The news in this publi-
^THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
■■ qp VP Hi HMmjuwj ■n■lll■l^ —■n'liii
Published Weekly by the
cation is released for the
l\TlT T
University of North Caro-
press on receipt.
111 El W O IjJCi 1 1 EiJEC
lina Press for the Univer-
sity Extension Division.
MAY 2, 1923
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
VOL. IX, NO. 24
Editorial Board: 3. C. Branson, S. H. Hobbs. Jr.. L. R. Wilson. E, W. Knight. D. D.SCarroIl, J. B. Bullitt. H. W. Odum.
Entered as second-class matter November 14,1914, at the Postoffice at Chapel Hill, N. C., under the act of August 24, 1912
WHITE FARMER RATIOS
STATE AID TO FARMERS
Several members of the Farm Loan
Commission appointed by the General
^Assembly of 1923 will probably^ go to
Oklahoma and North and South Dakota
to study state-aid projects now on
foot in those states and one member
of the commission will make extensive
investigations in Europe, it was de
cided at the initial meeting of the com
mission in Raleigh on March 16.
The commission organized by the
election of Senator D. F. Giles, of Mc
Dowell, as chairman, and representa-
•tive R. M. Cox, of Forsyth, as secre
tary. R. C. Chappell, of Raleigh, was
appointed clerk to the committee. Dr.
E. C. Branson was appointed publicity
director, but will be in Europe for the
next year and during that time the pub
licity will be handled by Dr. C. C. Tay
lor. The full commission is composed
^ of Senator D. F. Giles, of McDowell,
and Charles U. Harris, of Wake; Rep
resentatives W. H. S. Burgwyn, of
Nortl^mpton; R. M. Cox, of Forsyth;
and T. L. Gwynn, of Haywood; Dr.
E. C. Branson, of the University of
North Carolina; and Dr. C. C. Taylor,
of State College. Prof. S. H. Hobbs,
Jr., of the University, is serving in
Dr. Branson’s place during his absence
abroad.
The commission was appointed after
defeat of-the Giles bill, which provided
for a bond issue of $2,600,000 for farm
aid. The original bill called for aid of
the individual tenant, but a substitute
was later offered embodying a plan of
farm colonies and a committee from
the General Assembly was sent to Wil
mington to inspect the Castle Hayne
d^evelopment, constructed by Hugh
M.'icRae.
The amount of tbe bond issue pro
posed in the Giles bill was successively
reduced to $1,600,000 before defeat of
the measure and Senator Giles stated
yesterday that in his opinion the com
mission will recommend an even smaller
sum, to be divided into four or five
settlements, with a combination of the
plan for aid to the individual tenant
farmer.
Investigation Plan
The commission yesterday adopted a
comprehensive plan of investigation
which was divided into four divisions,
the study of land settlement in foreign
countries, in the United States, land
settlement policies of the several
states, and land development in North
Carolina. The report to be made to
the General Assembly will contain an
analysis of conditions of tenants and
croppers in North Carolina and recom
mendations for state-aid to tenants and
croppers.
The study of conditicMis in other
countries will be made by Dr. Branson
who will leave next Saturday for
year’s stay in Holland, Denmark, and
South Germany, where he will study
land settlements in those countries,
the reasons for undertaking the same,
their practical operation and the ex
tent to which the various governments
have participated.
The study of the various federal land
projects in this country from the time
of the disposal of the public domain
down to and including the present sys
tem of federal farm loans will be made
by Dr. Taylor.
Group settlement projects in Califor
nia and other states will be studied by
correspondence but members of the
committee plan to visit in person the
states of North Dakota, South Dako
ta, and Oklahoma, where plans similar
to that embodied in the original Giles
bill are now in operation. If assurance
can be obtained from the various states
that the investigations can be made
under favorable conditions the mem
bers of the commission will probably
visit the three western states in June
of this year.
Present conditions in North Carolina,
and public and private attempts to
solve the problem of the tenant and
the cropper, will be studied by the full
committee, while the Agricultural Ex
tension service will be asked to gather
figures on the number of applications
that will probably be made by tenants
in the state.
STATE AGRICULTURALLY
From other states comes the news
that this state is making rapid and en
viable strides in every way. In road
building we are known afar. Educa
tionally the Tar Heel State has passed
several others in the past decade. In
our industrial and commercial activity
we may take pride.
Agriculturally North Carolina ranks
fifth in total crop values ($342,637,-
000), and twenty-third in livestock
($87,000,000). In the total of $430,-
000,000, representing approximately
last year’s agricultural production,
this state ranks twelfth. Of course
cotton and tobacco are largely respon
sible for the large crop value, and the
economic shortage of our much needed
livestock pulls our rank down consider
ably. Half of the other states have
more improved land than has North
Carolina.
The Farmer’s Handicap
Because farmers are not organized,
unlike other prospering industries, their
products were the first to decline and
the ^ast to rise in value. This was not
altogether the fault of the purchasers,
but rather th^lack of standardization |
in quality and packages and of prop
er distribution of the farm products.
The farmer by virtue of his isola- j
tion, physically exhausting work, lack
of finances and a suspicious nature, has
become an individualistic problem. He
neither mixes nor tries to learn of the ’
other fellow’s problems, nor does he
want others to meddle with, his affairs.
This results in his knowing little about
the prevailing markets or of the bene
fits of organized efforts. He listens
more readily to the weaknesses, abuses
and failures of farmers' endeavors'
than he does to the bene fits to be gained
by organized production and by stand
ardized marketing.
The Economic Problem
Is the farmer a business man? Yes
he is, but he doesn’t conduct his affairs
according to proven modern business
methods. He can and should do this.
On January 30th at Greensboro, and
at Salisbury on the 3l8t, the Crop Re
porters’ Association held local meet
ings, at which organized business au
thorities led round^ table discussions.
It was admitted that no business would
succeed if conducted as farmers do
their work. They declared that it is
necessary for them to study the statis
tics of production, marketing, and
stocks on hand of their raw and finished
products, in order that they may buy,
produce, and sell profitably. It is ne
cessary also that they know the co^t of
their operations in order to determine
the profit or loss from their work.
It is because they have produced at
a margin of profit found by stabilized
previous methods, that they can be
assured of the safety of future produc
tion. Farmers must accomplish this re
sult by employing modern business
and economic methods. Cooperation,
combination and business methods are
necessary.
It is true that the past three years
have netted the farmer less than no
thing. He only lived at the expense
of his family, buildings, equipment,
capital, and standard of living.—Farm
Forecaster.
FARMERS’ HOME MARKETS
Down in Georgia the farmers are
studying the possibilities of the home
market as a means of relief from high
transportation rates to the big markets
of the country. It may be a long time
before freight rates can be equitably
adjusted, but the farmer cannot wait
indefinitely for profitable production.
Therefore the farmers of Clayton
county, Georgia, Buncombe county,
North Carolina, and of every other
American county, are thinking along
the lines suggested by The Clayton
County News as follows;
Neither the foreign situation nor the
high freight rates that now prevail
need concern him greatly; if he will ad
just himself to the needs of the con
suming population the high transpor
tation costs may serve him as a protec
tive tariff. No one can come into this
market without paying the prevailing
KNOW NORTH CAROLINA
Virginia Salutes Us
The story is told of a man who,
being asked where he came from,
replied, “From the vale of humilia
tion, North Carolina, which lies -be
tween those two mountains of con
ceit, Virginia and South Carolina.”
There was rivalry enough between
North Carolina and each ofiher two
neighbors to afford a basis for the
epigram. They still contend over
which of them did more for the
South in the Civil War. North Ca
rolina has condensed her claims into
a sentence: “First atManassas, fur
thest at Gettysburg, last at Appo
mattox.” It is somewhat surpris
ing, therefore, to read in a news
paper published in Virginia this trib
ute to North Carolina: “The sim
ple fact is that North Carolina is so
far ahead of Virginia in almost
everything except shrines of Colo
nial, Revolutionary, and Civil War
history that the two states are, as
our friendly enemies the English
put it, not in the same street.”
What is the reason for this dis
parity? Answering its own question,
the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch ex-
pl^ns that North Carolina has got
away from the old tradition that
still holds Virginia in its grasp, the
tradition that the well-to-do must
not be “punished” by the imposi
tion of taxes for the advancement
of the masses. Hence the outcry a-
gainst a bond issue for good roads,
for instance. The late Walter H.
Page once said that it was a mis
fortune for North Carolina that the
quarrel with George III happened
to turn on the question of taxation
—it instilled so great a dread of all
taxes. But North Carolina has suc
ceeded in overcoming her dread of
taxes to such an extent as to make
Virginians “ashamed, when we are
conscious of it, of North Carolina’s
infinitely superior roads, of her con
siderably superior schools, of her
three times as great contribution to
her state university. ’' This is do
ing pretty well for a state which
only a few years ago was near the
bottom of the list in education.—
News and Observer.
freight rates. All of our produce can
reach the consumer over good roads
with motor trucks. The automobile is
one of the few things which may be
bought cheaper now than in pre-war
days. On the other hand the cost of
rail labor and of fuel is much higher
than in pre-war days. The grower of
potatoes last year found the national
market overcrowded, yet the grower of
early potatoes received $4,00 a bushel.”
Through their co-operative associa
tions the farmers are learning that
they can teach the home market deal
ers to look to them for supplies that
have been coming from other states.
The surplus for long-distance shipment
and the cash crop of cotton or tdbacco
need not be neglected, but good roads
and motor trucks offer a solution for a
problem that has long puzzled the man
of the farm.
The Buncombe County Farmers’ Fed
eration has laid the foundations of an
agricultural prosperity that should in a
few years astonish the most sanguine
promoters of the Federations. Here
climate and soil encourage diversifica
tion of products; the tourist industry
and the growth of Western North Caro
lina’s industrial population are creating
a steady demand for food commodities
that can be grown here as cheaply as
elsewhere.
There are still doubters who say that
tnere never has been any money in
Western North Carolinalagriculture and
never will be. But that conclusion is
based on a system of farming that is
disappearing. The farm of tomorrow
in this section will be a well managed
business proposition, supplying. its
managers and employes with most of
their food and feed and pooling its sur
plus grain, potatoes, dairy products,
livestock and poultry for large-scale
marketing. What the Federations are
doing in Buncombe and adjoining coun
ties is unquestionably one of the most
important developments made in twenty
years for the improvement of agricul
ture, and therefore for the betterment
of every other interest in this part of
the state.—Asheville Citizen.
LIVE-AT-HOME
The ‘‘Live-at-home’’programfostered
by the Extension Service of the State
College and Department of Agriculture
has made a good start. Nearly 200,000
blank forms have been mailed out to
school teachers in the state from Direc
tor Kilgore’s office and these forms
were distributed through school children
in rural schools or at meetings held at
the different school houses in the state.
These forms, accompanied by a letter
from Director Kilgore, call attention to
the necessity for living at home this
year and give a list of ten things which
should be done on the farm this year to
make the owner independent of having
to buy food and feedstuffs. Governor
Cameron Morrison has backed the pro
gram and State Superintendent of Edu
cation E. C. Brooks has given it his
hearty approval and support. Many of
the blanks have been signed by farmers
and their wives and have been returned
to the extension office. A pass mark
of 70, tha‘’ is, if seven of the ten things
are faithfully performed during the
year, will entitle a farmer to a certifi
cate of honor signed by the Governor,
the Director of Extension, and the
Superintendent of Education.
Here are the ten things the farmers
are asked to try to do:
1. To raise enough corn and hay to
carry me through 1924.
2. To raise enough meat to supply
my family this year.
3. To have a 12-months-in-the-year
garden.
4. To provide milk and butter for
my family the whole year through.
5. To keep an average of at least 30
hens on my farm the year through.
6. To improve my orchard this year
by setting out some apple, peach, pear,
cherry or pecan trees, and to plant
some small fruits and berries.
7. To work for richer lands by plant
ing velvet beans, soybeans, or cowpeas
in at least half of my corn; and clover,
rye, oats, or vetch, with or after half
my other crops.
8. Toyenroll one or more of my chil
dren in club work—pig club, corn club,
poultry club, home eponomics clubs, etc.
9. To add some home convenience -
such as running water, electric lights,
washing machine, oil stove, kitchen
cabinet and other things that will lessen
the burden of housekeeping.
10. To beautify my homestead by
painting my house or making base
planting of shrubs about the house to
furnish a proper setting; and to plant
flowering trees such as Crepe Myrtle,
Mimosa, Dogwood tree; or planting a
lawn, etc.
WHITE FARM OPERATORS
In North Carolina in 1920
Based on the 1920 Census of Agriculture, covering (1) the total number of
farms operated by native white farmers, (2). divided by the total number of
farms.
In Madison county 99.9 percent of all farms are operated by native white
farmers. In Halifax, a former^slave county, only 29.3 percent of the farms are
occupied by whites; of the remainder almost all are operated "by negroes.
State average, 72.4 percent of all farmers are native white.
The bulk of the negro population is concentrated east of Raleigh, in the
cotton and tobacco growing counties. The further west one goes the whiter
the population becomes. The east is gaining in negro-farmer ratio,
while nearly every ^county west of Wake is gaining in white-farmer ratio. The
negroes are concentrating«in the cash-crop, farm-tenant area in North Carolina.
W. L. Whedbee, Pitt County
Department of Rural Social Economics, University of North Carolina
Rank Counties
Percent
Rank Counties
White
White
1
Madison
99.9
61
Onslow
73.7
1
Mitchell
99.9
61
Gaston
73.7
3
Haywood
99.6
61
Lee
73.7
4
Yancey
99.4
64
Pamlico
72.0
5
Dare
98.8
66
Orange
71.7
6
Watauga
98.6
56
Currituck
70.7
7
Macon
... . 98.1
67
Chatham
69.6
7
Avery
98.1
68
Beaufort....'
69.6
9
Transylvania
97.7
69
Durham
69.1.^
10
Clay
97.6
60
Duplin
68.7 '
11
Ashe
97.8
61
Sampson
68.5
12
Buncombe
... . 96.8
62
Hyde
67.4
13
Graham
96.8
63
Camden
66.6
14
Caldwell
96.2
64
Washington
66.9
14
Alleghany
96.2
65
Cherokee
66.2
16
Henderson
96.9
66
Chowan
62.4
1*?
Wilkes
.... 96.0
67
Mecklenburg
61.9
18
Yadkin
94.B
68
Bladen
61.8
19
Surry
94.4
69
Wake
61.3
20
Alexander
94.1
70
Cumberland
60.5
21
Davidson
98.3
71
Martin
60.4
22
McDowell
.. .. 93.0
72
Waynej
60.3
28
Stanly
.... 92.8
78
Person
.... 69.8
24
Catawba
92,2
74
Wilson
69.6
24
Randolph
92.2
76
New Hanover
69.4
26
Jackson
92.1
76
Nash
.... 68.8
27
Carteret
91.8
77
Perquimans
68.7
28
Stokes
91.6
78
Franklin
.... 58.4
29
Forsyth
90.9
79
Pasquotank
68.1
30
Lincoln
90.4
80
GntPA
31
Burke ■
90.3
81
JonpR
32
Swain
88.0
82
Pender
.... 66.3
33
Davie
87.1
83
Caswell
.... 55.9
34
Polk
.... 86.4
84
Lenoir
.... 66.7
35
Rowan
.... 86.6
86
Granville
.... 65.2
36
Rutherford
.... 84.8
86
Craven'
37
Cleveland
84.1
87
Greene
.... 60.6
38
Guilford
88.0
88
Vance
.... 49.9
38
Iredell
83.0
89
Pitt
.... 49.3
40
Johnston
.... 80.9
90
Anson
46.6
41
Moore
78.1
91
Richmond
44.8
42
Tyrrell
.... 77.9
92
Robeson
.... 44.1
43
Montgomery
77.4
93
Northampton
.... 43.2
43
Cabarrus
.... 77.4
94
Rert-.ip
45
Union
77.8
95
Hertford
41.6
46
Brunswick
76.8
96
Hoke
47
Columbus
76.7
97
Edgecombe
.... 38.2
48
Rockingham
.... 76.1
98
Scotland
49
Alamance
7B.2
99
Warren
32.6
60
Harnett
75.1
100
Halifax
29.3