Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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The Chronicle '1 rives To Be A Clean News paper, Complete, Newsy and Reliable < Olhrnnirlp M i^~. If You Don’t Read The Chronicle Y*ou Don’t Get the Newi Volume LIV Clinton, S. C, Thursday, December 10, 1953 Number 50 farms AND FOLKS By J. M. ELEAZER Clemson Extension Information Specialist "Lespedeza" Broom They called him “Lespedeza ’ Broom. He was county agent at Monroe, N. C., for many years. He retired some years ago and passed away the other year. The folks there tell me he literal ly made the agriculture over with lespedeza. Up to then Union county there had been a run-down, all-cotton county. I once asked Mr. Broom how he got started with lespedeza away back there when folks knew it as a little wild clover, Japanese clover, that would make mules when they ate it. It just grew then on hedge rows and in old field roads and was never planted. He said one day he went back across the field with a farmer to see the crimson clover he had in duced him to plant. He knew their worn-out soils needed something; so he was trying out crimson clover. The clover was a failure. Out there of the hog on butchering day when I was a kid. The first faint fires of dawn were beginning to kindle in the east. And we kids stood close to the roaring Benson Sees Dangers In Rigid Farm Supoort Plan Chicago, Dec. 1 — Secretary of ' Agriculture Benson declared today 1 that rigid price supports and com panion production controls for farm products could bring unemploy ment among non-farmers and “ter rific repercussions in our entire economy.” In criticizing current federal ag ricultural programs, the GOP farm ■ v> ' vSi.*:-:-.-: ' fire that by then had the water in, , . , , , „ the great pots boiling for the scald. chief asked farmers to recognize They pulled the fire away from one* that the effects of reduced agn- side of the pots and proceeded toj output do not stop with the dip the smoking water up and pouri producer hmself it into a tilted barrel that was part ly in the ground and leaning against a piece of cord wood on its side. Actually,” he said, “the num ber of people who earn all or part of their daily living through trans porting, processing, packagng and When it had enough water in it| merchandising of products of our| they threw a batch of hardwood' f arms exceed those actually en- ashes in. That helped clean the; in .. a ! n f, ult _ ur , e .A t S f - : hog that was then slipped into the An over-all reduction in farm output can have terrific repercus sions in our entire economy,” he said. Benson offered this criticism of present farm programs in a speech prepared for the national 4-H club barrel. Two feet stuck out, and with them the men turned the scalding hog a time or two. Ever now and then they would pull it out part of the way and grab a hank of hair tc see if it had scalded en ough. To much scalding would c0 E^ ress . . . . . “set” the hair, they said. So thevi He Promised that the Eisenhow- , wanted to get it just right ' ' er administration will offer to Con- in the spring you could hardly see they pulled the hog out on gress proposed improvements it on the land. But walking back a ^ of old rails tQ k it of{ the which, he said, “will help farm- home he noticed lespedeza growing | ground Everyone grabbed for the ers gain ful1 P arit y of P rice and profusely on the hard untilled soilj ta j lt as the hair s ijp ped off lt easv 1 income in our market places— by their path. He said it was then -phey all lit in to scraping When rather than some fraction of parity* he told that farmer, “Maybe this lit- that end was falrlv clean thev rais-' in a government warehouse,” as tie clover holds something for us.”; ed the hoR slioDed’ the other wel1 45 enlarged markets. He inquired around and found end in the scalding^reL and the? B >' P ant >' ^e meant a standard that a seedman in Alabama offered process was repeated for measuring farm prices, de- .. — After scraping the hair off, the clared by , t0 be fair to farm- hog assumed snowy whiteness tP m Ration to prices they pay. Then the two strongest men lock- law r f? ulr 7 the gov * r ": ed arms under it, while others held ment * L uppor J major crops at 90 tlje upturned feet at both ends. In ^ P ar * t y- e , .this way they carried it to the old; While conceding that farmers Some of the early county agents! apple tree where ^ “g am bii n g must shlft Production from prod in South Carolina organized tours j stlck ** t under the u nU uct to product to meet demand, of farmers aoross the line Vi*re td. in 1he oi the hind j® the secretary said, ‘we should nev- see the lespedeza that Broom was s ]j pp€ . d over a Jim b of the’ tree er lose si# 11 °f our real £ oal: a c °n- promoting. They saw good crops; There the h hun head down * — : : J * Allowing it, where hungry lands, Hot watt;r was poured over it ^ it. He got some. It did well. Soon he had it all over the county. He talked it so* and organized so many farm tours to see it over the county, they called him “Lespedeza” Broom, a name that stuck had been enriched by it. And le pedeza came on across South Caro lina. Now, folks, that’s the history of the coming of lespedeza to the it was scraped down 4vith a razor- sharp knife to get any remaining stray hair. All of this was done by the re- i t ci~c fleeted light from the . open fire. Carolinas. Later the SCS came, g ut day was j ast ap p r0 aching. and embraced it, and added great cou ] d see to do more ex . petus to its growth as a crop. Ana j acting parts of the job at hand. And - . . ... . „ . . the story of its spread is familiar here Wf mark the place unt ii next ultimate, he said from there on up to now. week 7,16 altuation has become A great crop, lespedeza! Recog-j ^— nized by an early county agent., LINEN while growing wild there neari stantiy increasing and more effic lent production of farm goods,” to; meet needs of growing domestic and w'orld population. ~ . j After the linen has been laun- day. T-et those who would shackle agriculture with more and more controls from Washngton study well the experience of Russia and the Iron Curtain countries where regimentation of the farmer has ” he said. so bad that even the Communist mas ters, who hardly ever admit mis takes, have been forced to con fess that food output has fallen Ad extension telephone makes a welcome Christ mas present for family or fneeds Just call our Busi ness Office and arrange to have one gift-* rapped, reads to i under (I. tr..\ Treat the whole family to extra comfort with extension tele phones—so bandy in dining room, kitchen, bedroom or play room. They save time and steps and allow greater privacy, too. And you’ll be surprised with the amazingly low cost of exten sion telephones . . . just pennies a day! To order yours, call the Telephone Business Office. 1 gives all the sheets, towels, shirts, Amaranth is For several summers we have grown some of those brilliantly col ored plants we have known only as summer poinsettias. Folks have seen them in our yard, wanted seed or plants, and we have scattered them around a lot. I never knew any other name for them until the other day a friend told me they were Ameranthis. So now I will know what to call them, if I can remember that word. Now, folks, if you want a splash of color for your yard just about an summer, I would suggest a few of these brilliant plants. They are one of the most colorful things you ever saw. The seed are as small as dust. And ours volunteer a lot, making it no trouble to get plants. But you might plant some in a box in the basement early, like you do tomato plants to be sure of having ’em. • • • • While-Fringed Beetle When I was with County Agent Johnson of Beaufort he showed me the outbreak of dreaded white- fringed beetles that had just been found there around Dale. If this had happened a good many years ago, there would have been a lot of excitement. And justly so- For we did not have the remedy then. But science already had an effective remedy when this South American pest found this footing there in Beaufort. It was a bit of organic poison in the fertilizer un der crops that I first saw County Agent Hubbard try out so effec tively against wire worms in Bam berg about 5 years ago. Since then, much of the fertilizer in the wireworm areas of the state has the needed amount of poison put in at mixing time. And the once dreaded wire worm has been eliminated from their consideration as a destroyer of crops down there on vast areas. Science marches on! And ex periment and experience have often worked the remedies out before the adversity hits us. We then take it in stride by applying the remedy, and go onto better harvests. So hail the experiment station, and the county agent who demon strates its finding in the field! • ^ * A etc., equal wear and prevents any pieces from becoming yellow. relax sdme of the harsher controls to secure increased production.' SOUTHERN BEH- TELE. HONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY Subscribe To The Chronicle Boys Loot week firing of the Thai Way went through the and the killing Surprises galore for 54! • * See the new Chevrolet at e • • CUES CHEVROLET CO. Inc PWh# J* Want Main StroaPl^ CKntnn, 8. C.