Friday, August 7, 1959
THE NEW BERN MIRROR, NEW BERN, N. C.
Page Seven
Secretary Benson Sees Farm
Problem as American Plight
The so-called farm problem is
not just a farm problem—it is an
American problem. '
That is the view of Secretary of
Agriculture Benson, expressed at
a recent Farmer-Businessman din
ner in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. And his
point is one he has often made be-
foie—that “this problem cannot be
solved by continuing the old out
moded price support, acreage con-
Give Your Favorite Furniture
a New Lease on Life.
FRBE ESTIMATES
PICK-UP A DBLIVERV
Gray Upholstery Co.
Dial Ml 7-72M
WOODROW
MOORE'S
Supplying Indoor
Comfort With
Heating and Air Conditioning
Now located 318 First St.
FOR COMPLETE
REDECORATING
Some of the world's fin
est Wall Coverings in va
rious types and textures.
Paint colored to match or
blend each pattern. Free
estimates.
Dial ME 7-5510
HARRELL'S PAPER
SHOP
trol program” — and that “to
achieve and maintain a prosperous,
expanding, and free agriculture,
we MUST solve the farm prob
lem,”
The Secretary cites various fa
cets of the problem—and they add
up to an ominously impressive list.
Vast supplies of a few commodi
ties exert a depressing influence
in the market. Farm people are
caught in a cost-price squeeze, and
half our farms have a gross income
of only $2,500 a year. The cost to
the taxpayers of maintaining farm
programs is at an all-time high,
and is still rising. We have $9 bil
lion tied up in the surpluses, most
of it in corn, wheat and cotton.
Storage, intcresit and handling
charges alone now come to $1 bil
lion a year. On top of all this, in
Mr. Benson’s words; “Proposals
are now being made which, if
adopted, would go far to socialize
agriculture—to make farmers de
pend for much of their income on
direct payments from the, U. S.
Treasury. This threatens not only
the freedom of apiculture — it
threatens the free-American eco
nomic system in g^ieral.” •
The Secretary fitids no merit in
the premise on which the old price
support program was built — the
premise “that production can be
effectively controlled through acre
age allotments and marketing quo
tas.” Long, hard and costly exper
ience has proven that simply is not
true. He also finds, citing a recent
nationwide poll made by Farm
Journal, the largest agricultural
magazine, that eight out of 10
ELECTRIC MOTOR
REBUILDERS
24-H6ur Service
ACE ELECTRICAL CO.
318 S. Front St. Dial ME 7-7350
Don't Forget Your Week-End Special
PACKAGED TO GO
Barbecue, Bread and Slaw for Two $1.00
Barbecue, Bread and Slaw for Four .... $2.00
SUPER SPECIAL FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
Half Barbecue Chicken with all the trimmings to eat on
the premises or take out (listen), just $1.00
The best in seafoods and regular dinners served with Foleys
Famous home cooked pies, fredh daily. You can get your barbecue
fine or coarse cleaver cut.
For Your Convenience When We Are Closed, Pick Up
Our Barbecue Next Door at Hayes Food Center.
MOORE'S BARBECUE
Phone ME 7-2276
1216 Broad Street
Kehoe-Fri. thru Wed.
AlBEfllSHIUIPE-IIINEIMUNRO'
I .RBNMM'BIBUIRIM IIHBRiafUll ,
••niiMiim-owirMrilwiiiiiiuMw*,— *
Regular Prices for Adults
Children 25^, All Shows
farmers want greater freedom and
less government interference.
Moreover, the producers of impor
tant agricultural products which
are not supported or controlled—
livestock and fruits and vegetables
among them—have growing mar
kets. They have had and will have
their ups and downs, of course,
but by and large they have done
well. The trouble is caused by the
one-fifth of our agriculture that is
not free—the supported and con-
I trolled so-called basic crops of
[corn, wheat, cotton, rice, peanuts
and tobacco.
The wheat problem seems to
have reached a point of absolute
crisis. By July of 1960, the Secre
tary spys, the carryover will be
about 1% billion bushels—enough
to provide 515 loaves of bread for
every man, woman and child in the
country. And, at the same time,
$3.5 billion of the taxpayers’ mon
ey will be tied up in wheat alone.
A continuance of this trend, Mr.
Benson is convinced, “could end in
disaster of a magnitude such as
we have not seen before in our
American agriculture.”
What, then, is the way out? As
Mr. Benson sees it, the need is
drastic change in the whole idea
of the farm programs — not just
changes of detail. To quote him
once more: “The evidence of 25
years says that we cannot balance
supply and demand by means of
present acreage controls. The eco
nomics of the farm problem are
simple—we need less government
in farming. We must quit trying to
fix prices unrealistically. This is
the source of the twin evils of
production for government ware
houses and government control ov
er farmers. We must emphasize
markets, increased efficiency, and
competitive selling. We must elim-
nate government’s strangle-hold
on agriculture.
“Until this is done, agriculture
will be burdened with too much
government, too much politics, and
too little common sense.”
GARDEN
TIME
By M. E. GARDNER
N, C. State College
There are very few garden soils
that can’t be improved by the addi
tion of organic matter. It aerates
the soil—an important factor often
over looked—and helps the growth
of bacteria and other vital soil
micro-organisms.
It must be understood that the
use of organic matter is not a sub
stitute for plant food; however, at
the same time, neither is plant
food a substitute for organic mat
ter. This is a common mistake
$50.00
Allowance for Your Old Rango
Regardless Of Age or Condition
on a New
COMPLETELY
AUTOMATIC
PYROFAX
GAS RANGE
Low Down Payment
Easy Terms
Craven
County
Gas Co.
KEHOE STARTING TODAY
COMMAND PEfIFOMANCE ... By order of King Brian, Monach of
the Leprechauns, Darby O'Gill (Albert Sharpe) plays a Hvaly Irish
tune in Walt Disney's "Darby O'Gill and the Little People." The
production stars Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery and Jimmy
O'Dea.
among gardeners.
Most forms of organic matter
have no nutrient value at all.
In coses where some small nutrient
value is present, it becomes very
slowly available to the plants, ii
the organic matter is not at least
partly decomposed, it has a reverse
action—starving the plants.
In order to be of use, bacteria
must have a supply of nitrogen.
Bacteria feed on, and thus decom
pose, organic matter. Some excel
lent foods for bacteria are straw,
fresh sawdust, chopped corncobs
or shredded bark. When bacteria
are in the process of decomposing
this matter, they draw nitrogen
from the soil—before the plants
have a chance to do so. Thus, the
plants may become starved for
nitrogen.
Commercial fertilizers all con
tain nitrogen. You can see how im
portant it is to feed plants which
are mulched.
For the gardener who must
watch his budget, sawdust is a very
satisfactory mulch and is fine
worked into the soil to provide
organic matter. If it is fresh, be
sure to add extra nitrogen
For tho bott In whool balancing,
wheal alignment, meter tune-up,
brake, generator, afarter rapairt,
Haryay Moore,
Ballard's Service Station
arMgeton, N. C. Dial MB 7-MU
COASTAL CAB
ME 7-6131
VITA-VAR
PAINTS
at
MITCHELL'S
HARDWARE
315 S. Front
ME 74100
Efficiency and Economy Go Hand
/
in Hand when You Rely on
Experts to Satisfy Your
Building Needs.
Never Settle for the Next Best
Thing. It's Bound to Be
a Bad Bargain.
NO DOWN PAYMENT - 36 MONTHS TO PAY
B & B Supply Co.
Highway 17 South
Phones: ME 7-3040—ME 7-5710