Sunday, December 30, 2012

New Year's Resolutions for 1937

December, 1936, Carolina Co-Operator
This month we are turning our editorial page over to others, over to those who participated in our annual Resolutions Contest in which thousands of New Year resolutions were submitted.
The first prize of $5 goes to A.B. Bryan of Clemson, S.C., who for 1936 has:
1.       Resolved that will read and think more this year, looking beyond the present in planning my farm business and in working my plans, so that I will not reap merely “a harvest of barren regrets.”
2.       Resolved that I will not stake everything on one cash crop, whether it be cotton or something else, and will produce home and farm supplies to the fullest extent consistent with my land and conditions.
3.       Resolved that since a worn-out soil means a worn-out man, I will not rob my soil of its fertility but will terrace my fields where necessary, will build up the waste places, and will get my nitrates for fertility more and more from the air through legume cover crops.
4.       Resolved that I will join the Cooperative Associations, the Grange, and other organizations for rural mutual benefit and will work to help make them successful to the benefit of myself and my community.
5.       Resolved that I will look and work toward a better day for rural life and that even in the face of discouraging conditions and experiences I will keep up my spirit and my faith that the Creator of the land and of all things animate and inanimate with which I work will not forsake the faithful tiller of the soil.
“Most honorable” mention, as the Chinese are so fond of saying, goes to Thomas A. Thompson of Bynum, whose terse resolutions embrace an excellent program. For 1936 Mr. Thompson resolves:
1.       To have my entire farm adequately terraced.
2.       To sow lespedeza in all my small grain.
3.       To prune and spray all fruit trees on my farm.
4.       To raise more live stock and poultry.
5.       To adopt a four-year rotation system for my farm.

Other resolutions submitted, we think, are just to valuable for our readers to miss, so we are taking one from each of the best 25 sets and printing them below. If you are an ambitious person, our advice is that you just adopt all the resolutions on this page in their entirety, and then if you are not a lot better off this time next year, all we can say is that something is radically wrong.

In presenting the resolutions below, no attempt is made to list them in the order of their importance or merit.
I Hereby Resolve
1.       To meet my church obligations both religiously and financially as far as possible.—Dardine Blue, Carthage, Route 3.
2.       To conduct my life in such a way that I will not be afraid of death any time.—Howard Bennett, Autryville.
3.       To be the best Christian, the best wife, the best mother, the best neighbor, the best friend I can.—Mrs. F.H. Page, Rout 1, Morrisville.
4.       To listen to the still small voice that whispers into the ear of every person the things he should do to make happiness a motivating power in every life with whom he comes in contact.—Miss Sara Tatum, Clinton.
5.       To seek to put first things first in my life.—G.K. Watts, Route 5, Statesville.
6.       To support my church, my home, and my family.—Bernice L. Sutton, Route 1, Goldsboro.
7.       To allow nothing, however hard it may seem to prevent me from wearing a smile and spreading sunshine in my daily contacts.—Coy Hewett, Wilmington.
8.       To learn a new word or fact every day without going about bristling with my new knowledge, but waiting for a suitable occasion to use it.—Beulah Walton, Route 1, Morrisville.
9.       To be more attractive among my schoolmates and at social affairs.—Gwendolyn Cotton.
10.   To live a Christian life.—Mrs. Mary J. Hill, Roxobel.
11.   To love and support my country.—Mary Brann, Box 485, Farmville.
12.   To be on time for all things I undertake to do.—Verna Cotton, Route 2, Enfield.
13.   To raise more of my food at home.--Ariathia Mitchell, Potecasi.
14.   To spend the family dollar more wisely by making a spending plan in advance and then abiding by it.—Carter McRae, Purvis.
15.   To do unto every one as I would have them do unto me.—J.A. Trulove, Route 3, Dunn.
16.   To beautify the home with flowers.—Louise Braswell, Route 1, Goldsboro.
17.   To be a child with my children as well as a father to them.—C.J. Covington, Troy.
18.   To try to help others any time I can, to help up instead of down, to speak a good word of anybody instead of bad, to try to attend to my affairs and let others alone.—Mrs. Lee Walston, Macclesfiled, Route 2.
19.   To be alert to opportunities that greet me daily.—Ruby Harper, Deep Run.
20.   To preserve and care diligently for the land which God has given me and also the animals which I possess.—J.C. Bishop, Scranton.
21.   To keep abreast of the times, to read much on farming, social, politics, and religious phases daily in 1936.—Mrs. A.N. Henderson, Route 1, Rutherfordton.
22.   To study the Carolina Co-operator more for profitable results, and to interest others in its splendid value.—Mildred Fowler, Route 2, Salisbury.
23.   To have a larger and better garden than ever before, that it may protect the health of my family.—Mrs. Bonnie P. Hinton.
24.   To spend a little less than my income.—G.K. Watts, Route 5, Statesville.
25.   To love my friends and visit among them more in 1936 than in 1935.—Mrs. Claude Dhue, Route 6, Durham.

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