The North Carolina State Fair
There is now more information,
more demonstration, and more les
sons of more kinds at one N. C. State
Fair than could be found at a dozen
fairs two dozen years ago. The mod
ern state fair is not merely a place
where one may recreate and be en
tertained, and have J;he thrill and
punch at being a part of a large
crowd. It is an educational institu
tion. This is particularly true of the
N. C. State Fair since there the
State College of Agriculture, the
State Department of Agriculture, and
the U. S. Department of Agriculture
unite in the entertainment of farm
visitors and their instruction through
exhibits that show how to do better
the man/ j^bs that farmers must uc.
Results of tests and experiments that
are of defirate benefit to rural and
urban people are offered in condens
ed form--results that have been prov
en to be of profit to rural men, wo
men and yo„n.r people are the “head
liners’’ and ‘ conclusions” of many,
many exnib.ts
I have formed the habit of taking
pencil and notebook to fairs and find
note-taking a means by which I can
take a large part of the fair home
with me and re-visit and re-study the
exhibit-lessons at leisure.
Two years ago I was standing in
front of the exhibit of home-grown
and home-cured meats. My mind wan
dered back to my boyhood spent on
Grandfather’s and Father’s farms,
and I wondered if the meats before
me were as good as the horne-made
products of my childhood. While these
thoughts possessed me a man and nis
wife came by looking for the attend
ant of the exhibit. In the conversation
that followed it developed that at a
previous fair this couple had made a
careful study of meat curing after
following the Shay method of hog
feeding, and that they now raised
many more hogs and slaughtered all
of them at home; and, that now their
product was of such quality and in
such demand that all surplusses were
sold at the same price that “Smith
| field” and “Virginia” hams and ba
I con sold for.
The lady informed me that “we
learned so much that we did not know
| before that we have now decided that
this one exhibit, with the explanations
given, was worth more to us than all
the costs of attending three or four
state fairs.” Later it became known
that hams exhibited by this couple
won the first premium.
The 1933 State Fair will be “fat and
! rich” in educational exhibits—exhib
its that point to the way for farm
j folks to live at home and live better
than any other class of people. Where
. do the people in the cities get the
I products that enable them to reputed
I ly live so well ? Do they come origi
nally from farms?
j “Everybody” should go to the fair
| this year. The one great power behind
the State Fair is to show the best
and tell how the best was produced,
so that we can go back home and also
produce the best or even better.
Railway tickets and gasoline now
'ost less than either has cost in a
long time. All aboard—jump in—let’s
The Soulh Carolina State Fair
I have spent two to four days at
South Carolina State Fairs each year
for ten out of the twelve last years,
and have learned that the people of
our sister state take great pride and
keen interest in THEIR fair and I
know that Paul Moore, the secretary,
is “crazy about making OUR fair
the best in the South,” to use the ex
pression of a S. C. home demonstra
tion agent I met in Columbia. I also
know that Mr. Moore has made great
progress towards this end and will
succeed in his “crazy about making”
if given the support he deserves and
should have—support from the people
to whom the fair belongs.
This year the South Carolina State
Fair authorities have made a ruling
that I have advocated in three states
for years. There will be no premiums
for farm, garden, orchard or live
stock produced outside of South Car
olina. The fair folks take the posi
tion that the South Carolina Fair is
the state’s fair, and that it exists for
the people of the state.
When state fair premiums are open
to exhibitions from other states, then
there is the possibility of competi
tion from 47 other states. This is not
fair. It keeps state exhibits at home
and away from the state fair.
It is hard and costly work to pro
duce and prepare fair exhibits. When
we find that we were “beaten by an
outsider” and a “professional” at that,
we say “never again!” This has hap
; pened many times in South Carolina
■ and other Southern States as well.
, j These professionals too often buy
: their exhibits and sell them before
1 they return home. Farmers who grow
' or raise for the show ring at a fair
, should compete only with exhibition
■ from their own state, and not with
“foreigners.” Money paid to outsiders
■ for agricultural exhibit premiums is
i thrown away since it discourages
; home producers and destroys their in
centive and loyalty. Do South Carolina
or North Carolina go outside their
boundaries for their sheriffs, con
gressmen, governors, or senators?
State fair’s function is to expand,
diversify, and improve the industries
and products of the state by education
stimulated by competition and reward
to exhibits of excellence brought to
gether as object lessons for all who
wish to profit by seeing and learning.
Don’t store seeds that have insects
or insect eggs on them, and don’t
■ store where insects, rodents, or mois
ture can ruin them. How to get rid of
“bugs,” “worms,” “weevils,” “insects”
etc. is an important problem at this
time of the year. These enemies are
ever present in large numbers, and we
should examine all grains and seeds
at intervals—examine inside and out—
and to be on the safe side fumigate
with bisulphide of carbon, after plac
ing in an air-tight bin, box, barrel, or
other suitable container of proper size.
TIMELY REMINDERS FOR EAI2LY
OCTOBER
For Garden and Orchard
1. Make ready for harvesting and
storing sweet potatoes. Do not be sat
isfied with other than a standard
storage house. Follow the rules for
curing and storing.
2. At no other time than when dig
ging can the best seed sweet potatoes
be found. Save seed from none other
than the most prolific hills with the
best shaped potatoes. Potato seed
that make the best potatoes should
be neither undersize nor over.
3. In spare time get ready for win
ter spraying. Examine the sprayers
and dusters, check supplies of mater
ials, and order needs. Read up in lat
est bulletins and learn improved me
thods of applying and the best mater
ials for the many insects and diseases.
4. Sow onion seed before October
15. If properly cared for they will
make the best and most profitable
mature onions. Cover the seed one
fourth inch. Of course they must be
fertilized heavily, kept scrupulously
clean of all weeds, and thinned to four
or five inches. Plant sets for early
bunching onions as soon as you can
get them.
5. Plant early radishes in the open
up to October 20. Also prepare cold
frames for sowing radish seed Nov
ember 1, and others for sowing at
monthly intervals until the middle of
February. This will provide a regular
supply of radishes from November 1
to late March. For April radishes
plant between March 1 and 15.
6. Mature green tomatoes gather
ed just before frost and stored in
a dark, cool and well ventilated place
will furnish delicious ripe tomatoes
until Christmas. Wrap each tomato in
paper. Examine them once a week
and take out those that show a ten
dency to lose their green color.
Place these in a sunny place to rip
en.
7. Consult the garden planting
calendar and note the many kinds of
seeds that can be planted now to
make the garden evergreen through
the winter. Such a garden will keep
the doctor and the wolf from your
door and put vitamins to work in the
bodies of the whole family from
Grandma and Grandpa on down to
the babies, biddies, piggies and calves.
8. When the second crop Irish po
tatoes show by the color of the vines
that they are mature, then dig them;
or, if frost touches the top of the
vines then dig at the first opportun
ity. Store in a dry, cool place where
the temperature will not go lower than
40 or higher than 70 degrees F. They
may also be stored in out-door hills
with 8 inches of soil. Store no bruised
or specked potatoes.
FOR EARLY OCTOBER PLANTING
April and May in the spring, and
September and October in the fall are
the heavy planting months. Most of
us have spring planting fever when
the sun is warm and flowers bloom j
and birds sing in the spring, buti
when the sun is less affectionate, J
when the birds twitter and chirp and,
sing but little, and many flowers
have ceased to spread their corolla
and perfume, our planting fever
loses its temperature and garden and
field, unmolested, ripen and scatter
myriads of seeds to make more weeds
for us to fight the next year.
No land should be allowed to re
main bare of a crop through fall or
winter. If we grow two in the place
of one crop on the same land then we
have two in the place of one chance
for profit or use. We seem to for
get that we are far enough south to
grow two (or more) crops a year,
and by this neglect allow our land to
loaf and not work for us. Loafing
land “gets into bad habits” as does
a loafing boy or man. And, land
washes away when idle, loses fer
tility and gets out of order. It be
comes the Devil’s Workshop,—is
otiose.
There is more to incite and urge
fall planting this year than usual.
The depression is not yet a thing of
the past, and we are still in need of
the fruits of our own labor. We need
now and will need for some time,
yes, for all time, feed and food and
fertile land; and fruition—a quartet
of f’s!
The Sandhills region is blessed
with soil and climate, but maledic
tions may fall upon us if we fail to
live up to our responsibilities and ac
countabilities for their best use or
neglect opportunities in waiting.
Here is a list of farm crops that
are due to be planted by October
15th;
Alfalfa, Alsike Clover, Austrian
Peas, Barley, Canada Peas, Crimson
Clover, Italian Rye Grass, Perennial
Rye Grass, Lawn Mixtures, Mam
moth Clover, Meadow Mixtures, Oats,
Orchard Grass, Pasture Mixture,
Rape, Re dClover, Tall Meadow Oats,
Turnips, Vetch, White Clover.
And here is the vegetable or kitch
en garden list:
Beet, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrot,
Chives, Corn Salad, Cress, Endive,
Kale, Lettuce, Mustard, Onion Seed,
Onion Sets, Plain Kale, Radish, Rape,
Spinach, Turnip.
CONSIDER THE PESTS
Every crop, yes, and every plant is
subject to attack by insect, and di
seases. Some plants, the manufactured
products of which are standard insec
ticides, are themselves subject to in
sect injury, such as tobacco, cedar,
and pyrethrum. It is difficult, and in
some cases impossible to grow some
crops without the added expense of
warfare against their enemies. Many
crops are total failures if their ene
mies are not overcome or kept in
check. The chestnut growth over large
areas has been destroyed by uncheck
ed enemies. Successful peach culture
is practically impossible if the San
Jose scale, curculio, and borer are
not kept under control, The time has
come when it is equally necessary that
the fight against insects and diseases
be waged as persistently as the fight
against weeds. The farmer of the fu
ture must have more knowledge of
his crops and their pests and he must
cultivate more wisely with improved
implements. He must be more indus
trious, must put forth more effort,
and incur greater expense in produc
tion for high yield and quality. This
insures against loss and avoids unnec
essary expense in marketing by or
ganization and cooperation.