Editor of Carolina Co-operator Interviews D.A. Patterson of Maxton, 1935

A Fireside Chat with D.A. Patterson of Maxton in the September, 1935, the Carolina Co-operator

This month Mr. Mann is visiting the home of D.A. Patterson, just 2 ½ miles south of Maxton. Mr. Patterson, an elder in the First Presbyterian Church at Maxton and one of the outstanding farmers of the State, comes from a long line of prominent people. His brother, G.B. Patterson, represented the Sixth District in the U.S. Congress from 1903 to 1907.

Mr. Mann—My, Mr. Patterson, it is certainly a joy to sit in this comfortable chair and enjoy the beautiful sights around your lovely plantation.

Mr. Patterson—Mr. Mann, I’m certainly glad to have you and Mr. McRae come out and see me—you know it gets lonely out here sometimes for an old bachelor.

Mr. Mann—This is the old home-place, isn’t it?

Mr. Patterson—Yes, I was born here and some parts of the farm came into possession of the family thr0ugh a grant, and the home-place here is well over 100 years old—of course, I do not mean that I’ve been living here 100 years myself.

Mr. Mann—No, Mr. Patterson, no one would ever take you for a centenarian. You have certainly taken good care of yourself and you make some of us married men like Mr. McRae and me think that it’s not so bad to be a bachelor after all.

You used to produce around 300 bales of cotton a year, didn’t you, Mr. Patterson?

Mr. Patterson—Yes, we used to plant over 300 acres, but long before the government began forcing reduction I began to reduce and my allotment is now only a little over 100 acres.

Mr. Mann—If others throughout the cotton belt had done what you did we would have no need for the Triple-A, would we?

Mr. Patterson—No Sir-ree, and I tell you, Mr. Mann, if every farmer believed in improving the quality and believed in cooperation as much as I do and would practice it as I have tried to practice it, it wouldn’t be necessary to force farmers to reduce.

Mr. Mann—I know from the records, Mr. Patterson, that you are one of the charter members of the Cotton Association.

Mr. Patterson—Yes, sir, just as soon as the plan was explained to me I signed a contract and I have not only delivered my cotton and feel that I have benefitted by so doing, but have also attended every co-op meeting in my county when I was physically able to do so.

Mr. Mann—Then you are not sorry that you have stuck faithfully to the association through these years?

Mr. Patterson—No, Sir-ee—I would do it again, and I’m just as faithful now as I was the day I joined.

Mr. Mann—I notice that you have your own private gin—do you gin cotton for others?

Mr. Patterson—No, I only gin my own cotton. If feel it pays me to do this for then I can keep my seed pure while if I were to gin cotton for others this would be impossible.

Mr. Mann—Mr. McRae was telling me that you raise wheat on your farm.

Mr. Patterson—Yes, I feel that I’ve done right well with wheat. I make my own flour and eat my own meat.

Mr. Mann—And it looks from that garden over there that you have enough vegetables to supply a family 10 times the size of yours, and I do not recall ever having seen a more attractive spot for a garden. That old picket fence is most unusual.

Mr. Patterson—Yes, when you came I was down buying some collard plants—and there is one thing I’m going to have as long as I have anything and that is plenty of fresh vegetables.

Mr. Mann—I want to leave with you, Mr. Patterson, this little folder describing the new pool known as the “re-purchase pool.” Through this pool you can deliver your cotton, receive the usual advance if you want to draw the money and after your cotton has been graded you will be mailed the statement of weight and grade. When you get ready to sell your cotton you can ask the association for a price, and you can then take your advice of weight and grade to your cotton buyer or cotton mill and if either of these can offer you more than the association has offered you, you can re-purchase your cotton and sell it locally.

Mr. Patterson—Well, Mr. Mann, it looks as if the association has gone the whole way. This plan certainly should give every farmer the opportunity of knowing exactly what he has and also should enable him to know just as much about what he is selling as the cotton man knows about what he is buying.

Mr. Mann—That is exactly what we want to do, Mr. Patterson, for after all the main purpose of cooperative marketing is to help the farmer get the highest price for his cotton and the only way he can get it is to know exactly what his cotton grades and staples and to know the price that the mills of the State are offering for cotton of this grade and staple—and if from now on any farmers sells his cotton without this knowledge it will be his own fault.

Mr. Patterson—How are the prospects this year, Mr. Mann?

Mr. Mann—Fine, Mr. Patterson. We have already received some 1935 cotton and I’m out right now making arrangements so that we can efficiently handle the crop. Our office force is working night and day getting out tags and I’m being kept on the run, too—which reminds me, I’d better be driving.

It was very nice seeing you, Mr. Patterson, and whenever you are in Raleigh I want you to come by and see me.

Mr. Patterson—I’ll do that, all right, Mr. Mann. And I’ll be seeing you soon, too, Mr. McRae.