1927.
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VOLUME
7
C-'
THE
PILOT
NUMBER
27
Is a Paper Devoted to the Upbuilding of the Sandhill Territory of Northna
Address all communications to
THE PILOT PRINTING COMPANY. VASS, N. C
FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 1927.
SUBSCRIPTION $2.00
COKER ENDORSES
GRAPE PROPOSAL
Offers His Assistance in Pro
moting This New and
Promising Industry.
Mr. David R. Coker, president of
the Coker’s Pedigreed Seed Company
of Hartsville, S. C., has expressed
his approval of the proposed develop
ment of the Grape Industry in the
Sandhills of the Carolinas. Perhaps
nowhere in the South, and indeed no
where in the Sandhills is there one
better qualified to speak with au
thority on a new a^cultural devel
opment than is Mr. Coker.
Mr. Coker, as the public knows,
has long been identified with the ag-
rieuliural development of the South
as indicated by his most meritorious
work in connection with the improve
ment of cotton varieties. In placing
his approval on the development of
European grapes in the Sandhills,
Mr. Coker has not spoken idly but
has watched with keen interest the
results of the experimental grape
work at Me Bee, S. C. After watch
ing the result of four years of ex-
peri nientfet ion worK Mr. Coker |is
convinced as to the wonderful possi
bilities that the Sandhills hold for
the Grape Industry. In this connec
tion, Mr. Coker’s letter to Mr. J. N.
McBride, General Agricultural Agent,
Seaboard Air Line Railway, Savan
nah, Ga., is quoted in full as fol
lows:
“I am glad to note that the Sea
board will shortly begin a campaign
to interest the Sandhill sections of
both North and South Carolina in
the growing of grapes. You and
your associates will only be dis
charging your duty to the public by
fully setting before it the splendid
results of your wonderful experiment
in grape culture carried on at Mc-
Bee, S C., in co-op2ration with
Messrs. W. L. and J. K. McCoy.
As you know, I have been vitally
interested in the development of the
agricultural resources of this section
for over 25 years. During that time
I have never seen so complete and
significant a demonstration of a new
and undeveloped agricultural re
source as your grape experiment at
McBee. You have proved beyond
question that many splendid varie
ties of both European and American
table gTapes of the very finest qual-
EARLY DAYS IN
THE SANDHILLS
Wastefulness of Lumbering Methods,
but Sawmills Start
Things
By HON. ROBERT N. PAGE.
Second Article.
With the coming of a new population, naturally there were people of
other church affiliation; Methodist and Baptist particularly and while every
6ody attended the monhtly services at \he old church, the building of others
, began to take form. Mr. W. C. Petty who was
merchant, railroad agent at Manley was a very
staunch Baptist, there were others, and the re
sult, very early in the Eighties, a church of this
faith was built at Manley, the then principal
center of the newcomers. My father, A. F.
Page, was equally as staunch Methodist, and
there were others, so very soon a Methodist
church was built at Manley that attracted all of
that faith from the whole territory.
The opening of this whole Sandhill section to
the outside world by the building of the railroad,
first in me army of laborers engaged in its con
struction, followed by those finding employment
in the mills and turpentine orchards with the us
ual temptations of pioneer life, unquestionably
JUDGE VARSER
LIKES COUNTY
Says Moore Has Contributed
Good Men to State
and Nati<Mi.
had a demoralizing effect upon the entire population; as is always the case
in new countries, certain restraints were removed and temptation walked
in open daylighj. Churches and their influences were needed. Bethesda,
however, continued to hold place in the love of the population of every creed,
probably because of its age and long establishment, as well as its continued
presrage as the social center of a large section and increasing population.
Other people went to their own ch^urch services but care was taken not to
have these services conflict with the monthly service at the old church.
It was a busy, energetic, almost
feverish population. Everybody was
at work and there was no limitation
on hours of labor oiher than that set
by nature, the coming of night; when
it did, there was no place to go ex
cept to bed, and as a rule the long
hours of labor made this no hardship.
Those who had established themselves
at first by small holdings put their
profits and borrowings in extending
their timber holding; this led back
from the railroad and brought the
problem of transporting a heavy
the logs to the mill took attention;
first there was the mule tri^m, reach
ing out along the line of the present
road bed of the Norfolk-Southern
railroad, up to where the Chapin
orchard now blooms. The grade was
such that, mules pulled the empty
log cars up the hill, they were load
ed and run in by gravity. This was
fine as long as it lasted, though many
an hair rising ride was had down
the two and a half mile grade when
the brakes, as they occasionally did,
product like lumber to ihe railroad, j refused to function. There was only
where nothing but sand beds for
roads seemed possible, teaming was
a slow and expensive method and
trams using small steam power, with
track made of timbers began to be
experimented with, in fact the first
trams had for motive power mules,
but, a team of mules could haul three
one thing to do under ihose circum
stances, that was for the crew to take
Judge L. R. Varser, of Lumberton,
in a brief address to the Kiwanis
Club at its Wednesday meeting at
Southern Pines, referred to the con
tribution of good men Moore county
has supplied the State and Nation,
and among the rest Frank Page, the
good roads man of North Carolina.
The subject of good roads had come
up and the Judge said that when he
left the legislature it was with the
decided determination never to re
fuse to help in the building of a good
road any place, but to help to build
a good road wherever the chance of
fered, and he believed in a double
road, or two roads, or more roads
any place, and that experience had
shown that all the argument is in
favor of more roads all the time.
He talked a little about the atti
tude of the Kiwanis clubs, which is
to build, and was emphatic in his ap
proval of creative stiggestion. He
did not take kindly to the destruc
tive criticism which he says is far
too prevalent in this as well as other
states, and he figures that about 99
kickers and critics are to be found
for every helpful creator and builder.
The question of the double road
between Southern Pines and Pine-
hurst was up again for some discus
sion, and next Wednesday was ap
pointed for a debate on the matter.
Ed McKeithen and Gordon Cameron
are to head the opposing factions,
and it is expected that they will try
out most of the argument that is to
be heard for either side. Talbot
Johnson is preparing a brief to sub
mit to the Highway Commission on
the subject.
Gordon Cameron and Dr. Medlin,
who were delegates to the interna
tional meeting of the clubs at Mem
phis made a report on their journey,
and it is needless to say they came
home much pleased with the trip. It
MOORE COUNTY
FARM NOTES
Now Is the Time to Make Prep
aration If you Intend to
Have Alfalfa This Fall.
French leave of the cargo, leaving j so alluring that they have awak-
the cars and their loads of logs to
the fates; that fate was always the
same, when speed beyond a certain
point was gained as they went down
ened Frank Buchan’s interest in the
meeting next year and when some of
the gathering told Frank he would
have to sing for the club if he want
ed to go to Seattle next summer he
p.ang like a nightingale. He made a
the gi’ade, the wooden track gave
times the load on wooden rails that way and cars and logs piled up by
could be carried on wagons. The the side of the road, to be righted | scored some on next year’s
Page interest acquired from time to ! and re-loaded, and on to the mill, j
:ty can be grown on our typical Sand-j time additional timber along the j This gravity transportation would!
hill land. The very heavy yields of , Seaboard road, South of Aberdeen, | not extend beyond the point i
many of the finest varieties and the reaching to a point about where Pine above, since the grade turned there | KMI I
further fact that the ripening sea- Bluff is now located, and west toward . the other way, and to get the timber I - j -
son of the most successful extends and beyond Pinehurst, until there was ' from beyond, something else had to | BACK ON
from July to October seems to indi
cate the logical conclusion that we are
on the verge of the development of
a large, new industry with possibil
ities of most profitable results.
something like fifteen thousand acres
in their holdings. As a rule small
portable mills were used because it
was so much easier to carry the mill
to the timber, than to bring the tim-
On the eve of this great new de- ber to the mill, .and at the mill the
velopment, it occurs to me to issue a
be devised. The first was the baby ,
steam locomotive of all time, neces- |
sarily of liffht weight to be support- , Appears fn Robeson and Scot-
ed by the wooden rails. This was Counties, Reports Of-
picked up as I recall at Norfolk, Va.,
from some defunct contracting firm,
few words of caution. Many new and
promising agricultural developments
ficial of Aberdeen.
Boll weevils are now being found
in some numbers on cotton in Robe-
waste was eliminated, leaving only it made a few trips, but was a fail-
the finished or marketable product to ure. About that time some man
transport to the railroad and the brought out a geared off locomotive j Scotland counties, according
nave failed or been much delayed in markets. In 1882 the water power of with concave wheels designed to use j q J. A. Harris, in charge of the
reaching a profitable stage by a fail- , Aberdeen creek was utilized and the small pine poles as rails, by merely state agricultural department’s lab-
ure to promptly grasp and put into first dam to what is now Aberdeen digging a trench, or rather two of Q^-atory at Aberdeen. He reports
Preparation of Land for Alfalfa.
If you want to be sure of success
with alfalfa this fall or next spring,
then begin to make preparation for
it now. Nothing but good land should
be planted in alfalfa and this should
have been well prepared well in ad
vance. Grass and weeds are two of
the worst enemies that alfalfa has.
By planting the land in cow peas or
soy beans a good portion of the grass
seed and the weeds will be destroyed.
In addition to this you will get the
land in fine chemical and mechanical
condition by turning under one of the
above named crops before planting
time. lime must not be overlooked
in making preparation for the crop.
On the heavier types of soil an ap
plication of not less than three tons
should be made. On the sandy soil
we can get by with a good bit less
lime, but alfalfa on the sandy soil
epecially is not recommended as be
ing very profitable. It can be grown
all right but is better adapted to the
heavier types of soil, particularly the
Davidson found arc^und the Horse
Shoe and also around Haw Branch.
The land must be well prepared and
well drained. It should be worked
to a fine condition for three or four
inches and sub-soiled if possible. Af
ter this has been done the land should
be kept harrowed as often as possi
ble until the seed are planted. Do
not be afraid to put on plenty of fer
tilizer and one that contains a good
bit of potash.
Sowing should be made in Septer,>-
ber if possible and not later than
November 15th at the latest. If it
is impossible to get this done then
a spring sowing can be made after
the danger of frost is over. Fall
sown alfalfa has two advantages over
spring sowing; it generally yields
one more cutting the first year and
one of the greatest advantages is
that it has a si art on the weeds and
grass when they get up in the spring.
In fall sowing be sure to put out at
least 25 pounds of seed per acre and
30 pounds is still better. This will
allow for a little winter killing and
still leave plenty in the soil for a
good stand. For spring sowing a
little less seed per acre can be used
and still assure a good stand.
An acre of alfalfa if well seeded
and conditions are favorable should
yield not less than three to four good
cuttings in one year.
Alfalfa as a cash crop competes
very favorably in many respects with
cotton, and as a hay crop it can hard
ly be beaten. It is almost corn and
roughage too.
The following are ten points well
worth remembering:
Onlv good farmers should plant
alfalfa.
2. Plant only on good land.
3. T vn under a pea or bean crop
t*ffect all of the elements of success, j lake was built and the power gen- them in the sand, putting the poles i finding them at the rate of 100 to 200 jif possible.
No question remains as to the fact | erated, ran a saw mill. As the tim-, end to end for rails, or a railroad.
' per acre as early as June 6, which j 4. Harrow often after
(Please turn to page 5)
bar got further away this mill could | This was known kh the rfhiiy logging
noti be moved, and methods to bring j engine, and a number of them were
operated in the section in the late
1880's and early 90’s.
The Seaboard at this date operat
ed two scheduled trains between Ral
eigh and Hamlet. A local freight
train left Raleigh in the morning,
reaching Hamlet late the same after
noon, and the next morning headed
for Raleigh, arriving there in the
late afternoon; this train handled all
the local freight for the various sta
tions and cai-ried an occasional car
for d<|stinaition be^^nd Raleigh to
make out its load. The other was a
mixed through freight and passenger
service, leaving Raleigh each evening
about 7 o’clock, arriving at HamJet
about midnight, and returning to
Raleigh on a schedule leaving Ham
let about 3 a. m., and arriving in
Raleigh about 9 o’clock, making con
nection with a passenger train for
land is
was a week earlier than they were I turned.
found a year ago. He states that the j 5. Apply 2 to 4 tons of ground lime
weevils are now in the bud of the stone per aQre.
The above is a variety of a European grape
i-rown at McBee, S. C„ and is adapted to the entire Sandhill territory.
(Continued on Page Two.)
young cotton plants and that some of
the farmers are preparing to dust
their cotton with calcium arsenate in
he hope of poisoning the weevils be
fore the sqmares are large enough
for them to breed their first genera
tion.
According to Entomologist Harris,
the winter survival has been rather
heavy. He looks for a w^eevil year
on cotton if the summer weather is
favorable to their increase.
In addition to looking out for the
boll weevil Mr. Harris represents the
State department of Agriculture in
assisting the peach growers to spray
and dust their trees for the suppres
sion of the curculio.
Over 500 club boys and girls are
expected to attend the annoal club
short course at State College July
11 to 16.
6. Make a good application of fer
tilizer.
7. Be sure to inoculate the seed.
8. Plant at least 25 pounds good
seed per acre.
9. Plant preferably in September
when the ground is moist.
10. Cover lightly.
Treating Poultry for Lice.
Recently there has been some com
plaint about lice on poultry. A hen
when covered with lice is not very
profitable as a layer and for small
biddies it is almost sure death. One
of the best methods, especially dur
ing the summer months is to dip the
flock and then spray out the houses.
For dipping the hens use 1 ounce of
Sodium Flouride to each gallon of
water. With the right hand grasp
the hen by her wrings and dip her
(Please turn to page 5)