Published in the Wadesboro Messenger, Feb. 20, 1947
By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, North Carolina State College, Raleigh
The man who knows is the man who does the best farming. Many a time, however, a person on the farm cannot do the thing which he knows are best, although by trying to meet new situations with newer methods, almost always he gets more profitable results. For instance, J.F. Phillips of McFarlan, in Anson County, gins about 5,000 bales of cotton for the growers of that community each fall. This past year, he installed a dryer so that the cotton seed might enter his gins in better shape, and he says that he was surprised at the better quality of lint cotton turned out. So much of the cotton coming to the gin is brought in green or wet that it has been almost impossible for him to heretofore turn out a good sample in every case. Mr. Phillips says that he would not think of operating his gin without a dryer. This one supplement to his operations has meant much to the profits which his customers make on their cotton.
W.R. Gaddy of Morven has learned that it pays to fertilize cotton liberally. Last spring, he planted an 8-acre field where he was not able to get the seed in the ground as early as he liked; so he fertilized the cotton with 1,400 pounds per acre of 4-10-6 mixture. At the beginning of the picking season, Mr. Gaddy thought perhaps he might harvest three-fourths of a bale per acre. But the fall season last year was very favorable to cotton maturity and so, when the final weights were all in, Mr. Gaddy had harvested exactly 14 heavy bales of lint from the eight-acre field. He believes that the heavy supply of plant food added to the soil was largely responsible for the final yield, because the season generally during early and midsummer was unfavorable for the crop.
Ed Hendley of Wadesboro, Route 1, says he has found that sheep are something more than mere weed eaters. He owns a small farm flock of 10 sheep that he has been keeping mostly for their value in keeping down the growth of noxious weeds which his cows would not eat. Last year the 10 ewes brought him a sash income of $150 from the sale of lambs and another $50 from the sale of wool. Mr. Hendley prepared his lambs for the meat markets in Wadesboro and was able to sell them all at a good profit. He says the ewes secured most of their living form the pasture where they kept the weeds and briars well under control.
Anson young people are also keeping up with the times. The other day the Biltmore Dairies at Asheville offered 30 Jersey heifers of excellent breeding to 4-H and FFA boys in a nonprofit sale. In other words, the dairy set an average price of $150 each on the 30 animals and then offered them at auction. If the heifers averaged more than $150, there would be a refund and, if they averaged less, a price increase would be made on each animal. Young folks from about seven counties, including a group from Anson, went up for the sale; and since the heifers averaged 12 per cent above the set price, each buyer will get a refund of about 10 per cent on his original purchase price. The group from Anson bought only one heifer but also secured a young sire of good breeding to bring back home.
Farm agent J.W. Cameron says that Anson farmers can be listed among those who are planning fruit and nut trees about their homes. A co-operative order of 200 pecan trees was received recently, and the trees have been distributed and set. Mr. Cameron says that quite a few farmers will have nice trees about their homes and have been harvesting crops of pecans up until this past fall.
The crown growers in that section have been grading their seed corn for planting and have been distributing limestone for soil improvement. W.O. Ingram of Lilesville has bought a new corn seed grading machine which has been used for grading several hundred bushels of hybrid seed this winter. Considerable limestone has been applied to permanent pastures and to fields where lespedeza is to be seeded. L.C. Springer used two carloads of limestone on his pastures and lespedeza fields and has also spread 15 tons of a 0-14-7 fertilizer mixture over his pasture acreage. He says that it pays him to feed grass just as it does his other crops and that well-fed grass makes for well-fed cows. The cows in turn harvest most of their own feed from the pasture at no expense for the labor performed.
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