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This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. Copyright © 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

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North Carolina Farmer

by Edwin H. Mammen, 2006

Advertisement for The North Carolina Farmer, 1880. Image from Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.The North Carolina Farmer, a publication that referred to itself as a "journal of Agriculture, Horticulture and Domestic Economy," was established in June 1876 in Raleigh. Published monthly by James H. Enniss & Company, the journal cost one dollar per year or 10 cents per issue. In a three-column, 8 1½" by 11½" format on newsprint, the first issues had 14 pages. Regular departments included Soils and Fertilizers, Grasses and Grains, Rules and Tables, Cotton and Tobacco, Birds and Insects, and a Farm Calendar detailing chores for each month. Over the years, the North Carolina Farmer became a more general farm family publication, introducing departments including Family Fun, Hygiene, Poetry, Popular Science, and Housewifery. Contents also expanded to include short stories and market information.

In 1878 the masthead changed to include an illustration of the state capitol building, and the publication referred to itself as the "Organ of the Farmers of North Carolina." Also that year, front-page news was eliminated in favor of an illustration department, with drawings each month of a different crop, animal, or bird along with descriptive material. Advertising included insurance, farm supplies, Bibles, and home remedies.

By February 1882 the North Carolina Farmer had expanded to 24 pages. It is not known exactly when the Farmer ceased publication. The last issue available is dated May 1888.

Additional Resources:

Weston, James Augustus. "Was Marshall Ney Executed? Chapter II: Testimony." Historic doubts as to the execution of Marshal Ney. New York: Thomas Whittaker. 1895. p.181. http://books.google.com/books?id=sizKAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA181#v=onepage&q&f=false

Image Credits:

Advertisement for The North Carolina Farmer from: Hunter, Capt. J. B. Useful Information Concerning Yellow Tobacco, and Other Crops as Told by Fifty of the Most Successful Farmers of Granville County, N.C. Oxford, N. C.:  W. A, Davis, Editor And Proprietor Torch-Light, 1880. Image from Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/hunter/hunter.html#hunter34

Subjects: 
Newspapers and magazines
Authors: 
Mammen, Edwin H.
Origin - location: 
Raleigh
From: 
Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.

1 January 2006 | Mammen, Edwin H.