Agriculture
Jason Harrell is shown
as he gets his heifer re
ady for Saturday
Americans spend time
and money on lawn care
Amercians love their lawns,
; says Avant Gardener Magazine,
j Indeed, more is spent on lawn
"care ($4 billion) than on orna
mentals and landscaping ($3.75
billion). So if you are a grass nut,
?hereare a few reminders as we
wind down another growing sea
son.
If you need to reseed in places,
be sure to buy the right grass ,
seed for this area. You get what
_ you pay for. Bargain seed w'll
cost you in the long. Look for
named varieties, check for high
germination percentages, and
make sure the amount of crop
<- and weed seed is very low.
Beautiful lawns in the spring
; are the product of proper care in
the fall. First of all, lower the
height of your lawn-mower
blades to about one inch from the
ground for the last cutting only.
Growing points of grass will be
cut off, encouraging plantsto
send out basal shoots which will
thicken the turf the folowing
spring. In the meantime, very
short grass facilitates accom
plishing chores such as raking
leaves and removing debris. Re
member to readjust the height of
the mower blades to two inches.
Grass plants will need the top
growth next spring to carry nu
trients to the root system.
Flower and Garden magazine
suggests that you fill your lawn
mower with gas poured from the
niftiest can around: Pumper
USA offersa 2M> or 5 gallon-size
can that dispenses gas from a
pump handle that looks and
works like the standard filling
station pump, flexible hose and
all. No more ground spills and
wet, smelly boots! For informa
tion, write Pumper U.S.A., Dept.
EMMMl-FG, 11300 Hampshire
Avenue South, Bloomington, MN
55438.
Make your watering count. The
most popular recommendation
for most crops and lawns is an
application of one inch of water
per week. According to N.C State
agriculturist specialists, an inch
of rain on an acre requires 28,000
gallons of water.
By using a little math, or in this
case letting me tell you right
now, we can estimate the amount
Contest winners announced
- We are very pleased to have
" the 1986 State Wheat Yield Con
? test Winners in Perquimans
* County. Albert, Karl and Burt
,< Eure of White Hat Seed Farms
claim thi title with a yield of 97.6
r bushels-acre on Florida 302
. Wheat. They will receive a
~ plaque and cash awards at the
N.C. Plant Food Association An
' nual Meeting in January. Con
gratulations to each of them.
3
I received the following report
r on peanut production about a
? week ago and wanted to share it.
I Please consider all your options
J before selling your peanuts this
; year.
"U.S. peanut production is
j forecast at 1,733, 175 farmer stock
J tons, by USDA's Agricultural
J Statistics Board, September 1,
? 1986 report. The 1986 crop is fore
? cast 16 percent less than last
year and 21 percent below the re
} cord harvest of 1984. The area for
\ harvest total 1.49 million acres,
?is up 1 percent from last year,
Pbut down 3 percent from 1984.
I $ Production in the Southeast is
} expected to total 1,116,500 tons, a
i 19 percent decline from a year
?.ago, although planted acres in
jcreased 9 percent. Yields in the
; Southeast to average 2326
' pounds, down 823 pounds from a
? year ago, reflecting this year's
^drought.
j The Virginia-North Carolina
> crop is set at 335,675 tons, off 9
< percent from last year, due pri
< marily to an 8 percent reduction
Lin acres planted. Yield for the
area is expected to average 2919
pounds, only 24 pound les than
1965.
The Southwest crop is forecast
fat 281,000 Ums, 10 percent less
? than last year. Acreage is down
113 percent from 1985 with yield
forecast at 1892 pounds, up 54
pounds from 1985.
? Total demand for U.S. peanuts
' is about 1,800,000 tons, including
ka dometic demand of 1,900,000
j tons and exports of 500,000 tons.
'Stocks and Processing reports
show less peanuts in .inventory
than 1985; yet, slightly above
normal for this time of year.
Peanut growers in Virginia
{North Carolina have contracted
!tbe major portion of their pro
on quota and additional
ers who did not
duce peanuts above their con
tract have options in marketing
their peanuts. Uncontracted ad
ditional peanuts must be placed
under loan, but may be available
for domestic use, through the im
mediate pay-back.
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426-5403
Hog inventory dropping
All hogs and pigs on North Car
olina farms September 1, 1986,
totaled 2.3 million head, four per
cent below September 1 of last
year, according to the North Car
olina Crop and Livestock Report
ing Service. This decrease in to
tal inventory was the result of a
five percent drop in market hogs
which totaled 2,010,000 head.
Breeding stock at 290,000 head
was unchanged from the pre
vious year. North Carolina ranks
seventh nationally in the total
number of hogs and pigs.
The State's pig crop during the
June-August period totaled
964,000 head, three percent less
eirciiD
THE
WEEDS
fty
J IAN wiNSiOv
of moisture needed for a smaller
space, say a 20 by 50-foot garden.
That's 1000 square feet, which re
quires 643 gallons.
If you really want to get scien
tific, you can estimate the
amount of time required to apply
than the same months last year.
These pigs were produced by
120,000 sows for a record high av
erage of 8.2 pigs saved per litter.
North Carolina producers in
tend to farrow 235,000 sows dur
ing the next 6 months-Septem
ber 1986-February 1987
unchanged from the same period
a year ago.
Hogs and pigs on farms Sep
tember 1, 1966, in the 10 Quar
terly States are estimated at 39.6
million head, down five percent
from a year ago. Breeding inven
tory at 4.84 million head was ten
percent less than a year ago.
Market hogs totaled 34.7 million
this amount by reading your wa
ter meter. If the system runs 10
gallons per minute, divide 10 into
the number of total gallons you
wish to apply.
Thus, putting 640 gallons on 1000
square feet requires 64 minutes.
The most important feeding a
lawn receives is in the fall.
Shorter days and cooler nights
signal grasses to begin storing
food in the roots to tide them over
until next spring. If there is a
shortage in the very early spring,
grass starts the growing season
undernourished and generally
stays that way.
head, five percent less than last
year. Total inventory and mar
ket hogs are both at the lowest
September level since 1975.
Breeding stock is at the lowest
level since 10 State estimates be
gan in 1973.
The June through August pig
crop was 15.9 million head, a six
percent decrease from last year.
Pigs saved per litter average
7.79, a record high for this period.
Producers intend to have 2.06
million sows farrowed during the
September-November period, a
decrease of nine percent from
the same period in 1985.
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Markers
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509 Dobbs St. 426-7311
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Hwy. U.S. 17 Sooth - Hertford
Ph6M 4265688
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