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Sunday, September 28, 2014

News From Farm Families Across N.C., Sept. 1955

“Farm News From Around the State’ in the September 1955 issue of North Carolina’s Extension Farm-News

Mr. and Mrs. Sam Saunooke are an Indian couple well up in their 70s, but they still put in full working days, according to Assistant County Agent W.H. Flake. Mrs. Saunooke acts in “Unto these Hills,” which takes three hours of her time, six days a week. In addition, the couple does a considerable amount of woodwork and raises its home food supply. By August 10, they had canned 225 quarts of vegetables. The Saunookes say they prefer to raise a good early garden rather than depend on a fall one.

McDowell County
One of Tommy Buchanan’s young chicks has got itchy feet. McDowell County Assistant Agent Paul L. Nave says that Tommy’s uncle visited the Buchanan home recently. A storm came up and the chickens ran under the car to get out of the rain. After the storm subsided, the uncle got in his car and drove to his home in Statesville. When he got out, one of Tommy’s pullets hopped off the front axle where she had ridden 85 miles.

Davidson County
Assistant County Agent W.W. Johnson doesn’t want to start an argument, but he believes that Davidson County can claim the largest cantaloupe grown in that section. Johnson says that Beamer Wilson of Linwood, Route 1, recently brought a 21-pound, 3-ounce monster into the county agent’s office. Wilson had already cut and consumed a 16-pound cantaloupe.

Gaston County
R.B. Watterson of Bessemer City, Route 1, doesn’t consider rye grass a pest. Gaston County Assistant Agent Dewey W. Hennessee says that Watterson is making good use of rye grass in his cattle feeding program. ”It was a life saver for us because we ran out of hay early this winter, and that’s all we had to feed our cattle.” He admits it has some bad points but says the good ones outweigh the bad.

Sampson County
Proper packing and cleaning of produce really paid off for one Sampson County farmer recently. Assistant County Agent. W.S. Young says that James A. Parker of Clinton, Route 1, collected a prize from the Clinton Produce Market for having a fine basket of peppers. And, of course, he got a premium price for those peppers, too.

Cleveland County
J.C. Randle of Bethlehem community vows it pays to be a jack-of-all-trades sometimes. Cleveland County Assistant Agent Jack G. Krause says that Randle, a Grade A dairyman, decided to pour a new concrete floor and manger in his dairy barn. He found that it would cost between $200 and $300, so he and his sons went to work and did the complete job for $87.

Catawba County
You’d think almost anyone would know how to feed a cow. But it isn’t that simple, as A.R. Ikerd of the Maiden section of Catawba County can testify. Assistant County Agent Frank A. Harris says that Ikerd claims he once thought the finer the feed was ground, the better, and that he could gauge the amount of feed and get cheaper grain. Recently he fed his steers correctly ground feed, kept it before them 24 hours a day, and discovered that he got fatter cattle in a shorter period with no digestion trouble.

Forsyth County
R.M. Ferguson, Winston-Salem, Route 7, once got a whipping for following the advice of his county agent. As Ferguson tells the story to Forsyth County Farm Agent Sam Mitchiner, he was a member of the Stokes County Corn Club in 1910 and, upon the advice of County Farm Agent I.G. Ross, planted Southern Beauty Corn in a bottom, where it grew thick and lovely. Ferguson’s father insisted he thin the corn, but the boy said no. Naturally, he got a beating, but the corn remained un-thinned. It stayed just thick enough to give Ferguson 104 bushels an acre and a champion’s trip to Washington.

Transylvania County
“I fed two milk cows and a mule, fattened two hogs and sold 47 bushels of corn.” There’s nothing astounding about Charles Owen’s statement until you find that he planted only a little more than an acre of corn land! Transylvania County Assistant Agent G.H. Farley points out that Owens accomplished this feat on an upland field with considerable slope during a dry season by adequate fertilizer and good management.

Haywood County
Any of you farmers need to pick up a fast thousand bucks? A foolish question? Not according to Jack Rogers of the Crabtree community. He did it with sheep. Haywood County Agent V.L. Holloway says that Rogers sold $1,125 worth of lambs and wool this year from his flock of 30 ewes. Holloway says that with good sheep and good management, many more farmers could earn an extra thousand or more dollars a year.

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