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/ 1 « Thursday, March 29, 1951 THE CLINTON CHRONICLE Page Five k .1 ♦ • 4 « f *#»*»»»*«»>#«#»#«*»«*##**#*»*##«**#« Farms & Folks By J. M. ELEAZER, Clemson Colleye Extension Infor mation Specialist Grass on the Move Up until the last year or so, we were, not sure of ourselves with grass/ We risked some of it on our rough lands and on our lowlands. As our experience with it accum ulated and our knowledge of it grew we saw more in it. And it was then that we started putting it in some of our better fields. At first a man felt just a little guilty about putting grass in a good field.' or it was the thing that gen erations had worn themselves out at fighting there. But gradually this feeling has gone. And we see good fields in all parts of the state going to grass, good grass, cultivated, fer tilized and seeded grass! Labor is short and the expense of row crops so high that this new use for good land is growing rapid ly. And now we have a whole new system to learn with grass. Many learned a lot on the winter grazing tours county agents held recently. 1 was on a farm in mid-winter where the trend to grass and cattle had been followed 1 . There were gap ing holes of emptiness where the silo doors were. Winter winds whis tled unimpeded through the loft of the barn. And thin shivering cattle grazed what had been good sods down to the very bone. A dry fall, the hardest November cold on record, and a record winter of continuous cold all went to gether to call for a feed reserve that he did not have. We have gone far enough to know that we have undeveloped riches in grass here. But we are so new with it that we have, a lot to learn. The past winer has taught us the worst to expect. Now we can build from there. Evidently, we are not ready to throw the pitchfork away yet. Some hay, straw, or silage in reserve still has a place on the cattle farm. Said Grace Young Tom Moss of Cameron had a good hog sale in early February. ' Not only a good sale, but a sale of good hogs. His customary barbecue dinner was served. Even though winter winds almost drowned out the voice, grace was said there be neath the singing trees. I liked that. To eat a bountiful meal without saying a blessing al ways reminds me of a bunch of hogs that never look up to acknowledge who is shaking down the acorns. A New Seeder County Agent McComb showed me some of the good rye grass grazing that Swinton Gramling had in mid-winter. Said he seeded it with his cotton duster. Just put a large hopper on it. Hugh Woodle tells me he saw several farmers doing that last fall, and they did a good job, too. They follow it with a cultipacker. Change When we werp kinds we knew pine trees mainly as impediments on the land. They kept us from perhaps larger cotton acreages. For it was they that sent their roots in network fashion through the virgin soil. And it was they that planted enduring stumps there that defied time. Yes, they made the land hard to clear for cotton. So we saw ’em as our enemy. We cut the good ones down, and set fire to what was left, yes, annually! So trees have had a rather hard hard time in our midst. But in late years that thing has been changing, changing fast. Whereas our task as kids was to go down every few years and cut ’em down, now similar country kids are taught to set them out and to take care of ’em. Yes, our Clem son forester tells me that 21 schools in 18 counties have been aided in putting on tree planting demonstra tions. Here the youngsters learn not only how to plant a pine tree but to respect trees as a crop, and to take care of them. Three of these were with colored school groups. Change, change, the constancy of it! And most of it, like this, is for the better. Boys are That Way Well do I lemeirtber when ice (man-made) first came to our stone hills of the Dutch Fork. It must have been about 1902, when I was seven years old. It came to our flagstop on the old wood burner that got there at 6:00 P. M. It came in large burlap sacks with several inches of saw dust around it. It was kept in a double-walled, sawdust-filled box in the back of our country store. That time in the summer was well up in the day, and a good many buggies and wagons would be hitched in the woods near the store on Saturday afternoons when the ice was to come. A wool blanket was taken along to wrap it in, and that kept it well. It would take us close to an hour to make the 4 miles home. But when the ice got there all of the makings for ice cream were ready. The only freezer we had for years was a friction top gallon syrup bucket that we turned back and forth by hand in a larger water bucket in which we put the crushed ice and salt. My, how we kids would sit there on the back steps, with spoons in hand, ready to delve into that de light as soon as it was ready. Every few minutes they would i stop, take the lid off, and cut the ; frozen part from the sides of the , bucket, as there was no dasher to do this. After it was pretty well ' frozen, they opened it up, and filled our saucers high with a pile of that ice cream, the best stuff we had ever tasted. At first we ate j too fast, so as to beat the others , to a second helping. But as soon as ' one of those pains shot through our heads and we had to holler out. we slowed up and ate as we should. These Saturday afternoon treats just about topped anything that ever came our way. But on two of these Saturday afternoons mis fortunes struck that were real tragedies to us. I’ll tell you about them next week. COTTON SITUATION EXPLAINED BY DR. ROCHESTER, CLEMSON COLLEGE ECONOMIST Clemson, March 27.—The 1950 cotton crop in the United States was 9,884,000 bales. This was the sixth smallest crop since 1920. The carry over of cotton stocks on August 1, the beginning of the cotton market ing year, was estimated at 6.8 mil lion bales. The total 1950 production plus the carry-over, and the cotton which will be imported will make a supply of about 16.9 million bales for the 1950-51 marketing season. The supply for the 1949-50 season was about 21.5 million bales. Dr. M. C. Rochester, leader, Clem son Agricultural Economics Exten sion Work, in a recent statement says: “The demand for the relative ly small cotton crop continues strong. The consumption of cotton by domestic mills from August 1, 1950 through February 3 was 5,445- 299 bales compared with 4,333,046 during the same period last year. A total of 3,496,000 bales has been allocated for export. Total exports for the six months, August through January this season, were 2,149,000 bales compared with 2,415,000 bales in the same period last year. “The tight supply situation has lead to the establishment of a pro duction guide of 16,000,000 bales this year,” he continues. "The Sec retary of Agriculture has announced 1951 planting guides of 28,400,000 acres of upland cotton. The 1950 crop amounted to 18,551,000 acres. The 1951 production guide for South Carolina calls for 1,2000,000 acres or an increase of 38 percent above the 1950 acreage. Production guides have been suggested for individual counties. These guides vary consid erably from county to county, de pending upon the adaptability of the land for cotton production, the acreage planted in 1950, and other factors. The 1951 cotton acreage guide for South Carolina is slightly below the 1949 acreage. “In making plans for 1951 cotton production, each farmer in South Carolina should consider his indi vidual situation. Many farmers have gone a long way toward balancing their farm program in order to ob tain the most effective use of all their resources, including land, la bor, machinery, seed, fertilizer, in secticides, and other resources, in cluding land, labor, rrtachinery, seed, fertilizer, insecticides, and other re sources. Production of those tlh i n g s which the individua farmer is best equipped to do will still be good business in 1951. It is not advisable for a farmer to wreck a well diversified farming program in order to plant additional land to cotton in 1951. On the other hand, the long-time gains in sail conservation, feed production, grasland farming, and livestock production should be continued. “Every farmer planting cotton in 1951 should strive for high yields and efficient low-cost production of good quality cotton. Every farmer planting cotton should secure good see^ and obtain early delivery of the necessary fertilizers and pois ons. Those farmers who have avail able land and the necessary seed, fertilizer, poison, machinery, labor, and other supplies should consider the possibility of planting additional 'land to cotton if this provides the best use of these resources and the increased cotton acreage does not wreck any balanced farming pro gram which might be underway,’’ he concludes. No estimate of cotton acreage frosts killing much lespedeza in will be made until July but South tended for hay. Carolina farmers are being asked The acreage of soybeans for oil to plant 1,200,000 acres which would ; has expanded rapidly in the past be an increase of 35 per cent over few years and the reported increase the 886,000 acres planted in 1950. j of 22 per cent planned for 1951 is The tobacco acreage is expected a continuation of this trend, to approximate the allotment of i On the other hand it appears that 129,000 acreas, which would be 13 the com acreage will be down four per cent more than planted in 1950. per cent from last year and that The prospective increase of 15 per wheat seeded is seven per cent and cent in hay acreage is a recovery barley egiht per cent less, but that toward usual since the decrease in j the oats acreage is only about one 1950 was due mostly to spring i per cent below last year. — 1 — I SAFETY OF gar YOUR SAVINGS INSURED UP TO $10,000. .1,-. Major Acreage Except Cotton Same As 1950 Acreage planted to major crops, except cotton, in South Carolina this year will be about the same as in 1950. according to reports on planting intentions from farmers about March 1. Frank O. Black, ag ricultural statistician of the Fed eral-State Crop Reporting Service said yesterday. Declines in acreage already plant ed to small grains and that intend ed for com and sweet potatoes are about offset by prospective in creases in hay. tobacco and soy- j beans. Mr. Black said. Safety For Your Savings Figure it out for yourself! From the income you received last year, how much have you SAVED? Ten per cent? More? Or Less? In the future, have something to show for your efforts by sav ing part of every paycheck in an insured ac count here. Start next payday! . 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