Farm bureau Notes
By TOM WOOD (
N. C. Farm Bureau * '
I
In the put IS year*, America's j
farm operator population has
dropped from about eight mil
lion to just over four million, 1
and some folks think the farm- '
er'i position is weaker. There's
considerable room for disagree
ment, though. ,
The individual fanner of to
day is far stronger than he was
yesterday. Chiefly, this is be
cause be has had to struggle
mightily to stay in fanning. He
has fought the battle of cost
price squeeze, and will for years
to come. He has wrestled him
self in adapting to a new tech
nology. He has been battered by
sweeping social changes.
In one sense, it has been a
"survival of the fittest;" but he
has had many allies.
Science has given him ma
chines to banish the hoe stoop,
the mule heel dust in his eyes,
the tobacco prime squat. Every
year, many mechanical inno
vations ease the physical strain
of fanning. They leave him
more energy for new tasks, more
enthusiasm for thinking and
planning, more time to manage
the farm and seek better mark
ets for his products.
Agribusiness, realizing the po
tential in the successful fanner
as a customer, has grown to
serve him. It has developed the
tools and the machines and the
chemicals be needs, and it has
hired specialists to help him use
them. Government research and
technology have taught htm to
grow more and better products
on less land, for land is the one
resource that can only diminish
as population grows. Govern
ment inspection has helped de
velop quality standards for farm
products.
Bat the very fact of his grow
ing strength has made the farm
er richer prey. A strong man is
* free man, and the freer the
man the greater his freedom is
coveted by weaker men. They
set a bewildering array of traps
for him. They gun for him con
stantly.
There's the gold-covered trap
of government overpayment for
overproduction; the invisible
trap of government paying the
farmer not to produce; the trap
of slashed allotments, squeezing
more net yield from less land;
the pin-hooker's trap, promising
a sure but unfair price for sur
rendering the crop well before
harvest; the trap of the blanket
law that protects the faraway
farmer but burns up the man
right here; the trap of the po
litical compromise with well
hidden teeth.
Able, strong and up-to-date
farmers know these traps and
step warily enough to dodge
their bites; yet in the maze of
conflicting trends, political wars
and power struggles even the
best of farmers sometimes must
fall back on instinct, the surviv
al weapon built through the
years out of kinship with na
ture.
For all of his prickly prob
lems ? perhaps because of them
? the farmer still believes his
job is the best of all possible.
It is a way of life worth battling
for, and the armchir agricultur
ists and pushbutton oracles who
never followed the south end
Tester Family
Reunion Held
The family of Mr. and Mrs.
A. A Tester of Sugar Grove
gathered at their home Sunday,
April 28 for a reunion and to
celebrate the 84th birthday of
Mrs. A. A. Tester. It was a hap
py occasion for them. A picnic
style lunch was enjoyed by
everyone.
Those present for the occas
ion were Mr. and Mrs. Clint
Wyatt of Newton Square, Pa.,
Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Tester and
family, Mr. and Mrs. Rom Test
er and family and Mr. and Mrs.
Bobby Tester and son of Lex
ington; Mr. and Mrs. Claude
Tester and family, Mr. and Mrs.
Basil Tester and daughter, Mr.
and Mrs. Andrew Haas, Mrs.
Thad Harmon, Mr. and Mrs.
Clint Harmon and family, Mr.
and Mrs. Herman Tester and
daughter and Mr. Dol Ellis of
Lenoir; Mr. and Mrs. Micheal
Holt and daughter of Greens
boro; Mr. and Mrs. Millard
Tester and family of Bluff City,
Tenn.; Mr. and Mrs. Earl Maia
and daughter, Mr. and Mrs.
Clay Tester and family, Mr.
and Mrs. Hal Main and family
and Mr. and Mrs. Benny Greene
and family of Sugar Grove;
Mr. and Mrs. Ben Tester and
son, and Mr. and Mrs. Frank
Williams a^d son of Zionville;
Mr. and Mrs. C. V. Ashley and
daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Baxter
MUler and family and Mr. and
Mrs. Dale Tester and family of
Boone. S*
>f a north-bound mule, or even
ite the dust of ? tractor had
better realize what a formidable
foe the farmer is.
He is, in the final reckoning,
the best Judge of how to farm.
Bethel Club Has Meeting
Bethel Home Demonstration
Club met in the home of Mr*.
Howard Love on the afternoon
of April 24. Mrs. Baker Wood
served aa her sister's aaaiatant
hostess. For devotional the
members repeated in unison the
Twenty-Third Psalm.
The demonstration on "Win
dow Hardware" waa liven by
Mr*. Baker Edmlaten. She dis
cussed the selection, installa
tion, and maintenance of window
hardware, and in stressing the
club adjourned early In
order that the member* might
meet on the church grounds to
do tome cleaning up. in prep
?ration for the spring- aesaion
of the Baptiit Aaaociatiou. held
APrU 30.
DEMOCRAT AOS PAY
Chicken Supper At Bethel School
There will be a chicken pie
nipper at the Bethel School
cafeteria ' May 24. Proceed!
from this supper will go to the
Mountain Dale Church building
fund. Serviag time will be from
5:00 to 9:00 p. m. Ticket! may
be obtained from members of
the community at $1.28 lor
adult* and 75c for children un
der 12 or you may pay at the
door. The public to Invited.
TRADE AT HOME
W-DBrand U.S. Choio (Ful| Cut pr Half) Not tha Bony BbJi Portions!