By Mrs. J. A. Brown
The time is drawing near for the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the inauguration of the strawberry industry in Columbus county. The Berry Growers of Chadbourn and the adjacent territory are planning a big Berry Show to be staged May 12th at what promises to be the height of the season. This is an event that should appeal to the interest of the county and the entire state.
Prior to the outbreak of the World War, Chadbourn and this vicinity enjoyed the distinction of producing and shipping more strawberries than any other point in the world. This industry was the principal factor in the rapid development of the county financially, educationally and socially. In fact, it may well be claimed that the strawberry put Columbus county on the map. Prior to the introduction of this industry, there was not a banking institution in the county, not a decent school house, and none of them more than two rooms, with a public school term of 60 days. Commerce was dormant, agriculture lagged. The success of the strawberry industry gave an impetus to all agriculture in the county, and today Columbus is rated among the largest tobacco producing counties of the state.
The car panic of1909, the advent of the strawberry weevil (which, happily, has been conquered), the demoralizing effect of labor, caused an alarming decrease in the production, but with the passing of these handicaps, the strawberry is coming into her own again, and the industry now bids fair to attain, and even surpass its former proportions.
While it is true that the price of labor and the cost of production has increased, it is also true that the increase in the price of the product has more than offset this. The past 30 years’ experience in growing the strawberry has proven that it is one of the most stable crops ever produced in the county, having paid a small profit even in the most unfavorable years, and three years out of four paying a handsome profit. Last year the average price was higher than ever before in the history of the business. Those who buy and handle the crop from this section are agreed that the finest Klondike berries produced in the county are shipped from the Chadbourn territory.
Thousands of people in the state have no conception of the magnitude of this industry, and it was a happy conception that induced Chadbourn to put on this Berry Festival, and invite the state to come help celebrate the anniversary of an industry that has meant so much to the county.
From the front page of the Carolina Fruit and Truckers Journal, Chadbourn, N.C., March 15, 1926
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92074004/1926-03-15/ed-1/seq-1/
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