North Carolina Newspapers

The news in this publi cation is relecised for the press on receipt. THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA EWS L Published Weekly by the University of North Caro lina for the University Ex tension Division. MARCH 31, 1926 CHAPEL HILL, N C. THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS VOL. XII, NO. 20 Editorial Board, E. C. Brarison. S, H. Hobbs. Jr.. L. R. Wilson. E. W. Knight. D. D. Carroll. 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 FEWER CATTLE IN CAROLINA The more we talk about the need for cattle, especially dairy cattle, in North Carolina, the fewer cattle we have. Every time the censusltakers make a count of our cattle the fewer they re port. This condition has been going on long enough for us to be safe in derlar- ing that in both beef and dairy cattle North Carolina is steadily losing ground. The 1920 census reported fewer cattle than the 1910 census. The 1926 census reports fewer than the 1920 census. During the last five yearS eighty- seven of the one hundred counties of the state have experienced a loss in cattle of all kinds. Only thirteen counties /showed an in crease in cattle, and only seven counties showed gains that could be classed as creditable. See the table which appears elsewhere. Tidewater Last New Hanover leads with an increase in all cattle of nearly 100 percent. In this case the increase was mainly in dairy cattle, New Hanover being a city county offering a good market for ijilk. All of the geographic areas of the state experienced decreases in cattle. The greatest decreases occurred in the Tide water counties. With the exception of New Hanover and Chowan the Tide water counties make a solid group at the end of the table, making the largest percent decreases in cattle. The recent excellent location, abundant water, and so on and on. Then what is the explanation? We think we know the main reason—our ability to produce both cotton and to bacco, both great ready-eash crops, but we confess that we are unable to ex plain fully why North Carolina should rank last of all the states in all cattle per farm, and last both in beef and dairy cattle per farm. We do not produce one-sixth of the beef we need to consume, assuming that we need to consume as much as the average person in the United States actually did consume in 1926, which was 63.1 pounds. We do not produce in the state one-third of the milk or butter that we need to consume, assuming that we need to consume as much as the average person in the United States actually did consume in 19^5. We do not say that we imported the balance. Very likely we did without much of the beef, milk, and butter we needed to consume, which is worse >than if we had imported the entire deficit. Cheap range-fed production of beef reached the pinnacle a quarter-century ago, and the eastward march of meat production began early in the present century. Following in wake of the boll weevil the states to the south of us have been forced to produce their own meat and milk in larger quantities or starve. What we want to emphasize is the neces sity for a milk cow or two on every farm. The ideaj is a few cattle on every HISTORY’S LESSON If there is one lesson taught by history, it is that the permanent greatness of any state must ulti mately depend more upon the char acter of its country population than upon anything else. The problems of farm life have received very little consideration and the result has been bad for those who dwell in the open country and, therefore, bad for the whole nation. I am well aware that the working farmers themselves will in the last resort have to solve this problem for themselves.—Theodore Roosevelt. tick eradication law does not seem so far to have stimulated the cattle indus try in the Tidewater country. All told the state lost slightly mdte than one hundred thousand cattle dur ing the last five years, decreasing from 644,779 to 644,612, or 16.B percent. The 1910 census reported 700,861 cattle on the farms of the state. Last in the United States There have been times in our history when North Carolina was' an important cattle state. This was especially true before the Civil War. See any census report up to 1860. But of all the states North Carolina today stands last in all cattle, and last in both beef and dairy cattle, on a per farm basis, Needless to say it is not necessary In showing our position as a cattle state to include other than Southern states. All of the geographic areas of the United States come ahead of the South in cattle per farm. The following table shows the rank of the Southern states in cattle per farm. State All Calte cattle per farm Texas 6,800,981 12 4 Florida 662,215 11-2 Oklahoma 1,694,616 8 0 Louisiana 703,246 C.3 Virginia 826,646 4.3 Tennessee 1,022,708 4.1 Arkansas 836,667 3.8 Georgia 938,689 B.8 Kentucky 937,779 3.6 Mississippi 938,024 3 6 Alabama 840,030 3.5 South Carolina..., 340,151 2-0- North Carolina 544,512 1-9 United States...61,671,762 9 06 Thus it is seen that North Carolina ranks last among the Southern states in cattle per farm, and very naturally ranks last among all the states in this respect. It will be noted that the United States average is 9.66 cattle per farm, or more than five times the average for North Carolina. Aside from South Caro lina there is not another state in the Union that even approaches North Caro lina in fewness of cattle per farm. This is an immensely surprising fact, and a fact that involves worlds of significance, which we cannot go into at,this time. But it is worth thinking about. We should like to point out, however, that North Carolina’s exceedingly low rank is hard to'explain. Tenancy can not explain it, as our tenant rate is be low the average for the South. Negro ratio cannot explain it, for our negro rjrt;io is below the average for the South. Geographic location cannot explain it, for our geographic location is very favor able, compared with states to the south of us. Natural conditions cannot ex plain it, for it is said that we possess most admirable natural resources for becoming a livestock state—excel lent climate, splendid grazing grounds, farm, instead of ^ thousand on every range, but North Carolina is further away than ever from this ideal.— S. H. H., Jr. And God has given to us greater re sources in waterways than to any other people of the earth.—Brief of article of Secretary Herbert Hoover, in The Coun try Gentleman. of HOOVER ON WATERWAYS One fundamental need of American agriculture is cheaper transportation. Our railways are being worked to an efficiency never before equalled in his tory, but with the increased cost of labor and supplies, due to the war, there is no very large margin in pros pect for rate reductions by rail. Improvement of the inland waterways offers a large measure of help. A wise, comprehensive, national program, pushed rapidly to completion, is required. Utilization of all of the major trans portation agencies of the country—rail ways, waterways, and highways—is essential. There need be no, friction between them. They can and must function together. For certain types of goods water car riage has proven itself to be by far the cheapest. Water transportation is pe culiarly adapted to the primary agricul tural products. On the sea or on the Great Likes, 1,000 bushels of wheat can IG Iran? ported 1, OiOO miles for twenty to thirty collars. Using the moderi) cquii. p?d Mississippi barges, 1,.000 bush els cf wheat can be transported 1,000 miles for sixty to seventy dollars. It costs from $150 to-$200 to carry 1,000 bushtls of wheat fi r 1,000miles by rail. Oar farmers ha^o the highest stand ard of living in the woilJ. That stand ard must be maintained. In order, therefire. to compete on an equitable basis nothing must be left undone to economize in the costs of transporta- tkn. Eifery cent thus saved goes into the pocket of the farmer.’ For when ‘the farmer is a competitive seller in a foreign market the freight comes off his price. A national program is essential. Great trsnsportation systems, whether water, rail or road, must consist of main trunk lines with collateral feeders. A rail road frcm Chicago to New York would have furious expenses if it had sections of narrow-gauge track in,it. And our waterways systems with stretches un completed are exactly in that condition. Fortunately the members of Congress, officials of the federal and state govern ments, and the people of the inland ter ritory now appreciate the necessity for a unified national pregram. Room for Both When we stress the necessity for im provement of waterways, there is no reflection on the great railway systems of America. There must be constant development of the railroads. But the cost of such development increases apace. Land values are much higher now than when the empire builders laid down the expanse of steel from coast to coast. The railroads will always be needed first. Obviously they reach mil lions of people untouched by waterways. They handle many sorts of commodities, better. We must see that the earnings of the railroads are safeguarded so that they can continue to provide ever- increasing facilities and increasing ef ficiency. We have had most bitter contro versies between the railroads and the waterways. But the railroads are now reaching a point of full load and they can well yield certain commodities to the more economical waterways. It is. folly to say that the prosperity of our railroads will be jeopardized by the improvement Of the waterways. The improvement and development of our highways did not stifle the railroads, despite the tenfold increase in traffic. The railroads could not today handle the traffic of the highway transport. So it will be with the waterways. All are needed. A Practical Demonstration We have now had some real experi ence in operating modern constructed and equipped waterways, so we are not proceeding on theory alone. The Government itself, in 1918, established the Mississippi-Warrior river barge line service, which has proven to the satis faction of everyone that it can be oper ated at a profit. Moreover, the freight rates are 80 percent of the rail rates. The equipment has been limited, work of clearing the river channels has been slow. Nevertheless, the demonstration has been most satisfactory. It is not necessary to cite many figures on the traffic now moving on the Ohio, for instance. Steel pipe, nails, farm fenceSr and other products of the Pitts burgh mills are moving regularly tows of steel barges, carrying from 5,000 to 10,000 tons each. Coal is being shipped in the same way.' Because of unfinished segments, it is not possible to transport these products all the way down the river except at high water. But the time is soon at hand when that can be done. It is interesting to note that the freight transported on the Ohio, Monongahela and Allegheny rivers in 1923 exceeded that of the Panama canal by 3,173,456 tons and exceeded! that of the Suez canal by 5,467,000 tons. Will Benefit All YOUNG FISH TO BE HAD The bass and trout hatcheries the state at Waynesville, Boone, Dough- ton, Marion, and Fayetteville have on hand more than two million eggs and fry, and unless the loss between now and time for distribution to begin is much larger than is normally expected they should have for distribution this spring and summer quite a number of brook and rainbow trout, certainly a million and eight hundred thousand. The distribution from our two bass stations should not be less than five tion by the Fisheries Commission Office, Morehead City, N. C., or by either of the Hatchery superintendents, and fed eral application blanks may be had by , writing the U. S,. Bureau of Fisheries, Washington, D. C. Write for blanks at once. Applications on file that could not be filled last year will receive atten tion first this season, and such as we cannot fill this year will be filed for first attention next season.—Fisheries Com mission, Morehead City, N. C. WHAT A DOLLAR WILL BUY The age-old difficulty of securing the just purchasing power of a dollar is again under discussion. The National Industrial Conference says in its study that the purchasing power of a dollar has declined to about 60 percent of its hundred thousand this season, and, in; pre-war value. It says that “a dollar addition to the number that will be dis- j in October, 1926, would buy on the aver- tributed from our state owned and ope- i age only 43.7 percent of the amount of rated hatcheries, we have by cooperating : labor it- would have commanded in 1914, with the federal Bureau of Fisheries ar- i in other words, the board says, while ranged to get the whole output from the ! the employe’s dollar, spent for general U. S. Hatchery located at Edenton.N.C., ; living expenses, has decreased only for distribution in North Carolina waters, ! about 40 percent since 1914, the em- one-half of which distribution will be ' ployer’s dollar spent for wages has de- made in filling state applications and the ! dined 56.3 percent and is worth con- other half to fill applications made to the I aiderably less than half of what it was U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. Not less than threey hundred thousand bass, twenty million shad, and quite a number of various other species should be dis tributed from the Edenton station this year. People in the state who would like to have fish for their ponds, lakes, or streams should send in their applica tions in due time. State application blanks will be furnished upon applica- in pre-war days.” The salaried men and women and the farmers complain that while wages have increased in industry and returns upon stocks and bonds have been'large, they have not received their proportionate part of the prosperity. And that is true. How can a dollar on the yard stick affect all equally? The International Harvester is returning to barter by offering to swap farm machinery for corn at one dollar a bushel. But barter is impossible to most people. CATTLE ON FARMS IN NORTH CAROLINA Percent Increase and Decrease 1920-1925 In the following table, based on U. S. Census of Agriculture, the counties are ranked according to increase and decrease in all cattle on farms from 1920 to 1926. The parallel column shows the number of all cattle on farms in each county in 1926. In only 13 counties did the number of all cattle increase during the five-year period. Eighty-seven counties showed losses. Except for New Hanover county which ranks best, and Chowan, the entire Tidewater country falls in a block at the end of the table, suffering large losses in cattle, both beef and dairy. State total of cattle on farms in 1926 was 544,612. State total in 1920 was 644,77,9. The decrease was 100,267 or 15.6 percent. George M. Stephens, Buncombe county Department of Rural Social-Economics, University of North Carolina Rank County It is a national problem. Though it; Percent Number increase or cattle decrease 1925 1920-1925 Increase New Hanover... 1,454 99.5 Yancey 12,470 66.4 Durham 4,805 27.1 Avery 6,112 19.8 Cherokee 8,543 13.5 Hoke 1,940 13.1 Chowan 1,662 12.8 Davie 5,446 4.1 Halifax 6,396 4.0 Jackson 9,346 3.8 Mecklenburg 13,985 3.3 Nash 4,344 3.1 Bladen 3,899 1-7 Decrease Rank County will benefit the farmer greatly, it Will 114 Mitchell . 4,645 1.1 benefit the nation as a whole. It should 15 Randolph . 8,613 1.6 bring better distribution of population 16 Warren . 5,961 1.9 and industry. That helps the farmer. 17 Person . 5,114 3.2 It will bring markets closer to hiln. 17 Swain . 4,990 3.2 The cities of the Eastern seaboard are 19 Orange . 4,866 4.1 congested. The waterways will place 20 Clay . 3,476 4.6 many inland cities on an equality from 21 Union .12,689 the standpoint of transportation. Better 22 Madison .12,845 living conditions for workers, proximity 23 Davidson . 9,021 6.7 to some of the sources of raw materials 24 Wake .10,890 7.6 will make it to the advantage of many 26 Lenoir . 2,694 7.9 industries to transfer activities inland. 26 Lee . 2,668 8.3 This wiser and better distribution will 27 Macon . 8,223 8.4 redound to the benefit of both industry 28 Surry . 8,030 9.6 and agriculture. Greater diffusion of 29 Catawba . 7,692 9.8 our people cai| be materially aided by 29 Cabarrus . 7,364 9 8 waterways improvement. 31 Ashe .20,049 10.2 Consider the providential possession 32 Greene . 1,762 of a nptwork of great natural water- 33 Alleghany .10,544 11.6 ways, the advance of engineering science 3^ Wilkes .12,499 11.7 which renders feasible their completion 35 Henderson .. 6,983 11.8 to the cheapest form of transportation 36 Gaston . 7,449 12.1 for primary goods, the moderate capital 37 Rowan .. 9,776 12.5 outlay required for so reproductive a 38 Robeson .. 6,372 12.6 work. The recovered economic strength 39 Stokes •• 6,784 12.7 of our nation places us in a new era in 4Q Cumberland... .. 3,694 12.8 this great project—and it bids that we 41 Watauga .. 9,616 12.9 provide for the increasing traffic of our 42 Guilford ..11,373 13.1 country; that we set in motion the eco- 42 Granville .. 6,049 13.1 nomic forces that will tend to a better 44 McDowell .. 3,979 13.2 distribution of our increasing popula- 46 Caldwell .. 5,640 13.9 tion and the wider diversification of our 46 Buncombe ..18,203 14.2 industries. 46 Northampton .. 4,120 14.2 Thus only, will what God has given 48 Alamance .. 7,220 14.5 us become a blessing to every cottage. 49 Rutherford ... .. 8,004 15.2 Vance . Number Percent cattle decrease 1926 1920-1926 .. 3,287 15.2 Harnett 3,787 15.6 Transylvania... 3,699 16.5 Fors3?th 6,716 16.2 Lincoln 5,126 16.2 Edgecombe 2,918 16.2 Johnston. 7,022 16.8 Burke 4,438 .....17.1 Iredell 10,200 17.4 Polk 2,360 17.6 Moore 3,946 18,2 Cleveland 10,339 ...18.3 Franklin 6,068 19.3 Stanly 6,421 19.8 Wayne 4,020 20.1 Anson 6,178 20.6 Montgomery... 3,017 22.1 Pasquotank 3,326 22.3 Alexander 3,877 22.9 Yadkin 4,461 23.1 Wilson 1,804 23.9 Duplin 4,676 24.6 Sampson...'. 6,109 24.8 Chatham 7,466 25.0 Pender 2,369 26.0 Scotland 1,218 26.1 Richmond.....'.. 2,741._ 27.6 Rockingham... 6,761 27 9 Pamlico 1,646 29.2 Haywood 12,012 30.4 Caswell 2,901 34.0 Dare 239 35,6 Gates 2,301 37.4 Graham ,2,232 37.4 Washington.... 1,486 37.8 Tyrrell 1,106 39.0 Perquimans 2,001 41.6 Camden 1,467 42.5 Pitt 13,367 42.8 Columbus 3,182 44.4 Craven 12,286 47.6 Currituck 1,761 47.6 Martin 1,731 48.1 Hyde 2,386 60.6 Hertford 1,778 62.8 Onslow 2,118 63.4 Beaufort 3,009 66.4 Jones 1,265 68.0 Carteret 962 69.4 Bertie 2,208 60.6 Brunswick 3I>439 69.1