case of Chronic Rheumatism. Give it a trial and be convinced. Prepared only by, C. J. LINCOLN COMPANY, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. THE UNION .IS QUEEN. ^ Combining the de- sirable features of all other nial<es in one. It stands as the triumph of mechani- cal skill. We want dealers every- where and are prepared to o ffer Special inducements. We keep parts of all kinds of machines and the best Repair .Shop in the South- west. Correspondence Solicited. Union Manufacturing Co. W. S. HOLT, Mg'r, Little Rock, Ark. H EMPSTEAD R flUNTY, ARKANSAS. Good Homes. Good Lands. GOOD PEOPLE. Can accommodate One Thousand Families with First-class Farms Hempstead County is noted throughout Arkansas as being one of the best localities in the State for diversified farming and stock-raising. Its fruits, excepting apples, are not excelled by any county in the South. Lands can be obtained at reasonable prices and on good terms. Address F. P. HARKNESS, Real Estate Agent. WasWDgtOD, Hcmpstead Co., irtansas. ^nr. l. f-xjwtsxoit, Statuapy, Headstones, Copings, Tombs, Fupniture Slabs and Plan:ibeps' Ctlork. Building Work of Every Description, of Alabama Lime Stone and Red Sand Stone, Everything in the Marble, Granite and Stone Line. Fine Work a Specialty. Correspondence Solicited. 605 &. 607 Main St., LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Manufacturer of Seals, Hubber Stanxps, Stencils, £tc. OFFICE STATIONERY AND PRINTERS' SUPPLIES. 118 Wesi Maikham St., I^ITIXU ROCK, ARK. VALUAB LE ASS ISTANCE. THE following Traveling and Passenger Agents of the Missouri Pacific Railway, " Iron Mountain Route," are constantly looking after the in- terests of the Line, and will call upon parties contemplating a trip, and will cheerfully furnish them lowest Rates of Fare, Land Pamphlets, Maps, Guides, etc. Or they may be addressed as follows: ATCHISON, KAN.— C. E. STYLES, Passenger and Ticket Agent. AUSTIN, TEX.— J. C. LEWIS, Traveling Passenger Agent. BOSTON, MASS.— LOUIS W. EWALD, New England Passenger Agent, 300 Washington St. CHATTANOOGA, TENN.— A. A. GALLAGHER, Southern Passenger Agent, 103 Read House. CHICAGO, ILL.— BISSELL WILSON, District Passenger Agent, 199 South Clark St, CINCINNATI, OHIO.— N. R. WARICK, District Passenger Agent, 131 Vine St. DKNVER, COL.— C. A. TRIPP, General Western Freight and Passenger Agent; E. E. HOFFMAN, Traveling Passenger Agent. HOT SPKINGS, ARK.— R. M. SMITH, Ticket Agent. IXDIANAPOLIS, IND — COKE ALEXANDER, District Passenger Agent, 7 Jackson Place. JACKSON, MICH.— H. D. ARMSTRONG, Traveling Passenger Agent. KANSAS CITY, MO.— J. H. LYON, Western Passenger Agent, 800 Main Street; E. S. JEWETT, Passenger and Ticket Agent, 800 Main Street; BENTON QUICK, Passenger and As- sistant Passenger Agent, 1048 Union Avenue. LEAVENWORTH, KAN.— J. N. JOERGER, Passenger and Ticket Agent. LINCOLN, NEB.— F. D. CORNELL, City Passenger and Ticket Agent; R. P. R. MILLAR, Freight and Ticket Agent. LITTLE ROCK, ARK.— AUGUST SUNDHOLM, Passenger and Ticket Agent. LOUISVILLE, KY.— R. T. G. MATTHEWS, Southern Traveling Agent, 304 West Main St. MEMPHIS, TENN H. D. WILSON, Passenger and Ticket Agent, 309 Main St.; J. E. REHLANDER, Traveling Passenger Agent, 309 Main St. NEW YORK CITY.— W. E. HOYT, General Eastern Passenger Agent, 391 Broadway ; J. P. McCANN, Traveling Passenger Agent, 391 Broadway. OMAHA, NEB J. O. PHILLIPPI, Assistant General Freight and Passenger Agent ; THOS. F. GODFREY, Passenger and Ticket Agent, Northeast corner 13th and Farnam Sts. ; S. D. BARNES, Traveling Passenger Agent, Northeast corner 13th and Farnam Sts. PITTSBURG, PA.-S. H. THOMPSON, Central Passenger Agent, 1119 Liberty St. PUEBLO, COL.— WM. HOGG, Commercial Freight and Ticket Agent. SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.— S. V. DERRAH, Commercial Freight and Passenger .\gent, 21 Morlan Block. SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.— A. J. DeRUSSY, General Pacific Coast Freight and Passenger Agent, 132 California St. ST. JOSEPH, MO.— F. P. WADE, Passenger and Ticket Agent. ST. LOUIS, MO.— A. A. HEARD, Assistant General Passenger and Ticket Agent; H. F. BERKLEY, City Ticket Agent, Northwest corner Broadway and Olive Sts.; H. LIHOU, Ticket Agent, Union Station; M. GRIFFIN, City Passenger Agent, Northwest corner Broadway and Olive Sts.; W. H. MORTON. Passenger and Emigration Agent, Union Station; J. C. NICHOLAS, General Baggage Agent, Union Station. WICHITA, KAN.-E. E. BLECKLEY, Passenger and Ticket Agent, 114 North Main St. Land seekers arriving at the Union Station, St. Louis, should call immediately on Mr. W. H. MORTON, Passenger Agent, Room 402, Union Station, who will assist them in securing tickets, checking baggage, shipping freight, and giving information in regard to lands, prices, terms, etc. W. B. DODDRIDGE, H. C. TOWNSEND, General Manager. Gen'l Passenger and Ticket Agt. ST. LOUIS. MO. • TTHE • Ipon Mouqlain I|ou(b WITH ITS LINES AND BRANCHES REACHES The Great Timber Districts, The Valuable Mineral Deposits, The Incomparable Fruit Lands, The Fine Grazing Territory, The Broad Corn and Cotton Fields, The Cheap Railway A.ND GOVERNPvlENT LANDS OF ARKANSAS 4 DAILY TRAir^S 7i krom: sx. LOUIS. 1 Solid Trains from Kansas City via Wagoner Route. W. B. DODDRIDGE, H. C. TOWNSEND, Gen'l Manager. Gen'l Pass. & Tkt. Act., Sr. Louis, Mo. ESTABLISH 1853. FACTORY REPRESENTATIVES OF Hallet & Davis ^W. W. Kimball Companies ANNUAL CAPACITY 9,000 Pianos 20,000 Organs ^ With these facihties, it is evident that our economic advan- ta^s are unequaled, and patrons are insured that our prices cannot be duplicated, if quaUty is considered. We carry an immense stock in our warerooms, displaying all the latest designs and beautiful cases, which afford customers the opportunity to make unlimited comparisons and suit their own taste S9 ^"^ PIANOS AND ORGANS BY MAIL We have complete catalogues, price-lists and circulars giving full information as to differences in style, finish, price and terms of payment which we will mail, free of charge, to any desired address. Parties ordering may be sure they will receive all the benefits a large stock and capable judges afford, and, if on examination, any instrument ordered is not entirely satisfactory, it may be returned at our expense. Send for catalogues, prices and terms, we will furnish all infor- mation asked for. Offices and Warerooms : 317 Main Street. Little Rock. Ark. 243 Wabash Avenue. Chicago. III. 700 Harrison Avenue, Boston, Mass. Address, HollenDBrg music Co. LITTLE ROCK, ARK, o 0^ •f. -— M#>'^ .V «^"' -> « I \ ,0^ cO_-- ^.<^^' ^/ ■x^''"- .^^ 1> c,^ -■ " .0 A- ^• -r. \0°^. "oo'^ ^0 (^. >■ ■'^.-^ ,-V S^-^; C^ V v^ vv V .^'' s^ -^^ .^:^'% = ■> --<</> .^^ s , V > B O^ .■^^ A' r!\%^A