The news in this publica
tion is released for the press on
the date indicated below.
the university of north CAROLINA '
NEWS LETTER
Published weekly by the
University of North Carolina
for its Bureau of Extension.
EPTEMBER 8,1915
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
VOL. I, NO. 42
•SdWorial Board! B.C. Branson, J. O. deR. Hamilton, L. R. Wilwn, L. A. ■Williams.
Bnteped as aecond-claas matter November U, 19U. at the postoffioe at Chapel Hil', N. C., under the apt of Angnst 24,191?.
NORTH CAROLINA CLUB STUDIES
^CELAGRA AND FAKE CURES
I'Pelagra lias taken the place of tubercu-
‘Hosis as the greatest cause of death in the
Aifeorgia State hospital. The increase of
."■this dread disease in the South fs alarm-
‘ ^ng.
?ilt is produced by defective diet, says
: Dr. Joseph Goldberger, the pelagra ex-
•'pert of the U. S. Public Healtli Service;
hy too much grits, molasses, coru meal
and other starchy foods, and not enough
;!ean meat, beans, peas, milk and eggs.
Beware of fake cures. The remedy does
not lie in medicines, he says, but in an
abundant, well-balanced, nourishing diet.
It is a comfort to know that this dread-
. ful disease is not contagious, infectious,
or in any way communicable.
A CHEAP SANITARY CLOSET
Mr. \V. T. Cutchiii of Chapel Hill has
a satisfactory house toilet, built at a cost
of about 15.00 as follows:
For a liquifying tank, a molasses hogs-
•Jiead, 90 cents; for an effluent tank, a
%=;*lvani/.ed wash tub, 75 cents; a connect-
3ag pipe, 40 cents; for ventilation, a 5-
liacli stove pipe; lumber and labor about
'$2.00.
The toilet room is upon a rear porch.
The tanks are below the porch floor. The
Tiiqutfying tank sits on brick supports
' convenient for disinfection by heat, and
. for emptying once a week or so.
Odors are scarcely noticeable, he says,
; and tlie attention needed by the citHuent
tank from time to time is not distressing
, to tlie senses,
; Send for Description of the L.
R. S. Closet.
Dra-win^ and full discriptions of this
are given in the U. S. Public Health
jsulietin No. 68. With the help of this
iiittle pamphlet any home owner can have
^convenient, inexpensive and safe toilet
- arrangemnts and facilities.
Drop us a post card and this bulletin
' will he mailed to you promptly.
PROVING THE PUDDING IN
CATAWBA
A thousand co-operating farmers in Ca
tawba did a |24S,505 business in cream,
butter, poultry and eggs during the year
ending the first of last June.
The year’s sale of eggs was 228,700 doz.
and the butter business amounted to
nearly 600,000 lbs.
They started this business five years
ago with a capital of only 5>1,500.
Last session 150 farmers in Catawba
sold 25 car loads of sweet potatoes and re
ceived therefor 12.67 per crate clear of all
expenses.
The association charged its members
$1.00 membership fee and 10 cents per
crate plus 10 cents more per 100 lbs. for
handling.
The unorganized are always at the mer
cy of organized big business.
If farmers will not pull together here
on earth, neither shall they dwell togeth
er in Heaven, according to Timothy ten
sixteen.
ANOTHER MODERN COMMER
CIAL CLUB
The Durham Commercial Club and
' -the Durham county farmers are getting
'! together trying to solve the local market
■ problem. It is a bigprol)lem worth solv-
■ ing.
i In the census year, all farm projierty in
i' Durham county.was valued at|3,591,000;
: and in tlie same year the food and feed
1 consumed by man and beast in the coun-
I ty amounted to $2,559,000 more than the
J)urham county farmers produced.
' It is easy figuring to jirove that it all
>r even a reasonable portion of this large
iium could be held down in Durham the
iarm wealth of the county would be
doubled in a couple of years.
When two and a half million dollars
.ihat might have been kept at home dis
appears out of a comnuinity, everybody
is poorer, farmers, traders, bankers all
'jlike.
The local market problem is always a
complicated, difficult problem; but its
solution would be worth more to Durham
fthan any one or a half dozen new indus-
.'trial enterprises.
MOVING AHEAD IN FOOD
CROPS
In 1914 our per acre production of crops
was as follows:
Corn 20.3 bu., an increase of 67 per
cent since 18S0; wheat 12 bu., an increase
of 126 per cent; oats 17.5 1)U., an in
crease of 127 per cent; hay and forage
1.15 tons, an increase of 30 per cent.
In total production we moveil up from
28,000,000 bushels of corn iu 18S0 to 56,-
389,000bushels in 1915. Our wheat crop last
year was 7,332,000 bushels, and this year
it is 11,300,000 bushels or more than
treble the crop of 1880. Our hay and
forage crop in 1915 was 459,000 tons, or
more than five times the crop of 1880.
And as for peanuts, our crop in 1910 was
nearly 6 million bushels or more than
fourteen times the crop of 1890.
Still Less Than in 1860
Except in case of peanuts, hay and for
age, our per capita production of foot!
and feed crops is still less than it was in
was in 1860. C)ur population today is
nearly exactly two and a third times that
of 1860. Mouths have multiplied in North
Carolina faster than the wherewithal tc
fill them.
Wiping Out Deficits
But we wiped out our wheat deficit thit
year, and we can also sponge
deficits in corn, oats, hay and
the next year or two.
We will be wise to do it, the steadilj
rising value of food stuffs considered. We
will be foolish not to do it.
It is not likely that ever again in the
life time of any farmer in the state he
can buy any of these crops more cheaply
than he can raise them at home.
out OUi
forage in
THE NATIONAL MEAT
PROBLEM
’ During the year ending with last June
■ kve shipped abroad 178,000,000 lbs of fresh
' beef or nearly 30 times the amount ex
ported the year before; and 75,000,000
lbs. of c.aaBed beef, a twenty-two fold in-
^Trease in a single year.
In addition we exported 562,000.000
lbs. of bacon, hams and shoulders, an
tiEwease over last year amounting to 58
;i>er (*nt.
• It is no secret that the live stock of the
■ eountry-at-large has not kept pace with
■'•tlje increase of poiiulation; that for many
'fears the live stock supply has actually
decreased, except a slight increase last
year; that tlie price of meant to consum
ers has steadily risen; and that the future
■a«a* supply of the country is a matter of
grave concern, says the Federal Depart-
■ment of Agriculture. ^
It is a wise farmer who has plenty of
VDeat to sell and none to buy this year
and for many years to come.
THE ESSENCE OF
OWNERSHIP
The essence of ownership lies not so
much in the enjoyment of the thing
owned as in the legal power of exclud
ing others from its enjoyment. So
wrote Thomas Erskine Holland of Ox
ford in his Jurisprudence.
This is based upon the Roman c‘on-
ception of ownership which we have
adopted. If Tullius owned a horse
the test of f>wnership was not iu his
right to ride or enjoy the horse; it was
in his power to prevent Marcus from
riding the horse without the consent
of Tullius.
This is the test of ownership today.
The test of man's ownership of a mil
lion dollars is not his ability to use,
hoard or enjoy the million, which he
may or may not do as his nature and
taste may require. But the test of his
ownership is the power to prevent any
one else from using or enjoying or
possessing it. The test of ownership
in law is the power to prevent, to hin
der, to exclude.
Think theu of the responsibility a
man takes upon himself when by
right of ownership he will not use be
longings worth fifty thousand dollars,
say, for the good of others, for his
own betterment or for the glory of
God, and hinders, prevents, excludes
any one else from so using them.—
The Christian Sun.
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
LETTER SERIES NO. 42
third limes that of 1860, we have this
year 96,000 fewer cattle, 358,000 fewer
hogs and 396,(X)0 fewer sheep.
\\'e have nearly 300,000 pigs more than
we had in 1910, but we are producing far
less beef, pork and mutton than our fore
fathers did.
And considering the increasing defi
ciency in the nation’s meat supply, and
the increased shipment of beef and pork
abroad due to the high prices ottered by
the countries at war, we will be wise to
raise at home what meat we need in North
Carolina.
Otherwise we must soon pay exorbitant
prices for it, or go without it altogether.
Signs of Promise
Western North Carolina is gaining in
cattle, dairy farming, and dairy indus
tries. Eastern North Carolina has had a
most wonderful increase in pigs, and in
pork i>roduction.
The coastal plain counties are develop
ing the advantages that lie in peanuts
and sweet potatoes; and pigs fattened on
these crops yield larger profits than the
crops themselves will do when sold as
peanuts and potatoes on four wheels.
SUMMER SCHOOLS FOR
TEACHERS
During July and August of this year
there have been summer sessions for
teachers at the University, the State
Normal, the East Carolina Training
School, the Appalachian Training School,
and Cullowhee.
More than 2,000 Teachers
attended these summer sessions with a
patient yet enthusiastic devotion to class
room duties. Each of the Summer School
teachers will have more than twenty-five
pupils in her school next session, and
even at this low estimate of twenty-five
pupils for one teacher, at least
50,000 Children
will be reached and benefitted by these
summer school teachers during the com
ing fall and winter.
. The a\-erage expense incurred by each
of these two thousand teachers was at the
lowest
Twenty-Five Dollars
This is a big sum and means nmch for
a teacher whose average salary in 1913-14
was only $271.36. In other words, our
teachers, every two years, spend their
time and money in honest effort to j>re-
pare themselves to
Do Better WorK
Is it right let their eflbrts go unreward
ed? The logic of their zeal and expense
is that these teachers should have better
pay for better work. If a teacher is con
stantly spending money to learn how to
do better work, it is but fair that the
public should pay more .for this better
work. Some school officials appreciate
this fact and show their appreciation by
giving
An Increase of Salary
to those teachers in their schools who
employ the summer in self-improvement.
Tlie time will soon come we believe when
school committeemen will count money
well spent if it is given to teachers to be
used in meeting their expenses at a Sum
mer School. In fact, as said above, this
is now done in some districts, to their
sound judgment and credit be it said;
and, well—is this true of your district?
bond indebtedness for good roads amount
ing to Ji8,376,300 up to January 1st, 1915.
We voted special local tax levies last year
for roads amounting to $1,800,000. ^Ve
used 1800 short-term criminals and 140
state convicts in road building, and free
labor to the amount of J!800,000.
In her willingness to assume tux bur
dens for better highways, in her mileage
of improved roadways, and her rapid
progress year by year. North Carolina is
far beyond Wisconsin, Illinois, and some
other states in the prosperous middle
west.—Figures from the N. C. Geological
and Economic Survey, circular No. 105.
LIVESTOCK IN THE SIXTIES
AND NOW
Since 1860 we have brought 2,300,000
acres more of land under cultivation in
North Carolina. Our farms are three
and a third times as many, and upon an
average about one-fourth the size of the
old plantations. Our population is a lit'
tie more than two and a third times that
of 1860.
Our Gains in Work Stock
Our 36 per cent increase in cultivated
acreage has been accompanied by an 86
per cent increase in work animals, main
ly mules. Our increase in horses has
been only 20 per cent; but iu niulea our
increase has been 278 per cent.
These wonderful increases have been
mainly in the cotton-belt counties, where
our cotton crop has been multiphed eight
times over since 1860.
Our Live-Stock Increases
On January 1st, 1915, we had 315,000
milk cows on farms and ranges in North
Carolina, or 86,000 more than in 1860.
But in 1860 we had a milk cow for every
4 1-3 inhabitants; while in 1915, a milk
cow has to supply 7 1-3 inhabitants.
Since 1880, we have nearly doubled our
number of poultry; but in 1910 we had
more than three million fewer fowls than
in 1890.
Our Heavy Losses
Although our population is two and a
OUR PROGRESS IN IMPROVED
HIGHWAYS
During 1914, vve spent J5,190,000 in
building improved public highways in
North Carolina, as follows:
Special county and township
road tax levies,..^. ?1,500,000
Receipts from the sale of road
bonds, 2,430,000
Tlie labor of 1800 shcfrt-term
convicts, 360,0(X)
Free labor, 8CK),000
Private subscriptions, 100,000
What We Got for Our Money
With these five million dollars we built
during the year 2,553 miles of improved
roadway (graded 1058 miles, and surfaced
mainly with sand-clay or top-soil, 1495
miles.)
The roads surfaced with macadam, as
phalt, bituminous macadam, gravel and
the like were only 263 miles in all.
The average cost of our 2553 miles of
improved roads was around $2,000 per
mile. And it is money wasted, unless
there is constant inspection and repairs.
How we do it in North Carolina
Some two years ago, the Wisctonsin
Legislature voted five million dollars for
building good roads, and laid the burden
lupon the state tax rate. It raised the
(general tax rate, increased property as-
' sessments, and^ raised a storm of protest
' that largely contributed to the overthrow
I of the party long in control.
I What Wisconsin could not do by state-
' wide legislation, North Carolina is doing
upon the principle of local option.
section of the county indicates that for
the first time in the history of our people,
they are making their supplies at home,
and whether the new tobacco crop sells
high or low, they will have something to
eat.
The interesting part of the story is that
as much or more tobacco is planted than
last year, which proves that somebody
has been loafing heretofore. The is cer
tainly a 100 per cent increase in tlie corn
crop.—Danbury Reporter.
DECREASING POPULATIONS
The natural increase of population due
to the excess of births over deaths in the
South is around 12 1-2 per cent or one-
eighth during a ten-year jieriod. There
fore, if a county gains at a rate smaller
than this, it means that the native-l)orn
are moving out faster than strangers are
moving in.
Orange Stands Still
During the last two census periods,
Orange county increased in population
just 116, or less than one per cent. This
increase was absorbed by Chapel Hill,
Carrboro, Hillsboro and Mebaiie. Pjvery
country district in the county lost popu
lation during these tvienty years.
The farm-home surveys show that one
in every eight country dwellings is unoc
cupied at present. In Chapel Hill town
ship the vacant farm dwellings number
83 or one in every six.
What Loss of Population Means
The loss of population by a comnumity
menaces every business and social inter
est. Dwellings become vacant, land val
ues decrease or fall behind other com
munities in wholesome increase, farm la
bor becomes scarce, land goes out of cul
tivation, tenants become restless and ex
acting, community leaders disappear,
schools and churches dwindle, life and
enterprise drop into stagnation and de
cay.
Orange, along with 45 other counties in
North Carolina, needs more people to the
square mile. Nine of our counties lost
rural population, and forty-one counties
gained at a rate lees than the state aver
age of 12 per cent. There is in these
counties inevitable social stagnation and
decay.
COUNTRY DAMAGE TO
COTTON
Cotton warehouses in the South are
sufficient, if used, to take care of an or
dinary crop; but few of them are projier-
ly located, many are poorly designed, the
insurance rates and cost of handling are
therefore unnecessarily high.
Insurance on cotton stored in standard
\\arehouses equipped with automatic
sprinklers can be carried for 25 cents a
year on the JIOO. In the buildings now
in common use the rate is sometimes as
high as !?2 a year on the $100.
At present our farmers are unable or
unwilling to warehouse their cotton; or
if for(«d to do so are punished by exces
sive charges. Sluch of the crop lies a-
round the coimtry homes exposed to the
weather and as a result our farmers re
ceive from thirty to seventy-five million
dollars a year less for their cotton because
of what the buyers call country damage.
The Federal Department of Agriculture
is calling attention to this subject in bul
letin No. 277 on Cotton Warehouse (’/On-
struction.
SKATING ON THIN ICE
A farmer who depends on any one crop
is skating on thin ice. He is the same kind
of a fool who carries all his eggs in one
basket. When the disaster of low prices
or failure of season iu the staple hits
him, he stands about as much show as
the Belgians stood when Germany caught
them by the napes of their necks.
Farmers raising nothing but ten cent
tobacco, and eating fi2.00 wheat and $1.50
corn lx)ught at time-prices from a supply-
store, can never ow'u laud, nor will they
BACK TO SCHOOL
In a few days now, all over the United
States there will come up the question as
to whether or not the boy or girl in the
family shall go back to school.
In all reason there can be but one an
swer—of course boys and girls must go
back to school. Whoever heard anyone
complain of having had too much of an
education? Certainly our children shall
return to school this fall.
Early Returns
When the state provides free education
wliy not get as much as possible of it?
Why keep the children in the cotton or
tobacco fields when school is in session?
Lets make an effort to get all our children
into school the first day the school opens
and keep them there every day until it
'Closes.
Local Option in Road Building
The various counties and townships of ^ ever pay the merchant,
the state have created by local elections a ; News reaching Danbury
from every
PULLING TOGETHER
During this current school year a cor
respondence course of reading for teach
ers will be offered by the George Peabody
School of Education at the University.
This course has been approved by the
Statt^ Department of Education, and when
completed will secure for the student the
State Certificate..
Write to the Bureau of Ex(e;)sion,
Chapel Hill, N. C. for an outline of the
course and the conditions under which it
is oft'ered.