Farmers Decide If They Want Quotas on Tobacco Crop, 1938

By Dr. J.B. Hutson, assistant administrator, Agricultural Adjustment Administration, published in the December 1938 issue of The Southern Planter magazine

Voting for the second time under the marketing quota provisions of the Farm Act of 1938, producers of cotton, flue-cured, dark, and burley tobacco will go to the polls in December to decide whether they want quotas to apply in 1939.

Quotas were effective for cotton and these kinds of tobacco in 1938 after farmers voted by a large majority in favor of controlled marketings.

Under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, the various kinds of tobacco are treated as separate commodities and a marketing quota is announced for any kind when the supply exceeds the reserve supply level. The supplies of flue-cured, dark, and Burley tobacco are above the reserve supply figures or quota level.

The growers of cotton and flue-cured tobacco will decided on December 10 whether they want quotas on next year’s crops, and the producers of dark tobacco and Burley will vote on December 17 to determine whether quotas will be in effect in 1939. If more than one-third of the growers voting in either of the referenda oppose the quota, it will not become effective for the crop in 1939.

Voting places will be set up in the various communities in each county where cotton or either of these kinds of tobacco is grown. A separate referendum will be held for cotton and each kind of tobacco and any farmer who grew any of these crops in 1938 will be eligible to cast one ballot for the crop he produced. One exception to this statement should be made. Sea Island cotton is not subject to marketing quotas and farmers who grow only Sea Island will not vote. Only a few thousand bales of this long staple cotton are produced, however, and consequently only a few producers will be affected.

The marketing quota plan is only a part of the Triple-A program. This part of the program is in effect only when supplies are high and farmers vote 2-to-1 in favor of it. The conservation part of the program, with acreage allotments and soil-building practices, is in effect ever year, and if cotton and tobacco farmers plant within their acreage allotments, marketing quotas would not be necessary in most years. But, when planting and heavy yields push supplies up over the marketing quota level, farmers would fare better with marketing quotas in effect than they would with uncontrolled marketings.

….

Without an effective control program, a fluctuating price to the producer from year to year has been the only effective means for controlling the marketings of cotton and tobacco. Continuous excessive marketings reduce income from cotton and tobacco until production is no longer profitable, and growers are forced to reduce their marketings while the excess of past years is being used up. This is the trade’s method of adjusting supply in line with demand. Then, when burdensome supplies have been reduced, prices rise again.

This is illustrated by what happened in flue-cured tobacco during the period of 1929-32. The 1929 crop of 750 million pounds brought 18 cents per pound, and the 1930 crop of 865 million pounds averaged only 12 cents per pound. Because of excessive supplied which piled up from these big crops, growers were forced to reduce the 1931 crop down to 669 million pounds and received an average price of only 8.4 cents per pound. Supplies were still too high, and although producers marketed only 373 million pounds in 1932, the excess supplies from previous years kept prices at a low level, the average for this small crop being 11.6 cents per pound.

Thus it can be seen that years of heavy production not only are followed by smaller crops but by lower prices if supplies are out of line with demand.

….

For the rest of this story, see pages 4 & 13 of the December 1938 issue of The Southern Planter.

Percent of Population Voting in 1936 Presidential Election

From the December 1937 issue of The Southern Planter

Included an article asking the Commonwealth of Virginia to do away with its poll tax, was a list of the percentage of population voting in the previous presidential election (1936). It ranged from a high of 88 percent voting in West Virginia to a low of 13 percent voting in South Carolina. South Carolina did have a poll tax, but that obviously wasn’t the only issue. Louisiana had no poll tax and yet only 29 percent of the population voted. North Carolina had no poll tax; 50 percent voted.

Percentage of population over 21 years of age who voted in the 1936 presidential election:

88 percent--West Virginia

81 percent—Illinois and Utah

80 percent—Delaware

78 percent—New Mexico and Indiana

77 percent—Kansas, Colorado, South Dakota

76 percent—Idaho, Wyoming

75 percent—Rhode Island

74 percent—North Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana

73 percent—Ohio

72 percent—Wisconsin

70 percent—New Jersey and Pennsylvania

69 percent—New Hampshire

67 percent—New York, Massachusetts

66 percent—Connecticut, Nevada

65 percent—Washington, California

64 percent—Oregon

63 percent—Michigan

62 percent—Maryland

61 percent—Maine

60 percent—Kentucky

58 percent—Vermont

55 percent--Arizona, Oklahoma

50 percent—North Carolina

35 percent—Florida

29 percent—Louisiana

STATES HAVING VOTER POLL TAX

31 percent—Tennessee

25 percent—Texas

24 percent—Virginia

19 percent—Alabama, Georgia

17 percent—Arkansas

16 percent—Mississippi

13 percent—South Carolina

What N.C. Farms Wanted for Christmas in 1937 Was Electricity

From the Editorial Page of The Southern Planter, December 1937 issue

We have just one fault to find with rural electrification. It’s too slow.

We know of communities that have been on the verge of getting current for four years, but it has never come. It should be remembered that less than one farm out of 10 in the states served by The Southern Planter has electric service. The other nine are hopeful.

The farmer who has set aside some money this fall for home improvements will ponder over waiting for electricity when he can buy electric washers, stoves and ice boxes; and going ahead now and investing in gas motors, mechanical washers, kerosene refrigerators and stoves. In performance both lines of equipment are successful. In price the electric appliances are more expensive to buy and operate. It is a decision that the farmer, himself, must make. But we hazard this guess; if he asks his wife which she prefers, she will say, “Life is too short to be spent in washboard slavery. Let’s go ahead and buy it for Christmas.”

Halifax Farm Woman's Earnings Pay for College, Land, Furniture, Clothing, 1936

The Southern Planter magazine had a contest encouraging farm women to let them know how they made extra money. First place winner was Mrs. J.H. Lewis, Halifax County, N.C., who wrote that the “extra” money she had made was used to buy land, automobiles, furniture, clothing, and to send their three children to college. Mrs. Lewis won a $5 prize for her letter, which was published in The Southern Planter, December 1936 issue.

For many years, I have worked to make spending money and some for rainy days that are sure to come.

I drive 15 miles twice a week and sell milk, butter, eggs, chickens, vegetables, meat (pork) and anything we have on the farm that city people need. The products are prepared with care in order to please the customers. Often my customers tell friends about the things I sell and in that way I find more sales.

I sell chickens dressed and some dressed turkeys. Others are sold on foot. When we kill hogs I find ready sale for sausage, liver-pudding, souse, backbone, spare ribs, tender loins and other cuts of the meats.

The calves from my cows are sold for veal. I realize more profit from them at that size.

Fruits in summer and jellies, jams, preserves, pickles, dried fruits and all canned products I sell in winter.

I also bake cakes and sell them. One customer had me cook her turkey last Christmas and wants me to do it again this Christmas.

It is astonishing how much income farm women can realize from such things if they make an effort. During the recent economic strain, I managed to have a steady income which enabled us to tide over the depression without suffering for food or clothes. Fortunately, I don’t have to go to my husband for money. Since he is a farmer, I would often be disappointed.

The cash made by my work has been used to buy land, automobiles, furniture and other things for the home, as well as clothing that we could not have gotten otherwise. Each of our three children finished high school at the age of 17 and went on to college. The oldest graduated from college last June and is now teaching. The other two are sophomores in college and I am still “peddling.”

NC's Farm Year in Review, 1949

“The Farm Year in Review, 1949” by F.H Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Wendell Farmer, Zebulon Record, Mebane Enterprise, and Benson Review

The moving finger has written the record of another year. For your readers out in the country the record is fairly good. Those who depended upon cotton have again felt the sting of ingratitude because the old king failed them again. But, aside from that, the record is not so bad.

There is more green land in North Carolina today as Ladino clover has superseded broom sedge. We added 150,000 new acres of Ladino pasture this fall to the 200,000 acres planted in the fall of 1948.

The state ranks next to Texas in the number of farm homes electrified—that was accomplished by July first.

We have started a new sweet potato industry.

Beef cattle are being exchanged for eastern tobacco dollars by our mountain farmers.

Every county and every rural community has had its corn contest with great acre yields authenticated by reliable citizens.

There is that new thing known as a grade “A” dairy in almost every community, and from these dairies goes an increasingly greater stream of pure milk into processing plants.

The swine industry seems to be on a definite upswing, with over 30 cash hog-buying stations offered in a ready market.

Almost everywhere you go, young readers can tell you of new poultry flocks and fat broilers. Finally, there are endless chain clubs popularizing all of these among the youth of our state.

So you ought to feel pretty good even though you cannot keep very much of the money you have earned. Your paper told the story of how these new things came about in the rural life of the state.

As your reporter here at State College, where new research and new demonstrations constantly uncover the new facts of interest to your rural reader, we are glad to be associated with this progress. We thank you for your handling of the news items sent to you and we wish for you and yours a happy Christmas season.

Watauga County 4-H'ers Prize-Winning Steer, 1930s

From an undated press release written by L.R. Harrill, State 4-H Club Leader, North Carolina 

Petted, pampered, and fed for a period of 267 days, a cross-bred Shorthorn steer owned, managed, and fed by Frank Mast, 11-year-old 4-H club member of Watauga County, gained a total of 576 pounds in a 258-day feeding period, making a daily gain of 2.232 pounds at a cost of 8.85 cents per pound gained for feed consumed. After winning second prize in the county show; first in grand champion at the Asheville Fat Stock Show; first in the lightweight class, and grand champion in the club and the open class at the North Carolina State Fair, or a total of $122.91 in prizes, he sold on the auction block for the record price of 53 cents per pound, bringing a total of $442.55, the highest price ever paid for a steer in North Carolina, making a total gross value of $565.42, at a total cost of $106.17, leaving a gross profit of $459.29.

A summary of Frank’s record shows that during the 258-day feeding period, the steer consumed $31.17 worth of cottonseed meal, corn, and a small amount of commercial feed. During the first 7 ½ months the calf was on milk with a nurse cow; $20 was charged for the milk consumed, $20 for other expenses, bringing the total expense to $106.17. Frank’s record further shows that his steer was a local bred animal, and was purchased for $30 at the age of 3 ½ months, at which time he weighed 250 pounds.
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For more information on L.R. Harrell, see Learn NC's information on his interesting career, beginning at http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/farmville-gng/6.0

Carolina Farm Notes, December 1939

“Carolina Farm Notes” by F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in The Southern Planter, December 1939

Five 4-H club girls, efficient in their projects during the past year, have been selected as winners of trips to Chicago to attend the National Club Congress, December 1 through 9. The girls are Jean Grey Walker, 17 years old, of Burlington, Route 2, Alamance County, excellence in club records; Doris Evans, 17, of Lumberton, Route 2, Robeson County, state canning contest winner; Cleo Rumbley, 18, of Burlington, Route 4, Alamance County, best food preparation project; Pansy Dillard, Sylva, Jackson County, state rural electrification winner [no age given]; and Johnnie Faye Barnes, 16, of Black Creek, Wilson County, winner of the 4-H dress revue.

In addition to the records of these five girls, those of Edna Lee Owens of Webster, Jackson County, and of Helen Gainey, Fayetteville, Route 7, Cumberland County, have been submitted for competition in the regional home grounds beautification contest, and if either of these girls wins the contest, she also will be eligible for the Chicago trip.

GOOD SEED IN MAINE

Dr. R.F. Poole, having returned from a trip of inspection to the Irish potato fields of Maine, has reported to growers of the early crop in North Carolina that the quality of the Maine seed supply is the best in years. Growers there are much worried, however, over a new bacterial wilt disease which has appeared in parts of the seed producing territory. The fields in which this trouble has appeared have been eliminated from certification. Dr. Poole is therefore advising growers to buy only “certified” seed and not to accept “selected” seed this coming season. He is cooperating with the extension plant pathologist with a view to holding a series of meetings in coastal Carolina early in the winter to advise growers about their Irish potato crop for next spring.

NEW FARM OWNERS IN ORANGE COUNTY

Among the new farm owners in Orange County one finds names carrying suffixes of M.D., Ph.D., LL.D., Litt.D., and so on through the gamut of impressive insignia denoting much learning or accomplishment. Fortunately for the dirt farmers of the county, however, these learned persons are not farming in the true sense of the word. They are men and women from nearby Duke University and from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill seeking a place of retreat in a restful atmosphere. They have bought a number of old farm homes, some of them abandoned, and have rebuilt and renovated them into lovely rural homes. Don S. Matheson, Orange County agent, likes the idea though the new owners are causing him a lot of extra work.

CHANGE IN FARM POWER

A steady shift from mules and horses to tractors as a source of farm power is being noted in North Carolina, as landowners find the newer models suitable for use under average conditions. David S. Weaver says there are 21,452 tractors now in use in this state, with Rowan County leading with 1,086 in operation. Guilford is a close second, having 1,012, and the other counties, largely in the Piedmont and upper coastal plain sections, follow with from 700 to 200 each. There is a need for belt power as farm owners turn to feed grinding, silo filling and other activities in which the new tractors seem to fit in well.

FOREST NURSERIES IN JOHNSTON AND HENDERSON COUNTIES

Forest nurseries in Johnston and Henderson counties have upwards of four million seedling forest trees available to North Carolina farmers for planting stock this winter and early spring. Already the movement of seedlings from the plant bed to eroded hillsides is under way. The planting of hardwoods began November 1 in the mountains and after November 15 in the Piedmont and coastal plain. Next January and February, pines will be planted in large quantities in the coastal sections, followed later by similar plantings toward the mountains.

R.W. Graeber, extension forester, says that those who wish to secure trees from the state nurseries should contact their county agents or order them through his office. At the same time, the growers should secure definite instructions about how to set the trees for best results. The seedlings are sold at nominal prices so as to cover the expense of producing them.

NEW BEEF HERDS IN HARNETT COUNTY

There was not a herd of purebred beef cattle in Harnett County prior to last August, asserts J.B. Gourlay, assistant farm agent. Today, however, eight herds of purebred foundation stock have been started, largely from Herefords purchased in Western Carolina.

J.C. Byrd of Dunnlevel bought eight animals, including a bull. Mr. Byrd says the cattle are growing rapidly on the good pastures of his farm, and he only wishes he had started his herd 10 years ago. J.E. Womble of Lillington purchased nine head; and other recent buyers are Leander Lee of Lillington, Route 2; Lee Cameron of Jonesboro, Route 3; and P.A. Washburn of Jonesboro, Route 3. Mr. Gourlay also secured the cooperation of the county commissioners to place a herd on the county home farm.

DAIRY RESEARCH STATION

The new dairy research station provided for in funds appropriated by the last General Assembly will be located in Iredell County four miles from Statesville on the Amity Road, Dean I.O. Schaub has announced. The Experiment Station purchased the Clarence Stimpson farm consisting of 130 acres and well situated for dairy research. An experimental herd of dairy cattle will be established on the farm immediately, and pasture studies will begin as soon as possible. Work on the new farm will be under the direction of Dr. C.D. Grinnells, in charge of dairy research.

SUGAR SPUDS YIELD WELL IN MARTIN COUNTY

Martin County, center of the sweet potato industry in eastern North Carolina, is experiencing heavy acre yields this season, according to reports from leading farmers. Four hundred bushels to the acre on first class roots is not unusual. W.M. Hardison said he dug 432 bushels an acre of U.S. No. 1 potatoes from his first settings and most growers report yields running from 250 to 400 bushels an acre. The Martin growers purchased their potato baskets cooperatively this fall and saved considerable money. They have the roots in storage where they will be cured for sale in late winter and early spring.

MECKLENBURG YOUTH WIN

Eugene Berryhill and John McDowell, two young 4-H club members from Mecklenburg County, have been deluged with congratulations since they returned from the West Coast where they won first place for the Southern Region with their demonstration at the National Dairy Show.

Eugene stammers a little under excitement and the demonstration was given in windy, foggy weather. The cow they were able to get wouldn’t stand still and many other difficulties presented themselves; but the two boys went calmly through their demonstration winning $250 scholarships for both. In addition to medals, Eugene stammered not a bit until he was presented on Bing Crosby’s national radio program the next night in Hollywood.

Club Leader L.R. Harrill and Mecklenburg County Agent Oscar Phillips, who accompanied the team, both expressed pride in the work of the two club members.

CALDWELL COUNTY DISPLAY

A comprehensive educational exhibit, neatly arranged and showing the balance between agriculture and industry in Caldwell County, won first prize and $650 in cash in the County Progress Department of the North Carolina State Fair, October 10 to 14. Dare County won second place and $500; while Nash placed third, winning $300.

JUDGING CONTEST WINNERS

More than 200 boys and girls, members of the 4-H clubs of North Carolina, entered the poultry, livestock and crops judging contests stages as a feature of the North Carolina State Fair this fall. 

A team from Jones County coached by F.F. Kelley, assistant farm agent, won the livestock contest, but Hugh Randall of Cleveland County was the highest scoring individual. 

The Polk County team, coached by Assistant Agent Sam Dobson, won the seed judging event with Elliotte Arthurs of Iredell County as high scoring individual. 

The poultry judging contest was won by a team from Wayne County coached by R.B. Harper, assistant agent, and the high scoring individual was Billy Fountain of Onslow County.

Boll Weevil Eating Up Cotton Farmers’ Profits, 1949

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

North Carolina farmers are tremendously concerned about how to make money through the use of additional crops and how to save the money that they make. One good way to save money is not to let insects and plant diseases destroy what has been produced. 

One of the most surprising statements to come to my attention this fall is one by B.C. Lineberger of Lincolnton, who in his official capacity as a member of the National Cotton Council, said that this state has suffered loss of $23,901,000 from cotton insect pests in 1948 and this year. Twenty-three million dollars is a lot of money. Mr. Lineberger estimates that our cotton crop was reduced by 18 per cent this season, to far exceed the losses of last year when only 7 per cent was lost from attacks by insect pests.

In other words, the value of the lint and the seed lost through the depredations of the boll weevil alone in 1949 is two and one-half times what it was in 1948. The loss was $9,622,000 last year and that was bad enough. Mr. Lineberger says we lost 143,000 bales of cotton and 57,000 tons of good cottonseed to satisfy the insatiable appetite of the boll weevil. Based on an average price of $150 a bale, the lint losses this year would thus amount to $21,450,000. At an average price of $43 a ton, the seed losses amounted to $2,451,000.

But this is nothing when compared with the loss of cotton over the entire South. The year 1949 was the worst since 1927. In that year the weevils cost the Southern cotton farmer the neat sum of $550 million.  

That’s why Mr. Lineberger is asking for a good attendance at the third annual cotton insect control conference to be held in Birmingham, Alabama, on December 19 and 20. He wants to see all of the official people concerned with cotton growing and insect control present at that meeting so that unified steps may be taken for a fight on the weevil and other cotton pests. I think he is right and I hope we shall get some definite and easily understood recommendations on which all of us can agree and then that we shall get ready next spring and try to save our cotton crop. 

Readers’ Contributions to The Southern Planter, December 1938 Issue

Among all occupations, farming is my favorite. I was born on the farm, raised on the farm, and am now 58 years of age and am still on the farm. Why? Because I love it. I love my dogs, my garden, my cows, my chickens, my flowers and above all, the beautiful cotton, corn, tobacco, peanuts, clover, rye and all. If it wasn’t for the farmers, people couldn’t live, so we know that farming is the most important work.

                --Mrs. J.H. Butler, Ante, Virginia

Home used to be a place where people were born, where they lived and died, and from which they were buried. But what is the modern home?

To the average person, it is a place where one may sleep when there is nothing better to do; and a place to hang one’s extra suit—when it is not at the cleaners. No more family gatherings, home-cooked meals, or family circles. Meals are snatched from lunch counters, days are spent in an office, and evenings are spent everywhere—except in the home.

The home is the foundation of a country. Then what will be the result if modern home life continues along its present trend?

--S.F. Currie, Merry Point, Virginia

I have lived on a farm all my life and I thoroughly enjoy the country. I was a 4-H Club member as long as we had club work in the county. When I started to high school, I majored in vocational agriculture. I consider this subject just as valuable to me as English, history or mathematics. It taught me many valuable facts and ideas about farming, such as the importance of fertilizing and liming the soil, how to test the soil for lime and the main elements in fertilizers, the importance of rotating the crops, and how to conserve soil from erosion by planting cover crops and strip cropping, the importance of feeding a balanced ration to livestock instead of just corn.

One of the most important things Vocational Agriculture taught me was to keep accurate records on all crops and livestock to tell whether I made a profit or loss on them.

I think any boy living on a farm could not get better training in farming than through vocational agriculture taught in high schools. Every boy living on a farm, and especially those who expect to remain on the farm and make it their life’s work, should study vocational Agriculture in high school.

I was speechless when announced Star American Farmer in Kansas City this fall. Throughout my four years of high school, I had looked forward to obtaining the American farmer degree, but I never dreamed of obtaining the Star American Farmer award and the cash prize of $500.

I expect to use the money to finish paying for my tractor, make repairs on the home and buy a registered Holstein-Friesian bull calf.

I have obtained much valuable information from The Southern Planter concerning farming, especially form the Farm Management page entitled “Work for the Month.” I believe that if farmers would use this page and follow the advice given, there would be more successful farms in the South.

--Hunter Roy Greenlaw, King’s Highway, Fredericksburg, Virginia

N.C. Farm Wives Convert Skills, Surplus Goods, Into Cash, 1951

By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Carolina Farm Observer, Jan. 1, 1951

North Carolina farm women found last fall that one way to have Christmas money was to convert those extra things about the farm into cash. Many of them have been adding many a home comfort by this means. Mrs. Robert Abernathy of the Union section of Lincoln County has what you might call a slogan, “Sew and Save.” Her adept needle has added many comforts to the Abernathy home and has saved the family many a badly needed dollar. She is the same person, you recall, who this past summer won the North Carolina Farmers Cooperative Exchange prize for making the best dress from feed sacks. She was not always so adept with the needle however. She began sewing when she was married but knew little about it. She would get help form a neighbor or friend and progressed along the “trial and error” way.

When she joined the local home demonstration club in her community and the members began to study sewing and how to make their own clothes at home, she really was overjoyed because this was one of the things she had always wanted to do. She became expert in the handling of freed sacks. In starting with her prize winning dress, she exchanged sacks with neighbors until she got enough cloth to make an attractive blue and white dress like she wanted. It took four flour sacks but since some of them had holes in them, she had to do a little careful maneuvering. But she made a dress on which she spent 30 cents for a zipper, 10 cents for thread, and 20 cents for two cards of buttons, or a total of 60 cents plus one or two cents for sales tax. That same dress won the local FCX contest in Lincoln County and finally the state contest, in Raleigh last year.

Mrs. Abernathy was awarded $50 for first prize and since she wanted the money to be used for something she could really appreciate, she bought inlaid linoleum for her kitchen floor.

She has just completed a new brown suit at a total cost of $4.20. She now makes nearly all of her own clothing, using modern, up-to-date patterns that provide her with attractive and becoming suits and dresses. She also makes the clothing for Kathy, the Abernathy’s small daughter, for Bobby, the young son of the family. Miss Ainslee Alexander, Lincoln home agent, says Mrs. Abernathy has saved $140 this past year alone in making the family clothing at home. This fall, she made and sold several blouses to earn pin money for the Christmas presents she has been busily buying recently.

DAVIE COUNTY

Mr. and Mrs. John N. Anderson of Mocksville, Route 1, have saved money by renovating their ancestral home in Davie County. They have used their own labor to make this home more comfortable by adding those necessary conveniences now found in all modern rural homes. The Andersons and their little daughter, Perry, live in a quaint brick house over a century old. They are the third generation of the Anderson family to live there, but the home is not the same place it was when the first generation built it. This young couple have beautified and renovated the house inside and out and they live comfortably and well.

Miss Florence Mackie, Davie home agent, says that the Andersons grow all of their own food. Mrs. Anderson put up 500 quarts of canned food this past year. They have a frozen food cabinet for saving and storing their surplus. They are also using electrical current for an electric range for cooking, an automatic washing machine for the laundry, and an electric ironer. They also have a refrigerator as well as the freezer cabinet. The floors are cleaned with a vacuum cleaner; the coffee made with an electric percolator; the clothes made on an electric sewing machine; and water is pumped to the kitchen and bath by an electric pump. Right now they are working with others in the community to get a rural telephone line.

The husband, John, served in the last world war for five years and was discharged with the rank of captain. Alma, his wife, is a registered nurse. She is the county health leader among the home demonstration women and the two of them are an inspiration to their community.

POLK COUNTY

Over in little Polk County where the folks grow lots of peaches as a cash crop, Mrs. G.L. McIntire finds that it pays to have an extra income. The peach crop is none too dependable because of late frosts and freezes in the spring, so Mrs. McIntyre guarantees the family income with a flock of laying hens. This yeark she has grown 270 hens and she gets a premium for her eggs because she sells them to a local hatchery at a price of about 30 cents a dozen above that offered locally for just plain food eggs.

She says, however, if you don’t think 270 hens can keep you busy, just try it. The flock must be watered and fed regularly and the eggs must be gathered every day, sometimes every hour, and kept clean and cool. Until the cold weather, Mrs. McIntyre was gathering and selling 138 dozen eggs a week. Now the number has dropped to 113 dozen. Each egg is carefully candled and all the culls are removed. Only the best eggs go to the hatchery and that explains her premium price.

Just as soon as the season is right and there is a profitable peach crop in the foodthill country, Miss Ruth Kesler, home agent in Polk, says that Mrs. McIntire is going to appropriate a p art of the peach money to build another laying house so as to increase her poultry business. She knows of no better way by which the farm wife can supplement her family income.

MECKLENBURG COUNTY

Just as individual farm women make contributions to the family loving, so do their home demonstration clubs make contributions to the life of the community. Miss Helen John Wright, Mecklenburg home agent, says the Glenwood Community club was organized on the outskirts of Charlotte on October 31, 1932. This club met first in the local Glenwood ARP church but later moved its headquarters to the old home of Sydenham B. Alexander, one of the historical landmarks in Mecklenburg County. During World War I, this old mansion was the headquarters for Brigader General Dickman, commandant of Camp Greene. The community club used the Alexander home for a year and then formed a corporation to buy it and make it over into a community center. That was done on May 20, 1936.

The old home is surrounded by beautiful oaks and contains about two acres of grounds—an ideal spot for the community center. In 1935, this community club became affiliated with the Mecklenburg Home Demonstration organization and the women set to work to improve the place and to get it paid for. Once a month, the club members would have a social hour at the center and they suited all kinds of home crafts at their regular meetings. A plant exchange was conducted to so that each member might beautify her home grounds.

Mainly, the women tried to get the old debt paid off and a new gymnasium-auditorium built. They finally converted the house into four apartments and used the income from these to pay for the property. Finally, all the debts were paid and the club owned a piece of property valued at $10,000. Now, they have agreed to donate this property to the City of Charlotte so that the Park and Recreation commission can build a center, valued at about $75,000. This work is well under way and the women expect the center to be ready for use this spring. They have, however, reserved a special room with kitchen equipment as a place to hold their regular club meetings each month. It is one of the really great pieces of cooperative effort by clubwomen in adding to a better life for their community.

Such things are becoming more common all over the state as rural farm families seek to live better and to have, out in the country, those good things which make for a happy and convenient living.

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.

Home Demonstration Women's Progress, Avery, Haywood, and Union Counties, 1939

“Miss Current’s Column” by Ruth Current, published in The Southern Planter, December 1939

LAUNDRY DUTIES IN HAYWOOD COUNTY

When D.R. Noland brought his bride to live with his father and mother in their home 25 miles from Waynesville, she found her mother-in-law washing the clothes under a cherry tree on a hillside and carrying water more than 100 feet up hill. After washing on the hill for a few months, the younger Mrs. Noland suggested building a wash house, and her husband did build one closer to the house. However, she still had to carry water.

Mr. Noland was persuaded, however, to pipe water to the wash house, but soon the spring supplying the water dried up. Then Mrs. Noland converted a room in their house just off the back porch into a laundry. The new laundry is convenient and up-to-date with two built-in porcelain tubs placed so that one can work in back of them or walk around them. The laundry is equipped with a heater, used not only to boil the clothes but also to heat the room and the water for washing. A washing machine and portable tub can be placed next to the porcelain tubs for convenience, and the ironer and ironing board both can be moved to any place in the room. The floor is covered with linoleum that is easily cleaned. The windows give sufficient light for work, and there are built-in cabinets for storage.

“I was almost afraid to ask the price of the porcelain tubs but found them to be only $15,” the home agent said. “The remainder of the equipment cost less than $200. A farm woman could buy the various pieces of equipment from time to time, just as Mrs. Noland did and eventually have as convenient a home laundry.”

“I couldn’t get along without my laundry room and equipment now,” says Mrs. Noland. “It saves so many steps and I can wash quickly without getting tired, nor do I have to worry about the bad weather.”

HOME ACCOUNT KEEPING, HAYWOOD COUNTY

Mr. and Mrs. W.D. Ketner of Route 2, Waynesville, operate their home and farm on a budget plan and find that it pays. Mrs. Ketner says of her budgeting and account keeping, “The first day of January we make out a budget based on last year’s accounts. It often takes hours to work it out. Sometimes we miscalculate and have to cut down from month to month. Again we have to go into our savings account for unexpected expenses or emergencies, but you see in this way we do have a savings account to which to go. We know that our record books have saved us family arguments because we have learned more about what it takes to operate a farm and home. Men and women could appreciate each other and their respective jobs more if they knew more about each other’s work. Our record books have helped us find financial security and a better planned and organized farm and home.”

The Ketners have two farms. Mrs. Ketner gets the income from the other. Both keep separate accounts, but at the end of the month the profits are placed into one bank account from which both have the privilege of checking.

Their three sons, Dale 14, Kent 12, and Harold 8, have been taught to keep accounts like most children are taught their ABC’s. The boys are paid for small jobs and also given a small allowance. The reaction of the boys to the same influence makes an interesting study. One takes to the business of figuring. While the others cooperate, they do not display the same talent for thrift.

In 1938, Mrs. Ketner decided that she needed a place in her kitchen to keep her record and recipe book. She removed the top from an old cabinet and covered it with metal so that it can be used as a working surface when needed. The cost of converting the cabinet into a business unit was $2—cost of the time for a hired man to do the carpentering work.

Mrs. Ketner says that it is much easier to put down each night just what she spends during the day and to check her budget, since she has such a convenient place to keep her records.

HOME INCOME FROM BULBS, AVERY COUNTY

For the second year, Mrs. F.W. Von Cannon of Banner Elk in Avery County has grown gladioli bulbs for sale. Mrs. Von Cannon states that to date she has paid all of her expenses for 1938-39 from this project and has for sale bulbs that she has grown on her two and a half acres of land. This fall she has at least six times as many bulbs as last year.

She is careful in growing the bulbs, seeing to it that all varieties are kept separate, that the bulbs are regularly inspected by the state inspector, and that no blooms are cut unless doing so does not injure the bulbs for sale. This year the two and a half acres of blooms were a beautiful sight, indeed.

FROM CABBAGES TO COLLEGE, AVERY COUNTY

“One of the happiest of our marketers,” says Mrs. Georgia Piland Cohoon, home demonstration agent in Avery County, “is Mrs. J.W. Johnson of Hughes. Last year the daughter, Bernice, finished high school. There seemed to be no money available for Bernice’s college education. This year Mrs. Johnson and her daughter grew a field of cabbages of their own and from the sale of them cleared around $250. With this money and what can be earned from other work she can do at college, Bernice is now happily attending Teachers College in Johnson City, Tennessee.”

CHICKENS PAY IN UNION COUNTY

Since last Thanksgiving, Mrs. Solon Braswell of Union County has sold $1,700 worth of broilers, and this fall she has 1,500 more baby chicks growing fat and plump for the market. “I will round out my $2,000 worth by Thanksgiving,” calmly stated Mrs. Braswell, as she gave the home agent a roly-poly baby chick to hold in her hand to see how heavy the little fellow was at one week old.

“One has a cold,” remarked Mrs. Braswell, who knew the habits of those chicks as well as a good mother would know the symptoms of her child.

Paying all of the expenses with “chicken” money, Mrs. Braswell has sent one daughter to college for four years and another is now a junior in college.

Macon Home Demonstration Club Had Unusual Start, 1936

"Notes From North Carolina" by F.H. Jeter, December 1936, The Southern Planter

It took a shot gun to persuade farm women of one Macon County community that they needed a home demonstration club.

But don’t get the wrong idea, cautions Miss Ruth Current, district home agent. The gun wasn’t used as a threat.

Home demonstration work has been conducted in that county only a short time and one day the home agent, Mrs. Katherine O’Neil, was in a community where club work had not been started. She came across a boy who had accidentally shot himself while hunting.

Mrs. O’Neil helped to make a litter on which the boy was carried to his home. She also looked after him until the doctor arrived. The interest she took in this boy and the competence with which she helped in looking after him convinced the women of that community that perhaps home demonstration club workers had some good points after all.

Within a few days after the accident, the women sent for the home agent and asked her to organize a club as soon as possible.

EXTENSION CONFERENCE AT STATE COLLEGE

The annual conference of the State College Extension Service will be held December 15 to 18. All white and Negro farm and home demonstration agents, together with district agents and extension specialists will meet to study the results of the past year’s work and to develop a program for 1937.

A number of speakers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, and other services having to do with rural people will participate.

ANSON HD CLUB WOMEN HAVE 8,000 TURKEYS

There are 8,000 turkeys in Anson County waiting to be sold by the home demonstration club women this fall. The turkeys are in fine condition for the market since the farmwomen of the county have not only standardized the breed used but have also standardized the methods of dressing and shipping the turkeys for market.

YOUNG WOMEN WIN HONORS

Miss Ellen McMillan of Cumberland County, winner of the state clothing contest; Miss Eunice Griggs of Anson County, winner of the state 4-H food preparation contest; Miss Elizabeth Randle of Cleveland County, winner of the state recordkeeping contest; and Miss Margaret Greene of Durham County, winner of the state food conservation contest, will be North Carolina’s four state champions entering the national contests held in Chicago November 29 to December 5.

These four young prize-winners will be accompanied to Chicago by Miss Ruth Current, extension specialist in girls’ club work. Miss Current will also act as one of the national judges in the clothing contest.

Transylvania Farmers Revitalize Worn Land, 1950

By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Charlotte Carolina Farm Observer, Dec. 11, 1950

Old, eroded hillsides, once of no value to the owners, are being made to contribute to the family income. North Carolina farmers say there is a place for every acre these days. Very often, a so-called worn-out pied of land is a real challenge to the owner. 

Steve Ferguson of Transylvania County had such a challenge on his place. To the rear of his barn was a poor, eroded, steep, hillside covered with briars and broomsedge. Every time Mr. Ferguson looked out at the hillside, it seemed to disturb his sense of the fitness of things. Then, too, he was expanding his herd of dairy cows. The folks around Brevard needed more fresh, homegrown, mountain milk and butter! Yet, here was a vacant pied of land, bearing all the signs of an infertile soil. Mr. Ferguson says that when you see a field covered with broomsedge and briars, especially in the mountains, that’s a poor piece of land. Insofar as he knew, the particular tract on his farm had never received an application of fertilizer.

But again, the land was needed for pasture. So Mr. Ferguson bought dolomitic limestone, applied between 2 and 2 ½ tons per acre over the field and then he mounted his tractor and literally tore that field to pieces. His next step was to apply about 200 pounds per acre of actual phosphoric acid in the form of a phosphate fertilizer. Again he mounted his tractor and gave the field a thorough disking. Next, he added 200 pounds of 50 percent muriate of potash and 50 pounds of nitrate fertilizer per acre and then he smoothed off the seed bed. Last fall, he planted the field to oats, and over-seeded the oats with ladino clover and orchard grass. The oats were cut early for hay this spring so as to allow the pasture to get a start and Mr. Ferguson stored a nice crop of oat hay. 

He now has a beautiful soft carpet of clover and grass as a pasture for his dairy cows. Better still, the pasture sod holds the raindrops where they will do him the most good, right there in that hillside soil.

Jack Gilliam, who farms over near Hendersonville but also in Transylvania County, had a problem of a different sort. He owns a very small place and says his soil is not suited for truck crops, yet he doesn’t have enough land to go into dairying. He started a nice Ladino pasture last year thinking that he might add a few cows, but he soon saw that this wouldn’t work. However, the farm had to somehow be used to make a living for his family. So he came up with the idea that he should go into the poultry business. He is building a comfortable laying house on the side of his house next to the ladino pasture, in an ideal spot sheltered from the fierce mountain winds.

The house is well arranged for convenience and ventilation and will hold 500 hens. Jack says he did most of the carpenter work himself but even so the house has cost him between $900 and $1,000 cash.

“I am new in this poultry business,” he commented, “but I am learning. When I get into all the tricks of the trade, I am going to expand. We have enough land to handle chickens and I plan to sell the kind of eggs that people want to buy.”

Catawba, Gaston, and Cabarrus Women Build Community Centers, 1950

By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Carolina Farm Observer, Charlotte, N.C., Dec. 18, 1950

CATAWBA HOME DEMONSTRATION WOMEN
All over North Carolina this fall, farm women have been celebrating the opening or the dedication of small community houses in their rural neighborhoods. Sunday afternoon, Nov. 19, more than 200 farm women with their husbands and friend gathered around the stone fireplace in their new community house in the Monogram section of Catawba County to enjoy their new club home.

For 10 years, they had talked about having such a house. It started when the Monogram School was consolidated with the Catawba Schools. This consolidation took away the only community center for that neighborhood and the people felt the loss. Last January, the women of the community decided that there had been enough talk and the time had come for definite action. Mrs. C.W. Hollar, president of the Monogram Home Demonstration Club, therefore appointed a committee composed of Mrs. C.R. Faust, Mrs. Max Rowe, and Mrs. Seth White to select a plan for the house and to get it started.

T.M. Lutz prepared a blue print of the plan decided upon, and a tract of land was bought. The site was cleared for the new building and those trees that would add to the beauty of the landscape were carefully selected, marked and saved.

Every bit of the labor from then on was donated by the men, women and children of the Monogram community. Days were agreed upon as “work days” and many a man spent his whole Saturday giving his time and labor without charge.

The group bought about $3,000 worth of materials and now they have built a permanent community house, built mainly of concrete blocks, standing 40 by 60 feet on a beautiful spot. The big assembly room has a handsome fireplace at the eastern end and there are two rest rooms and a kitchen. All of the material used has been paid for in full.

Wylie Knox and Jesse Giles, home and farm agents, helped the local people with the new community building and were invited to the official opening. “I don’t believe I have ever seen so many happy people than on that afternoon,” said Miss Knox. “The two local ministers were there. The club women served punch, coffee and home-made cookies to all who called.”

Mrs. Seth White said, “We want this building to be used for all in the community because it has been needed so badly for so long a time.” Mrs. C.R. Faust remarked that she had spent time at the building when she should have been in her own yard at home but she felt the work of establishing a community home was something that had to be done. It means that the local people now have a nice, modern place where they can hold their meetings, recreational events, and other gatherings and it was built through their own unaided efforts by community co-operation.

GASTON COUNTY

The Dellview Club in Gaston County has begun to build such a home in its neighborhood. The women have raised $450 so far by holding three cake and food sales and one bazaar. A friendship quilt has been started and several landowners in the Dellview Community have pledged timber and labor for the new building.

But the Dellview women say their efforts have not been confined entirely to getting ready for this new community home. They helped to build a new church in the community this year, contributed to the I.O. Schaub Loan Fund for needy farm boys; and have done excellent work in holding community recreational events for the children of the community.

The women stage a special Christmas program for the neighborhood each December, which they choose by carrying Christmas baskets to the sick and shut-ins. They send sunshine boxes to any of their members who may become sick. Flowers are sent to stricken homes in the community when there is a death in the family. The women get money for the flowers by taxing themselves a small birthday fee and this collection goes into a flower fund.

There are only 36 women in this Dellview Club but they have an 80 percent attendance at their monthly club meetings the year round. Lucile Tatum, Gaston Home Agent, says it is one of the most active groups of farm women in the county.

BETHPAGE COMMUNITY

The Bethpage Community in Cabarrus County has only 35 members in its home demonstration club, but these 35 women also made up their minds to have a community home by the close of 1950.

The foundations of the house were laid in June and the women will have a Christmas party and the official opening of their new home this month. They have not quite paid for everything but the same courage that enabled them to raise $3,005.82 in cash during this past year will make it easy for them to pay off the small balance remaining.

Mrs. Edith McGlamery, home agent, says the building of this new Bethpage Community House actually got under way in August. Local landowners gave forest trees to supply the lumber, and the women sold subscriptions to magazines, held bake sales, sold starch, and peddled blouse and skirt hangers. Along with this commercial effort, they staged fun nights, gave local talent plays and served suppers to various organizations.

Mrs. Ira Rawles says “We still have a little to do in adding kitchen equipment but the home is a reality now, and we are happy to have such a place of our own.

YADKIN HOME

The thrill of a community home is as nothing when compared with having your own home, fixed as you want it, says Mrs. Clarence V. Hall of Union Grove, Route 1, Yadkin County. Just one year ago, Mrs. Hall, her husband, and three small children, moved into their new farm home. It is a seven room house, with bath, and a full basement. The husband and wife did most of the actual work on that home, including concreting the full-sized basement underneath.

“Of course,” says Mrs. Hall, “the home is not finished. Does one ever finish a home completely? But we are adding things as we can pay for them and we owe not a cent on our place.”

This couple drew their own plans, and have the seven rooms arranged that they can add additional ones if needed. They have the convenient U-shaped kitchen with built-in cabinets, an electric range and a twin-bowl sink. A small breakfast counter also has been built in and here most of the meals are served.

Mrs. Hall says men and children like to watch you cook and this counter permits them to do this; but at the same time, it keeps them out of her way. The floor is of inlaid linoleum, easy to clean and able to stand lots of hard wear.

Give Women the Vote So They Can Help Improve the Public Sphere, 1936

From the December 1936 issue of The Southern Planter’s “Farmers’ Forum”

“The place of woman,” cries the opponent of her advance, “is in the home.” But the true sphere of woman, like the true sphere of man, is the place here real constructive work is to be done, whether it be in the home or in the workshop.

In primitive society, women were confined almost entirely at home by the bearing and rearing or too large families, but society has advanced to the point of demanding quality before quantity. “It is far more essential, maintains the modern philosopher, “that we bring up a few children well, than bring into the world a great mass of humanity to maintain a precarious existence.”

Nevertheless, the woman is still rightly engaged, and will be engaged unto the end of time, in the proper rearing of the next generation, but her home duties make her only more competent for the transation of public services.

Where the opportunity to express opinions on public questions—the opportunity to vote has been given to women—they have found and utilized wide opportunities for public services. For instance, the woman of Colorado have had the privilege of voting since 1894, and in that time they have procured certain advanced types of legislature for the protection of women and children, for social reform, and for municipal reform. In Washington, undesirable men were holding office, and in Colorado a desirable man was running for office against fearful odds. In both cases the votes of women turned the tide for democracy, incidents which prove beyond a doubt that the franchise has given women vast opportunities for public service.

It is true that men have constructed modern, cooperative society. They have built the house of politics, but they have left it littered with trash and rubbish. Graft lies about thick as dust. Bad water, adulterated child labor, antiquated penal codes, vice and debauchery in public affairs are all the results of unrestricted masculine dominance of social institutions. In the home, women have proved by centuries of conclusive experiments that they understood best the methods of keeping things clean and tidy. The city and state, as well as the home, need cleaning, and it is in this field that woman has a wonderful opportunity for social service.

Therefore, women hold a most important place in public life by their choice of paternal parents for their children, by the bearing and rearing and teaching of children, by their control of the home, and of the purse strings of the nation, and by their marvelous ability as house cleaners of civilization. Racially, socially, individually, and politically women play a part upon which the nation is intimately dependent for its future citizens, and its future society.

                --Mrs. W.C. Cox, Onslow County, North Carolina

Where Town and Country Really Meet in Wayne County, 1938

"Homemaking Notes for North Carolina" by Ruth Current, State Home Agent, December 1938 issue of The Southern Planter

The Wayne County home demonstration club women have a perfectly beautiful curb market. I have heard Dr. McKimmon speak so often of our big markets, but I was really surprised to see just how big this one is, and more surprised to see the large number of sellers and customers.

The sellers are required to wear white uniforms. Happy smiles wreath the faces of the sellers as they stand behind their wares and wait on their customers. This is where town and country really meat, and I would not say just for buying and selling, for it was just lovely to stand back and watch the good fellowship.

This market, no doubt has contributed to a better understanding between the rural and town women because of their meeting there. Both groups are mutually benefitted by the services of the market.

I could not check on everything that was offered for sale that morning, but the following is what I observed:

Anything in pork or beef line, live or dressed chickens, vegetables of all kinds—some of them with the dew still on. Collard leaves were tied in little bundles with a pod of red pepper, spinach, turnip greens and young turnips with the tops, green beans, limas, cornfield beans, sugar peas, new potatoes, raw sweet potatoes, and baked sweet potatoes! One woman had yeast dough weighed out in pound batches, wrapped in oiled paper. Cakes—all kinds. Cookies and chess pies. I have not mentioned half of what was there. This particular curb market brings in over $20,000 per year.

Other big curb markets are in Fayetteville, Wilson, Rocky Mount, and Durham. Curb markets are under the supervision of Mrs. Cornelia C. Morris, Extension Specialist in Food Conservation and Marketing, State College, Raleigh.

Mrs. Estelle T. Smith is district agent for the Southeastern District. Goldsboro is in this district, and I think she keeps close watch over this market.

Mrs. Smith took me to see the first freezer locker, which is located just outside of Goldsboro. Fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats are stored here by farm families for winter use. These lockers cost $10 per year per family. There were 55 lockers in this unit.

I also saw a potato house with 14,000 bushels of cured sweet potatoes for the Wayne county farm families. I hope soon to see freezer lockers and potato houses in every county in North Carolina.

CAKE RECIPES FOR THE CURB MARKET

WHITE CAKE

1 cup fat

2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

1 ½ teaspoon flavoring extract

6 egg whites

Cream fat, add sugar gradually, creaming until very light and fluffy. Sift flour, salt and baking powder together. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture. Add flavoring. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Mix to smooth batter. Pour into greased, paper lined layer cake pans. Bake 35 minutes in moderate oven (350 degrees F.). Yield: two 9-inch layers, or one cake 9 inches by 2 inches by 18 inches.

GOLD CAKE

1 cup fat

2 cups sugar

6 egg yolks

3 1/3 cups flour

3 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups milk

1 teaspoon flavoring extract

Cream fat. Add sugar gradually, creaming until light and fluffy. Beat egg yolks and add to creamed mixture. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to first mixture alternately with the  milk. Add flavoring. Stir into a smooth batter. Bake in greased, paper-lined pan in moderate oven (350 degrees F.) 1 hour. Yield: 1 cake 9 inches by 2 inches by 18 inches.

SEVEN MINUTE FROSTING

2 cups sugar

5 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 egg whites

Combine all ingredients in top of double boiler. Mix thoroughly with a rotary beater. Place over rapidly boiling water. Continue beating until mixture holds its shape when dropped from beater. Remove from fire. Continue beating until cool enough to spread.

Seven Minute Mocha Frosting may be made by using brown sugar and strong coffee instead of white sugar and water

QUICK CARAMEL FROSTING

2 ½ cups brown sugar

1 ½ cups top milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

 ½ cup butter

Combine sugar with milk. Stir until well mixed. Cook until syrup forms a soft ball in cold water. Add butter and vanilla. Remove from fire and cool until lukewarm. Beat to spreading consistency.

From the Editorial Page of The Southern Planter Magazine, 1938

From the Editorial Page of the December 1938 issue of The Southern Planter

The advantages of cooperation, the value of winter legumes and the necessity of crop control are all being demonstrated on a gigantic scale by 400 Bertie County farmers this winter under the excellent leadership of county Agent B.E. Grant.

Under a special compensation from the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, farmers in four eastern North Carolina counties—Pender, Duplin, Hertford, and Bertie—were allowed to purchase winter legume seed and pay for them out of their benefit checks earned by cooperating in the agricultural conservation program. Farmers in the first three counties secured 28,000 pounds of vetch seed and 12,000 Austrian winter peas. But in Bertie, meetings at which the program was thoroughly explained were held in every community, leading famers urged their neighbors to fall in line and as a result of the campaign, 88,000 pounds of vetch and 62,000 of Austrian winter peas were bought in Bertie. Thus 5,000 acres of winter legumes are growing luxuriantly in that one county whit winter form seed that did not cost the growers one penny in cash.

What this will mean in terms of soil fertility saved and nitrogen added when turned under next spring can best be illustrated by remembering that a rank growing winter crop prevents the equivalent of 300 pounds of nitrate of soda from washing out of each acre of soil from September to April, and if a legume, it adds the equivalent of 500 pounds of nitrate of soda when turned under.

-=-

16-YEAR-OLD TAKES OVER FARM

Fathers, are you giving the boy a fair chance on the farm? Are you affording him an opportunity to earn some cash and acquire personal property? Are his ideas and suggestions on production problems given due consideration?

These are questions that every parent should ask himself, especially those whose sons are studying agriculture at the high school or are engaged in 4-H Club work. When given a chance to put their agricultural training to work on the farm, boys very frequently put the place on a paying basis. Hunter Roy Greenlaw was 16 years of age when his father died and left him in charge of a 435-acre farm. Five years later, 1938, he was selected as the Star Farmer of America and given a $500 cash award. Likewise, Robert Lee Bristow, Middlesex County, Virginia, Star Farmer of America in 1937, took charge of the 203-acre family farm in 1935 at the age of 19, after losing both parents.

These records are a real challenge to farm dads everywhere. How many boys are there on farms today who could, if given a chance, add that needed something to get the farm out of the red?

Carolina Farm Notes, December 1938

Carolina Farm Notes by F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the December 1938 issue of The Southern Planter

In spite of an unfavorable season for corn growing in the mountain section of North Carolina, yields of 100 bushels of grain an acre are being harvested by some of the 65 farmers who entered the annual Henderson-Transylvania Corn Growing Contest.

An official harvest made recently on the farm of W.A. Lance of Horse Shoe resulted in a yield of 102 bushels and 45 pounds of corn on an acre entered by Mr. Lance, and of 113 bushels and 45 pounds of corn on the acre entered by his grandson, Reid Lance. Lance grows the variety known as Lance’s Prolific, originated on his farm. The two acres in the official contest were grown in rotation with red clover and were fertilized with 400 pounds of a 4-12-4 mixture.

The contest is conducted annually in the two counties by G.D. White, farm agent of Henderson, and J.A. Glazener, farm agent of Transylvania. These two agents report that a number of the farmers will produce over 100 bushels of corn per acre.

STATE 4-H WINNERS

Winners of State 4-H Club contests among girls who will receive a free trip to the National 4-H Congress at Chicago, November 26 to December 3 have been announced by Frances MacGregor, assistant 4-H leader.

These winners are Ruth Alexander, 18-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. Lee Alexander of Iredell County, records; Helen Higdon, 17, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D.C. Higdon of Jackson County, food conservation; Margaret Kinlaw, 18, daughter of Mrs. R.A. Kinlaw of near Fayetteville in Cumberland County, food preparation; Lucille Gupton, 20, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.P. Gupton of Vance County, rural electrification; Mildred Bell Edwards, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Edwards of Winteville, Pitt County, clothing; and Ruth King Mason, Iredell County, 4-H Health Queen.

Miss MacGregor says two other girls may win a Chicago trip by winning sectional contests in which they are now engaged. These are Eloise McLaurin of Cumberland County, state winner in home beautification, and Carmen Nicholson of Jackson County, winner in handicrafts. These two girls have already received watches as state awards. The Bethware Club of Cleveland County also will compete for national awards in a social progress competition.

BETTER THAN COTTON, DURHAM COUNTY

Forty dollars an acre from his seed in addition to the straw and leaves left on the land for soil improving purposes is a fair return for his labor, believes David S. Ball of Bahama, Route 1. Mr. Ball planted two acres of Korean lespedeza last spring. From this two acre plot he has harvested 1,600 pounds of seed which will give him at least 1,400 pounds of recleaned seed. At this low price of six cents a pound, this means a $40 income from each acre in addition to the greater benefits provided by plowing the straw and leaves into the soil.

BURLEY TOBACCO

Burley, considered as North Carolina’s “junior” tobacco crop, is now being sorted and graded in preparation for the opening of the Asheville market on December 7. Burley tobacco is grown in Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, Caldwell, Burke, Rutherford, Polk and all counties west of these. A total of 5,262 of the 7.163 Burley grows in the state, or 73.5 percent, voted for quotas in the referendum held last April 9.

It is expected that these growers will have all information about their 1939 allotment in time for the AAA referendum to be held on December 10.

TONS OF CABBAGE ON MACON COUNTY FARM

Forty-two tons of cabbage were harvested by J.T. McCoy of the Goldmine section in Macon County from four acres of land set to the crop this spring. These cabbages sold for an average of $16 a ton and the four acres brought $672. This was in addition to vegetables used at home. Mr. McCoy said production expenses, including all labor for harvesting and marketing amounted to $221 which left a net profit of $460 from the four acres.

Wake Tobacco and Robeson Dairy Cattle, 1945

By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Wilmington Star, December 10, 1945

WAKE COUNTY TOBACCO CROP

There is an old saying that not all is gold that glitters. Lloyd Weeks says that’s certainly true in regard to the Wake County tobacco crop this season. Most of the growers have just about sold their 1945 crops and the total value of the tobacco is the highest since 1919. However, when one takes out the high cost of production, the labor, fertilizer and other expenses, the net profit is not so great.

On the other hand, the county agent says that there are those in Wake County who grew only the tobacco acreage which they could manage with the labor on hand and these are the families which have made the most clear money from the crop. They secured the highest net profit. Some of them made right at $400 an acre from their tobacco. This is an excellent demonstration of what overloading with acreage as compared to planting only what the available labor can handle. It should be a yardstick for growers in 1946.

LUMBEE DAIRY CATTLE SHOW

The first annual Lumbee Dairy Cattle Show was held in Lumberton a few days ago when the young farm folks entered 51 different dairy calves. Top honors were won by E.G. Inman of Lumberton, Route 1, who exhibited the grand champion female of the show. There were special events for the colored farmers also, and John Henry Arnette capped high honors with the grand champion bull. The two owners of these grand champions were each awarded $25 in cash. E.G. Inman also received a small model of a Guernsey cow for entering and showing the best fitted Guernsey animal in the show.

Among sponsors were the Lumberton Trading Company, Belk-Hensdale Company and Scarborough Builders Supply Company. 

Amazing Women of Asheboro’s Curb Market, 1945

By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Greensboro News and the Raleigh News & Observer, Dec. 24, 1945

When it comes to small rural industries, nothing beats these home demonstration curb markets which the rural women of the state have established at almost all country seat towns.

Among these small enterprises, one of the most interesting is the curb market which was begun at Asheboro in 1940 by the farm women of Randolph County. Mrs. Martha B. Thompson, home agent in Randolph, says the women over there are justifiably proud of their market although it is not so large as some which have been longer established.

The little market serves the town of Asheboro very effectively, however. It was sponsored back in 1940 by the agricultural committee of the Asheboro Kiwanis Club, which agreed to aid the local women in erecting a small wooden building.

Following this action, says Mrs. Thompson, an association was formed and arrangements were made to purchase a lot on which the building was to be erected. Since that time, through their own efforts, the women have raised money to make improvements. They put in a concrete floor and converted the building from an open air market to a closed one with large glass windows, and added sanitary facilities. The market has been further improved by remodeling and rearranging the stalls, painting the floor and the interior. To make it more attractive to patrons, the walls are decorated with colorful food posters; a bulletin board for timely notes was erected; and a price board for the information of sellers and customers was put up.

Although there are not as many sellers on the market as there were in the first years, market sales have grown in volume, and there has been a tremendous improvement in the quality of the products sold. In 1941, 12 women sold $3,824 worth of products. In 1942, 10 sellers sold $4,458. In 1943, 1944, and 1945, eight sellers sold $4,809, $5,855, and $6,000 worth of surplus farm produce.

During 1945, the sale of products for market could have been tremendously increased had it not been for the shortage of labor on the farm, necessitating the women staying at home to help with the farm work, and many helping out in local industry and in the teacher shortage.

Mrs. J.H. Richey of Farmer led the market sales in 1945 with the total of $1,222.62 in sales. An average Saturday morning would find Mrs. Ritchey’s booth filled with 50 dressed and drawn chickens, two crates of selected graded eggs of the finest quality, 50 pounds of good butter, 10 pounds of cottage cheese, two to five bushels of clean and graded fresh vegetables, five or more cakes (as long as the sugar allotment held out), and other products in season.

Four of the curb market sellers, Mrs. Norman Wright, Route 1, Asheboro; Mrs. W.W. Kearns, Route 1, Randleman; Mrs. J.B. Presnell, Route 3, Asheboro; and Mrs. Carson Cranford, Farmer, have developed an excellent reputation for making good cakes. With the shortage of sugar, they cannot begin to supply the demand, and have had many requests for Christmas cakes, which could not be filled. During 1945, they netted $4,051.91 from the sale of cakes alone.

Mrs. E.E. Byrd of Farmer, on many winter days, sells one or more hogs, which have been worked up into fresh pork sausage and other pork products

Mrs. Roscoe Powell of Route 1, Asheboro, is famous for her apple and pumpkin pies. Although she brings a number of products to the market, these are the highlights. Mrs. Powell also makes beautiful Christmas wreaths and sells around $50 in Christmas trees and wreaths each Christmas. This tells a story of family co-operation because Mr. Powell and the children help gather the lovely trailing cedar, which is the basis of the wreaths, and the holly and other Christmas evergreens, and help to fashion these into sprays and wreaths for Mrs. Powell to carry to the market.

Miss Loula Andrews, the business manager of the market, also manages to run a farm, teach school, and still sell on the market six months out of every year. She had not taught for approximately 20 years but returned to help out during the current teacher shortage. Although her sales have been curtailed, she has kept her customers and plans to return full time as soon as possible. She specializes in vegetables and flowers.

Mrs. J.B. Presnell also runs her farm alone but manages to make homemade kraut and to dress poultry for the market. She also makes stuffed dolls and toys for sale.

The association now has on hand approximately $400, which is being held for making improvements in the market building and for expansion. This has been placed in Victory Bonds of F denomination and is a nest egg for the future.

Mrs. Thompson says this market has meant much to the sellers and the community. Children have been educated, homes have been improved, and money for many “specials” have been provided through the funds which came into the farm homes as a result of the market sales.

N.C. Ag. Agents to Offer College Loans, 1938

From “Carolina Farm Notes” by F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the December 1938 issue of The Southern Planter

Designed to assist worthy farm boys in securing a college education, the I.O. Schaub Loan Fund has just been established by the North Carolina County Farm Agents Association.

This fund is similar to that established in 1927 in honor of Dr. Jane S. McKimmon. O.H. Phillips, Mecklenburg County agent, says that the money for the new scholarship fund will come from dues paid by the county farm agents and from contributions made by other members of the State College Extension Service.

Four-H Club boys who conduct noteworthy projects will be eligible to receive money from this fund. 

The sponsors of the new fund call attention to the fact that the Jane S. McKimmon Loan Fund established for girls now has a capital of $11,239.71 , and it has already assisted 30 worthy farm girls in completing their college education.

Farm Girl Earning Her Way To College, 1945

By F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh, as published in the Wilmington Star, December 10, 1945

There is a young farm girl who lives near Stecoah in Graham County who plans to enter college in the fall of 1950.

Last August when the farm agent at Robbinsville began to select girls and boys who would receive bred gilts in the pig club chain started by the local Lion’s Club, Faye Lackey thought that she would like to have one of those pigs. So she told the agent of her plans. When the distribution was made, therefore, she was lucky enough to get one of the gilts. On September 9, of this year, her sow produced nine healthy pigs.

Two of them had to go back to the Lions Club to be given to two other deserving boys and girls but Faye sold the remaining seven at a profit of $87.50. While she was dealing in livestock, she also sold a cow and calf that she had raised on the home farm and all of the money received was put in the savings bank looking to that day in 1950 when she would need it as a payment towards her college expenses.

She now owns the original brood sow completely because she has fulfilled her obligation to return the pigs as required. All the additional pigs will be her own property.

But Faye says that, in addition to this long-time plan for attending college five years in the future, she has also been busy with some short-time planning. Her Victory Garden this past summer is one example. In this garden, she grew, cultivated, sprayed, and harvested 20 different kinds of vegetables that were used on the family table. In addition, the girl canned 260 quarts which have been stored against winter needs. The canned material included 14 different vegetables and will add variety to the family’s meals when the cold freezing weather settles down over Graham County.

Right now her garden contains collards, parsnips, and turnips ready for the table. Faye is only 13 years old. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Lackey who live in the Tuskseegee-Sawyer Creek section of Graham County and the girl has been a member of the Stecoah 4-H Club for two years. Louise Burnett, the assistant home agent, says the girl is an interesting and enterprising young person and there is no doubt that she will get to college in 1950 as she now plans.