Newspapers / Zebulon Record (Zebulon, N.C.) / Sept. 11, 1936, edition 1 / Page 19
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zA Look Ahead for North Carolina BY FRANK PARKER Federal-State Agricultural Statistician for North Carolina WHAT five years ago would have been called theoretical imagina tion. is today practical reasoning, where \ve foresee and foretell a bright future for Tar Helia—the Old North State. The AAA helped greatly, especially in instilling confidence and away out of an almost hopeless agricultural di h «ina. The new Soil Conservation pro , gram is a much more practical and basic move toward better conditions. The fun damentals back of it were those educa tional agencies starting with the bann ers Alliance 50 years ago; then, and on through the agricultural extension and vocational" school work of today. t As with all other educational prob- P kins, changing such a ponderous and clumsy thing as agriculture from a ques tion of: “That’s the way my grandpap it,’’ to “Tell me a better way to d<* it.’’ is a slow, tedious and almost hopeless task, extending through several generations. . Just 20 years ago, 1 returned to North Carolina from the tropics, where I had iflen engaged in agricultural extension a ltd vocational work. After experience i'ith 4.3 district agriculturists as assist ants, and after traveling through 32 ‘states, seeking the best place to locate, 1 decided on North Carolina. Had Definite Convictions m I!* * I returned with definite concerning purebred, or high-grade live stock; grading and marketing products 1 fHR ' TfflH jHb, ill nnff iilr%k |WI H JP! 1 dUf* fc ”1 * > ’■• j, '‘ 11f||j #p' ij jliwi _ a ..■ JIT -^j»&^^^’s' l #w''i#'/' Cattle come in for an important part in the state, too. This picture was snapped at the Piedmont Experiment Farm, near Statesville. F._ in- —i — jMHHMnrwiKi. 'i«irwi<rtaMM——am «Vkl* iL*tlr<iaa £ jABSI • a'S MMK 4B Ur »wj BU* ■'*'**l Ki. ■ U Ik Gram, such as this, is also an important crop in North Carolina’s Piedmont Section. • EPfßWyx'flgw ixl^a i t » i«St w H&>* r H p I ili <1 • W . « irf _ XMLa fffib I jH jfl ■* #:.-. U MB •-TrJUjf* ▼ xtIC T JL M a S |JU|J| A day’s outing at the Experiment Station, near Oxford, which helps these pood farmers to beoome ever better farmers. in attractive packages; more and better machinery; legumes as soil builders; milk cows for converting surplus vege tables and feed crops into a year around cash income. Sales of vegetables and fruits later convinced me of the neces sity, rather than advisabiltiy, of quality and attractiveness in marketing. Although now with the U. S. De partment of Agriculture doing crop re porting. I still own and operate the farm 1 procured in 1915. Reasons Outlined Here are some reasons why in 1915 I chose North Carolina as my future home: (1) The climate is mild, just enough cold weather for health and not too much heat for comfort; (2) It has as wide diversification of native plant life as any state; (3) The choice of crops is almost unlimited—from oranges to maple sugar; (4) The topography ranges from delightfully verdant and cool mountains in the West to the tem perate coastal area in the East with its inland waters and long seashore; (5) The gulf stream comes to within 150 miles of our coast and encourages the growth of early vegetables and fruits; (6) I saw as nice fruits grown in North Carolina as 1 found in California, Ore gon, or Washington; (7) I had seen cattle grazing and in excellent condition throughout the Winter, even finding clumps of green grass under the snow on the mountains; (8) Protection for livestock from winter weather was un- THE STATE FARMER SECTION necessary, although ad vantageous; (9) I>ahor was plentiful and cheap; (10) Many markets were near, New York being only 4<xi miles distance from the North eastern trucking section where both rail and wa ter transportation were av ail able; (it) The percentage of foreign population was the smallest of any state; (12) It was truly an agricultural state, no large cities, but many small towns where peo ple know and mingle with each other; (13! The land was cheap and an unlimited choice was available; (14) Irriga tion was not required. System Improving For a long time, North Carolina has grown too many acres of cash crops and not enough feed and soil improvement crops. This system has been gradually changing for the better. The depression accelerated the rate of change, especially with respect to feed crops, but there should be no change of a radical nature. The types of farming now in vogue should generally be continued, with ad justments in acreage to eliminate over production of cash crops, • unprofitable acre yields, soil erosion, and dependence on outside sources for feeds. In different parts of the state, cotton, tobacco, peanuts, truck crops, grains, and livestock are each dominant farm enter prises. Often the dominant enterprise is developed to exclusion of others, conse quently, it is impossible to lay down a single program that would fit all sec tions. For that reason, the North Caro lina Agricultural Extension Service has divided the state into it agricultural areas, based on the type of farming be ing generally practiced. Os the six and three-quarter million acres of land in cultivation in North Carolina, there are thousands which, be cause of poor drainage, being underlain with hardpan, or the soil being incapable 01 improvement, will never give profit able returns from cropping. Others are unprofitable because they are too steep or too rocky. No further attempt should be made to cultivate these lands, but they should be turned into pasture or reforested. Fundamentals Cited Tlie fundamental need of most North Carolina soils is increased fertility, pro viding proper drainage, rotation, and the proper use of legume crops. While the state has been mapped into tipe areas, for practical purposes, there are four major one’s: outer and inner Coastal, Peidmont and mountainous areas. The extreme flat east is confront ed with drainage problems. The inner Coastal counties are generally sandy and while needing drainage also need soil im proving crops. The central Piedmont also needs soil improving practices, however, we find in this area, the most diversified farming, specializing in small grains and dairying. Where tobacco predominates along .the Virginia border and where cotton rules the South Carolina border we find the greatest need for more diversification mgm x jHr uhIP AM ift sign 1 ■FtL X P 'lKis ... M mM ■ Wf 2 jhf ~ Ifly JB In point of acreage, corn is North Carolina’s most important crop. and soil building practices. Much of this territory, in which the land is kept poor intentionally to raise better bright to bacco, soil building crops are badly needed. In the West or foothill and moun tain counties, pasturage on the hillside and crops in the valley predominate. I hese steep hillsides must be held to gether with grasss or trees'. Terraces alone will not do. These counties have long known and used good soil control. State Well Balanced The state as a whole is very well balanced in the average crop production. However, many areas could use some ciops and livestock to an advantage. Much of the eastern territory should re duce cash crops and use legumes to build tip the soil. In this section, there should be considerable increases of cattle, hogs and poultry for home and commercial use. Practically the same condition ex tends into the inner coastal section and up to the Peidmont area. The Piedmont section offers the most diversified farming of any territory in the state with the exception of a few limited areas. More beef cattle and soil improving crops could be used to an advantage in most counties. The gentlv sloping hills of the Piedmont that reach up to the mountainous district should pioduce more cattle and small grains in an effort to control erosion. Much of the cash or row crops in this territory 7 and the mountains should be discouraged. To the reasons cited for selecting North Carolina as my future home, I can now add many more, including ex cellent highways, water, rail, motor, and airplane transportation to “every where;” hydro-electric power in abund ance developed within the state’s own borders and the rural electrification pro gram fast being put into effect; a State Agricultural College and a Department of Agriculture that are outstanding. Just add the soil conservation program to these and you can readily see why there is a bright future for North Carolina. It has ranked fifth on an average in the total value of all crops in the United States for the past three years. Tobacco alone returns more than si<x>,<xx),(xx» an nually. It has five crops each valued’ at over slo,<xx»,<xx> each year, which in the order of their acreage rank are corn, cotton, hay, tobacco, and peanuts. PAGE THREE
Zebulon Record (Zebulon, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 11, 1936, edition 1
19
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