Saturday, December 17, 2011

Yadkin, Stanly, Moore County Farmers' Successes, 1949

By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Charlotte Observer, Dec. 5, 1949

Years ago, there was a saying in North Carolina that the sheriff never sold out a man who had plenty of corn in his crib. Major William A. Graham, who served North Carolina so ably as one of its great commissioners of agriculture, used to assert that this saying was true and that over a long lifetime in the great reconstruction period when North Carolina was finding itself and getting back on its feet, he found out the truth of the proverb. 

It was perhaps another way of pointing out that with plenty of feed and food for men and beast in the crib, barn lofts, smoke houses, pantries and other snug storage places, a man and his family were secure against the onslaughts of cold and privation. That’s a happy situation and the good farmer and his family enjoys such a situation more often and more completely perhaps than any other group of people.

Perhaps no where can this situation be enjoyed more fully than in North Carolina this fall. We have had our set backs, it is true, but if we look across the state as a whole, we find that things are in pretty good shape. Some good farming has been done this year. There is accord in the state between all classes of people. Prices for farm products have been fair—not good in comparison with the things we have to buy, but reasonably fair. We are getting along all right; better than most, I would say. That is not a matter for smug gloating or for any feeling of superiority but rather a matter for devout thanks.

In Yadkin County, the folks are thankful this fall for the good yields of corn which they have housed. County Agent D.D. Williamson says that 15 Yadkin corn growers produced over 100 bushels and that 25 others grew from 75 up to 100 bushels per acre. The average yield for the county is much better than in 1948 and the growers say that by increasing production per acre, they can grow their corn more cheaply and more economically. They do not have to use so many acres to get the amount of grain they need on the farm. These released acres are being put to pastures, hay and small grain crops that are not so costly to cultivate and are more easily handled with mechanical equipment. Yadkin always plants a rather large grain crop but the growers were delayed this fall due to the fact that the tobacco harvest was delayed two to three weeks later than usual.

Charlie Barbee of Albemarle, Route 4, Stanly County, produced 129 bushels of corn per acre this year and has reported his yield for consideration in the state corn-growing contest for the piedmont section. Mr. Barbee grew the NC 1023 hybrid and his corn was carefully weighed and a moisture test made before the final yield was recorded. The Stanly farmer said his yield would have been much better had it not been for that storm in the early fall that blew down the corn so badly that a large amount of the ears were damaged and had to be removed before the final weights were taken.

Quite a few North Carolina landowners are starting early this fall to remedy the drainage situation on their lowlands or bottoms. A.R. Laton of Jackson Springs, Moore County, has a 40-acre tract of fine land where all the old ditches had been filled up and the banks overgrown with bushes and trees. These had clogged the ditches so badly, he said, until the entire 40 acres was badly water-logged and impossible to cultivate. W.G. Caldwell, assistant farm agent, helped Mr. Laton place 14 cases of blasting dynamite to clear out the ditches Now this 40 acres is one of the best fields on the Laton farm. It was worthless, however, until the dynamite was used. The water is now running clear and free, and the land is well drained.

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