Among Friends Of The Soil
BY FRANK GLOVER
(Editor's note: This is No. 9
of a series on ways your Soil
Conservation District is helping
farmers in this section where
the land is not as steep or roll
ing as in the counties farther
west.)
Farmer C. "My trouble is that
my ditches don't drain out. The
land in the swamp stays water
logged and I guess that is our
main problem. I'm not the only
one around here that has trouble
even with good field ditches."
Technician, * "wno owns the
land here and immediately down
stream?"
Farmer C. "There is actually
no stream here?not until this
swamp joins with the main creek
a mile or so down the swamp.
There are four or five of us who
own parts of this swamp."
Technician. "Are those other
landowners the ones you mention
ed who have a drainage problem,
the same as you have?"
Farmer C. "Yes. I have heard
all of them mention It."
Technician. "This appears to be|
a community problem. Do you
think all those other landowners j
would be willing to share in the
expense of a small canal down I
the swamp to the main creek?"
Farmer C. "I believe they'
would if it didn't cost them too
much. What would such a canal
cost, and would that make our
field ditches drain out?"
Technician. "A survey would
have to be made to be sure of
the answer to your last question.
The cost would run, basing my
estimate on other jobs about like
this, about 25 cents a running
foot. If it were, say. 400 feet to
the creek the total cost estimat
ed on that basis would be about
$1,000 for a drag-line ditch of a j
size that would work. If there!
are four of you to share the j
cost and the benefit, if on an
. equal basis, it would cost each
[of you about $250."
Farmer: "There are actually
six who would be concerned.
Would all six have to agree' to
'join in on cutting the canal?"
| Technician. ? "It's always well to
J have everyone enter into an
agreement. However, if one or
two have no cultivated land to
j be drained it might be well not
to expect those to make a cost
contribution. I would suggest a
split in the cost according to the
acres to be benefitted by such a
canal. A simple agreement of that
kind is easy to make and would
not necessarily have to have th$
red tape of court approval. It
would be a binding agreement all
right, but a simple one."
' Farmer C. "I believe we could
get all six to make such an
agreement, but I would hesitate
to undertake to get them all to
agree. They might think I had
i some private axe to grind. How
j would you undertake going about
it? Could you get them to
agree ?
| Technician. "No, I would pre
fer not to undertake that. I
would prefer not to undertake
that. I would suggest you talk to
several of them. Then if it looks
like they might join in I can run
a preliminary survey to check on
the amount of fall, etc. If the
job looks feasible I would be
willing to give them a technical
opinion. You could get them to
gether at a sort of informal
meeting when we could all do
some talking."
Farmer C. "That is probably
the best idea. I will see some of
the others, and if they seem in
terested we will call a meeting."
(Editor's note: Thus the one
interested farmer start3 a move
ment to do a job which is logical
ly one needing the cooperation of
the several landowners concerned.
We will not follow any more of
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Try it for bet
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HOBSON KIRBY, Prop
Shallotte, N. G.
Let Us Figure With You On The
Installation Of
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A Safe, Clean, Economical
way to Solve your Cooking
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Space Heaters, Ranges,
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PORT CITY GAS COMPANY
E. F. "Skeet" GORE, Agent
Phone 3217 Southport, N. G.
SCHEDULE
W B &B BUS LINE
Southport, N. C.
EFFECTIVE TUES., JAN. 20,194S
WEEK-DAY SCHEDULE
LEAVES SOUTHPORT LEAVES WILMINGTON
** 7:00 A. M.
7:00 A.M. *9:30 A. M.
9:30 A. M. 1:35 P. M.
?1:30 P.M. 4:00 P.M.
4:00 P.M. 6:10 P.M.
6:00 P.M. 10:20 P.M.
*?These Trips on Saturday Only.
**?This Bus Leaves Winnabow at 6:10 Daily.
- SUNDAY ONLY -
LEAVES SOUTHPORT LEAVES WILMINGTON
t
7:30 A.M. , 9:00 A.M.
10:50 A.M. 1:35 P.M.
4:00 P.M. 6:10 P.M.
6:00 P.M. 10:20 P.M.
'the details about this example of
how your soil conservation dis
trict works. Water regards no
boundary lines. It is not uncom
mon for neighboring farmers to
club together in an undertaking
'of this kind which is of mutual
benefit. Next week cropping sys
j tems will come in for some dis- ^
cussion.
j (Editor's note: Farmer D and
the Soil Conservation Service j
technician are in the field going
over his (Farmer D's) farm to
plan conservation measures to fit,
each pla?.) 1
Technician. "What sort of crop
ping system do you follow?
Farmer D. "I don't know if'
you would call it -a system or
not. Sometimes I decide at night
what I will start planting on a
certain field the following morn
1 ing?but then get up and pl&nt
something else. Labor is short
with me these days, and some of
the land gets a chance to take a
rest. I just don't plant anything
on some places."
Technician. "Don't you plant
anything to turn under?"
i Farmer D. "No. I never saw(
1 mucl} pay in raising something
and then turning it under. I do
turn under soybean stubble where
I have cut it for hay; and such
things like cotton and corn stalks j
1 get turned under. I don't make
a practice of burning stalks like
I have seen people do."
Technician. "I'm glad to hear
you say that about burning, ^
which is a mighty bad example'
of destroying something you al-|
ready have and which the land'
| needs to make better crops."
I Farmer D. "I guess maybe it
would help the crop some to
have more to turn under, but I j
doubt if it would help enough to j
pay. There's the expense of seed,
the labor to fix the land and j
plant them. On top of that the
use of the land would to for|
nothing, and then there's the
work of getting the crop turned. J
If much growth was turned it
would make the land hard to
work."
j Technician. "Let's do a little ^
figuring. You said a while ago
you could realize your land was
washing a little at a time and
| getting thinner. But let's disre
gard the erosion problem for the
| moment. There are many ways a
cropping system to change with
regularity the sort of crops j
grown pays. Insect damage is
reduced. Disease of various crops
c"use less damage. Then any |
system that provides something
to go back to the land helps in
numerous ways."
Farmer D. "In what ways
would you say a crop turned un
der would help?"
Technician. "That's a right
sizable question. I doubt if I can
name all the ways a turned crop
would help the land and the
crops to follow. I can give you|
some which, from my observa-1
tion, add to the productivity of J
the land. Notice first of all, I
isaid productivity. We should be
concerned more about productivi
ty than fertility. You ?1 m put
fertility into land out of a sack,
but you can't always make it
produce the way it should with
purely chemical fertility.
Organic matter, rotted, makes
humus. Humus mixes with the
soil particles and improves the|
functioning quality of' soil. Hu
mus feeds the sort of soil bac
teria which help plants to grow.
Certain elements of plant food
are acted upon by these soil bac- (
teria and helps ? put them into a
condition to be absorbed into the
plant roots.
During excessively wet weather!
crops seem to stand the water.
better if there's plenty of humus j
in the land. It may be that some
of the excess water is drawn in- j
to the particles of organic mat- j
ter and so are a held a little off
from the roots, permitting air
to reach them. On the other
hand, when dry weather comes
along the organic matter or hu
mus has stored up more water
inside the particles than could
have clung to the outside only of
soil particles. You know soil is,
after all, rock in small pieces,
and moisture can only cling to
the outside of these particles. It
can't get inside.
As organic matter decays, !t
naturally finally breaks down in
to the chemical elements that
made it in the first place. In the
case of legumes?plants like soy
beans and Austrian winter peas
much of the nitrogen going in
to the growing of the plant has
been taken from the air. That
sort of nitrogen comes free, so
to speak. When the plant rots!
the nitrogen is released to be |
taken up by some plant, say like
corn, that can't make its own
nitrogen.
Those are some ways turned
crops help, but after all the. re
sults are what count. The in
creased crop yields makes some
thing you can spend. You can't
buy a new automobile with ways,
but you can with big enough
crop yields.
Now let's go back to the eros
ion problem. You have some land
that is being damaged, as you
know, by a little of the surface
being washed off every year. We
call it sheet erosion, and that is
the most dangerous sort because
it is not always noticed until too
late to save the best of the land."
(Editor's note: Next time we
will listen to some more of the
discussion, especially as to how a
cropping system may conserve
soil and moisture.)
in a series of visits with farm?"
| of this section while planning for
'conservation of soil and moisture^
I The farmer is taking advantage
'of technical assistance by the
' Soil Conservation Service repre
sentative who works with your
farmer-managed Soil Conserva
tion District.)
Farmer E and the technician
are looking at a field to decid.
about the treatment it should
^Technician. "According to the
soil survey this is one of your
most valauable fields, but it also
shows that about one-fourth of
the topsoil has been washed off.
Farmer E. "That surely must
be an error. I can remember this
field for forty years or more and
it looks the same to me as it al
ways did and still maKes pretty
good crops."
Technician. "Haven't you notice
recently when the field is broken
that the plow turns up brownish
yellow dirt on all the high part.
Farmer E. "Yes, but I figured
maybe we plow a little deeper
than we used to plow."
Tecnician. "Possibly you do,
but the most of the field has lost
at least two of about 8 inches of
the surface-likely more in the
highest spots. Unless you start
soon to check this loss it will
wah faster and faster each year.
Farmer E. "Why should it
wash any faster than it has In
the past?"
Technician. "Because the top
soil will absorb and hold mors
water than the subsoil, and as the
topsoil gets thinner the surface
reservoir is not as great. Then
too, as you lose topsoil you lose
fertility. It takes fertile soil to
grow a good enough cover to pro
tect it." ,
Farmer E. "What could I do
about it? This field is pretty
flat." . ....
Technician. "It evidently isnt
quite as flat as it looks. It is
land you can't afford to have
damaged any more than it has
already been damaged. It needs
several things done. For a starter
I would suggest trracing it , but
there will have to be an outlet
prepared so the water from the
terrace ends can get on out of
the field and without damage
either to this field or to the field
down-slope."
Farmer E. "Surely this field
doesn't need terracing. It's not
steep enough."
Technician. "Terraces alone
would not be enough, but would
at least do two things. They
would divide this long slope into
several sections so there could
never be a big volume of water
crossing it anywhere. It would
take the surplus water off slow
ly and get it where it wouldn't
hurt crops or land further down.
Then the other big advantage
would be that hte terraces would
be a good guide for laying off
your rows." j
Farmer E. "What about the
outlet you mentioned?" I
Technician. "I've been stand-1
ing here looking. You have act
ually two small fields here with
a small ditch down through the
middle all grown up in weeds
and briers. I bet it takes a lot of
hand labor evey year to keep it
cleaned off."
Farmer E. "It does take work
to clean it off, but we have to
have that ditch."
Technician. "Sometimes I have
to make a little survey to be sure
about a close decision, but this
is not that close. I am postivei
that by building terraces, empt
ing the water at both ends you
could take all the water off the
field without a ditch in the mid
dle. That would throw what is
now two small field into one, save
the labor of cleaning off the mid
dle ditch, make your rows twice
as long, have a much nicer look
ing field, and?"
Farmer E. "Wait, you don't
need to go any further. I never
thought I would have a trrace
but on this side where we just
crossed the ditch I notice the
ditch is dry and there is a sort
of drew here. This ditch could
on my place, but you have al
ready told me enough. 'Im ready
to start building them."
Technician. "We can't go too
fast. The water must be taken
safely away."
Farmer E. "There is a ditch at
both sides. We could empty the
water into them."
Technician. "You could do that
be made with very little work
just with your ploy?into a broad
flat ditch and sowed down to
something that would not have
to be planted every year. Then it
could be moved instead of hav
ing to be cleaned off by hand
and the crop moved used for hay."
Farmer E. "That does sound
mighty fine the way you put it,
but does sort of outlet work for
other farmers?"
Technician. "Sure it works. I
don't think it would work on the
other side of the field, but know
It would Work here."
I Farmer E. "What would you
Dewey-Warren Ticket
Nominated On G.O.P.
*" THOMAS E. DEWEY
Trees May Die
Of Mower Cuts
Davey Expert Advise# Ex
treme Care In Handling
Lawn Mowers Around
Shade Trees
Careless handling of lawn
mowers chalks up much needless
] shaae tree damage. Whirling
| blades that bite savagely into
] bark often cause wounds that j
soon become infected with decay. |
Thin-barked trees such as j
apples, beech and some of the
I maples, are particularly suscep
tible. But all young trees which
have not yet developed heavy
protecting bark are likely to be j
victims of lawn mower injury. |
Much of the damage results from
nothing more than banging the!
lawn mower against the bark in j
an earnest effort to cut the
grass as closely to the tree as
possible. The bruised bark springs
loose, dies and drops away, leav
ing the unprotected wood expos
ed to infection and decay.
W. C. Lauck, Davey expert,
points out that most injuries arc
inflicted by outside help hired to
do the mowing. Worst offenders
are teen-age boys. As a rule,
home owners themselves are care
ful wielding the mower. They
are responsible for but few tree
mishaps.
If you're too busy to do your j
own grass cutting and yet would
like to play safe, there is a simple
solution to your problem. Simply
remove some of the soil in a six
to eight inch area around the i
base of each tree.' Then fill In |
pea gravel, which keeps the lawn
mower at a safe distance from
sensitive barks. The gravel fill j
also saves back strain and the
laborious chore of hand-cutting
around the tree since grass will
not grow in pure graveL
Mr. Lauck urges home owners
to get the protective gravel
around tree bases as quickly as
possible. During the Spring dam- j
age to bark is particularly com
mon for the sap flow is heavy t
and even a rather light blow may
cause it to spring loose from the
wood.
plant in it for hay?"
Technician. "We would have to
plant something we could depend
on to keep the draw from making
a gully and at the same time
good hay. A mixture of grass and
clover would work well but
would require extra care, such as
liming and then adding some fer
tilizer every year. Sericea les
pedeza would be good and would
i not require quite so much ferti
lizer, though would need some." i
| Farmer E. "How wide would
'it be? I don't want to take up
too much land here."
Technician. "I would make it
;wide enough so I would get a
i good cutting of hay enough at
! a time to justify getting mowed (
and rake over here, etc. Even
then it would be only about 40
feet wide. Your ditch, including
the waste land in weeds on each
side, takes up at least 12 feet.
The meadow outlet would take
up a little more but would be us
ed as a place to torn at the ends i
of the rows.In the end there would!
'not be much difference and-you
would be getting several cuttings
of good hay every year."
BURNED BOAT REBUILT
i It is understood that the men
haden boat, Gifford, practically
destroyed by fire last fall and
| towed to New Bern wnere sne
was rebuilt, will be brought back
, here this week and will start
fishing. Capt. J. B. Church, vet
leran Southport skipper, will be
In command.
New York Governor Nomi
nated On Third Ballot
Unanimously After Tak
ing Big Lead On First
Vote
GOV. WARREN TO RUN 1
AS VICE-PRESIDENT |
Convention Adjourned Fri-j
day Noon As Presidential !
Nominee Makes Plans
For Campaign
PHILADELPHIA, The Repub-'
licans mad? it a Thomas E. Dew- |
ey-Earl Warren ticket Friday and
closed their convention cheering
for a coast-to-coast victory hope in j
November's presidential elections. I
California's Governor Warren
got the vice presidential nomina
tion by acclamation nomination
once New York's Governor Dew
ey unanimously nominated on
the 3rd ballot Thursday night for
the presidency, pointed him out as
the man he wanted for a running
mate.
The gavel ending the 24th na
tional Republican convention ban
ged down at 12:30 p. m., (EST)
Friday.
Chairman Joe Martin ended it
on the same note hit on last Mon
day when it opened?victory. Just
before the session's end he in
troduced Warren as the "next
vice president of the United
States".
The cheering delegates left no
doubt they believed him?that
this is the year the GOP can end
16 years of Democratic rule.
Warren in an acceptance speech
pledged "every bit of loyalty in
my make-up.
Martin pounded for order and
broke his fourth gavel. It's been
a tough convention.
Dewey is expected to select a
successor to national Chairman
Carroll Reece of Tennessee as
one of his first moves in plann
ing the election campaign.
ANNOUNCE BIRTII
Mr. and Mrs. Kale P. Conner,
of Richmond, Kentucky, announce
the birth of a daughter, Friday,
June 11, in Gibson Hospital, Rich
mond, Kentucky. Mrs. Conner is
Watch them grow ? when they get
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Outstanding Quality ? is guaron?
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Growing Math helps you get bigger,
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The Country Store
LONGWOOD, N. C.
BE KIND TO YOUR CAR!!
Be sure it gets the proper lubrication, use only the
best grade of gasoline and motor oil. Make use of our
friendly, experienced service.
ENNIS LONG SERVICE STATION
U. S. No. 17 Supply, N. G.
j the former Miss Beth Hawes of
I Shallotte.
VISITING IN KENTUCKY
Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Hawes of
Shallotte left Saturday for a two
weeks visit in Richmond. Ken
tucky, with their daughter and
son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Kale P.
Conner and their little daughter. I
Sea Scouts Arc
Back From Trip j
Members of the Whiteville Sea
Scout Ship returned Saturday
from the Seniof Scout Rendez
vous at the Naval Air Station at
Jacksonville, Fla.
Two members of the Southport
Sea Scout Unit went with the
Whiteville group to the rendez
vous. They were William Dozieri
and Robert Spencer.
Whitevillc Scouts v.vjj
192 boys who gathtte^
the rendezvous which J
ed to acquaint then
life. ' 1
Skipper Charles McX?
that the local unit v,y 1
group there with s v
Flagship Hating.
While th< thev .
Navy mess halls i:Vej ~
racks and wi-r
tain their quarters tu J
lockers to i!-.sp.ctior.
Read '1 lie Want M
WANT AH
FOR SALF.: : K . J
Bargain. Mrs Uia? k 3
er, !'? O. Uo>; 2M,
N. C. ^
FOR SAUK: t ?..? W
truck, three quarters o( J
Long Beach at Blue TnJ
\V. Love, I.onj; Eeich iTj
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR. Yo? ,,,
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news?PLUS help from its exclusive features on >12 '.?--.
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ocqualnftd" ottor
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k City Zoie 5t?ti_
DON'T WAIT!
-BUILDINGS
3-4-5-6 Room Houses in Sections thai ai
very easy to erect. Drive out today at
see one on display.
WE ALSO HAVE?
20 x 33 Building S2I5J
20 x 50 Building S295J
20 x 69 Building ...? S195J
20 x 72 Building S2I5J
20x100 Building S450J
26 x 45 Day Room S60(M
All?Above Buildings can be Tab
down in sections and re-erected.
Millions of feet of good used Yellow Pii
Lumber well seasoned, Bright and I ?
From Nails
German Siding
New 90-lb. Slate Roll Roofing $2.35 pern
New 3-in-l Asphalt Shingles $5.95 p? b
t
Plumbing, heating, tanks, boilers, elcctn
supplies, pipe and fittings, sinks. ( ^
Siding, Insulation Board and UK) othe
items.
CLEVELAND
WRECKING COMPANY
CAMP DAVIS HOLLY RIDGE, n |
P. O. Box 814 Phone 20'
HALF WAY BETWEEN JACKSOWIU-E
AND WILMINGTON?R 17 ? GATE ''
SALESMAN ON PREMISES MONDAY
THROUGH SATURDAY 8:00 to 5:00
I DEEPLY APPRECIATE
The spleqdid support gi\en n10 ,n
the recent primary, and again ' r"
new my pledge to give, at all
my best efforts to this high off'cc*
F. ERTLE CARLYLK
F. Ertle Carlyle