North Carolina Farmer's Report From June 1956

From the “Around the State” column in the June 1956 issue of North Carolina’s Extension Farm-News

FORSYTH COUNTY

Woodrow Davis of Winston-Salem, Route 2, is not one to let “nature take its course” with his tobacco bed. Forsyth County Assistant Agent Walter L. Hobbs Jr. says that Davis rigged up a way of irrigating his seed beds. When the plants need water, he starts the pump and gets plenty of water evenly distributed on the plants. As a result, Davis was ready to transplant tobacco early in May.

MADISON COUNTY

Many folks are presented with the problem where to live when they tear down an old house and plan to build their new one on the same spot. Mr. and Mrs. Otis Hall of the Upper Laurel community, Madison County, had this problem last year. But Assistant County Agent Robert W. Miller says the Halls were quick to spot an answer. They merely moved into their burley tobacco barn while the new house was being completed.

POLK COUNTY

Mrs. Earl Weaver says that you can ration the feed to your layers. But they’ll ration their eggs, too. Polk County Assistant Agent Robert D. Flake says that Mrs. Weaver was feeding only enough mash to 100 hens to last them about three hours and was getting 40 per cent production. “But when we started keeping mash and grain in front of them all the time, they jumped to 70 per cent production,” she exclaims.

COLUMBUS COUNTY

Like the farsighted ant in the fable of the ant and the grasshopper, Tate Soles remembers last winter—a winter with poor hay and no silage. Those memories are helping him plan for winter feeding now. Columbus County Assistant Agent Victor H. Lytton says that Soles cut seven acres of oats for silage and bailed five more acres of oats. Then, noticing that his cows couldn’t keep up with the Ladino-fescue pastures, he clipped the pastures and bailed the grass. He says this should provide some mighty tasty chow for his cows next winter.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY

It’s a good trick, and Don Rogers, Asheville, Route 4, did it. The 4-H’er was allotted 100 pullets by the Pullet Chain and 10 weeks later still had 101. John F. Welter, assistant farm agent, explains that Don actually received two extra chicks to make up for any that might die en route to his farm. It’s still a remarkable record to lose only one chick out of 102, Welter declares.

TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY

Coy Compton of Dunn’s Rock community doesn’t believe in letting things go to waste. Transylvania County Assistant Agent W.M. Garmon says that when the acorns begin to fall, Compton buys shoats and turns them on the acorns. After the acorns are gone, it isn’t much of a job feeding the pigs the rest of the way, Garmon reports.