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PAGE 4—SECTION D
HERTFORD COUNTY IJERALD, AHOSKIE, N. C.
1939 HISTORICAE EDITION
CURRENT ACTIVITIES OF HERTFORD COUNTY FARM WOMEN
HOME DEMONSTRATION WORK IN HERTFORD
COUNTY 1935-39
By FLORENCE COX
On January 1st, 1935, as I came to Hertford County to take up the
duties of Home Demonstration Work, I found a well formed and func
tioning organization with an active County Council. At that time
there were 14 organized Home Demonstration Club.3 and 5 4-H Clubs.
Since that time 3 new Heme Demsonstration Clubs have been
added and the membership of many of the other clubs increased. We
now have a total membership of 375 in these adult clubs. The 4-H
Clubs have been increased to 9 and.the membership to 330.
Our goal being better homes and a more happy and contented
people in Hertford County, we have made a study of House Furnish
ing and Home Beautification for a two year period each and are now
concentrating on the most important subject of Home Management.
These studies have been made with the idea of practical application
in the average home ever kept in mind. Those who have been fortun
ate enough to pass in and out through the county may see the re
sults of these studies-in more comfortable homes, and in the improve
ment of'the appearance of many home grounds. The local communi
ty churches, schools and club houses have also received the-attention
of Home Demonstration Clubs by having their grounds planted and
otherwise improved.
Throughout this period the clubs have also been active in many
other lines such as Clothing, Foods and Nutrition, Gardening, Poultry,
Dairy products for the home, Marketing home products, Handicrafts,
Health problems, etc.
One of the most valuable pieces of work recently accomplished,
is the improvement of kitchens in the homes of club members. Much
has already been done in 38 homes while other kitchens are in the pro
cess of being improved or are to be at an early date. This work is of
primary importance because the average housewife spends so much
timevand energy with the kitchen duties.
The importance of the Home Demonstration Club to the com
munity cannot be estimated. Since the small local school has been re
moved from the rural communities there is no community center to
hold the people together and working for the betterment of their com
munity. The Home Demonstration Clubs in many instances are ful
filling this need. It draws from all walks of life and gives a medium
through which community work may be accomplished.
This is especially true of the clubs that own their club buildings
as Christian Harbor, Cofield, Woodrow and Meherrin. The Menola
Club is now buijding a Community, center which will be ready for use
in a very shorf time and the Winton club is cooperating with the
federated Womens Club and the town with a building that will also
soon be ready for use. The Clubs are justly proud of these buildings
and are using them more and more as time goes by which their real
worth to the community.
In 1938 three honors came to Hertford County. First, the county
received an Award of Merit from the National Better Homes Associa
tion for the quality of work done in the Better Homes Campaign.
Second—Hertford County placed first at the North Carolina State Fair
with an Educational Booth. Third—Mrs. .A. G. Otwell, first President
of Menola, the oldest club in the County, organized April 2nd, 1918,
spoke over the radio giving a brief history of 21 yeans of Home Demon
stration Work in this County.
4-H Club work in the county is gradually improving. The girls
have held a small fair each year exhibiting products of their own
making. Representatives have been sent each year to the Older
Youth Conference and the State 4-H Club Short Course at Raleigh.
Three 4-H Club camps have been held in cooperation with Gates and
Bertie counties. Each year the health side of the 4-H Club work is
emphasized and climaxed with health talks for the younger girls and i
(Continued on page 5)
Why It Is Necessary to Reforest the Lands of the Roanoke-Chowan
.af
'm,.
This is one of the many reasons why the forests are being depleted faster than new growth can take the place of the trees felled and
cut into timber. There are many such sawmills operating in this area; and since Ahoskie was first established 50 years ago, it is the saw
mill and timber industry that has held first place in its development.
YOUR FORESTS AND YOUR PART
By BRANTLEY HENDERSON, JR.
Forests throughout this section of the nation have for many years
been taken as a mater of course. Not^a day has passed when we have
not benefited directly or indirectly through our forests and yet we
understand so little about them—give them so little concern.
Our forests, and we include the farm wood lot, have for over two
hundred years furnished us with protection and materials which have
made our existence along the Atlantic Coastal Plain possible and en
joyable. Until recent times, with few exceptions, the yield from our
forests has been the only human concern; the effect has been like the
results of any system where there are all outputs and no return to the
output source. Yet we are blessed with a kind of tree which is
seemingly hard to get rid of. Our loblolly pine is a tree that, with
even half a chance, will repeatedly come back.
Although our pine has taken advantage time and again of that
“half a chance” condition, the result has been, in many instances,
partially stocked land. With continued poor cutting the pine, which
is our best all-around tree, is gradually being replaced by inferior
trees or brush.
With the increased demand for the many products of our forests
the acreage of mistreated forest land has increased. Yet today we
look back and see how the men who made those mistakes were possi
bly not so much to blame. Those men were probably no wiser than
we are and who can say that we are able to see very far into the
future. .Surely not unless we know by experience or by the teaching
of others, what is likely to be the result of our actions.
How many of us today as we ride along our highways and see
pine forests of all ages and conditions realize the present and future
value of those stands of trees? Thanks to our various educational
agencies most of us are capable of the realization. Yet every spring
and fall many of those valuable stands of timber are laid waste by a
careless match or cigarette—an act of destruction that is often uncon
sciously done.
In being blessed with trees of commercial value we are very for
tunate in having a crop that serves, or is capable of serving, not only
the present landowner and community but also future landowners and
the future community. There are many kinds of trees in our forests
that are of no commercial value because of quality or quantity and yet
are capable of being used on the farm; thereby making way for
additional growing space for the marketable ^ees.
Our part, therefore, consists in becoming forest conscious and
extending cooperation for the solution of the forest problem. Forest
owners must put into practice wise cutting methods and practice com
mon sense forestry. Because in the past forest theory has been
advanced as the only forestry, forestry itself has suffered. Much of
the theory recommended was impossible for a man concerned with
making a living to practice. Until all agencies dealing with private
forestry put aside untried schemes and use tested practices, forestry
is likely to come into its.O-wn slowly. In fact, unless private forestry
is put upon a business basis, we fail to utilize our natural resources to
the fullest extent.
How can forestry in our section be put upon a business basis?
Surely we must develop first of all a moving spirit of cooperation
among all people using directly and indirectly a forest area. Com
munity opinion against forest destruction is the most powerful course
of action. A developed community opinion will drive home the desire
to prevent destructive forest fires and unwise cutting methods.
Every forest fire is a destructive fire and we must guard against
them at all times. The only effective defense against forest fires is
the cooperative defense and respect for all forest land. The heaviest
toll, although by far not the only toll, taken by forest fires throughout
this area is the killing of the young trees and the reduction in soil
values of the burned area. It is easy” to see that any fire damage to
the forest area reduces the many forest benefits. Game and game
areas are destroyed. Mature timber is reduced in quantity and quality,
and thus the revenue capacity is diminished. Fires also seriously
weaken all sizes of timber, making them liable to insects and disease.
We should all use every possible care when using fire around the forest
margin or within the forest, and make certain that we are able to
control the fire to prevent its escape. Since it is true that all our
fires are caused by man, we can reduce the forest acerage burned to
only a sm^ fraction of what it is today. All that is needed is just
an honest effort.
Cutting practices or rules are set forth to encourage conservative
methods of reaping the forest wealth. The idea behind any improved
cutting practice is to make provision so that the land will remain
productive of timber and other forest values. 'Measures necessary to
keep all but the poorest of our pinelands productive after cutting are
few indeed. Fire protection, seed trees or their quivalent, and a com
mon sense viewpoint will be found sufficient. Already in parts of
the southern pine belt, cut-over land having an abundance of young
growth not yet merchantable commands a good price. Wherer this
pine will compensate any particular landowner for whatever expense
is involved in leaving his property in a productive condition has but
one answer. In answering this question for himself, the farmer bears
in mind that barren land is a certain liability to its owner, and a stag
gering burden to the community at large. The South as a whole is
gradually awakening to'these facts concerning cut-over pineland.
.Vithin fifteen years, public sentiment toward timber growing has
changed from a state ox maitt'erence, often bordering on actual hos
tility, to one of friendly interest and support. Encouraged by this
public action, an increasing number of individuals and corporations
are buying forest lands for the definite purpose of growing trees on
them. They are not buying barren land, but land already productive.
Few permanent owners of forest land are likely to remain content
with a third of a crop, or even with two-thirds.
The pulp mills have made it possible to permit a reaping of part
of the timber crop at rather early intervals. Instead of finding timber
5 long time turnover, as is the case with saw timber alone, we are able
to grow high quality saw logs and receive revenue during their growth
from the sale of pulpwood grown in the same area. There are many
areas having no saw timber markets where the farmers are able to
grow two crops of pulpwood during the same time it would take to
raise a saw timber crop. Through the gradual removal of the pulp-
wood crop by tested forestry methods, the rapid addition of taxes on
forest land is offset.
The pulp mills have made timber growing attractive and wide
spread common sense forestry possible by providing a market for
hiaterial which all forest owners, no matter how small the holding, are
able to handle and market, thereby affording the owners a double
benefit. Forest improvement has come into its own through actual
possibilities offered by the pulp mill,
For the many benefits to this whole area, let us all cooperate—we
are all concerned.
Experiences of a Home Demonstration Agent
(Continued from Page 3)
studying train schedules, I found that I could return south over the
Atlantic Coast Line route rather than the Southern route, and by
taking an earlier train. This would give an opportunity for a visit
with the Roses. The beautiful drives over Hertford County were
enjoyed. The spots of historical interest were visited and a glimpse
into the quaint court house at iVinton was most interesting. But the
nicest part of all was meeting the cordial, charming people who make
Eastern Carolina the place superb.
We called on Miss Myrtle Swindell, the home agent, in her office
and, having the same interest in our work, we enjoyed a plasant visit
together. She invited me to the Home Demonstration Club Flower
(Continued on Page 7)
Can You Imagine The Past 50 Years Without
OK
Used Cars
LOWEST IN PRICE AT THE DEALERS
WHERE NEW CAES SELL THE FASTEST.
besides, ALL OUR USED CARS ARE
thoroughly CHECKED AND HAVE
STANDARD’S “OK THAT COUNTS.” YOU
CAN GET THE MOST FOR YOUR MONEY
WHEN YOU
Buy Youp Used Car From Standard
CHEVROLET
The Name That Has Meant The Most In
Motor Car Value and
\
“Eoonomical Transportation”
To Thousands Of Buyers?
W e know that you cant imagine the [nogress and develoiJtnenl of the past fifty years—these years that
have seen the Toicr\of Ahoskie come into being and grow to its present size, these years that have brought
ivith them great striUes forward that are difficult to encompass in even the backward vista—without Chev
rolet. For Chevrolet has brought the miracle of modern transportation to thousands of people right here
in the Rounoke-Chohan section . . . and in Ahoskie for the past twelve years the Standard Chevrolet has sold
and serviced hundreds of these fine automobiles that hate brought satisfaction and pleasure to their owners.
We invite you Jtl visit our show rooms. It has been and is a pleasure to serve you. You will also find
our repair service cMnpletely satisfactory in expertness of work and reasonableness of price. It is our
policy to give the mosft value for your dollar—you can depend on this at
Standard Chevrolet Company
AHOSKIE, NORtIH CAROLINA