NC Farm News Roundup, September 1955

From “Personal Mention” by Frank Jeter in the September 1955 issue of Extension Farm-News

“Bad women,” say eastern Carolina farmers, “can surely play havoc with one’s peace of mind and one’s pocketbook.”

‘Twas ever thus, but Bill Lewis, Wilson’s top-notch Extension agent, says farmers are getting fed up. After three dry years, corn growers of Wilson thought they had the best crop on record. Then [Hurricanes] Connie and Diane came along, and they were totally heartless. Bill says “Wilson lost 20 per cent of its corn crop.

Enough has been said about these storms and the material damage they brought with them. Not yet, however, has the full measure of despair been recorded as it exists in the hearts of disappointed young 4-H boys and girls whose encampments were cancelled because of the storms. Get Lester Laws and Gerald Ward to tell you the story of what happened in Cumberland and Sampson, for example. Others also could tell of how money was saved, almost penny by penny, so that the boy or girl could attend a club camp, only to be disappointed. And no disappointment is so tragic as that suffered by a teenager who has looked forward all year to such an event.

Here’s a bouquet to Glenn Hardesty who took a group of Rowan club members into a roadside restaurant for lunch following their return from Camp Schaub. The restaurant keeper dreaded to see them coming in, but after the meal he asked Glenn to always stop when he had a group of 4-H Club members. “The best behaved boys and girls I have ever seen,” he commented. A bouquet also to Lyman Dixon and his staff who handled the Roanoke Island Camp. George Hobson of Mecklenburg says Lyman knows his job. So do the other 4-H Club leaders.

Director Weaver and his administration likewise get an orchid on the national level for the effective way in which the Extension Service was organized to handle the hurricane emergencies.

W.H. Flake, now in charge of Extension with the Cherokee Indians, and teacher Donald Dunn of the Reservation High School are smiling at the deserved compliments given their garden contest this season. A total of $420 cash was distributed to the Cherokee farmers in six districts.

“Chick” Parrish says 4-H pullet club members will sell 11,500 fine birds at auction this month and next as they hold their annual series of pullet shows from one end of North Carolina to the other.

Congratulations to our Jean Anderson for her feature stories about North Carolina farm families and for her committee work in selecting Beth Tartan of the Winston-Salem Journal as the best newspaper home economics editor for this year.

Our manners to John Gray for getting a repeat in the thousands of free pine seedlings offered again this winter to club boys, FFA members and adults by the big paper mills. Adults will have to buy some seedlings, however, got get the free ones offered.

Also our respects to Mary Cornwell of Haywood for being elected as president of the North Carolina Home Agents Association and for the lovely party and reception tendered her at Camp Schaub when 800 club women of Haywood and nearby counties assembled to do her honor. She didn’t know it was to happen. Mrs. James Welford, Haywood County HD recreation leader, conspired with Elsie Palmer, office secretary, and Jean Childress, assistant home agent, to handle the whole affair. A beautiful souvenir program with Cousin Mary’s picture on the cover.

Director Weaver is winning acclaim as an orator on current rural affairs. Words of praise come to this editor about the director’s talks at the annual Lincoln County Farmers’ Day and at the Orange County Town-Country gathering, both splendid occasions.

It was ironical that Neil Carey, Health King of Alamance County, could not compete in the State contest during 4-H Club Week. Neil was at home nursing a bad case of mumps.

Abner Knowles says one farm couple in Brunswick, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Johnson of Southport, cashed in on holiday traffic to Southeastern North Carolina beaches this summer. The Johnsons sold their surplus home-grown vegetables at their roadside market.

Charley Gardner of Ashe says vegetable growers in the mountains had a harder time with their products, the worst summer since 1947 with snap beans selling for an average of $1 a bushel.

Ben Jenkins is back in the fold and happily located as farm agent of Randolph County.

Four purebred swine breeders of Robeson united their resources and held a sale of their own: Cutlar Balance, Spots; Poe Lewis, Hamps; Seavie Lowery and Walz Maynor, Durocs. The sale was successful and they had lots of fun.

High tales of travel by the Neill Smiths of Surry; the Haywood County group, which visited the Black Hills of South Dakota and into Canada; the John Pilands of Johnston; the P.E. Parkers of Hertford; and the home demonstration delegates who attended the National Council meeting in Chicago.

Our respects to Mrs. Charles Graham of Linwood for being elected Southern Director on the national HD Council board.

Congratulations to the Central Carolina Farmers Exchange of Durham for its modern poultry dressing plant.

And believe it or not, there is no Extension agent in Cherokee County for the time being…politics! George Farley is in Transylvania helping Julian Glazener with the Farm and Home Development; L.V. McMahan is over in Madison; D.D. Robinson is county agent of Graham, and Distric Agent Bryan Collins is sitting tight. Too many politicians in too many places try desperately hard sometimes to meddle in the non-political, educational job of the Extension Service. Their meddling only hurts; certainly it offers no vestige of help.

Van C. Wells of the East Pigeon community in Haywood County has had skunk trouble this summer. The undesirable visitors caused him considerable loss by breaking off the lower leaves of his Burley tobacco searching for horn worms.

Robert Hendrix of Edgecombe saw his first tobacco barn burn the other day. In a matter of minutes, a barn filled with choice leaf went up in smoke.

The philosopher of Mecklenburg, Lem Laney, takes suburbanite troubles in his stride and doesn’t get too annoyed with amateur gardeners and landscape artists who call for personal attention in handling bugs and other troubles.

Elkin wants a tobacco market and the North Carolina Dairy Products Association is buying and using a film, “The N.C. State College Basketball Highlights in 1954 and ’55.”

See you at the Fair.

-=-

Frank Jeter wouldn’t see his readers at the State Fair because the 64-year-old died unexpectedly on September 16. He’d spent the day before at the office and had worked on a manuscript at home before he had a stroke at 1 a.m. Jeter, Extension Editor and Director of the Division of Agricultural Information at N.C. State College, Raleigh, had worked there for 39 years.