By F.H. Jeter,
Extension Editor, as published in the Wilmington
Star on Aug. 14, 1944
MANTEO, Aug. 13—Dare County is not the hustling, busy place
it was during pre-war, pageant days when visitors from all parts of North
Carolina and the nation came to see how our forefathers struggled to set up
this Republic.
The small shipyard here in Manteo is closed temporarily and
only the Naval Air Base on the upper part of Roanoke Island offers extra
employment. It is true that fishing restrictions have been removed and quite a
large tonnage of fresh fish leaves here each night for inland markets.
But it has been terribly dry on Roanoke Island this year.
County Agent W.H. Shearin and Home Agent Sadie Hendley started very bravely
this past spring to have gardens in all parts of the county. The civic clubs
and county commissioners offered prizes for the best gardens and, for a while,
it appeared that Roanoke Island would be one vast vegetable garden from which
food could be gathered for consumption and for canning. But the promise of
spring was blighted by the continuous dry weather and now the Islanders are
planning for fall gardens.
It has been dry all over the Albemarle country this season.
I traveled one whole day over the Currituck peninsula visiting the poultry
flocks that feed fresh eggs into the nearby Norfolk market, and the soy bean
and corn fields. Farmers said that their crops have made a great comeback since
the July rains and that young corn will yield heavily.
The soybean and peanut fields also look promising, but the
watermelon crop was hurt badly as was the production of early Irish potatoes.
The potato crop was cut in half by low yield and small size of the tubers but
sold well In fact, many growers told me that they sold out so completely that
they left none at home for their own use.
Now they are getting busy preparing to grow a fall crop. The
growers also had less trouble with labor than in 1943. Neighbor helped neighbor
and with the aid of transients who were housed in a conveniently located camp,
the labor situation was well handled. All the crops appear to be well
cultivated and free from weeds and grass. As elsewhere over North Carolina,
Currituck farmers are seeding more pastures and growing more feed for livestock
and poultry.
This growing of green feed is an absolute necessity, the
farmers say. Poultry growers said that the commercial feed which they are able
to buy now does not contain the vital elements so badly needed by hens in heavy
production, and that if some grazing crop is not provided, the hens “break
down” and fall off in egg production.
As a matter of fact, most poultrymen in this Albemarle
country are planning to hold their flocks at the present level if possible,
without trying to increase. This actually is amounting to a decrease because of
the necessity for constant culling.
Currituck growers also are solving the problem of storm
damage to their poultry houses by building rather low-lying houses, wider than
those ordinarily build where ocean winds do not blow, instead of nailing down
the roofs to these buildings, they glue them tightly with tar and as old roofs
wear out, new ones are added until the building is snug and warm under
successive layers.
Poultry houses must be well-ventilated in this country or
the steady heat of the sun will heat the houses to such an extent that egg
production almost ceases. Currituck growers have worked out building plans that
seem to fit this locality and, as a result, their flocks are unusually
profitable.
STARTING A SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICT
Right now, Currituck landowners along with those in
Pasquotank, Chowan, Perquimans, and Camden counties are working together to
establish a Soil Conservation District. The growers are not concerned about
soil erosion but they do need soil drainage.
Back in WPA days, the growers succeeded in having much work
done in cleaning out and digging drainage ditches. “We were greatly benefitted
by this work despite what some may say about the WPA,” said County Agent
Powell. “We had some ditches cleaned out that had not been touched since the
slaves of old-time plantation owners had dug them. We also had some new
drainage ditches dug and many of our fields became fertile again. We want to
continue this work in our Soil Conservation District because the well-drained
soil responds to limestone and fertilizer.”
Powell is proving this theory of the value of drainage,
limestone, and phosphate on some of the islands of Currituck Sound. Many of
these small islands are owned by wealthy persons or groups who maintain gun
clubs on them.
The Bells Island *Club is a good example. Here the original
members of the club have all been “bought out” by one man who is maintaining a
year-round place of residence. Not only is the place beautified to satisfy the
owner but it has been made a concrete demonstration in the production of beef
cattle.
Powell has cooperated with the superintendent to seed
several acres of a permanent pasture that now maintains a herd of
Aberdeen-Angus breeding animals. The offspring of about 20 brood cows are sold
locally at nominal prices and is helping to start a new farm industry in this
section.
All in all, the Albemarle people are up and coming. It has
been dry here, terribly dry, but as these folks say, “More farmers have been
ruined by too much rain than by too little.” Crops look good now and the winter
will not be so hard after all.
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*The Virginian-Pilot has an interesting article about the
history of Bell’s Island, named for Currituck farmer William Bell, online at http://hamptonroads.com/2011/12/whats-name-bells-island-nc.
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