Land Stewardship; 'T . t 1 our ofrmjsrchn aiuc us i our aewing Br GUY A. CARDWELL Agricultural and Industrial Agent Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co. The United States Department of the Interior, soil erosion service, has a big job to perform. It is trying to check soil erosion. By establishing demonstration projects it is showing how this can be done. To arouse and sustain interest in soil erosfbn and to secure owner-cooperation, and further to have a record of progress, individual soil ero sion experiment stations publish monthly bulletins recording informa tion of real value. I am using a few items copied from October issue of the Bannister River Banner, Chatham, Virginia, whert one of the soil erosion projects h under way. Those who read this letter may find the information of interest, and it may cause some land-owners to have a better understanding of their responsibility as temporary stewards, for land remains for the use of fu ture generations long after our stew ardship is ended. America Is At The Crossroads ''America hns not escaped periods of storm and stress, since white men first landed on the shores. Starva tions, pestilence, and savage forays played havoc with the infant .seUlc pents. Wars and panics have visited the growing nations. Time and again no man tould say that national in tegrity could be preserved, but none of these misfortunes have menaceJ the future of our people so much a; the deterioration of the soils. Wars end, and nations heal their wovnds, panics pass and prosperity returns but the erosion of the soil goes on with the grim persistence of death. Hillsides are denuded of trees and rains carry away the top soil, leaving behind raw wounds that grow worse with neglect. Rich bottom lands be come practically covered with unpro ductive soil from the hills and their fertility lessened. In some cases, sands reduce such land to sterile waste. In the valley of the Staunton River there lies the site of an old In dian village, where at one time the red men, attracted by its fertility, established a permanent town. Where in those days were rich corn fields, now sand bars cover the area, brought in by the floods and freshets, ano sand burs grow nature's last effort to provide a protective cover." Protection Of Soil Vital "That erosion takes place rapidly on unprotected soil is so well known that it scarcely seems worthy of men tioning. However, the following fig ures from the btatesvule, .North Carolina, soil erosion experiment sta tion show a marked difference in the amounts of soil carried off of unpro tected land, or land in cotton con- ' tinuously and on land in grass. On a sandy clay loam on a 10 per cent slope, the run-off of water on unprotected soil amounted to 32 per cent of the amount that fell and car ried off 65 tons of soil per acre. On land continuously in cotton there was a 10 per cent run-off of water and loss of 14 tons per acre. On a grass sod the run-off amounted to only 5 per cent of water and .8 of a ton of soil per acre. Bearing in mind that there are approximately 1200 tons of earth per acre, varying with the soil type, in a 6 in. covering, and assum ing a virgin soil of 6 in. in depth, the following interesting facts are nnnarenL 1 1 It would take 1500 years at this rate to remove the top 6 Inches of soil from such an area of grass. In the meantime, it would be somewhat offset by the formation of the new soil. Assuming that an inch of new soil would be gained every 400 years, we would gain 3.7 inches new soil during the 1500 year period. Thus, actually losing 2.25 inches of soil dur ing the 1500 year period. Using the same basis of compari son, unprotected land would be strip ped of the top 6 inches in 18.46 years. Theoretically, there might be a fractional gain but it would be safe to say that unprotected land of thi-s soil type on such a slope would lose the equivalent of the top 6 inches in about 18 1-2 years. Of course, this would not be a uniform stripping un der actual conditions, but the land loss in tons would be equivalent to it. This may seem hair splitting to a casual reader. We feel, however, that the effort is justified. We pre sent it to you in an attempt to fix in your mind a definite picture of the actual loss that has been and is go ing on around U3 all the time." It was Ruskin who wrote: ) "God has lent us the earth for our line. It is a great entail. It belongs as much to those who are to come after us as to us, and we have no right by anything we do or neglect to involve them in any unnecessary pen alties, or to deprive them of the benefit which was in our power to bequeath." OVER 200,000 POUNDS COTTON t ------ WWUW Jii.1 .bo In both Gates and Franklin coun ties, the farmers are buying surplus cotton Certificates to gin their excess production!!; Over 1200.000 Bounds of certificates were soia in uates county . Certificates Transferred Through County Agent Legal transference of cotton tax- exemption certificates from one grower to another must be made through the county agent's office, warns Dean 1. O. Schaub, of State College. Illegally transferred certificates will be cancelled, he said, and the cotton they were intended to cover will be subject to the Bankhead tax of five and two-thirds cents a pound. To protect growers from fraud, speculators, or unfair practices in the trading of certificates, . provision was made that all exchanges must be made through the county agent and at the rate of four cents a pound. Schaub pointed out that it is also illegal to sell a certificate to a person who is not a cotton grower. How ever, it is permissible for ginners to go to the county agent and buy cer tificates for a grower when the grower gives him written authoriza tion to do so. When an illegal transfer is dis covered, Schaub said, notice will be sent the collector of internal revenue and other persons involved in the transfer, including the rounty agent. Schaub also said that every dollar spent for extra tax exemption cer tificates goes to help growers who failed to produce the full amount of their allotments. The sale of surplus gives the un-der-producer a form of crop insur ance by enabling him to realize four cents a pound for that part of his allotment he failed to produce. It also gives the over-producer a chance to sell his excess cotton without pay ing the full amount of the Bankhead tax. "The Home" Subject At Beech Spring Meeting "The Home" was the subject of the program at the meeting of the Beech Spring School Parent-Teacher Asso ciation held at the school on Friday night. Mrs. W. J. Perry, president, con ducted the devotional exercises and presided over a short business ses sion, after which Miss Delsie White head, the teacher, read the program. Miss Stella Rogerson read a poem on "What Is Home." This was fol lowed by an interesting address by F. T. Johnson, superintendent of edu cation. Mrs. Noah Felton read a paper on "What It Takes to Make It a Home," and Miss Debie Whitehead also read a paper on "The Home." Miss Mary Alice Felton read a poem, "October's Bright Blue Weather." Thurston Stallings read "The Country Boy's Creed." i The program closed with the sing ing of "Home Sweet Home," in which the entire audience joined. A number of interesting' games were played and several contests were enjoyed after the regular program, and ice cream and cake were served. Crossnore School Issues Plea For Old Clothing Mary Sloop, business manager at the Crossnore School in the North Carolina mountains, has sent out the following plea for old clothes: "New lives for old clothes! This i3 our work new lives for mountain boys and girls, healthier, happier, broader. Thjs is our means old clothes which we sell at our Rag Shakin' or trade for produce through the school kitchen. Ever since we first started our work, old clothes sales have provided about one-half of our income; even during the depres sion this ratio has not changed, though the actual amount has, of course, decreased very much. And today, our warehouse is practically empty. There are plenty of custom ers, but not enough goods. Will you help us to stock our counters? We can use anything, for any age or either sex clothing, shoes, scraps for quilts, goeds and remnants for making clothes, household articles anything, and in any quantity. If our stock fails, our customers do not come back for a long time and it is very hard to build up their confidence again. Please, will you help us, for without your aid this work must fall short of its goal new lives for "the hills." , Any one in this county desiring to send old clothing to the school should address either by freight and express at Ashford, N. C, or by parcel post at Crossnore, N. C. An invitation is extended to visitors to inspect the school. .:' 10,294,498,803 CIGARETTES OUTPUT OR SEPTEMBER Cigarette 3 output for September reached a five-year high . for the month a total of 10,294,498,803 rig arettes. The production aggregate for the first 9 months of 1934 sets an all-time record, - being 9.10 per cent .higher than for the 1933 period and 4 per cent higher than its near- ! est competitor the first 9 months of II ' ., ban adc- flip ; - J hope you don't share a popular delusion that the Chinese are noted chiefly for chop suey and hand laundries. Several thousand years before they made those two important contributions to the great American scene they gave us silk. Legend has it that about 1700 B.C. Hoang-ti, third Emperor of China, became interested in the lowly silkworm, or more particularly in !h cocoon that served as domicile during the period of its transfurmat'ui! into a moth At his behest his 11 year old empress, Sing Li Chi, over coming hei feminine aversion to crawling creatures, proceeded to cul tivate the worms and 30011 discovered that the tiny thread ut of which they created their "retiring rooms" could be unwound ant. woven inu garments. It is gratifying to add that contrary to common custom, little Sins Li Chi rectived credit for her "laboratory research" and hr.s co.-.it down through the centuries as "The Goddess of the Silkworms." The mc-f.t valuable and closely guarded secrets have a way of travel lng, in spite of government decrees and dire penalties. The lowly silk worm, which was once an individualist with a "factory output" iiroitr.i to Its own needs, has become, willy nilly, a cog in many great colleo tivist machines. No ionger may it dissolve the valuable Dbres ol its cocoon and emerge to attain its natural destiny as a moth and a mother, unless It happens to be one of the few chosen by its huniiin rulers to carry on its race. But Its rulers have increased its productive capacity to the point where a single cocoon yields a quarter of a mile of fibre. They Lav learned to wind the slender fibres, five or six together, letting their natural gum cement them into a stronger fibre, to wind the fibres into threads and to weave the threads into beautiful and luxurious fi-brfcs. Silk thread plays a part In every woman's sewing. It is available, In every shade you're likely to wish. When se.ving silk fabrics on the machine use silk thread In both needle and bobbin so there'll be no puckering. Wool ir.J silk fabrics that fray easily should have their seam edges bound wltt silk seam binding, sewed on by hand as in Sketch A. Sill; threads come in twist size for buttonholes and In a st1" heavier si.'.n for tacka as in Sketch B. When you're hemming ve,1 line silk material a silk thread can be split and a single strand used with a vrv line needle. Church Choirs Compete At Colored High School A great mahy Perquimans people enjoy the jnuBic furnished by the colored people, &uch as has been beard in Hertford In former years, and to those a treat is in store on Friday .night , of ; this week, when a choir contest Is to be staged at the eilorei "hign scb""' tween the cho!r Baptist Church . - 1 '.3. ; ; charged and there will be espnrfuUyc reserved seats for the white rsople. , The managers are G. L. Skinner and L. H Felton, and they assure a verr . delightful program for all ,wbo at-' tend,', mil 1 1 n. ii nimiiiii i M,mm JT ,,.1 W4- 0r 1 V. J COMPLETE REPAIRING AND ALTERING WORK Yon mav n eed a few little changes to put your winter clothes in shape. We do expert work at lowest prices. WW have vour clothes cleaned in dirty gasoline? We use 'clean, fresh gasoline always. We have just installed a dryer tumbler idr taking all gasoline out of your clothes. Our plant is the only modernly equipped dry cleaning plant in Perquimans County. Hats Cleaned and Blocked the Factory Way We have added to our equipment a Hat Blocking Machine, Don't spoil the looks of an otherwise complete outfit by wearing a shabby top piece. Let us clean and block your Hat. 4 WE HAVE NO NEW REPRESENTATIVE ..... RELIEF GARDENS DISCUSSED W. B. Pace, Durham county atfent. has been discussing the value of fall gardens with relief families. Most of them wish to raise as much of their own food as possible.' CORN YIELDS INCREASED The value of a crop rotation with legumes has proven valuable in Alex ander County where corn yields have increased from eight to 60 bushels an acre since the work started. Riddick's Cleaning Works Mrs. Ellie Riddick, Owner . PHONE 129 -:- HERTFORD, N. C. BBSiiraiimdKssdl Scuffle na ymur caff ffte cfe When You Use (BAS M$BD IIIL-S You Will Always Get THE BEST SERVICE at a Shell Station ANTIFREEZE FLUID The fluid that protects your car in' lowest tem:f peratures. v:''.v NOW IS THE TIME TO DRAIN THAT OLD SUMMER OIL AND REFILL WITH SHELL WINTER GRADE MOTOR OIL. BATTERY SERVICE Free testing arid' peri odic filling with distilled k water. - - it 1 i Crank Ccc C;.. 1930.. v-'il:i-...-,.?&W& r r

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