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Volume 33
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Tomato Processing At Co-op
’Esquire’ Names Yancey County
By Carolyn Yuziuk
What could possibly bo more
gratifying than to have Esqu ire
Magazine, with a circulation in
the millions, name my chosen
home in an article dealing with
what it takes to make a person
happy.
One way to measure good
fortune is by finding out how
many people wish they were in
our shoes. What we have that
others want. We can all"Coimt
our many blessings, name them
one by one" as the hymn goes;
but speaking for myself, it satis
fies the ego in me just a wee bit
mom to have someone else
counting ms blessings for me,
Ii kind of reminds me of how
lucky 1 am!
In the August, 1969, issue of
I squire, under the section "Ad
versaria", we find an article ei>-
tit led "Happy Days l or You! Au
gust, *69" in which the editors
collaborated and eacli contxi
bmed their thoughts to a list
ot things to do which will still
bring pleasure to a jaded society.
They suggest to the reader
that he make two lists. One list
should contain "all the tilings
you should like never to heurof
again", iheir's included " de
monstrations and riots, poverty
programs, hippies, the Jet Set,
nudity in the public sense,"etc,
; Then they say to "make a
list - and study it - ol things you
really need, things that make
you happy just by thinking about
them". It will be a never
ending source of pride and plea
sure to me (I 1 in going to keep
the article to re-read on rainy
days) that number 9 on this
list of perhaps 45 items that a
person "really needs" for hap
piness is "A mountain retreat
in Ymcev County, North Caro
lina". We say, Amen! And
how much nicer to live in Yan
cey County all year 'round, and
how few people are so fortunate
as to be able to do that.
How about food?..they say:
"food: white sweet corn (Coun
try Gentleman is the absolute
best), not those uniformly yvl
low and uniformly taste bss ears
that some idiot biologist ( in
stead of tire wind) pollinated for
us, thinking we like it better bo
cause it has fatter, more uni
form grains, as if consistency
had anything to do with taste ;
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Moments After Accident
S An editor's nightmare -that's the it - might
-have-been feeling an editor gets when he misses
:£ a front-page story. Actually The Yancey Record
£ got the story all right, about the collision of a
1965 model Hodge with a railroad train, but we
missed the pictures last week.
T hureday morning, after the Record was prin
£ ted, this photograph came tlirough the mail with
X the following letter:
£ "Dear Sir,
v W liile vacationing in your beautiful county
Thursday, August 21, 1969
Farmers Find Trellis Tomatoes Yield
Good Profit With New Co-op Facilities
Growing tomatoes can pro
v idc the answer to many North
Carolina farmers whose low
income farming operation needs
a boost! High yields of excel
lent quality tomatoes are possi
ble if All recommended prac
tices are tollovved. Growers who
do follow recommended practi
ces are producing 20 to 30 tons
(uOO-1000 bushels) per acre.
Some better producers have ex
ceeded 50 tons (1500 busiie an
wild strawberries or, at least,
strawberries tiiat are small ard
haven't been bred up as big as
medicine balls and as tasteless;
..." Amen, again!
Tliree other items mentioned
in this array of thoughfe-provokirg
necessities were God (uurrfoer
1 on the list), Manners, listed
second; and further down the
list of desirables, Friends with
old values: faith, loyalty-, to
lerance, respect, admiration,
;X
last weekend, and photographing one of the Stated £
most beautiful railroads, I shot these pictures. ;X
I did not notice anyone else at the accident >!•
•V
scene with a camera, and wondered if you would X;
like to use these in your paper, %
Permission to use is granted... I would appre - £
ciate a copy of that issue of the paper." £
Our thanks to G. M. McDonald for the excel - $•
lent photograph and for his kind words about our %
county. Mr. McDonald is from Greensboro,HC, £
acre. Gross returns after mar
keting expenses, range from
53,000 to 55,000 per acre. Mr.
lavvrence Ray, winner of the 19-
(39 Chamber of Commerce grav
ers award, made $3,0000n one
half acre. He lias enlarged his
acreage this year and plans to
g-row five acres in 1970. He lias
mechanized his operation to in
clude a tractor sprayer, irriga -
tion and a small garden - lawn
tyy>e tractor to use in trellising,
etc. Reading these things, my
cup was filled to overflowing..
Here in Yancey County the 'old
values' as they are sometimes
called, still exist and most im
portant, God is not dead!
The last item on the list
was also the very fitting end of
the article: "A vision of com -
mon sense: clear air and clean
streams; no more war, no more
armies, no more bombs, no big
government or taxes. Peace."
Nvabar Fifty
suckering and picking. This re
duces labor and makes growing
tomatoes more interesting.
How can a farmer join this
thriving tomato enterprise? Mr.
E. L, Dillingham, Farm Ageny
can provide the answers to soil
preparation, planting and care
of trellised tomatoes. The Far
mers Home Administration lias
provided the answer for proces -
sing and marketing sendees for
the tomato crop and other fann
crops.
May, 1968, the Farmers Fbme
Administration extended a co -
operative association loan to
the Yancey County Producers As
sociation to enable this associa
tion to provide Yancey Count y
low-income rural families pro
cessing and marketing services
for trellis tomatoes and other
farm crops. This facility ena -
bles families who are unable to
meet their needs individually to
do so jointly^.
The loan was made after many
months of collecting data and
comprehensive study of the need
for a processing plant in Yancey
County, made by the Extcns ion
Service, Farmers Home Admi
nistration, N.C. Department of
Agriculture and WAMY.At least
two-thirds of the proposed num
bers were in the low-income
group.
A recent analysis of the re
cords of the coop, which is in
the second y-ear of operation, re
veals that 41 low-income fami
lies are participating in the fa
cility-. Os these 41 farmers
there are approximately 20 acres
of tomatoes which should nor
mally increase their net family
income 540,000. In inarycases
this is an increase of fifty per
cent or more in annual income.
Tiiis income is available in
July and August when mos' far
mers are without cash incline fa
essential needs such as food and
school expenses.
Both acreage and price are
up over last year. Quality is up
and all grades, including ripe,
are in demand. Twenty-pound
cartons of number one tomatoes
have brought up to $4.00. Many
present growers plan to enlarge
their acreage next year, and
many new people have indicated
they plan to grow. Mr. Dilling
ham notes that "It is beenming
the thing to do to grow to natcci
It may be a little harder than
growing some other crops, but
you can make more money."
In addition to buying toma
toes, the market provides jobs
(cont'd on center page)