Saunders Increases Sweet Potato Yields, 1945

By Frank Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, as published in the Greensboro Patriot, November 29, 1945

While in Windsor, Bertie County Farm Agent ‘General’ B.E. Grant told me about L.L. Saunders of Indian Woods, who found out this year that it pays to grow the Louisiana strain of Porto Rico sweet potatoes and to grow them properly. His were profitable this year despite the generally poor sweet potato season. Mr. Saunders harvested 250 bushels of No. 1 sweets, two bushels of jumbos and 35 bushels of small roots per acre from those which he grew according to recommended methods. From his usual methods formerly followed on the farm, he grew only 200 bushels of strings per acre.

Mr. Saunders secured his Louisiana seed stock in the spring of 1944, and before this past season, he treated his seed before bedding them. Under the sweets as planted in his demonstration field, he used 1,000 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer plus 10 pounds of borax per acre and set the plants 10 inches apart in the drill. When he drew the plants from the bed for setting before transplanting them in the field, he dipped them into a mercury solution as a further precaution against soil-bourne diseases in the field. For his general crop he used 800 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer and set the plants 14 inches apart in the drill.

He figures that at $2.50 a bushel, his increased production of No. 1 potatoes alone from the demonstration plot is worth $125 an acre or a total return of $625 per acre for the total crop handled in this improved way. This makes no allowance, at all, for the jumbos and the strings.

At the same time that Mr. Saunders bedded his seed potatoes for his main crop, he also planted eight rows from which he secured vine cuttings to produce a seed crop for next year. He harvested 80 bushels from these eight short rows and says the potatoes were much smoother and nicer than those harvested from the bedded rows.

While in Windsor, Bertie County Farm Agent ‘General’ B.E. Grant told me about L.L. Saunders of Indian Woods, who found out this year that it pays to grow the Louisiana strain of Porto Rico sweet potatoes and to grow them properly. His were profitable this year despite the generally poor sweet potato season. Mr. Saunders harvested 250 bushels of No. 1 sweets, two bushels of jumbos and 35 bushels of small roots per acre from those which he grew according to recommended methods. From his usual methods formerly followed on the farm, he grew only 200 bushels of strings per acre.

Mr. Saunders secured his Louisiana seed stock in the spring of 1944, and before this past season, he treated his seed before bedding them. Under the sweets as planted in his demonstration field, he used 1,000 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer plus 10 pounds of borax per acre and set the plants 10 inches apart in the drill. When he drew the plants from the bed for setting before transplanting them in the field, he dipped them into a mercury solution as a further precaution against soil-bourne diseases in the field. For his general crop he used 800 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer and set the plants 14 inches apart in the drill.

He figures that at $2.50 a bushel, his increased production of No. 1 potatoes alone from the demonstration plot is worth $125 an acre or a total return of $625 per acre for the total crop handled in this improved way. This makes no allowance, at all, for the jumbos and the strings.

At the same time that Mr. Saunders bedded his seed potatoes for his main crop, he also planted eight rows from which he secured vine cuttings to produce a seed crop for next year. He harvested 80 bushels from these eight short rows and says the potatoes were much smoother and nicer than those harvested from the bedded rows.

While in Windsor, Bertie County Farm Agent ‘General’ B.E. Grant told me about L.L. Saunders of Indian Woods, who found out this year that it pays to grow the Louisiana strain of Porto Rico sweet potatoes and to grow them properly. His were profitable this year despite the generally poor sweet potato season. Mr. Saunders harvested 250 bushels of No. 1 sweets, two bushels of jumbos and 35 bushels of small roots per acre from those which he grew according to recommended methods. From his usual methods formerly followed on the farm, he grew only 200 bushels of strings per acre.

Mr. Saunders secured his Louisiana seed stock in the spring of 1944, and before this past season, he treated his seed before bedding them. Under the sweets as planted in his demonstration field, he used 1,000 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer plus 10 pounds of borax per acre and set the plants 10 inches apart in the drill. When he drew the plants from the bed for setting before transplanting them in the field, he dipped them into a mercury solution as a further precaution against soil-bourne diseases in the field. For his general crop he used 800 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer and set the plants 14 inches apart in the drill.

He figures that at $2.50 a bushel, his increased production of No. 1 potatoes alone from the demonstration plot is worth $125 an acre or a total return of $625 per acre for the total crop handled in this improved way. This makes no allowance, at all, for the jumbos and the strings.

At the same time that Mr. Saunders bedded his seed potatoes for his main crop, he also planted eight rows from which he secured vine cuttings to produce a seed crop for next year. He harvested 80 bushels from these eight short rows and says the potatoes were much smoother and nicer than those harvested from the bedded rows.

While in Windsor, Bertie County Farm Agent ‘General’ B.E. Grant told me about L.L. Saunders of Indian Woods, who found out this year that it pays to grow the Louisiana strain of Porto Rico sweet potatoes and to grow them properly. His were profitable this year despite the generally poor sweet potato season. Mr. Saunders harvested 250 bushels of No. 1 sweets, two bushels of jumbos and 35 bushels of small roots per acre from those which he grew according to recommended methods. From his usual methods formerly followed on the farm, he grew only 200 bushels of strings per acre.

Mr. Saunders secured his Louisiana seed stock in the spring of 1944, and before this past season, he treated his seed before bedding them. Under the sweets as planted in his demonstration field, he used 1,000 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer plus 10 pounds of borax per acre and set the plants 10 inches apart in the drill. When he drew the plants from the bed for setting before transplanting them in the field, he dipped them into a mercury solution as a further precaution against soil-bourne diseases in the field. For his general crop he used 800 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer and set the plants 14 inches apart in the drill.

He figures that at $2.50 a bushel, his increased production of No. 1 potatoes alone from the demonstration plot is worth $125 an acre or a total return of $625 per acre for the total crop handled in this improved way. This makes no allowance, at all, for the jumbos and the strings.

At the same time that Mr. Saunders bedded his seed potatoes for his main crop, he also planted eight rows from which he secured vine cuttings to produce a seed crop for next year. He harvested 80 bushels from these eight short rows and says the potatoes were much smoother and nicer than those harvested from the bedded rows.

Bertie Potatoes

While in Windsor, Bertie County Farm Agent ‘General’ B.E. Grant told me about L.L. Saunders of Indian Woods, who found out this year that it pays to grow the Louisiana strain of Porto Rico sweet potatoes and to grow them properly. His were profitable this year despite the generally poor sweet potato season. Mr. Saunders harvested 250 bushels of No. 1 sweets, two bushels of jumbos and 35 bushels of small roots per acre from those which he grew according to recommended methods. From his usual methods formerly followed on the farm, he grew only 200 bushels of strings per acre.

Mr. Saunders secured his Louisiana seed stock in the spring of 1944, and before this past season, he treated his seed before bedding them. Under the sweets as planted in his demonstration field, he used 1,000 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer plus 10 pounds of borax per acre and set the plants 10 inches apart in the drill. When he drew the plants from the bed for setting before transplanting them in the field, he dipped them into a mercury solution as a further precaution against soil-bourne diseases in the field. For his general crop he used 800 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer and set the plants 14 inches apart in the drill.

He figures that at $2.50 a bushel, his increased production of No. 1 potatoes alone from the demonstration plot is worth $125 an acre or a total return of $625 per acre for the total crop handled in this improved way. This makes no allowance, at all, for the jumbos and the strings.

At the same time that Mr. Saunders bedded his seed potatoes for his main crop, he also planted eight rows from which he secured vine cuttings to produce a seed crop for next year. He harvested 80 bushels from these eight short rows and says the potatoes were much smoother and nicer than those harvested from the bedded rows.

While I was in Windsor recently, Bertie County Farm Agent ‘General’ B.E. Grant told me about L.L. Saunders of Indian Woods, who found out this year that it pays to grow the Louisiana strain of Porto Rico sweet potatoes and to grow them properly.

His were profitable this year despite the generally poor sweet potato season. Mr. Saunders harvested 250 bushels of No. 1 sweets, two bushels of jumbos and 35 bushels of small roots per acre from those which he grew according to recommended methods. From his usual methods formerly followed on the farm, he grew only 200 bushels of strings per acre.

Mr. Saunders secured his Louisiana seed stock in the spring of 1944, and before this past season, he treated his seed before bedding them. Under the sweets he planted in his demonstration field, he used 1,000 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer plus 10 pounds of borax per acre and set the plants 10 inches apart in the drill. When he drew the plants form the bed for setting before transplanting them in the field, he dipped them into a mercury solution as a further precaution against soil-borne diseases in the field. For his general crop, he used 800 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer and set the plants 14 inches apart in the drill.

He figures that at $2.50 a bushel, his increased production of No. 1 potatoes alone from the demonstration plot is worth $125 an acre or a total return of $625 per acre for the total crop handled in this improved way. This makes no allowance at all for the jumbos and the strings.

At the same time that Mr. Saunders bedded his seed potatoes for his main crop, he also planted eight rows from which he secured vine cuttings to produce a seed crop for next year. He harvested 80 bushels from these eight short rows and says the potatoes were much smoother and nicer than those harvested from the bedded rows.

Bertie Potatoes

While in Windsor, Bertie County Farm Agent ‘General’ B.E. Grant told me about L.L. Saunders of Indian Woods, who found out this year that it pays to grow the Louisiana strain of Porto Rico sweet potatoes and to grow them properly. His were profitable this year despite the generally poor sweet potato season. Mr. Saunders harvested 250 bushels of No. 1 sweets, two bushels of jumbos and 35 bushels of small roots per acre from those which he grew according to recommended methods. From his usual methods formerly followed on the farm, he grew only 200 bushels of strings per acre.

Mr. Saunders secured his Louisiana seed stock in the spring of 1944, and before this past season, he treated his seed before bedding them. Under the sweets as planted in his demonstration field, he used 1,000 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer plus 10 pounds of borax per acre and set the plants 10 inches apart in the drill. When he drew the plants from the bed for setting before transplanting them in the field, he dipped them into a mercury solution as a further precaution against soil-bourne diseases in the field. For his general crop he used 800 pounds of a 3-9-9 fertilizer and set the plants 14 inches apart in the drill.

He figures that at $2.50 a bushel, his increased production of No. 1 potatoes alone from the demonstration plot is worth $125 an acre or a total return of $625 per acre for the total crop handled in this improved way. This makes no allowance, at all, for the jumbos and the strings.

At the same time that Mr. Saunders bedded his seed potatoes for his main crop, he also planted eight rows from which he secured vine cuttings to produce a seed crop for next year. He harvested 80 bushels from these eight short rows and says the potatoes were much smoother and nicer than those harvested from the bedded rows.

Impressive Accomplishments of Bertie Teen, 1945

By Frank Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, as published in the Greensboro Patriot, November 29, 1945

Last Saturday, I was invited by Miss Hannah Ruth Spruill, assistant home agent in Bertie County to attend a 4-H achievement day held in the agricultural building in Windsor, honoring the work done by the young people of that county during the past year. It was a great occasion. The boys and girls with many of their parents were on hand.

Then Miss Spruill awarded gold medals and citations to the county champions. As she did so, she requested each one to tell briefly about the work done in winning his particular championship. Their recital left one almost breathless and, to explain what I mean, let me comment on the story told by Sophia Perry, president of the county organization and a member of the Colerain Club.

This slight slip of a girl told in a matter of fact way how she had taken over the house, because her mother was not so well during the summer. She also carried on six different club projects during the year. “I made 15 garments,” she said. She sewed some for her married sister and a nephew. Many of the clothes which she made for herself were from her sister’s old clothes or from feed bags.

The sister is married, has a young baby, and her husband is now overseas. She has been back at the old home for the past year. Sophia took some of the clothes which she had made and entered them in the county dress contest where she won first prize. She also fixed up a bedroom for her sister and the baby. There was no closet in the room so Sophia made one. She also reworked the old furniture in the room, made curtains, a dresser strip, and a bedspread to match in a color scheme of rose and aqua.

Worked in the Field

“Then, as she told it, “I helped put in tobacco for six days a week all through the curing season. My sister, father and I dug all of our peanuts, and I have an acre of cotton. We had an acre of land that no one needed so I planted it to cotton and we have already picked it, doing the work each afternoon when I came home from school. I used the money I made working in tobacco to pay my expenses to the Camp Millstone 4-H leaders’ school.

“I canned all the excess food we had in our garden, during the work most of the time at lunch and at night. I also helped a neighbor to do her canning. I canned 295 quarts myself and 105 quarts with help.

“My sister was at home and so did most of the cooking since she had to be there with the baby, but I fixed the desserts, and cooked on Sundays and on days that I was not working in the field.

“My parents are building a new house, and I have helped them to make the plans so that we shall have more closets and the rooms will be more convenient for them when they get older.”

Aside from all this, Miss Perry did such good work in home management, clothing, food preparation, room improvement, food preservation and family relationships that she was awarded a gold medal and citations by Miss Spruill. She is president of the Bertie County 4-H. Federation and a leader among the young people of her community.

Jewel and June Jernigan, the Early girls, Jacqueline Pierce, Ernestine Pritchard and others also won acclaim for their fine work. Health champions were crowned as a feature of the day’s program and Miss Spruill said the day was just the beginning of an annual occasion which is going to mean much to Bertie County in the future.

Miss Virginia Patrick, home agent, gave a few introductory words and then led the group singing. Dewey Phelps, Aulander Club, led a pledge to the flag; Joyce Ann Miller, Riverside Club, led in reciting the 4-H pledge; Jerry Phelps, vice president of Merry Hill Club, made an address of welcome, and Jacqueline Pierce of Colerain Club called the roll of 4-H Clubs in the county.

Certificates were awarded by Ernest Morgan, principal of the Aulander School, who has assisted the farm agent, ‘General’ B.E. Grant, in handling 4-H Club work with the young people in the county this summer.

Beaufort County Farmers Vote Unanimously for Freezer Locker Plant, 1945

By Frank Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Greensboro Patriot, Nov. 22, 1945

In eastern Carolina, at Washington, farmers of Beaufort County met with the city folks there the other night to make plans for a freezer locker plant. The 75 farmers present voted unanimously to have such a plant and, out of the numbers attending, 65 signed up for lockers. 

Farmers of the county will get first choice for 60 per cent of the 630 lockers to be provided in the new plant and this, they say, will give them facilities for curing and storing 125,000 pounds of pork at one time. They also say that having such a plant at Washington will enable them to kill meat at any season of the year rather than having to wait for the cold weather of winter. Dan Brady, meat specialist, tells me that at least 200 of these freezer locker plants will be in operation in the state in the next few years.

Back again across the state, community action for the good of future farming is seen in a resolution passed by the Rutherford County Board of Commissioners authorizing the board to accept funds to establish a Rutherford County Farm Youth Foundation. This is similar to action taken in Edgecombe County and Polk County by which funds have been secured to aid young people on the farm to go into the purebred dairy cattle business or any other kind of 4-H Club work.

Richmond County Farmers Report Success, November 1948

Written by F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Charlotte Observer, Nov. 29, 1948

In Richmond County, sound farm planning has been followed this season.

For instance, back in late September and early October, it appeared that few men would get to seed acres to alfalfa, grazing crops and permanent pastures as they had planned. It had been dry for some time, and it appeared that the dry weather would linger on indefinitely. But these men got their land in shape, they bought their seed mixtures and stood by for the season to come. And as it always does, the rains finally came.

They had good seasons during the first week in October. Farm Agent N.L. Hendrix says you never saw anyone anywhere get busy so quickly. They began to put seeds in the ground on the next Monday—it’s mostly sandy in Richmond—and by the end of that week, most of the growers were boasting of the fine stands that they had. Not only did the alfalfa come up promptly but the pasture grasses, the Italian rye grass and the other grazing crops also jumped into a full stand one week after seeding.

These Richmond County farmers have become greatly interested in growing alfalfa for hay. Some of the new seeders this fall have been J.M. Frazier, F.L. Stutts, W.R. Land Jr., A.L. Leviner, A.E. Crump, B.F. Stutts, A.H. McCall, Arthur Richardson, and T.C. Andrews. Those who had the alfalfa growing on their farms this past summer mostly made five cuttings, despite the dry weather of mid-summer. The quality of the hay was excellent, and the acre yields were good. Last fall, 35,982 pounds of Italian rye grass or enough seed to plant 1,000 acres were purchased in Richmond and the amount has jumped above that this fall.

Some excellent permanent pastures also have been planted by W.R. Land Jr., G.W. Hill, J.C. Broadway, Dewey Thompson, Clarence Parsons, H.A. Parker, S.G. Anderson, H.V. Chandler, W.C. Hollingsworth, M.M. Hill, Sam Bowman, J. Gus Covington, T.H. Cloninger, and R.L. Bennett.

Charles Auman seems to hold the record in corn production for Richmond County this year. Wednesday, October 20, 15 of Charles’ neighbors gathered to harvest and weigh the corn from one acre and a net of 8,010 pounds was weighed. County 70 pounds to the bushel, this is a yield of 114.5 bushels. However, 70 pounds of the corn was shelled and then weighed, producing 60 pounds of actual grain. At this rate, Charles actually produced 112.5 bushels on his acre. Dr. Emerson Collins visited the acre about three weeks before the corn was gathered and he estimated form ear counts that Charles would produce 121.6 bushels an acre. Pretty accurate! Richmond corn growers suffered from the dry weather of the summer and so far few constants have reached the 100-bushel mark. Most of them have been at 90. The 4-H Club members have been especially disappointed this year.

J.M. McKenzie Jr. of Rockingham appears to be the champion cotton grower of the county so far. Mr. McKenzie picked 94 bales from 70 acres in September and says he would get at least seven more. He harvested nine bales from his five-acre plot at the first picking. This 70 acres of cotton land is going in winter peas as fast as Mr. McKenzie gets his cotton cleaned out. Three gins in the county are cooperating in the cotton stapling work and quite a few men have placed their staple under the government loan. There are two bonded warehouses in Rockingham cooperating to store the cotton and the Richmond County Bank has been financing all loans. Some of the growers said they secured $7.70 a bale above the spot prices by taking the loans on their early cotton.

Scotland County Farm Report, November 1948

Written by F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Charlotte Observer, Nov. 29, 1948

Scotland County has one of the oldest and most efficient farm organizations in the state. It is the Scotland County Farmers Club and it has met regularly once a month for many years. One of its feature meetings is the annual ladies night when the men bring their wives and everyone enjoys a wonderful social hour. But the club gives careful study to all of the problems affecting agriculture in Scotland County. It invites the leading experts in their fields to come to the county, visit about with the farm agent, and then address the club that night on some pertinent subject. There is a discussion period thereafter and the results have been every good.

County Agent E.O. McMahan says the club has been in the vanguard of every good farming movement. The organization has promoted the five-acre cotton contest and the three-acre corn contest for years. In fact, the Scotland County five-acre cotton antedates the state contest by several years. Seldom do less than 80 men attend a meeting; and, at times, there have been between 300 and 400 when the members have invited all the local farmers to be their guests for some special meeting. I had the pleasure of being down there not so long ago when the members entertained their sons at a father and son banquet. This was one of the best meetings of the year.

How the club sponsors some particular movement was shown at a meeting held in late September when pastures were the subject for discussion. As a result of this one discussion, 11 of Scotland’s best farmers agreed to conduct a pasture demonstration with Ladino clover and fescue. Quite a few other men present said they are interested in pastures and would try to get them seeded this winter. There are likewise 57 farms on which the five-acre cotton contest is being conducted this year, and these are showing final yields of two bales an acre or better.

Incidentally, the first bale of cotton for Scotland County this season was ginned on August 11 when C.L. Jones and his tenant, James Ware, carried 1,440 pounds of seed cotton to the gin operated by W.L. Biggs and Son of Johns. The ginned bale weighed 500 pounds and was sold to Mr. Biggs for 35 cents a pound. Mr. Jones is cooperating in the Scotland County one-variety plan and planted the pedigree 100 wilt resistant variety. His first bale had a staple length of 1 1/16^th inch, and graded middling. All the cotton growers certainly made good use of the ideal harvesting weather this fall and have housed one of their best quality crops. Most of the staple lengths have run from 1 1/32th to 1 1/16th inch and most of the farmers have been taking advantage of the free sampling and stapling service. They also have stored their cotton under the government loan plan and have made money on the deal. Of course, many others said they just couldn’t be bothered with the loan idea and sold on the “spot” market at a loss.

Other Crops In Scotland County

The cotton growers began to dust their cotton in June and did a better job of insect control this year than ever before. Most of them used the Benzene Hexachloride with DDT and sulphur and applied the dust with six- to eight-row tractor machines. Excellent results were secured. They were fortunate in that F.F. Bondy from the Federal Boll Weevil Research Station near Florence, S.C., came over and showed them exactly how weevil control work should be carried on.

Mr. McMahan says Scotland farmers produced an excellent cucumber crop in the early summer, although the price was a little low. The cantaloupe crop was short, due to reduced plantings, but the demand was good and the growers sold to truck buyers who came out to the farms and picked up the cantaloupes without trouble or expense to the growers.

Quite a bit of attention is being given to swine production in Scotland this year. Most of the growers are cross-breeding with purebred animals to produce feeder pigs for the market. A good corn crop and more pastures help to make this swine growing project a success.

Catawba County Farmers Say They Lead State in Acreage to Alfalfa, 1945

Written by F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Wilmington Star, Nov. 26, 1945

Farmers in Catawba County believe that their county leads the state in the acreage to alfalfa. Last winter, a preliminary report by the Federal Census showed the county to have 950 acres. But local farmers say that this could not have included the 300 acres seeded in the fall of 1944. Seed dealers in the county say they sold 8,293 pounds of seed that fall and that this did not include other seed secured from outside of the county. They know, therefore, that at least 300 acres of alfalfa were planted in the fall of 1944.

Farm Agent Earle Brintnall says that this past fall about 30,000 pounds of seed were bought and the growers would have bought more if they could have located the seed. This is enough, however, to plant from 1,100 to 1,200 acres of alfalfa at the rate of 25 pounds of seed to the acre, the usual rate of sowing.

To add up the acreage, therefore, it would show something like this: 950 acres of old seedlings in the county; 300 acres seeded in the fall of 1944, and 1,100 acres seeded this past fall, which makes a total 3,350 acres for the county. That is enough to produce 7,500 tons of alfalfa hay annually.

When Earle found out that ll this seed had been sold in the county, he set out to find from whence it had come. He found that only 145 pounds of the seed had come from the Argentine. This source, as most growers know, is not satisfactory because the seed from down there are not adapted to North Carolina conditions. This means, then, that Catawba dealers are alert to the needs of their people, and are trying to follow the recommendations of the county agents and extension agronomists. About 8,000 pounds of the seed came from the Pecos Valley of Texas. This is a valley drained by the Pecos River, which traverses the southwestern part of the Lone Star State and empties into the Rio Grande on the Texas-Mexico border. This seed is probably all right if it is not from plants that were grown under irrigation. Mr. Brintnall was not able to get exact information on this but said the alfalfa has come up to a good stand and it looks as if it might be suitable to that section of the state.

The great bulk of the seed, used in Catawba this past fall, was from alfalfa grown in Kansas and Oklahoma and is well adapted to conditions in North Carolina.

Ten years ago when Earle Brintnall became farm agent in Catawba, there was practically no alfalfa being grown there. The folks were not pushing their livestock and dairy business as they should, and it took lots of hard work, much talking and boosting to get the crop started again. A few men here and there began to try out the crop and those who once tried it began to expand their acreages. Small plots were seeded in various parts of the county to test out the best means of preparing the land; how to cultivate it to keep it on the land over a period of years; and how to fertilize, harvest and cure the hay.

It has been definitely proven now that there is a place for the legume in Catawba and one of the fieldmen for a large milk processing plant in Statesville said there is more alfalfa to be seen along the road from Newton to the border of the county near Banoak than in any other county in this state.

Recently, some of the extension agronomists were up there to check the hybrid seed corn plots and to get results from the different hybrids being tested this year. They said they had never seen so much alfalfa and they were particularly impressed with the way in which the growers had prepared their seed beds. One of the agronomists remarked, “We will have to tell some of our experiment station folks to come up here where they really grow alfalfa and find out how it is done.”

On a trip over the county last week, I saw stands that had been on the land for seven to eight years. This means that the crop was put in correctly to start with, that it had been fertilized and harvested as it should be. The year the growers cut their first hay on about April 15 which was unusually early and was due of course to the warm period in March causing the alfalfa to grow so fast that it had to be cut. Most farmers in Catawba have cut their alfalfa five times this season and the fields are not hurt for facing the winder cold because I saw growth that would average at least six inches high on most of the fields. The crop seems to like those old red hills up there and thrives perhaps better than it does on the more open soils of the eastern section.

But the land has to be well prepared, well fertilized, and well planted with well inoculated adapted seed. One of the prettiest fields in the county is a patch of 7 ½ acres belonging to Arthur Little just west of old St. Paul’s Church. Seldom does one find a more uniform or a more healthy appearing field in this state.

Laurinburg Lions Club Dinner Meeting, 1949

Published in 1949…the newspaper clipping doesn’t have a label, so I don’t know the name of the newspaper or the exact date of the publication.

More than 150 Lions and Lionesses filled Laurinburg’s Atkinson street recreation center Tuesday evening for an evening of entertainment and good food. The occasion was the annual ladies’ night of the Laurinburg Lions Club. Dr. Frank Jeter of the North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service was the principal speaker. Donald McQueen had charge of the arrangements and Club President Nelson P. Liles was master of ceremonies.

Not in a long time had any local group been treated to such an unusual display of Southern oratory as was expounded Tuesday evening. Attorney Jennings King started things off with a stirring and descriptive compliment to the virtues of Laurinburg and Scotland County womanhood. And Mrs. George McLeod was equally as eloquent in her toast to the Lions and response to Mr. King’s remarks.

When Dr. Jeter took the floor after another lengthy and moving introduction by friend K.J. Shaw, he said in effect that he felt something at a loss for words having to follow such fine performers. However, he soon proved that he was every bit equal to the occasion as he kept his listeners in rolls of laughter through a good portion of his talk. It is said that Dr. Jeter is in great demand as an after dinner speaker and the Lions and their Lionesses found out why Tuesday night.

While Dr. Jeter proved a past master at story telling and joking, he brought out his point for the evening strongly and professionally. He told something of the major accomplishments of North Carolina in the fields of industry and economics, and especially agriculture. He stated that North Carolina ranks third in the nation in the market value of its farm products. And that we are now at a turning point into a great scientific agricultural era. Dr. Jeter stated that this state has long set the agricultural pace in the South. In the years just ahead, North Carolina will be offering stronger completion to the mid-western and far western states in most every product they grow.

Dr. Jeter pointed out that we have a rich heritage in this state from the standpoint of citizenry as well as from farming. And that Scotland County was a strong part of the web that makes up our great state. He stated that scientific soil tests and experiment shave proved that anything that can possibly be grown in our great country can profitably be produced from the soil of the Old North State. He went on to say that North Carolina farmers are progressive and forward-looking, and that he wouldn’t hesitate to predict that we would in the not-so-distant future surpass or at least equal the agricultural achievements of all the great states of the Union.

During his entire speech, Dr. Jeter mentioned our controversial Governor Scott but one time. He referred to him as our “progressive Governor Scott, Good bless him,” which was taken in more ways that one by his audience.

Special Guests

Among the other special guests who enjoyed the occasion with the Lions were Dr. and Mrs. S.H. Fulton, Dr. and Mrs. J.B. Turner, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Livingston, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Gaw, Mrs. Frank Jeter, Mr. and Mrs. A.D. Stuart, District Governor, and Mrs. Jeff Wilson of Biscoe; Mr. and Mrs. Dewey Edwards of Fayetteville; Mr. and Mrs. R.B. Deaton of Ellerby and Dr. Hugh Mauldin of Spencer.

The menu for the evening, which featured roast turkey, also carried a fruit cup, cranberry sauce, dressing and giblet gravy, candied yams, buttered peas, stuffed celery, pickles, olive, hot rolls, coffee and topped off with ice cream and cake. R.D. Sanders made the invocation.

Officers of the Laurinburg club are N.P. Liles, president; Dr. J.J. Richardson, Charles Barrett and Emmitt Gill, vice presidents; Mack Guest, secretary; Roger Clemmons, treasurer; Yates Gamble, tail twister; Thurmond Willis, lion tamer. Bill Evans is immediate past president.

Home Demonstration Club Winners Named, 1949

From the Lillington News, Nov. 10, 1949

Frank Jeter, extension editor at State College, was the speaker at the annual Home Demonstration Club Achievement Day held last Friday at LaFayette School. Other features on the program include the presentation of prizes and awards, and a dress revue. Fifteen clubs displayed exhibits in the gym, with the Turlington Club taking first place and Angier second. The Friendly Club was third. The Chalybeate Club won the award for being the outstanding club of the year. Mrs. L.B. Smith is the club president.

In the dress revue there were six types of dresses shown. Winners were selected in each group. The winners were Mrs. Harland Adams of Angier, a house dress; Mrs. Howard Height, Buie’s Creek, best dress; Mrs. E.D. McDonald of the Ephesus Club, a feed sack dress; Mrs. W.L. Johnson, Barbecue, remodeled dress; Mrs. Lynn Senter, Kipling, apron; Mrs. Leroy Matthews, Chalybeate Springs, sports dress.

Dressmakers received prizes donated by Lillington merchants.

Judges for the exhibits and the dress revue were Miss Julia Alexander, Lee County home agent; Miss Goldie Knowles, assistant Johnston County home agent; and Mrs. C.I. Thompson, Dunn home economics teacher.

Mrs. W.R. Langdon of Coats, Route 1, who is completing a two-year term as county councils president, presided at the program. Miss Bessie Withers of the Leaflet Club read the devotional. Music was furnished by Mrs. Alton Harrington of Olivia, who played two piano solos and by Mrs. W.B. Lasater and Mrs. John Duncan Shaw, who sang a duet. They were accompanied at the piano by Mrs. Angus Shaw.

The Chalybeate, Kipling and Christian Light clubs served as hostesses to the event. Mrs. Frank Motley extended the welcome and Miss Buie Long of the Friendly Club responded. Mrs. S.R. McKay, county librarian, awarded certificates to the women who had read books from the approved list. There were 34 state certificates, 30 county awards and 7 advanced certificates. The Mt. Pisgah Club received an award for having the highest number of members receiving certificates. Mrs. Rex Johnson and Mrs. N.W. Maness were given special recognition for having attended Farm and Home Week for four years.

Montgomery County Pulls Together to Benefit War Veteran With Farm, 1949

By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College; distributed Nov. 21, 1949

It’s exactly three days until thanksgiving, but Mr. and Mrs. Herman Eggleston and their three children had a big Thanksgiving about one month ago.

Herman Eggleston is a veteran of World War II and he and his wife are from Stokes County. They have three fine boys with the oldest one just ready to go to school. Last year, the Farmers’ Home Administration helped Herman buy a farm near Allreds in Montgomery County.

The farm needed lots of work done on the buildings, the out houses, and the fields. The place contains about 100 acres which includes 45 acres of open cultivated land, 10 acres of pasture, 44 acres of woods, and about 1 acre in the usual farm lots, gardens, and roadways.

The thing which Herman has to be thankful about is that his farm was selected by the veterans class at the Star High School for a face lifting job. The G.I. trainees at the Star school had heard about these face lifting, farm renovation jobs to various parts of the state so they decided to have a real one in Montgomery County. It was but natural that they would select the farm of another veteran and so Herman Eggleston’s farm was selected. As a consequence, he is ahead by five or six years in his farming operation.

But let County Agent Austin Garris of Montgomery tell the story. Here it is:

“The face of the Herman Eggleston farm at Allreds underwent some drastic surgery on Thursday, October 27. The scar of neglect was removed in one day of feverish activity.

“Early in the morning, farm tractors of all makes and sizes, with the latest thing in equipment, were unloaded from trucks and began moving into their designated plots on the farm. Little knots of people quickly gathered around their favorite machines. Workers went into football huddles, referring to maps and charts.

“The farm was formerly the old Winston Burroughs place and had been untended for a number of years until the Egglestons bought the farm last year. The old home had burned down, gullies were forming in some places, and there was broomsedge, briers, and even scrub trees choking the fields.

“Three crawler tractors with bulldozers moved in on the gullies and the areas overgrown with bushes and broomsedge. About 20 farm tractors with plows, hog harrows, tandem disks, subsoilers, cultipackers, seeders, and grain drills attacked the small fields. Soon terraces began to take shape in graceful curves along the contour across the sloping land. Well-prepared soil followed, with grain and cover crops drilled in. A pasture was made where a short time before there had been only weeds and willow thickets. This field was prepared for seeding grass and clover and a fence line was laid out. A power post-hole digger moved down the boundary line, sinking holes with apparent ease.

“By 10 o’clock that morning both sides of the half-mile of highway through the farm had been lined with cars. Some stayed a while and moved on, but other visitors took their places until the renovation job was over and the machinery had finished its job and had begun to move away from the farm about sundown.

“This work was not confined to the farm entirely. The newly erected buildings, the house and barns were given a coat of paint. The yard was graded and shrubs were planted. Inside the house, running water was installed, furnished by a new electric pump. A new cabinet kitchen sink had been put in place; the floors of three rooms were sanded and finished, and the living room walls were painted.

“In a plot of woods, good forestry management was demonstrated. Young pines were thinned to the proper stand. Weed trees were poisoned and the thin spots were replanted with pine seedlings.

“At noon all work was stopped and the people gathered around the concession stand near the house. While they munched on succulent barbecue and hot dogs, a public address system was set up, and the renovation plans were discussed by the workers directing each project.

“During all this activity, Herman and his wife, Ethel, could be seen discussing with some project leader some detail of the plans. Herman would agree with a wide grin, you just go ahead and fix it like it ought to be. The three small boys, Douglas, Tommie, and Bobby, were not in sight much during the day, but were bug-eyed at all the noise and bustle going on.

“This big over-all undertaking was broken down into enough units so that it was easy to get the job done during the day. A committee of agricultural workers was responsible for each different task. Each committee had at its disposal the equipment and materials needed to do the work. They, as well as the spectators, were given maps which showed where each activity was to take place.

“The bulldozers used were owned by Lester Williams of Star, Sikes Brothers of Wadesboro, and by the Montgomery County terracing unit, and they soon changed the appearance of the farmstead. As usual, these machines attracted the largest group of spectators. The committee in charge consisted of R.H. Wesson, assistant county agent of Montgomery County; H.N. Kelly, district conservationist with Soil Conservation Service at Wadesboro; and Paul Freeman, Veterans’ Instructor, Troy.

“On one plot, lime was spread and terraces were built. The agricultural works assisting here were C.H. King, Soil Conservation Service, Monroe; V.A. Huneycutt, assistant county agent, Albermarle; and Arthur Thomas, veterans’ instructor, Candor.

“In the next plot, terraces were built, lime spread, land prepared, and wheat was seeded. The committee in charge here was W.H. Abrams, Soil Conservation Service, Rockingham; A.E. Smith, assistant county agent, Asheboro; and Max Maness, veterans’ instructor, Biscoe.

“A third plot was terraced, plowed, and seeded to oats. The committee here was A.R. Blackwell, Soil Conservation Service, Albemarle; and John Potter, assistant county agent, Wadesboro.

“A fourth plot received lime and phosphate. Two strips of wheat were sown here in the contour and two strips left in lespedeza. This plot was handled by the same equipment and committee as the first plot.

“A seven-acre field covered with broomsedge and brushes was limed, subsoiled, a seedbed prepared, and seeded to oats and vetch as a winter hay crop. This field is to be strip cropped in the future. Lee Williams, agricultural teacher, Mt. Gilead; N.L. Hendrix, county agent, Richmond County; and P.W. Edward, Soil Conservation Service, Albemarle, assisted with this project. Along the border of this particular field, David Taylor of the Wildlife Resource Commission at Hoffman, and M.L. Ross of the Soil Conservation Service, Wadesboro, were busy planting a border of bicolor lespedeza for game, birds, and other wildlife.

“Two smaller fields were prepared for seeding and liming. The committee for this job consisted of W.L. Bowers, agricultural teacher, Troy; E.H. Garrison Jr., county agent of Moore County; and J.S. Baucom, Soil Conservation Service, both of Carthage.

“Most of the new 10-acre pasture was practically reclaimed from what one could call a wilderness. Lime and phosphate were applied; a seedbed prepared; and a part of the acreage seeded. The committee responsible consisted of H.M. Singletary, county agent of Stanly County; Hugh Thornburg, agriculture teacher, Biscoe; and C.P. Robinson, Soil Conservation Service, Wadesboro.

“While all this was happening out in the fields, the transformation of the home was taking place.

“Walter J. Marshburn of the Division of Forestry, Department of Conservation and Development, was in charge of the forest demonstration.

“The Troy Chamber of Commerce assisted with the general publicity, furnished the amplifier, and provided clerical help at the information desk during the day, along with W.B. Little, Soil Conservation Service, of Wadesboro.

“W.C. Floyd, county chairman of the local Montgomery P.M.A. committee, provided conservation materials under the usual conditions.

The remarkable thing about his renovation day is that all the original plans were completed except the actual seeding of two acres of pasture, three acres of oats, three acres of rye, and the pasture fencing. Herman says he can do these little jobs himself. What was done in that one day would have taken him probably five or ten years. The assistance given by all individuals and the firms was greatly appreciated by the Egglestons. He and Ethel Eggleston and their three boys have a good start and can carry on now in good shape. They feel that this is really and truly a thanksgiving season.

Mr. Garris says the work which was one on this farm will not only benefit the Eggleston family but is an object lesson for Montgomery County.

Turkey Production Is a Growing Industry in North Carolina, 1945

Written by F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Wilmington Morning Star, Nov. 12, 1945

It’s only a few days until Thanksgiving and then Christmas is just around the corner. The feature dish on these two great North Carolina holidays is turkey and this leads Roy Dearstyne, head of the State College poultry department, to think for a moment about the way in which the state’s turkey industry is headed.

What are the problems right now? What steps must be taken to improve the production of the birds? How can volume production of turkeys be started in the state and then how maintained or even increased? Is it possible that we shall have to abandon our newly started turkey industry altogether? These are all important questions which growers must consider.

Roy says a number of North Carolinians are now getting either a part or all of their income from turkey production and that many other farm families have a flock of turkeys which they grow each year as a part of their food production plan. The business of turkey production is definitely on the increase in the state. According to a survey made in October, North Carolina is the 25^th state in the union in the possible production of turkeys for this year.

Far more impressive than this is the fact that only four states in the Union exceeded North Carolina in its increase of production in 1945 as compared with last year, 1944. As a matter of fact, our increase was 130 per cent, which made North Carolina the second state in that group known as the South Atlantic states. This shows that turkey production here definitely has started upward and that the birds will or should, in the future, furnish a dependable part of our farm income.

But Dearstyne makes this pertinent observation. He says that successful turkey production involves high quality, adequate facilities for brooding the birds, poults which are free of disease when started, and a balanced diet that will promote best growth. Then, the family that attempts to grow turkeys commercially must give minute attention to all details of management if the young birds are to live and thrive.

“in this section, securing poults at the ideal time for starting them is one of the most important factors in success with turkeys,” Dearstyne says. Research findings and the experience of many of our best producers indicate that poults should not be started later than April 15 if the highest livability is to be secured. Turkeys should be brooded off the ground for the first 10 weeks and then placed on clean range where a suitable grazing crop is available.

Green feed, in ample quantity is one practice by which feed costs can be reduced and greater profits returned. From the time of hatch, turkeys may be subject to many diseases and parasite infections. Turkey growers must inform themselves as to the nature of these infections, as to what age in the bird’s life they may appear, and what measures should be taken to prevent such infections. As with chickens, the best way to reduce deaths is to prevent disease entering the flocks.”

Over the whole United States, the turkey industry has expanded from the nearly 31 million birds representing the 1937-41 average to over 44 million, indicating production in 1945. This indicated production for 1945 is 121.5 per cent of the production of 1944. Expansion cannot be carried on without limit and the thoughts of our turkey growers should now turn toward the idea of greater efficiency rather than great increase in numbers. Dearstyne believes that one of the greatest, immediate opportunities in turkey work in North Carolina lies in increasing the production of quality hatching eggs.

Probably 50 per cent of the turkey poults raised for commercial purposes are hatched outside of this state. The developing of such a supply of hatching eggs means that more breeding flocks ought to be established and that greater breeding practices than are done at the present time must be followed. Attention must be given not alone to body type of the turkey, but also to those other factors which will give higher production per bird, and this production should be so timed that turkey poults may be hatched early in the spring.

An added and very vital factor is that of reducing mortality or deaths in the flocks. Birds dying from the time of hatch until they reach the market represent the original cost of poult, labor and feed, and even a low per cent of mortality represents a large actual cost of money. To bring about a reduction in mortality means that our established turkey producers are going to have to do more thoughtful work than they have in the past and that those people now beginning to grow turkeys will have to grow into it, rather than go into it.

Incidentally, Randolph Foye of Trenton, Jones County, is having excellent success in his first year of growing turkeys for market. Mr. Foye now has 1,600 fine Broadbreasted Bronze birds that are about ready for the Christmas market. He plans to sell all of his gobblers or toms, and to select out the best hens for egg production this winter. He is making plans now to build a laying house for the hens and will use artificial lights on them beginning December 1. His idea is to produce eggs when they are selling for the best prices and when they are needed for producing poults for the 1946 crop.

Mrs. C.G. Culp Praises St. Paul Home Demonstration Club, 1951

In 1951, Mrs. C.G. Culp of St. Paul Home Demonstration Club, was one of hundreds of Home Demonstration Club members who told the North Carolina State Extension Service why they belong to an HD Club. Here’s Mrs. Culp’s list of reasons:

My first reason is purely a selfish one. Since Home Making is my profession I want to learn everything I can that will help me to be more efficient in my work.

At our club meetings I learn many things that either improve my work or show me new ways of doing same that shortens my task.

I believe every club member will agree with me when I say that meeting our friends and neighbors and making new friends is an added attraction and pleasure. Most of us do not have time for visiting so our club meetings give us the opportunity of seeing our friends.

The discussion of problems help us to solve many of them. The ideas exchanged and suggestions and household hits often prove of mutual benefit to all.

Working with one’s friends is a pleasure. The hardest task is accomplished with ease when a group of congenial friends put their shoulders to the wheel. We learn that is the little things that create differences; that I the big things of life we are as one.

Taking part in our club work helps us to overcome our timidity and gives us confidence in our ability to contribute something toward the upbuilding of our community.

I like to live in a good community. At club meetings we learn of ways and means whereby we may improve conditions. The problems of our community, our county, state and nation are discussed and we realize more fully our duty and responsibility, not only to our community, but to our nation.

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Mrs. Culp’s report is part of North Carolina Extension and Community Association Records, UA 102.052, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC.

Rowan Farmers Report Good Year, November 1949

By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Charlotte Observer Nov. 7, 1949

Rowan is not only a county of comfortable rural houses and profitable farms but it is likewise one of the great grain and livestock sections of North Carolina.

County Agent P.H. Satterwhite says that some good yields of the new Atlas wheat were secured in the county last spring despite a rather disappointing season for small grain over North Carolina generally. One of the best yields was that made by D.H. McLaughlin of Corriher community on Mooresville, Route 3. Mr. McLaughlin produced 165.85 bushels of wheat on four acres or an average of 41.5 bushels per acre.

All of this wheat was saved for seed along with that grown by six other Rowan farmers. This was apportioned out this fall among the township winners in the small grain contest with each winner being privileged to buy six bushels each. The Atlas wheat has good resistance to rust and mildew, and it yields better than any other wheat in the state.

Rowan farmers also have been busy this past summer installing hay drying units of various kinds. Marion Brown of Salisbury, Route 5, and J.R. Penry, Cleveland, Route 2, installed the slatted floor kind in their two barns and were able to cure out a fine quality of bright hay without regard to outside weather.

Along with the mechanical hay dryers, dairymen of the county are building grade “A” barns and elevated milking parlors to save time and labor. Carl Hall Jr. of Mt. Ulla, Route 1, is one of those to construct a new type barn this fall. Mr. Hall is using the best ideas from plans available by the Agricultural Engineering department along with progressive ideas of his own. His new barn has cost him only about $1,000 in cash outlay but will have all the necessary storage space and the shelter needed as a lkounging place for 50 to 60 head of cows. He also included in milking parlor. His neighbor, Roy Freeze of China Grove, Route 1, is watching this building operation with high interest because Mr. Freeze plans to switch to the premium grade “A” kind this winter.

Hog growing continues to expand in Rowan and much of this expansion on the part of the young people is stimulated by the Rowan County endless chain pig club. Charles Cline of Mt. Ulla was given a beautiful purebred spotted Poland China gilt this summer, coming from Jerry Frye of Salisbury, Route 5. Jerry received his gilt over a year ago and last may she farrowed a litter of eight nice pigs. One of the best of these went to Charles Cline, according to the plans under which the endless chain operates. In time, Charles will pass along one of his gilts to some other boy.

In the meantime, Linwood Foil of Salisbury, Route 5, is adding two more links to the chain by donating two fine Hampshire gilts to M.D. McKnight of China Grove, Route 1, and Jack Clendinin of Cleveland, Route 2. Mr. Foil has a small but excellent herd of purebred Hampshires and wants to see the breed spread over Rowan County. He also is concerned that every farm family shall grow its own home supply of pork.

Three other good farmers in Rowan are interested in the spread of Hampshire hogs and they are planning to help form a North Carolina Hampshire Breeders Association to promote the breed. They feel that some of these other hog breeders are getting the jump on them and are getting their particular breeds used more widely than are the Hampshire variety. Hugh Elliott of White Farms, Salisbury; M.T. Brown of Salisbury, Route 5; and M.E. Price of Salisbury, Route 5, are among those interested in starting a Hampshire swine breeders’ association, and they say the organization will be formed in the near future.

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Grade "A" milk was meant for direct consumption. Other milk was used for milk products like cheese or canned condensed milk.

Poultry Industry Taking Off in Union County, 1949

By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Monroe Inquirer, Nov. 7, 1949

I was in Union County the other afternoon at the invitation of Bernard Helms of Monroe, president of the Union County Farm Bureau.

Mr. Helms is one of the leading poultrymen of this section. He is, of course, proud of his own New Hampshire birds and of the wonderful register-of-merit and record-of-performance birds that he has bred. He and C.B. Pickering run the hatchery part of his business while William I. Austin and Roe J. Deal are his two poultry breeding specialists.

There are eight chicken hatcheries in Union County. Farm Agent Marsh says the poultrymen are hatching out about four million chicks a year. This is, of course, only an estimate. The turkey hatcheries are turning out about 50,000 poults a year, and this enterprise is just getting started on a commercial basis. There were about 60,000 turkeys in the county this fall, grown largely by 24 men, but the fame of Monroe as a turkey center is spreading and the new processing plant is drawing fat turkeys from South Carolina, Georgia, and other states. Hoyle Griffin and the other men associated with him in the new plant, first thought they would be prepared to process about 1,000 birds a day, but the plant has been running only about 50 days now and is processing about 2,800 turkeys a day. The plant began operations with some 35 persons employed. Now 60 are on the job, and the season is just getting under way.

One of the smartest poultrymen in Union County is said to be John Austin of Route 6, Monroe. Mr. Austin produces white leghorn eggs for the Charlotte trade, and he keeps about 2,800 laying hens the year round. He does no breeding. There is not a rooster on the place, but Mr. Austin buys only the best laying strains of white leghorn, sexed pullet chicks; feeds them as they should be; keeps them in comfortable, well-ventilated laying houses; and the eggs and the money pour in.

J.A. Hinson of Route 2, Monroe, is another small but smart Union County poultryman. He has about 2,000 New Hampshire laying hens in his house at present. He keeps 300 to the pen and, in each pen, is what he calls a community nest. This nesting arrangement is a simple trough-like affair, covered over with entrance slats on both sides and with curtains hung down each side to give the laying hens a feeling of privacy. It is 12 feet long and about 19 inches wide, and has a nice soft litter on the bottom. The hens use it in preference to all other kinds of nests, and there are few broken or dirty eggs ever found. Mr. Hinson says it is easy to handle such a nest as this because all he has to do to keep it clean is to take it out in the yard, turn it over, and empty it of the old nesting material. Then he sweeps it out and it is then ready for fresh nesting material, and is replaced in the house.

Mr. Hinson was formerly a carpenter in Monroe but about six years ago, he decided he was tired of working for the other fellow and went to work for himself. His 42-acre farm is paid for. He has a nice well-furnished home and is equipped with a tractor and other mechanical implements to do all the farming that he wants to do. He grows some cotton, plants a bit of milo sorghum for his chickens, and has lespedeza and other grazing crops for the young pullets when they are on summer range. He sells about 15 cases of hatching eggs a week and has some to sell every week in the year. His eggs go mainly to that great broiler section of north Georgia, and he sells only the heavy, carefully graded eggs that hatch out into vigorous chicks of high livability.

There are many others in Piedmont Carolina like these poultrymen of Union County who are finding that a few chickens go along nicely with cows and hogs, cotton and corn, and a good bank account.

Scotland County Woman Remembers Nov. 11, 1918

I Remember When is a collection of stories written by Extension Homemakers of North Carolina in 1978. Contributors were 65 or older at the time, and they wrote about things that happened 50 or more years ago. The following is Aileen McGill’s remembrance of Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1918. Copyright by the North Carolina Extension Homemakers Association, which published I Remember When.

November Eleven Nineteen Eighteen

Mrs. Aileen G. McGill, Scotland County

Three score years have passed, but the time has not dimmed my memory of a very special and dramatic celebration, one that all citizens of the United State acclaim as a great day in our history, November 11, 1918. News that the Armistice had been signed had reached Washington prematurely a week earlier and a celebration of sorts had begun, but it was short lived. This second report that fighting had stopped was correct! The blowing of horns and shouts of PEACE awakened me in the early morning hours of that eventful day, and I was in the right place, at the right time, Washington, District of Columbia, capital of our great nation, the place I had yearned to be, but had dared to hope that such longings could become a reality. From that moment on, throughout that day, far into the night that followed and into the early hours of the next day celebrants crowded the streets, giving full vent to their sheer joy and emotions because fighting had ceased. No one wanted to go home; everyone lingered where the action was, eager to be a part of it all.

Four years earlier world leaders, knowing that much of Europe was a tinder box, stood still when it became known that the Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary had been assassinated on June 28, 1914. A month later Austria had declared War on Serbia. In rapid succession Germany had declared war on Russia and France, and had invaded Belgium; Great Britain had declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary, Austria on Russia and Belgium, France on Austria, Japan on Germany. Where would it all stop? Newspaper headlines screamed the destruction, devastation and annihilation. Under war clouds I had begun my Freshman year at a small college in South Carolina the fall of 1914.

The United States declared war on Germany April 6, 1917. Until then, as time passed, our national leaders, being fully aware of the progress of the war, had hoped to remain aloof, but realized that each day had brought us nearer the brink. Two months after the declaration of war the first United States contingent had landed in France, congress had passed a seven billion-dollar war bond bill. Loyal to a righteous cause industry geared itself to meet the requirements of the armed forces; civilians drew in their belts as they dealt with shortages and rationing while increasing their quotas on production lines. Soon patriotism was at its height. The presence of Old Glory, the parading of our G.I.’s in uniform, the music of our military bands, the singing of songs such as “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary”, “Keep the Home Fires Burning”, “Yankee Doodle”, “Dixie”, “the Star Spangled Banner”, all helped to spirit up the people. The United States! What a great nation! What a great people! In a time of crisis we rally to the challenge, whatever it may be, and meet it head on.

PEACE. When would it come? After four years of war, waged in the air, on the ground, in the sea, what news could have been more welcomed than that which came to us 11 November, 1918, nineteen months after we entered the affray? Tired of war we were ready to celebrate and celebrate we did. Noise makers of any kind, musical or otherwise, were put to use. Everyone felt a kinship with whomever he met. Patriotic songs filled the air. Business was at a standstill; only those places that sold food and drink remained open. Though the crowds were dense, it was an orderly group, the young, the old, the lame, the blind, each spontaneously giving the other a Hail-Fellow greeting.

The formal celebration, what a spectacle, was held that night at the mall. Bonfires, one for each of the 48 states, sent their glow skyward. Perhaps a thousand persons gathered around the one for South Carolina, my home state. All were there to add their voices in songs and laughter, never seeming to tire. From the speakers’ platform came the formal announcement the Armistice had been signed by Germany “The eleventh of November nineteen eighteen 5 P.M. French time”. A tear jerking experience! About midnight as everyone joined in singing “The Star Spangled Banner” a mighty display of beautiful fireworks began. A tremendous explosion of hundreds of pieces brought to an end a Twenty-four Hour Celebration of Thanksgiving. What a grand finale! I was there! I was a part of it all, an employee of the United States Treasury Department, doing my bit for the country I love.

Rowan County Improvement Focuses on Mailboxes, 1949

By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Charlotte Observer on Nov. 7, 1949

It is interesting to note how rural people over North Carolina are doing those little things which add so much to the beauty of their homesteads. In Rowan County a mail box improvement contest started in the Corriher community by the local Grange has made that community a much more attractive place.

Last spring in April, Phillip Sloop of Mooresville, Route 1, was appointed chairman of a committee to promote this mail box improvement contest. Associated with him were Mrs. Harry P. Corriher of China Grove, Route 1, and T.N. McLaughlin of Mooresville, Route 3. These three persons planned the campaign. They divided the whole community into different areas with a committee chairman responsible for this area. The committee member then contacted every box holder in his particular selection regardless of age, race, color or creed, and explained the contest. The boxholder was given a copy of the score card, rules of the contest, and amounts of the prizes.

Business men of Salisbury and the Corriher section sponsored the contest and offered $25 as a first prize; $15, second; $10, third; and $6 for the best group of boxes; that is two or more in one group.

As a result of this beautification or improvement work, nearly every mail box in that entire community was improved in some manner. Two hundred and seventy-two were definitely entered for the prize money, and 160 of these showed the results of considerable interest and effort in beautifying the boxes and their immediate surroundings. The contest actually got under way in May and was ended in September with the prizes awarded at a big meeting of the Corriher Grange in early October. Everyone turned out for the meeting because there was considerable competition for first honors. The judges were Mrs. Mildred Seaber, home economist with the Duke Power Company; J.H. McKenzie, postmaster of Salisbury; and Tom McKnight, publisher of the Mooresville Tribune. The judges had a hard task and they were really on the spot. Finally, the first prize was awarded to W.L. Teeter of Mooresville, Route 3. Second prize went to Vernon H. Bost of Mt. Ulla, Route 1; and third place was awarded to Oron M. Deal of China Grove, Route 1. The first prize of $6 for the best group of boxes went to Roland White, Clyde Deal, and R.M. Edmiston, all of Mooresville, Route 3.

The committee in charge of this contest helped the box holders to get attractive metal name plates to hang above or alongside their boxes. Every person in the community took the idea very seriously and while the women, of course, did most of the actual beautification and improvement work, the men did help because it became a matter of neighborhood pride. County Agent P.H. Satterwhite says that a ride of 25 miles through the Corriher section will show some excellent work having been done at the site of nearly every box on the side of the roads.

Mr. Teeter, who won the first prize, had an unusual and very neat box. His mail box is fastened on a wrought iron post with a lattice frame work in the background, and this lattice work is topped with a bird house. Flowers were planted in a bed about the site and the whole presented a most attractive appearance. Mr. Bost erected his mailbox on a wooden V-brace in front of a small lattice fence, extending about a bed of evergreens and flowers. Both men used the metal name plate above their respective boxes. The judge said that many of the entrants showed considerable ingenuity in improving and decorating the boxes and the sites about them. Most of them used lattice work and flowers with wrought iron posts to hold the box out so that the mail carrier could reach it without trouble.

Farm News Around the State, November 1953

From the “Around the State” column in the Nov. 1953 issue of Extension Farm-News

ROWAN

Farm agents get quite a few unusual requests for information, but here is one of the most unusual Glenn Tussey, assistant in Rowan has received. “If you feed chickens rat poison and it doesn’t kill the chickens, will the eggs laid by the chickens be poisonous?” was the question lady’s question. A question to the lady as to why she desired this information brought the following answer: “Well, my neighbor won’t keep his chickens out of my flowers, so I fed them two whole boxes of rat poison, but it didn’t kill them. And the reason I’m asking about the eggs is that I buy them from my neighbor.”

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PERSON

Sometimes an almost forgotten farm project comes in mighty handy, according to C.J. Ford, Person County Negro farm agent. Ford explains that an 18-year-old timber stand on the farm of William Clay is now paying off in a big way. Back in 1935 he helped Clay thin a 16-acre stand of young pines. Clay was named the outstanding farmer of the year in Person for his forestry work, and his picture and a story appeared in a popular farm magazine. Clay’s health has been declining recently and he has been receiving periodic treatment at a Durham hospital. This cost money—more money, in fact, than Clay thought he had saved. But his son remembered the pine plantation. Part of the timber will soon be sold and should adequately cover Clay’s medical expenses.

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MACON

Seven Macon County communities were awarded more than $1,000 in prizes at the second annual Community Development Achievement Night held at Franklin on November 7. Prizes were donated by Franklin business men. First price of $400 in the Community Development contest went to Patton community; second prize of $250 to Carson; and third prize of $150 to Clarks Chapel. Lesser prizes were won by Oak Grove, West Union, Bethel and Prentiss. Thirteen communities participated in the contest.

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WESTERN N.C.

California may do some things better than North Carolina, but it can’t hold a candle to the Irish potato growers of Western North Carolina. Henry Covington, Extension specialist, reports that eight Watauga farmers have taken advantage of the ideal potato-growing climate of the mountains and exceeded the California average yield by 105 bushels per acre. The average yield for the eight farmers was 535 bushels per acre.

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MT. OLIVE

Hill Yount of Mt. Olive has used his head to stretch his pastures. Yount has diverted a stream of water so that it flows down over a meadow to which plenty of nitrogen has been applied. His cows were enjoying lush, tender foliage when most animals were finding it hard to discover a little green grass.

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DAIRY PRODUCTION WINNERS

R.M. Lefler of Willard is winner of the 1952 Efficient Dairy Production Contest. Lefler’s record is tops among the Dairy Herd Improvement Association members taking part in the contest sponsored in North Carolina by the Southern Dairies and Kraft Foods. His prize is $30 and a plaque.

Russel Oxford of Taylorsville, a member of the Alexander County DHIA, won second place, and J.R. Nipper of Raleigh, Route 1, won third; his herd is enrolled in the Capitol No. 1 DHIA.

Four other winners were also chosen. In order of their standing these are B.R. and G.C. Daniel, Blanch; Fred Bahnson, Winston-Salem; W.E. Cummings, Summerfield, Route 2; and W.H. Brake, Rocky Mount, Route 2.

North Carolina Farmers Feeding Our Boys, At Home and Overseas, 1945

Elizabethtown Journal, November 19, 1945

Frank H. Jeter, editor of the State Extension News, and column writer for a number of North Carolina daily newspapers, was an informative, interesting and inspiring speaker at the rural-urban meeting of the Elizabethtown Rotary Club, which was held at White Oak on Tuesday evening, speaking along the lines of food production.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Jeter stated that his is the task of interpreting to the general public the facts of science. Things don’t just happen, he said, but every advance that is made in the agricultural world is the result of long hours of scientific research made by scientists who have given their lives to their work. Agriculture has made rapid progress through the work of scientists, which has been put into practical demonstration by live, wide-awake men who see possibilities.

For seven years, North Carolina has increased its food production, he said. If the farmer has fallen down the war would have been over long ago, for a hero cannot be a hero on an empty stomach. No industry has sacrificed itself to produce like farming. Fathers whose sons and laborers have helped on the farm, and are now in service, have turned their wives and daughters into growers of food for the nation and its allies.

Men with the ideal of liberty have made America great—people like us, here, have made the nation great and North Carolina is one of the greatest states in the nation,” he said.

He told of the boy who a few years ago came home from school, calling for “something to eat” as he entered the doorway. “There are 2,100,000 of these same boys stretched from Alaska to the Southwest Pacific, in Italy, Sicily, many other places, in the service of America, who are still holding out hands to us, at home, for food. We didn’t let them down as hungry boys coming home from school, and we won’t let them down as boys fighting for their country. America is going to produce again next year as never before. Fertilizer is going to be short, and machinery is going to be scarce, but the American farmer is going to produce in spite of handicaps for the American farmer is War Worker No. 1.”

“You men here are leaders. It is up to you to tell the others. Our spirit must be together, and like the eagle, soaring from the mists in the valley to the high eyrie in the lofty cliffs, we will all soar forth eventually to a glorious victory.”

Mr. Jeter was introduced by R.B. Harper, county agent, who had charge of the program. Hayes Hurdle, agriculture teacher, welcomed the guests and invited them to visit the modern cannery there.

Prior to the meeting, the Rotarians and their guests assembled in the lunch room where a delectable dinner was served by the women of the community. White Oak women have a reputation of being among the best cooks in the Cape Fear section, and they kept this reputation true to form in serving the delectable meal.

Scotland County Farm Tour, 1948

Written by F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Charlotte Observer, Nov. 29, 1948

Some ditching with blasting dynamite and much attention to the farm woodlands along with the usual summer tours to study better farming have occupied the spare time of Scotland landowners.

The annual farm tour is quite an occasion, and this year the visiting cavalcade paid visits to the farms of O.W. McManus of Masons Cross Roads, J.G. Pate Jr. of Gibson, J.C. Parker of St. Johns, Paul Gentry of Sneads Grove, Wade Maness of Elmore, McNair’s Lower McCall Farm near the Old Laurel Hill Church, A.R. McMillan’s on the Aberdeen road, H.C. “Bill” Newton near Wagram, R.E. Cooley near Wagram, and to Hubert McRae on the McNair Baker Farm.

One of the unusual things they saw at the Hubert McRae’s place was the work being done in eradicating Bermuda grass with the 2,4-D weed killer. While on the tour, the visiting farmers also gave much attention to the new principles of growing 100 bushels of corn an acre.

Scotland County also has another unique organization of which they are very proud. This is the Scotch Gardeners, a county-wide garden club, which is doing much to improve and beautify the homes and grounds of its members, both in the towns and out in the countryside.

At the Scotland County Fair in Laurinburg this fall, a flower show staged by the Scotch Gardeners was probably the feature of the event. The home demonstration club women put on eight booths that were also very good. R.F. Morris of the Maxton community entered a display of 15 different vegetables which came from his home garden, and Billy Bunch of Laurel Hill took first place in the 4-H garden display with a well-arranged exhibit of 10 vegetables from his home garden.

The Scotchmen of Scotland say that these home gardens, these well-arranged and beautiful home grounds, and these new home orchards are some of the essentials of good living that are adding to the attractiveness of rural life throughout the county.

The Taylor Family Farm, Granville County

The Taylor Farm, Granville County

The exciting farm of Reverend Junious Moore Taylor and wife, Nannie Peace of Creedmoor nestled among Carolina Pines, Red Oaks and graceful White Elms. A shy crooked road tip-toed and twisted its lonesome trail to the Taylor’s two-story doorsteps. Here the happy children, horses and herds of various other farm animals galloped, played and matured on land purchased by Taylor in Granville County (Dutchville Township) as follows: May 4, 1886—three acres for $75 in cash; November 5, 1887—25.25 acres for $300 cash; February 12, 1898—25.5 acres for $350. By the middle of the 1900s his total acreage was some less than 250.

A Baptist minister and public school teacher, J.M. Taylor taught his family by month Bible workshops in the home; daily school curriculum, accenting nature; elements of the sky and birds, rain, its function and destination; home ownership, a MUST; forest protection; and the production of a vegetable garden by every child by making him the owner of a tiny plot of land with free seeds.

As of today, only 13.75 acres have been deducted from the original. May 15, 1935 this plot along Ledge Rock Creek was donated to the new Creedmoor water system.

--submitted by Manie Taylor Geer, daughter

In 1988, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture published a commemorative book, North Carolina Century Farms: 100 Years of Continuous Agricultural Heritage. This book provided a history of century farms in North Carolina. It contains information about a second Freeman Farm in Gates County.

Stories about other Granville County century farms in the book include:

The Blankenship Farm, submitted by Amanda Roberts Blankenship

The Anderson’s Place Farm, submitted by Daniel A. Hunt

The Blackwell Farm, submitted by Fred Blackwell

The Bobbitt Farm, submitted by Anne Bobbitt Murphy

The Dickerson Farm, submitted by Jack Thomas Dickerson

The Haney Farm, submitted by J.B. Haney

The Harris Farm, submitted by Hunter Harris

The Harris Farm, submitted by Richard Harris Jr.

The Hunt Farm, submitted by F. Earle and Nan G. Hunt

The Husketh Farm, submitted by Alma Ormond Husketh

The Lane Farm, submitted by Ralph H. Lane

The John P. Lawrence Farm, submitted by Robinette M. Husketh

The May Farm, submitted by James O. May

The Moore Family Farm, submitted by Mr. and Mrs. George B. Summers

The Claude A. Parham Heirs Farm, submitted by Mary Irene Parham

The Perry Farm, submitted by Adelle and Samuel Perry

The Royster Farm, submitted by L. Ray Royster

The Turner Farm, submitted by Anne Bobbitt Murphy

Onslow County Home Demonstration Report, 1945

Written by F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Wilmington Star, Nov. 6, 1945

One of the many interesting events in North Carolina rural life during this month is the fall meeting of the Home Demonstration Club Federation of almost every county. The women called the occasion “Achievement Day” and representatives of each club in every county are on hand to make reports of the work done during the past years. Just the other day, I attended such a meeting at a Jacksonville in Onslow County. The group gathered in the auditorium of the USO building with Mrs. L.N. Sanders, Federation president, as presiding officer. There was a roll call by clubs, the usual collect, songs, devotional, and other preliminary features, after which women from the various clubs told of the results secured with gardens, scrap drives, clothing, food conservation and the other vital projects which are being conducted by the home demonstration forces in this time of war emergency. The reports, however, were not made in the usual tiresome fashion.

One of the women went to the piano and then the reporters began to come up in groups of two or three. A tune was sounded and the women would tell in song just what had happened in garden, pantry, sewing room, poultry yard and the like. They told how many cans of vegetables and fruits had been conserved in the county; how they had helped in the Red Cross drives and with the United War Fund; how they had made old clothes do after careful renovation; how their poultry yards had produced eggs and broilers in abundance and had been aided through their collections of scrap materials and waste fats. It was a kind of Thanksgiving service told in folk song and in the simple words of those who live close to the soil.

As each story was told, the reporters in that particular group added a placard to a figure that had been forming in the background and when the entire report had been made and all the placards put in place, a giant “V” for victory resulted. The “V” was based on the work of the women in their home demonstration clubs during the year and the finale was a chorus in which all joined to tell the story of their joint struggles on the farm in 1944. It was an interesting performance and while the voices may not have been equal to some trained singer nor the word arrangement comparable to classic poetry, the observer gained a clear idea of what had been done and the difficulties which had been overcome.

Let’s not forget that there are difficulties in farming Onslow County these days. The war has changed the county from a distinctly rural section into a place where no houses are available and no labor had to be had at any price. Jacksonville is no longer recognized as the quiet village of former days. There are housing projects there now, new miles of paved streets, a new and modern hospital, and the stores can hardly keep food and merchandise upon their shelves. Just eastward is Camp Lejeune, the modern Marine training base, stretching across the low marsh lands to the Atlantic Ocean and in itself one of the most efficient and most beautiful of all such posts in the nation. New River traverses the entire county from north to south and along the bends of this old river, the Navy has built this remarkable plant. It is here that the Marines have trained for their work in the Southwest Pacific. Their commanders found in Onslow the swamps, the islands, and the water of sound and ocean, and other amphibious conditions suitable for preparing their men for the tasks which they are doing so well.

Hugh Overstreet, one of the veteran farm agents of the Extension Service, says that it is almost impossible to get tenants for the larger farming units in Onslow. Those without land of their own find the wages at Camp Lejeune and, formerly at nearby Camp Davis, too attractive.

It was thought that when the two camps had been built, local labor conditions would improve but, right now, “there seems to be no end in sight,” Overstreet says. On the smaller farms, however, the owners and their families have remained on the job in a commendable way. Mr. Overstreet held meetings in each community early last spring and the neighborhood leaders made a careful study of the local situation. Farm owners discussed the outlook for labor and the crops which could be planted and harvested without loss. These plans were followed throughout the year and it was not unusual to find a farmer working with four or five of his neighbors in exchange for the help which they, in turn, gave him. Farm machinery and equipment also were exchanged, and this made it possible for the women to sing their songs of thanksgiving at the Achievement Day exercises last week.

Onslow poultry bids fair to become as famous as Onslow hams due to the great increase in poultry growing. The production of broilers and hens increased by one-third in 1943 and jumped again this year with the farmers brooding their chicks in outbuildings, tobacco barns, old tenant houses, as well as in modern brooder houses. There was a problem in obtaining the right kind of feed and many were able to get only a week’s supply at a time. Even so the growers produced more eggs, broilers and fryers than ever before and there was a ready and eager market for all that could be grown.

Onslow is one of the old counties in the state formed from Bath in 1734. It covers an area of some 86,000 acres and is one of the most heavily timbered areas in the South. Now it is becoming necessary for the landowners to think about conserving their timber as wartime needs have dug heavily into the standing reserves. The soil is fertile ad the people know how to farm although they seem somewhat bewildered at what has happened to the good old life as they knew it.