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THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, 3. C., March 27, 1968-7-8 Timely Tips FARMS and FOLKS WINS IN SHOW — Congratulations to Truman Leopard of Clinton. Truman entered some of hia top hogs in the Blue Ridge Stock Show last week and won the Grand Champion. The gilt that won was a crossbred and weighed 190 pounds. Mr. Leopard feeds out about 200 hogs each year and says hogs have been profitable for him. Shown above is Joe Cely, who showed the hog for Mr. Leopard, and Mr. Leopard on the right. Laurens County Poultry Business Shows Increase BY M. L. OUTZ County Agent Poultry is on Laurens County. the increase in In recent years there has been many changes in the poultry in dustry, as well as in other phases of agriculture. Of course, each enterprise has grown much larg er than a few years ago. It is not uncommon to find 15,000 to 25,000 layers on a farm. Pullet growing is one phase of poul try production that is different from what it was a few years ago. Usually one farmer will grow pul lets until they reach approxi mately 20 weeks of age. They are then carried to another farm who has different types of equipment and labor. They are kept there for their laying period and the cycle starts over. Laurens Coun ty has increased in egg product ion by 125,000 layers in the last three years. Some of our farmers are now taking up pullet growing. This seems to be on the increase. Pullets are grown on contract The chicks and the feed are fur nished, while the farmer furnish es the equipment and labor. He thPnis ^affl&etfi'&rtaliftfrifce' per chick per week. Recently three farmers have signed con tracts with Central Soya of New berry. These farmers are con structing two houses each that are 32 feet wide and 400 feet long. The houses are built with clear spans so that they can be cleaned out with tractor equipment. Carl ton Pitts and sons of Hickory Tavern and Woodrow Zeiglerare each constructing two houses. J. E. Nix and his son, Buddy Nix, are constructing two houses in the Youngs Community. Ac cording to Mr. Dave Waldrop, of Newberry, there is still room for expansion in the pullet grow ing field. In talking with Mr. Waldrop he says the advantages in growing pullets are that there is very little labor required. Other farm operations can con tinue with very little interruption. Usually the first two weeks re quire most of the labor. The prob lem is then turned to the auto matic feeders and waterers and all that is required is to check by occasionally to see that the equipment is working properly. The new modern type poultry house is constructed in a particu lar manner. Insulated with styro foam to cut down on heat loss in the winter and to keep it cooler in the summer. Production will be far more efficient. Cost of each house is between $12,000 and $13,000. Anyone interested in producing pullets with the described plan can get in touch with Central Soya in Newberry. Or, if you are interested in getting into the layers phase of the poultry pro duction you may call Central Soya at Newberry or call our office. ROUNDUP TIME Roundup time is here. This means that calves should be brought in and given their Black leg shots, castrated, and wormed. These treatments are neces sary if the herd is to remain healthy and the calves bring top prices. Often times we read articles where the writer gives a big ad vantage of growing out bulls rather than castrating them. This may be practical in some special cases but I do not believe it best for our area. We already have enough low quality cattle and if this thing gets started a great many scrub bulls would find their way into established herds. A- nother reason is that buyers are always looking for a reason to cut the price and no boubt bulls bring less than steers. So I hope the knife will continue to be used. I always get at least a dozen reports of cattle being lost due to blackleg. There is always a dan ger of this occuring. Someone asked what the symptons were, my answer was a dead calf. This disease doesn’tplay around. You almost always find a dead calf before you know you have it. Treatment is simple and cheap, your calves have to be vacinated. In recent years it has been found that calves become infected with internal parasites very easi ly. Some years ago, I took a tour with the Cattlemens Association and was told by one herdsman in North Carolina, that worming calves was very profitable prac tice. Gus Ramage of Clinton was telling me that he wormed his herd about two weeks ago and he could tell a difference in them already. FRUIT TREES - Now is the time to think about a spray sche dule for insects this summer. Get in touch with the County A- gents’ Office for complete infor mation. 4-H MEMBERSHIP-Last year in South Carolina 59,545 youths participated in the various 4-H programs. GARDEN WEED CONTROL - Gardeners may use Treflonfor the following vegetables: To matoes, beans, lima beans, okra, pepper, and southern peas. It should not be used at no more than 1 quart per acre. It must be sprayed on the surface and mixed with the soil with a rotary tiller. It does a fine job withcrabgrass, and a poor job on weeds. 4-H ELECTRIC CLUB - The 4-H Electric club is meeting each Thursday evening at 7 p.m. at the Agricultural Building. A series of five meetings will be held. The fundamentals of elec tricity is being taught. Each member is required to build a lamp. USE A CARD FILE instead of an address book. There’s enough room to note birthdays and anni versaries, and index cards are easy to replace. KEEP AN EXTRA SET of plas tic measuring spoons in your me dicine chest. They are handy and can be cleaned easily. It is almost impossible to man age a herd of cows and calves without a coral, head squeeze, and etc. This is a fact that too many tried to put off, it can wait. If you have it only about one half the time and labor is required. And without it, someone could get hurt very easily. We have the plans here at the office for all types of livestock equipment if you would like a copy. It is time to think about spray ing small grain and pastures. 2-4-D is still the best chemical for the job. BY HAROLD ROGERS Assistant Extension Editor CLEMSON-Spiders! These little pests strike fear into the heart of many people. Maybe it’s because of the small size of most, coupled with a po tent punch of some of the more notorious ones. Whatever it is, they can be the scourage of farm and city folks alike. One of the most dreaded -- and one which has stirred up interest in some areas of the state recently -- has the common name of the brown recluse spider. It’s a six-eyed, little monster with eight’legged a mean bite. Clemson entomologist aren’t convinced it has been found here. “Despite the reports, to our knowledge no conclusive identifi cation of the brown recluse has been made in this state,” says Extension entomologist Dr. J. B. Kissam. Actually, the little trouble maker has two •cousins” which resemble it very much. All three are referred to as “brown” or “fiddle-back” spiders. All three have a characteristic “fiddle”, resembling a base fid dle, on the upper side, with the neck of the pattern pointing to ward the spider’s abdomen. “The arrangement of the three pairs of eyes is also an important identi fying characteristic of the genus," Dr. Kissam says. In size, they vary from three- eights to a half an inch in length and are about three-sixteenths of an inch wide. Color is light to dark brown. The web of the brown recluse is rather irregular with a maze of threadsextending in all directions. It shows neither pat tern or plan. It’s the after-effects of the brown recluse’s poison which causes them to be dreaded so. Black widows and other “widow-type” spiders have a neu rotoxic attack, affecting the nerve functions. Brown spiders have necrotic bites, affecting tissues. ,11/. .llo< -il lt*31 k. Reactions of victims can vary. One may not be aware of being bitten for two or three hours; or a painful reaction may come immediately. One scientist says * a stinging sensation is usually followed by intense pain. The local pain is frequently quite intense and the area surrounding the bite re mains congested and hard to the touch for some time.” Also, “the tissue affected lo cally by the venom is killed and gradually sloughs away, expos ing the underlying muscles. . . Healing takes place slowly and may take six to eight weeks. The end result is a sunken scar which may be described as re sembling a hole punched or scoooped from the body.” Natural habitat for the brown recluse is out-of-doors, but it will come indoors, Dr. Kissam says. A clean premises is one way to keep all spiders down. “The can’t survive unless their natural food supply of in sects is present,” he adds. “If household insects are controlled, spiders in the house normally will not be a problem.” Insecticides help insure con trol. They not only wipe out the sustaining supply of insects in the house, but also kill the spiders if they enter treated areas. Dr. Kissam says entomologist at Clemson, The Public Health Service, and other agencies are concerned about the brown re cluse. If it’s in the state they would like to know it. “Since there are several species, only a trained taxono mist can positively identify the brown recluse,” the entomologist says. “It’s essential that any suspected species be in good con dition for identification pur poses.” He offers these suggestions for any shipments to Clemson: Pack the specimen in a ship ping bottle filled with grain alco hol, (whiskey will do); write a complete description of circum stances of discovery, including location, date, place and other pertinent information; send to Dr. J. B. Kissam or W. C. Net tles, Clemson University Exten sion Service, Clemson, S. C. PULLET FACILITY — The above photograph shows the construction of one of a new modern type pullet growing facilities. It is 32 feet wide and 400 feet long and will be insulat ed and fully automatic. It belongs to Carlton Pitts. Shown in the photo graph constructing the building are Carlton, Walt Lollis, Charles Melton, Cecil Lollis, Clarence Todd, Ben Todd, and Converse Todd. Mr. Pitts says that this poultry operation will fit well with his general farming with cotton, soybeans, and small grain. It will require very little labor and will give him dependable income. iy If taxes and surtaxes have you in a bind — or if other expenses are temporarily hard to manage — see Bailey’s Bank for a per sonal loan. Easy payments. Fast service. BAILEY'S BANK M. S. Bailey & Son, Bankers Conservation Contest Set Laurens Soil and Water Con servation District has entered the 23rd annual Goodyear competi tion to select the nation’s top 53 conservation districts, according to Ryan F. Lawson, district chairman. Activities of the district will be weighed against the perform ance of other districts in the state in determining the outstanding district in the annual event spon sored by the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio. Grand award for the 53 dis tricts selected nationally will be an expense-paid, work-study trip to Arizona in December, 1970, for one member of the district’s governing body and the out standing farmer-cooperator in each winning district. The 106 men selected will be guests at Goodyear Farms, a 14,000 acre general farm operation near Phoenix. Laurens district has taken part in the competition in previous years. ^ Lawson said that the district’s outstanding cooperator will be selected from over 1,800 form operators enrolled in the district program. ★ * ★ ★ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ♦ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ♦ * * * * I don't know how much life insurance you need But Chances are, you don’t know either. I can help you find the answer. How? 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