Farmers' Reports From Across the State, May 1956

From the “Around the State” column in the May 1956 issue of Extension Farm-News, published by N.C. State College, Raleigh, NC

CLEVELAND

Ralph Green, grade A dairyman of the Beaver Dam community, says he’s heard of “cherry” milk, “strawberry” milk, and various other flavors of milk. But he’d never run into “cedar” milk until recently. Cleveland County Assistant Agent Jack G. Krause says that Green cut down a cedar tree and left the limbs lying in his drylot. The next day he had a can of milk rejected. And when he smelled the milk, he swears there was a distinct cedar flavor.

ROCKINGHAM

David Sharpe of Reidsville, Route 4, proved that he could raise 11 orphaned pigs, but at the expense of his waistline. Rockingham County Assistant Agent A.F. Wood says that Sharpe, in warming milk for the pigs every four hours, would fix himself a snack at the same time. As the pigs gained strength and weight, so did Sharpe. He put on seven pounds in six weeks.

NASH

Most people prefer their fried chicken well-done, but T.G. Avent, Nashville farmer, just wants to singe his. Avent was determined to have a garden and chickens, too, but he wasn’t having much luck until he put an electric wire around his garden and connected it to the house current. One trip to the wire seems to teach the birds a lesson they never forget. The “precooked” chickens steer clear of the garden from there on out, P.P. Thompson, assistant Negro farm agent in Nash County, reports.

GASTON

If you keep cows for sentimental reasons rather than milk production, don’t get into the DHIA testing program. That’s the advice of Gaston County Assistant Agent Thomas A. Taylor. Paul Howe of Gastonia, Route 3, has been in the DHIA program for only about three months. Yet, he has culled two of his favorite cows. “And I thought they were doing pretty well until the records showed differently,” Howe lamented.

WILSON

Johnnie Parker of Elm City, Route 3, doesn’t take any chances on getting caught short of vegetables. Wilson County Negro Agent W.G. Pierce explains that Parker always has two vegetable gardens, one near the house and one back of the field.

PERSON

Mrs. D.F. Bauert, farm wife of Person County, has a “bear by the tail,” it seems. Assistant Agent T.N. Hobgood Jr. says that Mrs. Bauert admits she might have talked too fast when she told her husband that she would gather, prepare, and sell produce if he would raise it. Bauert is steadily increasing his vegetable planting and Mrs. Bauert is as busy as that proverbial one-armed paper hanger.

JONES

A female mule owned by Bruce Foy of Trenton, Route 2, will never be able to have an offspring of her won but she has a strong maternal instinct, nevertheless. County Agent J.R. Franck explains that one of Foye’s prize Hereford cows dropped a fine calf recently, and the mule proceeded to adopt it. So possessive was the mule that the calf’s mother couldn’t even get close enough to feed it. Foy finally had to separate the mule from the calf.

ASHE

It pays to let burley tobacco get good and ripe. Ed Pennington of the Nathans Creek section proved this to his satisfaction last year. Ashe County Assistant Agent James Z. Daniel says that Pennington was afraid of a help shortage last year and cut half of his six-tenths allotment while the tobacco was still green. He kept records and found that the green tobacco weighed 43 pounds less per tenth. So he figures it cost him $23.37 per tenth by cutting too green.

GATES

Fred Parker and his mother, Mrs. W.K. Parker, have brought a new strain of chicks into Gates County, Alvin C. Newsome, assistant county agent, reports. The chicks are De Kalb 309. The Parkers selected them because they lay brown-shelled eggs and are white birds. The Portsmouth market, which the Parkers sell to, prefer brown-shelled eggs. Newsome says the De Kalb pullets are known as excellent producers.

ASHE

Will Elliott of the Warrensville community believes in keeping things neat. Ashe County Assistant Agent James Z. Daniel says that Elliott picks up rocks from his fields and stacks them in neat, rectangular piles, with a minimum of waste space and no growth of weeds or briars at the edges. Daniel says this is a reflection of Elliott’s care of his entire farm.

COLUMBUS

W.L. Carter of Chadbourn, Route 2, has taken much of the work out of feeding his dairy herd. Columbus County Assistant Agent Victor H. Lytton says that this fall Carter built a trench-type silo from rough lumber and poles, and the cows have free access to the silage. Carter uses two feed racks which are moved forward as the cows eat the silage. He doesn’t have touch the feed.

BLADEN

Seven Bladen County Negro farmers who are cooperating in the Farm and Home Development program saved a total of $865 on their fertilizer bill this year. The saving is based on a comparison of last year’s costs with this year’s costs and came about because of soil tests, according to F.E. Leathers, assistant Negro county agent in Bladen.

PASQUOTANK

Murphy Sample of Elizabeth City, Route 1, has put together some pulleys and belts to make a drain cutter. He says the machine works well except that the wheel isn’t wide enough. “As soon as I get a bigger wheel, it’ll work fine.”