The news in this publi
cation is released for the
press on receipt.
the university of north CAROLINA
NEWS LETTER
Published Weekly by the
University of North Caro
lina for its University Ex
tension Division.
JULY 19, 1922
CHAPEL HILL, N. G.
VOL. VIII, !NU. 35
Editorial IlourJ« B. O’. Bfftiisoii, S. II. Hobbs, Jr,, L. R, WiUon, S. W. Knight, D D Ctirroll .T K Rnio*-*- u tc r, i w » i „
^ d. a. BuUioi, H. W. fxluin. Entered as second-olasa matter November 14.1914, at the Postoffice at Chapel Hill, N. C., under the act of Aufrust24, 19iL
GAS AND COLLEGE CULTURE
There were ten and a half million
motor vehicles in the United States in
1921. Which is nearly exactly five
times the total for all the rest of the
world, twenty-four times the number
in the British Isles, our closest compet
itor, and ten times the number in Great
Britain, Canada, France, and Germany,
all put together.
There is a motor car for every ten
inhabitants in the United States or one
car for every two families, on an aver
age. The ratios range from one car
for every five inhabitants in California
to one for every 28 inhabitants in Ala
bama, which foots the column. See the
table elsewhere.
In North Carolina there^ is a motor
car for every seventeen inhabitants
both races counted, or nearly one for
every three families. If we had one
high school student from every three
families, there would be 170,000 high
school students in North Carolina in
stead of 40,000 as at present.
A vast wealth in automobiles in the
United States! Reckoned at five hun
dred dollars apiece, it amounts to five
and a quarter billion dollars.
In North Carolina it amounts to
seventy-five million dollars, which is
more than twice the value of all the
public school property of the state.
to bring his produce to market and
there the consumer comes to purchase
it. He does not have to look all over
town for a purchaser. This market
will save the farmer in the following
way§:
1. A quick sale for his produce,
2. The farmer and purchaser save
extra handling costs.
3. Larger prices for produce and
smaller prices for consumers.
4. The farmers can quickly under
stand the needs and demands of con
sumers.
5. The pocket-books of Orange county
get the money which otherwise goes
elsewhere.
Farmers are urged to bring their pro
duce on Wednesdays and Saturdays
from 7 to 10 A. M. to the market which
is the street from the bakery to the
City Hall.
Contributed by the Agricultural De
partment, Chapel Hill High School.—
Chapel Hill News.
HURRAH FOR ROCKINGHAM
Well known representative citizens
from various sections of Rockingham
county interested in the boys and girls
have just formed one of the most u-
nique organizations in North Carolina.
This organization is known as the
Rockingham County Camp and Play-
Nineteen hundred twenty-one was a ground Association. After a very suc-
hard year in North Carolina, neverthe- ‘ cessful county-wide Older Boys’ Con-
less our motor cars increased nearly ference last January, plans were start-
8,000 over the 1920 total, and 38,000 ed for the organization of an associa-
over the number we owned in 1919, the
most prosperous year in all our history.
South Carolina, Georgia, and Missis
sippi are the southern states that were
most hurt by hard times; the proof lies
in the fact that their motor cars de
creased in number.
The other states that fell behind in
automobiles were Minnesota, Montana,
South Dakota, Kansas, and Wyoming.
tion which would provide a central
place for all people of the county who
wish to meet for conference or for camp
and outing purposes.
A Playground Secured
The County Commissioners have
leased to the Playground Association
approximately 100 acres of county land
situated just north of the county seat.
four million dollars in motor cars in
1921. But also she invested four mil
lion dollars of state funds in buildings
and equipments on her state college cam
puses.
Which means that we are beginning
to set college culture upon a level with
gasoline.
EDUCATION PAYS THE STATE
I'^fficiency in any line with a person of
tact, industry, and ingenuity is directly
proportional to the extent and kind of
education secured. It has been found
that boys with no schooling have only
one chance in 15,000 of performing dis
tinguished service; with an elementary
education they have been found to have
their chances increased four times;
with a high school education eighty-
seven times; and with a college educa
tion they have eight hundred times the
the chance of those without the,school
ing.
Now since the efiiciency and produc
ing power of the individual is greatly
increased by education of all kinds, es
pecially that secured in properly
equipped and conducted colleges, from
the standpoint of the state every en
couragement possible should be pro
vided by the state for training its
young men and women thoroughly and
in such a, manner as to best prepare
them for the responsibilities of citizen
ship and the calling they are now to
follow. '
No money spent by the state may be
expected to afford greater returns in a
material way, as well as in other re
spects, than that wisely spent in the
training of its youth, to meet the re
sponsibilities of the special vocation
they are to follow. It is just as neces
sary to train men for the farm and
shop as for the bar and pulpit—Rural
Life.
THE FARMER’S MARKET
The housewives of Chapel Hill are
trying to cooperate with the farmers
in establishing a curb market where
fresh farm produce can pass direct
from farmers to consumers. It is up
to the farmers to cooperate in such an
arrangement for by so doing they get
the whole worth of their produije,
having eliminated the extra expense
of distributing it. Then also the
farmer will find that he merely has
But North Carolina invested another j A board of trustees was appointed to
have this land in charge—E, D. Pitcher
of Spray, J. C. Ragsdale of Madison,
and James Womack of Reidsville. A
committee was then delegated to select I
the 100 acres most suitable for camp'
purposes. This committee has staked
off 87 acres remarkably well suited to
the needs of the Association. There is
plenty of space for a baseball diamond,
tennis grounds, a big artificial lake,
places for an auditorium, a dining room,
and huts of all kinds.
The Board of Managers
The Board of Managers which is to
have charge of all the activities of the
Association is composed of W. B. Wea
ver, Spray, Manager of the Depart
ment of Welfare and Health; Mrs.
Eugene Irvin, Reidsville; Mr. Bethel
Withers, Wentworth, farmer; Mr. P.
R. Webster, Madison, cashier of the
Bank of Madison; Mrs. E. D. Pitch
er, Spray; Mrs. J. S. Hunter, Dra
per; Mr. P. H. Gwynn, Jr., of Reids-
ville, Superintendent of the City
Public Schools. The ex-officio mem
bers of the above committee are R. B.
Chance of Reidsville, Chairman Board
of County Commissioners; Geo. W. Mar
tin of Madison, Chairman County Board
of Education; J. H. Allen of Reidsville,
County Welfare Officer; Mrs Ethel
Wells Moore of Reidsville, County Dem
onstration Agent.
The above committee met last Tues
day at the county seat and organized
as follows: President, Mr. J. H. Allen;
Vice-President; W. B. Weaver; Secre
tary, P. H. Gwynn, Jr.; Treasurer,
Mrs. E. D. Pitcher; Chairman Finance
Committee, Mr. E. D. Pitcher; Chair
man Program Committee, J. S. Hun-
ter;'Chairman Membership Committee,
Mrs. Ethel Moore; Chairman Grounds
Committee, W. B. Weaver; Chairman
Publicity Committee, Luther H. Hodg
es.
Camp Being Arranged
About sixty men have been working
during the last week at the camp site
cutting down trees, cleaning off brush
for the athletic field, and building a
big dam. Carpenters will start to work
within the next day or so on the com
munity dining hall, which is to be in
charge of a well-trained matron who
will be at the camp all summer. The
Red Cross hut has already been author
ized and a nurse will be in constant at
tendance for the purpose of giving in-
Released. week beginning July 17
KNOW NORTH CAROLINA
A Resort State
The business of caring for vaca
tionists and resort visitors will one
day be a big one in North Carolina,
for as wealth increases in the United
States more people are able to go a-
way from home for a longer or
shorter period of recreation.
North Carolina will have a large
amount of this business, for the
state has three strong attractions.
In the west are the most interest
ing mountains of eastern United
States. On the coast are the sounds
and the ocean. In the interior is
that unique section known as the
Sandhills. In all three sections or
ganized work is on foot to expand
the tourist and excursion traffic,
each section working a different line,
but each bringing into the state or
into different parts of the state in
the course of the year thousands of
people. Pinehurst during the sea
son just ended was called on for ac
commodation for 20,000 visitors. It
was more than could be provided. In
spite of the expenditure of a million
dollars in new buildings in Moore
county during the year the growth
of patronage continues far ahead of
the ability to care for the people.
North Carolina has three strong
features, the mountains, the coast,
and the Sandhills, and in 6ach dif
ferent section the growth of the re
sort business will be far greater in
a few years than it is now, but it
needs to bo cultivated through the
help of much greater facilities for
reaching the resort sections and more
accommodations for the people when
they come. Necessity keeps in
creasing these facilities, and the
immunities are moving forward as
fast as means are to be had, but the
prospects for North Carolina as a
resort state are far beyond anything
we have attained yet.
In the Sandhills we expect before
long to have roofs to shelter a popu
lation of forty thousand people any
time. The plan in the Sandhills is
to make the immediate region the
foremost winter resort in the South,
and there is no reason to doubt its
accomplishment. I have no figures
for the mountains and the sea, but I
believe the resort business of Moore
county brings the county more money
annually than the farm crops do, and
these include cotton, tobacco, peach
es and other crops. Not more
than a half dozen separate crops
bring as much money to North Caro
lina as the resort visitors do.—Bion
H. Butler.
number of members in our cooperative
farmers’ associations! And coopera
tion in this country is attended by
many more difficulties than in small
homogeneous nations, for our people in
some localities differ radically in racial
origin, our distances are very great,
and our American life in years past has
tended to make our citizens, particular
ly the farmers, very individualistic.
Recently an Irish writer, after travel
ing in America, wrote, -The cooperators
,of all European countries have much to
learn from America, where the circum
stances and business intelligence of the
farmers have led them to develop from
the beginning the most difficult forms
of cooperation.
Yet, for some reason not explained,
the American reader knows much more
about cooperation in Denmark or Ire
land than that in the United States.
Few people realize to what an extent
our American farmers are marketing
their own products. There are approx
imately fifteen thousand farmers’ pur
chasing and marketing organizations in
the United States and these organiza
tions transact over one and one-half
billion dollars' worth of business every
year. Most of these associations are
■ formed to handle one commodity exclu-
i sively, but among them they do busi
ness in a large variety of products,
j and, although they fiourish especially in
j certain localities, they are found in all
parts of our country.
Cooperating Farmers
\ Throughout the grain-growing states
of the Middle West nearly four thous
and farmers’ elevator companies are in
active operation. They operate like
private elevator concerns except that
usually they limit the returns on capital
invested to a fair rate of interest and
distribute any further surplus on the
basis of patronage. Success in market
ing has led to the handling of supplies
needed by the farmers so that now
many of the companies are buying
for their farmer-members such supplies
as coal and lumber, flour and feed.
Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and oth
er large dairy states boast an aggre
gate of three thousand cooperative
creameries and cheese factories. They
usually follow the plan of taking the
raw material from the farm, manufac
turing it and selling it as butter or
cheese, and dividing the returns less
expenses of operation among,the farm
ers according to patronage.
^ California, Florida, Michigan, Maine,
i Oregon, Washington, Virginia and
many other states furnish examples of
prosperous cooperative associations for
marketing fruits and vegetables. Of
the two thousand in operation those
handling the bulk of the citrus fruits of
^ the country are the outstanding ex-
j amples of success. Nearly two-thirds
of the oranges of California are mark-
\ eted by the farmer-growers through
; their strong centralized marketing or
ganization. This organization places
the fruit in practically every state of
the Union and in some foreign countries.
Live stock shipping associations flour
ish throughout the Middle West and are
also to be found in the South and else
where. There are at least twenty-five
hundred of them all told. Farmers’
cooperative live stock commission houses
I have been established at some of the
I central live stock markets, and farmers
I have ventured into the packing-house
j business.
The» South is just now intensely in-
} terested in the cooperative handling of
j cotton, including the operation of ware-
I houses and gins, while in Massachu-
I setts, Connecticut, New York, and Penn
sylvania tobacco growers are banded
together for the sale of their product.
Cooperative marketing of eggs is well
established in California and other
states, and California also points with
pride to walnut and almond growers
and to honey producers who market
large quantities of their output cooper
atively. Georgia also markets pecans
in this way, and Texas is interested in
the scheme. In fact, examples could
be multiplied almost indefinitely.
Danger Signals
Cooperative enterprises are attended
by many pitfalls, and many of our co
operative undertakings have gone on
the rocks with discouraging prompt
ness. This may partially account for
the general ignorance regarding the
successes attained. Cooperative stores,
especially, have as a rule had precarious
and stormy existences, and they consti
tute the form of activity best known to
others than farmers.
Realizing the fundamental place that
cooperation rightfully directed may
play in the nation’s welfare, the federal
government has taken a hand in trying
to prevent such failures by advising so
cieties already formed and by urging all
those which contemplate organizing to
study well their conditions before tak
ing action. Careful study of successes
and failures establishes beyond a doubt
that success in cooperative marketing
depends upon obtaining a sufficient vol
ume of business which will be steadily
maintained, observing true cooperative
principles from beginning to end, em
ploying capable management—which
means .the payment of at least one good
salary—following up-to-date business
methods equivalent to those used in a
successful merchandising concern, and
having truly loyal members who will
uphold the association during periods of
depression as well as during periods of
prosperity. Organization should be
postponed until these conditions can be
fulfilled. Once they are well established,
a band of farmers who operate un
der a trade mark that denotes a quality
product faithfully supplied need have
no fear in entering the markets of the
country. —Caroline B. Sherman, Feder
al Bureau of Markets, in the Survey.
structions and first aid. The four Y.
M. C. A.’s of Leaksville Township have
authorized a Y hut and will have a sec
retary in charge the entire summer.
Several individuals have already made
plans for private huts to be built on
the playground site, and it is expected
that a force of men will be kept on the
grounds from now until the opening on
July 4.
Great interest has already been shown
throughout all parts of the county in
this great enterprise and it is expected
that memberships and donations will be
easily secured. Mr. J. F. Penn made a
donation of $500 to the Association this
week. Further announcements will be
made later on regarding plans. —Luther
H. Hodges.
MOTOR CARS IN THE UNITED STATES
Inhabitants Per Car in 1921
Based on the 1922 report of The National Automobile Chamber of Commerce.
In the United States as a whole there is one motor car for every 10.3 inhabi
tants. In North Carolina there is one car for every 17.2 inhabitants; rank of
the state 40th.
Total cars registered in the state in 1921 was 148,627, which is 38,610 more
than on even date in the prosperous year 1919, and nearly 8,000 more than in
1920.
N. C. counties ranked according to automobile ownership, next issue.
Department Rural Social Economics, University of North Carolina
THEIR OWN MIDDLEMEN
American farmers frequently find ir
ritating the exhortations of returned
travelers based on the cooperative en
terprises of some of the small foreign
countries. Indeed, the total population
of all Denmark is but little over the
Rank
States
Persons
per Auto.
Rank
States
Persons
per Auto.
1
California
5.1
25
Florida
.... 9.9
2
Iowa
5.2
25
Maine
9.9
3
South Dakota ..
6.3
25
Texas
9.9
4
Nebraska
5.4
28
Connecticut
10.4
5
Kansas
6.1
28
Delaware
10.4
6
Colorado
6.4
30
New Hampshire
10.5
7
Cregon
6.6
31
Maryland
10.6
8
North Dakota ..
.......6.9
32
Massachusetts ..
10.7
9
Nevada
7.1
33
Rhode Island
11.3
10
Wyoming
7.2
34
New Jersey ....
11.6
11
Washington ....
7.3
35
Pennsylvania....
12.6
11
Indiana
7.3
36
New York
13.3
13
Minnesota
7.4
37
West Virginia...
15.6
14
Michigan
7.7
38
New Mexico
16.9
14
Wisconsin
7.7
39
Virginia
.....16.5
16
Chio
7.9
40
North Carolina ...
17.2
17
Idaho
8.4
41
South Carolina..
18.7
18
Utah
8.9
42
Kentucky
19.0
19
Cklahoma
9.2
43
Tennessee
19.9
20
Montana
9.3
44
Georgia
21.9
21
Vermont
9.4
45
T.nnistflnn.. .
22
Arizona
9.6
46^ Arkansas
26.9
23
Illinois
9.7
47
Mississippi
27.5
‘Missouri
9.8
48
Alabama
28.5