Farm News From Stokes and Bertie Counties, 1944

From “Carolina Farm Notes” by F.H. Jeter, Extension Editor, N.C. State College, Raleigh,  as published in the Southern Planter, February 1944

Alfalfa Pays Like Tobacco

Alfalfa is about as profitable as tobacco and does not require nearly so much hard labor, says M.J. Fagg of Walnut Cove, Stokes County. He was led to believe this because of harvesting 141 bales of hay from an acre of the legume last season, weighing an estimated seven tons. The hay is valued at $40 a ton or $280 an acre, and this income approaches closely that which Mr. Fagg has received from his labor with tobacco.

“Then,” he added, “the hay can be fed to cows, workstock, hogs, chickens or in any other kind of livestock on the place.

Dusted Peanuts Produce Better

Speaking from a background of six years of experience, W.L. Powell of Windsor, Bertie County, says that dusting his peanut vines with sulphur has paid him well each year.

Despite the dry weather of 1943, Powell reports one of the best crops that he ever harvested. A part of this, he attributes to dusting the nuts three times with commercial dusting sulphur. From 90 acres of dusted peanuts, he harvested 2,018 bags, which is an average of 2,154 pounds of nuts or 22.4 bags an acre. The hay from the acreage dusted was of better quality in that it retained its green color better than that from the undusted area.