JUNE, 1957
PAGE 3
OCTOBER 4 AND 5
HEADS OF COMMITTEES who will plan and
produce "Variety in Autumn" standard flower
show are (seated, from left); Mrs. E. J. Mechem.
entries; Mrs. Henry Chastain, publicity; Mrs.
Carl Rape, schedule; Mrs. L. B. McAbee, conserva
tion; Mrs. W. R. Turner, Sr., general chairman;
and (standing, from left): Mrs. Carl Stowe, stag
ing and property; Mrs. R. G. Henderson, classi
fication; and Mrs. W. A. Keever, hospitality.
Other committee heads are: Mrs. G. A. Perry,
junior chairman; Mrs. W. E. Pope, clerk; and
Ralph Johnson, awards.
Firestone Participates In First F-B Day
Businessmen and representa
tives of industry in the Gastonia
area learned one day last month
that the storied Old McDonald
on the farm is keeping pace in
a world of automation and
streamlined production.
Some 200 men from business
and industrial establishments
were guests of Gaston County
farmers at the first annual Farm-
Business Day, May 8. This year’s
program, conducted jointly by
the Gastonia Chamber of Com
merce and the Gaston County
Farm Bureau, was a return
courtesy for a program a year
ago when farmers of the county
Were entertained by business
and industry. On that occasion,
Firestone Textiles was among
the industrial plants toured by
the visiting farmers.
At the Farm-Business Day
program in May, visitors were
entertained at a free luncheon in
the newly-opened county Agri
culture Center near Dallas.
FOLLOWING the luncheon a
brief program was offered for
the purpose of acquainting busi
ness - industry representatives
with some of the more common
problems of the farmer, and to
emphasize the inter-relationship
of business, industry and farm
ing. After this, the group as
sembled at the rear of the Agri
culture Center to watch the
Gaston County Home’s irriga
tion system in operation. Visitors
saw an artificial breeding dem
onstration, before dividing into
small groups for tours of some
of the county’s more progressive
farming operations.
Stops on the tour introduced
the visitors to general farming,
dairy and poultry raising, pas
ture culture, beef cattle raising,
vineyard and tree planting, farm
building construction, and ir
rigation.
Demonstrations included full
time, part-time and even city-
operated farming.
AT ONE of the tour stops, a
group saw the county’s only
commercial vineyard, with sev
eral varities of grapevines be
ginning to bear. At others of the
several stations, different breeds
of cattle were shown, including
Jerseys, Black Angus, White
AT SUNBEAM FARMS—One of the many top milk producers
is the conversation object of Firestone's L. B. McAbee (left), and
T. B. Ipock, Jr., (right). In background (from left): Gaston County
Farm Agent Fred Kiser; Leonard Wilson, retired businessman and
farmer; Ralph Dickson, co-owner of an automotive parts store; and
C. G. Beam, owner of Sunbeam Farms.
Autumn Flower Show Project
Of Variety Garden Club
Face and Holstein.
Representing Firestone at the
program were T. B. Ipock, Jr.,
L. B. McAbee and Claude Calla
way, all of the Industrial Rela
tions Department. They made
the tour of general farming pro
cedures, as demonstrated on the
Sunbeam Farms near Cherry-
ville.
There, the visiting group saw
a registered Jersey herd of 350
milk cows, of which 175 are of
milking age. They also saw a
calf barn setup; poultry opera
tions with 10,500 laying hens,
4,000 pullets, and 500 roosters;
hay-curing and grass silage op
erations; and lakes and creeks
for water storage and irrigation.
ALONG the various tour sta
tions the business-industry men
were introduced to the change
over from cotton-growing to
cattle farming, which has gained
rapidly in the county in recent
years.
On the tour, modern farming
methods and the latest in agri
cultural equipment impressed
the visitors, many of whom
were not aware of the degree of
mechanized farming now carried
on in Gaston County.
“We hope to establish Farm-
Business Day as an annual event
on our calendar,” said Brice T.
Dickson, executive secretary of
the Chamber of Commerce.
The first standard flower show
ever to be held at the plant is
scheduled for October 4-5, at the
Girls’ Club, soon to be known
as the new Recreation Center.
Plans are already underway
for arrangements of the program
based on the theme “Variety in
Autumn.” The show is sponsor
ed by the Variety Garden Club
here and will be conducted ac
cording to standards set by the
North Carolina Garden Club,
with which the plant organiza
tion is affiliated.
Mrs. W. R. Turner, Sr., general
chairman of the event, said that
entries will include horticulture
pieces, arrangements and com
positions, and potted plants that
will have been in the exhibitor’s
possession for at least three
months prior to the show.
She explains that entries will
be exhibited and judged accord
ing to standard procedure of the
North Carolina Garden Club. She
points out that in the standard
flower show, ribbons are award
ed for the winning pieces.
Dates of October 4-5 were se
lected because they fall on Sat
urday and Sunday, thus allow
ing all interested employees to
take part in the program, or to
see the exhibits.
Concerning the show, mem
bers of the Garden Club will be
making announcements through
out the upcoming months of the
flower - growing season. The
plant newspaper will carry ma
terial on flower culture and in
structions relative to the Oc
tober show.
New Motor Routes
Lure Travelers
Wherever you go in North
Carolina this summer, chances
are your travel will be more
convenient and more pleasant
than ever before.
Some vacationlands — includ
ing resorts and parks of the
mountain country—are access
ible for the first time over many
newly-opened motor routes.
Across the state there are
major improvements on high
ways, while new traveler attrac
tions are to be found from the
Great Smoky and Blue Ridge
Mountains to the Coast.
Company PR Program Is Recognized
The Company has again been
awarded a certificate “in recog
nition of outstanding achieve
ment in public relations” by the
American Public Relations As
sociation.
The sixth such award in seven
years, the certificate is being
given in the category of interna
tional understanding, originating
in the United States, and covers
Firestone’s public relations pro
gram in connection with its Li
berian operations.
The program demonstrated
two truths:
(1) That underdeveloped coun
tries can gain great and lasting
benefits under the American
system of doing business, and
that such benefits can be gain
ed without any threat to nation
al independence or limitations of
personal freedom; and (2) that
investors of private capital have
in the underdeveloped areas of
the world a large field for profit
able investment provided it is
made with the sincere intent of
bringing to those areas the eco
nomic and social benefits dictat
ed by the principles of sound
business management.
Give Gay Blades A Chance To Grow
American homeowners in 1956 operated almost 12 million pow
er lawn mowers. And during this year there will be another three
million sold.
Of the millons of mowers in use this summer, at least half the
owners who are not veterans with the power machines will commit
the most common error—cutting the grass too short.
With the exception of bent-grass lawns, grass which is to re
main healthy should be cut not less than one and a half to two
inches above the ground in moderate weather. During hot spells, it
should be cut at least three inches above the ground. Bent grass
may be safely clipped three-quarters of an inch high.
NO MILKMAIDS—Human hands operate the
machinery of a modern milking parlor, but never
touch the product. This equipment at Sunbeam
Farms milks six cows at a time. It routes the milk
through stainless steel pipes to a large refrigerat
ed tank, thence to specially-equipped trucks for
the journey to processing plants.
POPULOUS FLOCK—At Sunbeam there are
almost 11.000 White Rock hens producing eggs for
hatching. Some 4.000 pullets are also numbered in
the flock. In chickenhouses, an electrically-driven
conveyor belt for feeding is one example of au
tomation that has come to the modern poultry
farm.