' f ,'i
a
VOLUME
8
THE
PILOT
NUMBER
7
Is a Paper Devoted to the Upbuilding of the Sandhill Territory of North Carot^
Address all communications to
thk pilot pkjnting company. VASS, N C.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1928.
SUBSCRIPi N $2.C0
SANDHILL BELT
TOBACCO PROSPECT
PREVENTION OF
TOBACCO DISEASES
Year Foreshadows a De
cided Expansion of
the Industry.
HEALTH AND
WELFARE ASSTV
BRIGHT TOBACCO
IS STAPLE CROP
January Meeting Held in Pine-
hurst at the Community
Club House.
Bion H. Butler
The experience of the
tobacco
January meeting of the Moore
County Health and Welfare Associa-
TRAP BEDS TO
ERADICATE BUGS
Has World Trade and Powerful
Influences to Market
Its Products.
At a recent meeting of tobacco men
at Aberdeen, B. B. Saunders referred
farmer m the year that has M^t Destructive Diseases ofjtion and the Moore County Chapter I Several Farmers Tried This and to the safety of brght tobacco as a
Ipavec one point I'lght definite. The! Thisi Tfnva nrfiAii* a : t»-.i (ton
leaves one point right
crop of bright leaf raised in this
field in 1928 will be bigger than any- 1
This Crop Have Their Origin
In the Plant Bed.
thing that has ever been undertaken , F. A. Wolf, Division of Plant Path-
here, and the signs are that this ; ology N. C. Experiment Sta^tion.
summer is to see the Sandhills es- Investigations in this State and in
Uablished as one of the important othei^s where tobacco is grown have
and dependable production areas of shown that several of the most de-
of the American Red Cross.
Each meeting of the Moore County
Health and Welfare Association and
Say It’s Worth $20 to
$30 Per Acre.
crop for the farms, and among other
things he remarked that the Sand
hills farmer need not be alarmed
the Moore County Chapter of the P* Metcalf, Entomologist, North about increasing production here in
American Red Cross seems to break ] Calrolina Experient Station. the sand in sufficient degree to affect
all previous attendance records. At The tobacco “flea bug"^ or flea bee-, the market. Mr. Saunders said that
the January meeting held in Pine- tie is one of the most troublesome in-' we could increase the crop would
hurst at the Community Club House sect pests of tobacco. It lives over ^ot be enough to be even perceptible
the bright territory. Gradually the structive diseases of this crop have ^ on the afternoon of Tuesday the 10th, winter under the leaves and grass the hundreds of millions of pounds
farmers have been testing out the their origin in the plant bed. This i there were 85 persons present. around the edges of the field, along bright leaf that the trade calls for.
Sandhill soil and climate, and the fact is of special significance since it Following the opening prayer ditch banks and in the woods. It comes, Carolina produces so large a
composed by the President, Mrs. out on the first warm days of spring ■ Proportion of the bright tobacco that
Francis T. Keating, especially for the | and gathers On the plant beds, attack-! ^t is almost a North Carolina staple,
cumulative results are so emphati- must be made the basis for all rem
cally favorable that it is believed that edial measures, and growers should
here will be a perntanent production be made aware of this fact so that i association and peculiarly in keeping; ing the small plants as soon as they | North Carolina is close to the
area, and that tobacco will grow they may take the necessary precau-
rapidly to much greater importance tions to prevent the occurrence of
as a Middle North Carolina crop. I these diseases in the crop of the com-
Tobacco men are coming this way season. The common names wild-
in increasing numbers from other fire and angular leafspot, also called
sections. Several reasons are offer- "black fire, are popularly applied to the
ed for their coming. The first that ^est known of these leafspot troubles,
is heard is that the quality of the Wildfire can readily be distinguished
leaf grown on the light soil of the by the broad yellow border which sur-
Sandhills is above the average. I rounds the dead, brown spots. Black
am not judge enough of tobacco to fire causes the formation of irregular,
offer this as my opinion, but the fact angular, dark brown or blackish spots i they do, the total will reach one
that the factories appear to pay a ^ without the yellow border, however, j thousand dollars,
little more for leaf here in the sand Once these diseases have been es- I Mrs. Mudgett, third vice-president
with its spirit, the Lord's Prayer was
recited in unison. The minutes of the
last meeting were then read by Dr.
Presbrey, the Recording Secretary, as
was also the treasurer’s report sent
in by R. N. Page who was unable to
be present. There followed a state
ment of the returns from the Seal
Sale up to date. One or two towns
have not yet reported the results of
their sales, but it is hoped that when
are up. It frequently riddles the P^^^t of being the producer of the
plants in the beds so that the farmer world s supply of this favored type.
Fashions in tobacco change. Twenty-
is forced to get his plants from some
other farmer.
When the tobacco is set, the flea
bug follows to the field and frequently
indicates that they find in it some
thing to interest them. At any rate
the Sandhills tobacco sits well to
ward the hea4 of the table if not
at the top, and that is one induce
ment for tobacco men to produce
their leaf in this sandy area. Then
tobacco farmers tell me they like this
climate. It is dry, and it is posfsi-
ble to plow and work in the fields
more days in the fyesix and more
hours of the day than in many places.
The light soil absorbs the moisture,
and immediately after a rain the
plows can go to work. The soil is
light enough that it takes les's power
to carry on, and no bother is en
countered either from sticky clay
soil or from stony ground, which is
the bane of some sections. Here also
is an agreeable place to live. The
proximity of pleasant villages and of
sports and amu'sements, of good
schools, churches, picture theatres,
good stores, banks, railroad facili
ties, good road, and good neighbors,
count for a lot. Good water is
another factor. The delightful coun
try neighborhoods have their charm.
The tobacco farmer likes to live in
a pleasant community just as every
body else does, and here he finds
surroundings that are worth while.
So the tobacco farmers are drift
ing into the Sandhills, and the most
tablished in the field, there is little i from Southern Pines, toM briefly
that can be done to check their spread.
Successful control must therefore de
pend upon the prevention of their in
troduction into the fields at the time
of transplanting or setting out, and
this can best be accomplished by the
growing of healthy plants. A disease-
free crop is practically assured pro
vided the plants are healthy at time
of transplantmg. In order to grow
of the work of the Southern Pines
committee in taking care of six
needy families in their district be
fore Christmas.
Miss Merryman, Red Cross Public
Health Nurse, in making her report,
re-emphasized the need of education
along health lines and cited particu
lar instances of existing ignorance,
prejudice and superstition in regard
five years ago the fashion did not
look with favor on the cigarette. The
cigarette was a “coffin nail” and the
1 1 j. smoker of it was a ‘‘cigarette fiend.'*
weakens the plant so that it dies,! ,4.1,4. 1 •
u 4. • prophets predicted that smoking
and another plant must be set in its - ^4. u • x, 1 ,
XI luo cigarettes would rum the boys, and
* . , crusades were waged against the mild
To combat this little pest on the to- tobacco. Boys then turned to chew-
healthy plants, attention should be to vaccination. In addition she men-
given to the three following sanitary
precautions:
Use Disease Free Seed.
Use seed of known healthy origin,
or which are known to have come
from a disease-free field, and which
has been protected at all times from
subsequent contamination. If such
seed cannot be proc?ured, then place
the seed in a cheese cloth bag in a
jar, or pour them into a jar and cov
er the top with a cheese cloth. The
seed should then be soaked for ten
bacco beds, we have devised what is
called the “trap bed.” Several far
mers have tried this out and say that
it is worth $20 to $30 an acre to them,
because it gives them stronger plants
to draw from the beds, it gives them
a more uniform stand, and it reduces
their labor bill in setting plants.
With these results as a basis we
are asking every farmer to give this
method a trial. Don't expect perfect
results. Every farmer reporting said
that this method would be more val
uable if all their neighbors would use
it.
Build so Bugs Cajnnot Enter.
Make your plant bed three feet
tioned her work among some of the
school children who have lately been , , . ,
suffering from skin trouble. Other each way than you think you
children were reported as having eye ^he? make a tight frame
diseases and It is hoped that steps f/^^ Plank the size you want your
mav be taken to have these children
ing tobacco, and the bolder ones to
cigarettes. Now chewing tobacco has
dropped to a point where it is the
least common form of using tobacco,
with the sole exception of snuff, and
the cigarette is the foremost. Every
other form tobacco except pipe
smoking has lost ground while the
cigarette has come forward at such
an unexampled rate that cigarettes
are used by 14 times as many peo
ple, cigars by not so many formerly,
chewing by not half so many, pipe
smoking by a few more, and smiff has
slightly increased, according to popu
lation.
The cigarette accounts for as much
tobacco now as cigars and chewing
tobacco together, and pipe tobacco
comes second to cigarettes. The base
of these two big forms of tobacco
exam-red and properly treated. the ground all the way around so that consumption is bright leaf. When
In her report, Miss Eifort backed ,f ‘ Movent with
up Miss Merryman in regard to the f ? T !!!
• i.- • A- jtack the cloth to the edge of the
existing prejudice agairist vaccina-! , , . , ^ 1 .l -i.
ou 1 4. 4. A i plankmg bv means of laths so that it
tion. She also stated that the num-; , j
, - j u 1 will fit tight all the way around and
her of unexcused absences from I ® u
, , , , i^ave no holes for the little fiea bugs
BCCU aiiuuivi school hag been unusually large dur- u f i
minutes in a formaldehyde solution, ing November and December. School ffet through it. ihe cio h cati then countered to load up the boys with
This solution should be of the strength I lunches have been started in two be extended so as to cover the rest of cigarettes, and that war will entail
the bed and fastened to poles *n the before the end comes, a higher ex-
the war came it gave the cigarette an
unexampled encouragement. Women
and other influences that had antag
onized the cigarette came forward
with baskets and packages of them at
the trains or wherever troops were en-
(Please turn to page 5)
of one tablespoonful of formaldehyde
to one pint of water.
If formaldehyde cannot be secured |
from the local druggist, bichloride of' A||||||j|| MpAfilld nf
mercury or corrosive sublimate may j IlCCllllg U1
be used instead. This chemical, which j
is very poisonous, should be used in j
the strengrth of o»ne part to 1,000 i
j usual way.
j In this way we have a tight bed in
the center surrounded on all sides^ by
j
a strip exposed to the flea bug. Now
Ranlr nf Pinplllir^t every week or ten
UClllli 1 lIlwlUl Jt j after every heavy rain. The
penciture of money for cigarettes
than for any other thing that enter
ed into the contest.
Nobody can see the limit of the
demand for bright leaf tobacco. It
is a mild light type, less harmful prob-
f fh f k ' to use is arsenate of lead, mix- , ably than tobacco in any other form,
essential factls'that they are able to I parts of water. It is necessary in j g p;„,hurst was I ‘"/^rred’’form "iitWo^r'pounl^of'
make a good crop of leaf an^sell it either ^in its building in Pinehurst on ; rnS'lX -od
for a good price. They find at tions, or injury to ge.mination ^^^8. ^^^ole mass i. uniformly light gray
Aberdeen a good market, wi g , tu^n to page 5) | All officers and directors were re-, without streaks or spots of white. ^
- : elected and the reports of the presi-| ^'Pai*js green, 1 pound mixed with 16 foremost export product of the coun-
i dent and cashier showed that the year j pounds of air slaked lime may be ^ut tobacco is exported in more
11927 had been the most prosperous in jused, but it is not quite as good.) systematic form, and by a stronger or-
roads leading in from all directions i
so they can haul a big load from
bacco companies are the most power
ful selling agency that any farm
product has back of it. Cotton is the
farm to warehouse, and if they are Tim Pilnt In FIlllVAr^ltV
disposed to try a shot at a market UfllVerMiy
away from home a paved road leads
to the factories at Durham anjd to
the factories at Winston-Salem and the
factories at Winston-Salem, and the
distance to both these big manufac- j
tunng centers is nOt very great. The , ^ ,
of North Carolina Library
The Pilot has received from Chapel
Hill the following letter, brought out
Sandhill belt is about as admirably
situated to please the tobacco farmer
as can be imagined, and no place
else is so fully providjed wlitjh so
many desirable conditions. And
another thing that is of considerable
importance, when the farmer in this
region is up with his work and wants
to pick up a few dollars working at
something else, it is usually the
easiest thing in the world to find a
job for a longer or shorter period un
til his work at home calls him again.
He neeid lose mighty little time in
the year for want of something to
do.
One of the things that tells of the
likelihood of a greater influx of
good tobbacco farmers to the Sand
hills is that people in all other sta
tions find this a delightful place to
(PleaM turn to pa«re 8)
paper covering five volumes have been
presented to the University of North
Carolina Library:
“Jan 14, 1928.
“Stacy Brewer, Editor,
“The Pilot,
‘‘Vass, N. C.
“My dear Mr. Brewer:—
“I wish to acknowledge with thanks
your gift of a bound file of The Pilot,
vol. 1-5. I am very glad to have these
in our North Carolina Collection. Is
there any chance of completing the
unbound file we have here covering
the years 1926 and 1927? I will send
you a list of our missing numbers—
there are very few missing—if you
think there is a chance of finding
them. We have a great many calls
for material on the SandhiU section,
and I am sure your paper will be
useful in answering them.
«MARY L. THaRNTON/'
the history of the institution, and
that the bank had grown and develop
ed far beyond the anticipation of those
responsible for its organization.
In 1914, when the Bank of Pine
hurst began business with a capital
of $12,000.00, it was hoped by its
founders that the amount of deposits
might, in a few years, reach $100,-
000, but this figure was surpassed be
fore it had been in existence twelve
months, and by 1919 the business had
reached proportions which made it
seem wise to increase the capital
stock to $100,000, and to build a new
bank home more adequate for its ex
panding activities. This was done and
proved to be a wise measure.
On December 31, 1927, the state
ment showed deposits of $1,047,664.01
and loans of $835,902.80, an earned
surplus of $30,000, and undivided
profits of $10,750.54, making the to
tal resources $1,189,544.16.
The bank has an unbroken dividend
history, never having failed to earn
and pay a dividend since its initial
Locomotives and Cars
This poison can dusted on by put- ganized influence than any other
ting it into a small sack of tobacco commodity, not even excepting the
cloth and going over the strip of to- standard Oil. No other agency is so
energetic in finding an outlet for the
(Please turn to page 3> farmer’s crop as the tobacco com
panies are in marketing the bright
j leaf tobacco, and in spite of all that
is said about the tobacco manufactur-
Pnrrhocail hv they are by their necessities the
ruri;na5i;u uy farmers success, for
; they are his selling agents, and they
The Southern Railway System has their businesis. This one thing
just placed the largest order for mo- bright leaf tobacco a firmer as-
tive power and rolling stock ever giv- guj.ance as a staple and continuing
en by it, having purchased 68 loco- industrial product than probably any-
motives, 3,000 coal cars, 2,250 auto- gigg ^^at is made in this world,
mobile box cars, 250 ballast cars, 200 counting food supplies,
caboose cars, and 25 all-steel mail i Bright leaf tobacco is made prac-
and baggage cars for delivery dur-: tic^Hy without exception in the sandy
ing the spring and early summer of Southern Atlantic sea-
this year. board, and the great bulk of it in
(Please turn to page 8)
Of the locomotives, 63 are for
freight service, 55 being of the Mi
kado type and eight of the Mallet
North Carolina. The soil and climate
seem to make a leaf that can not be
dfuplicated anywhere else in the world.
type, and 5 of the Pacific type are, China has been trying to raise bright
for passenger train service,
The coal cars purchased include 2,-
500 hopper bottom cars and 500 gon
dola cars.
leaf, for the Chinese call for a large
quantity of it, but while they can
(Please turn to page 8)