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I 4 "4 u THE CHRONICLE, Clinton, S. C., May 14, 1970—3-B Soil Scientist Should Be Artist BY HAROLD ROGERS Assistant Extension Editor CLEMSON - Maybe the man should be an artist. He sat in his office here, a soil scientist, and painted a bright word picture of the fu ture he sees for beef cattle production in the Piedmont re gion of S. C. He talked about “rich green pastures covering landscapes, and fat beef cattle grazing over hills and valleys." Dr. Leonard Parks, associate Extension specialist in agrono my, wasn’t forgetting mdustrial expansion and urban sprawl. He was talking about “idle acres." And his artistic optimism stemmed from cutstandingwork in Oconee where Cnunty Agent J. C. Morgan and some of the progressive people are proving they can grow and graze grass land pastures year-round. It means growing cattle prac tically without supplemental feeding. “They're eliminating the hay feeding or holding it to a mini mum," Parks says. According to Morgan, most of the Oconee farmers in the TVA fertilization program had to feed no m re than three to 10 bales of hay per cow during the winter. Reducing the hay requirement means money. It eliminates labor neededfor cutting, storing and handling hay. Timely BY COUNTY AGENT, Home Economists SOYBEANS - It is time to plant Soybeans. May is the month, so let me suggest that you get your beans planted this m >nth for best results. Bragg, Hampton 266, Hampton 266-A, and Davis ><1 a trial basis are recommended. SERALA- There is still t’me to sow Serala. I believe you will find that is well suited in a livestock program. It is good for hay, pasture, and of course, it is a giH-d cash crop. AZALEAS - Now is the time to prune and fertilize azaleas. We would suggest that you use a regular azalea fertilizer and be on the safe side. We will test your soil if you will bring us one pint and see how the PH is standing. SOUTHERN PEAS - The fol lowing are the recommended varieties of Southern Peas for South Carolina: Knuckle Purple Hulled Crowder, Mississippi Silver, Floricream. Duplicate lunch boxes are better than one for each family member who carries lunch to a job or to school. One box and its vacuum bottle can be washed and aired thoroughly, while its twin is in use. Smokey Sayt: Leave a clean camp and your fire dead out I von FOR J. DUNK SULLIVAN FOR COUNTY COUNCIL JUNE 9 This cuts costs and puts growers in a better competi tive situation. “It means cattle can be grown here in the Pied mont as cheaply as anywhere. Growers can compete with any body," says Dr. Parks. Secret of the success is es tablishing and using a combi nation of perennial grasses-- bermudagrass and fescue. This is why the Piedmont is favored. Both can be grown all across the region. “They're growing Coastal, Midland, and common bemuda- grass for grazing in spring, summer and fall, and fescue for fall and winter pastures,” says Dr. Parks. In most cases, two land areas are used. But in some they’re growing both grasses on the same pasture, according to the agronomist. The enterprising operations are coming for the most part through the TVA demonstra tions, a special program con ducted by the Clemson Ex tension Service in cooperation with the Tennessee Valley Au thority where pastures are carefully soil-tested and fer tilizer and lime applied as need ed. The Oconee County Agent is a prime booster. “We re well pleased with the way it’s going, and it's gain ing in popularity," he says. Other county agents in Piedmont areas also are seeing some results. Dr. Parks cites Oconee because he’s more familiar with the work there. “It's applicable all across the Piedmont," he says. To him, it's a case of a “go d lime and fertilizer program re placing the need for hay." The end result is that double cropping of grass and the year- round grazing. You just can t grow cattle much cheaper than that, any place, anyway. STRAWBERRY PATCH — Robert H. Jacques, Route 1, Ware Shoals, is kept busy these days selling strawberries. He has about three-fourths of an acre of berries. He began his first straw berry patch about 26 years ago and still has stock from his original plants. He got about the same price for his berries 26 years ago as he does now. Mr. Jacques was 73 years old this past Friday and is still active in working his strawberries and gar den. Anyone having strawberries for sale or wanting to buy fresh berries can call the County Extension Office. Poultry Production Increases In County BY M. L. OUTZ County Agent Poultry production in Lau rens County is on the increase. In the past four years, we have increased more than 150,000 layers, and we are still increas ing. In addition to these laying hens, we now have over 200,- 000 pullets being grown. Mr. Woodrow Zeigler of Hickory Tavern has construct ed two houses with dimensions of 32 feet wide and 400 feet long. These houses are all in sulated and are built especially for growing pullets. The above house has 11,000 baby chicks and will be carried for 20 weeks. This type of enterprise iscatch- ing on by many farmers to sup plement their income. Mr. Zeigler is noted for the ef ficient job he does in growing pullets. Refering totheeggproduction phase of it, our Area Poultry Agent, John Welter, says that eggs are an excellent buy now. I am quoting Mr. Welter in giving you his thoughts as to why prices are good: "What about these good egg prices. The consumer is getting the best food value bargain in eggs of any food on the market. If eggs were priced comparably to beef or pork, they would want 80<? a dozen and rising. Eggs are, in fact, little more than half that price and dropping. Man's Best Friend... an Electric Water Heater! Whatever the household chore, chances are it will go a little easier and faster when you have plenty of hot water as convenient as your nearest tap. And that’s why you need an Electric Water Heater! It’s safe because it’s flame less. Economical. And practically trouble- free because there are no dangerous flames or fumes. Be certain you have an Electric Water Heater in your home so you’ll have all the hot water you need . . . when you need it. After all, hot water is dirt’s worst enemy! LAURENS ELECTRIC C00KRATNE INC. It Doesn't Lost Long Take Advantage Of Strawberry Season Why is there such a good supply of eggs at a reasonable price? It all goes back to the increase in efficiency of production by the many producers in the area. Producers have reached a point where further increases in ef ficiency will be hard to achieve and production costs are rising. This means that if prices of eggs drop during the next few months, the producer will be losing rather than making money. This situation cannot be maintained over a longperiodof time, so production will decline and prices will go up in about 18 months. It would be good to have a continuous stable price but the rules of supply and demand sel dom allow this." Horace Martin of Young’s has 150 acres of corn up to a good stand. Horace got the jump on the dry weather and will no doubt fill his silos with high quality corn this summer. I asked Hor ace how he was controlling the birds, and he said that he was using a compound called Pear son’s Seed Saver. For $1 he could control one bushel of corn and he would guarantee it. He also said DiSyston would con trol the birds. Total hourly employment costs for steel wage-earning employees in 1969 averaged $5.46 compared with $5.03 in 1968. BY HELEN C. CAMP Extension Home Economist Strawberries are here - but not for long! Unfortunately, the strawberry season is all to short. Although supplies are currently nearing a peak, they will have virtually disappeared before the end of the month. Large strawberries are usu ally preferred for dessert pur poses because of their attrac tive appearance. However, size is not necessarily an indica tion of flavor. Depending upon the variety, the small - or me dium sized berries may be more flavorful than the larger ones. Always insist upon bright, fresh, clean strawberries. Make sure their green caps are firmly attached. Berries without caps are highly sus ceptible to mold or decay. An overall red color is nice, but not essential, for the berries will continue to mature and co lor after picking. Since strawberries are highly perishable, buy in quantities that can be used within one or two days. At home pour the berries gently into shallow trays. If they have reached the desired stage of ripeness, store them in the refrigerator. Oth erwise hold them at room tem perature until they are red all over, and then refrigerate. Just before using the berries, wash them quickly in cold water and snap off the caps. Berries al lowed to stand in water will lose color and flavor. To prolong the fleeting straw berry season, consider freez ing some of the tender fruit. Strawberries may be frozen whole, sliced, t crushed with or without sugar. When sugar is not used, add one teaspoon of ascorbic acid to each quart of water, covering the berries to better preserve flavor and color. If a sirup pack is used put the berries into the con tainer and cover with cold si rup (50% sugar), leaving head space. Seal and freeze. To sugar pack, add 3/4 cup sugar to one quart strawberries and mix thoroughly. Put into containers, leaving head space. Seal and freeze. Make some jam now to enjoy when the strawberry season is over. STRAWBERRY JAM WITH POWDERED PECTIN 5-1/2 cups crushed straw berries (takes about three quart boxes strawberries) Spic& CABIN I El F 1 package powdered pectin 8 cups sugar To prepare fruit sort and wash ripe strawberries; re move stems and caps. Crush the berries. To make jam, measure crushed strawberries into a kettle. Add the pectin and stir well. Place on high heat and, stirring constantly, bring quickly to a full boil with bubbles over the entire surface. Add the sugar, continue stir ring, and heat again to a full bubbling boil. Boil hard for one minute, stirring constantly. Re move from heat; skim. Fill and seal containers. Makes about nine half-pint jars. Make a fresh strawberry pie now while the berries are still plentiful. FRESH STRAWBERRY PIE Baked pastry shell, 9-inch 1-1/2 quarts fresh strawber ries; 1 cup sugar; 3 tablespoons cornstarch; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 1/2 cup whipping cream, if desired. Make pastry shell; cool. Wash and cap berries. Set aside half of them (the best ones). Mash the other berries. Blend sugar and cornstarch; add to mashed berries. Cook five to six min utes, or until clear and very thick. Stir in lemon juuce. Cool. Select a few remaining berries for garnish. Add the rest, whole or cut, to cooled mixture. Pour into pastry shell. Whip cream if used. Spread on top of pie. Gar nish with whole strawberries. Note: If strawberries are tart, omit lemon juice. HAM \V BEAN BAKE 2 slices bacon 1 medium green pepper, cut into chunks 2 medium onions, cut into chunks 1 (28-ozs.) can baked beans 1 (8-ozs.) can tomato sauce l 1 - lb. cooked ham slice 2 tablespoons brown sugar Cook bacon until crisp, crumble. Saute pepper and onions in bacon fat until tender. In a 2-quart casserole combine bacon, green pep per, onions, baked beans and tomato sauce. Remove ex cess fat from ham slice. Cut slice into serving pieces, stand on top of beans, parti ally pressing into beans. Sprinkle ham with brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, basting ham oc- easionallv with sauce from beans. Makes 5-6 servings. The CREATE Recreation Program of the Laurens County Community Ac tion Agency, Inc., is now accepting Applications f o r Summer Employ- m e n t in Recreation. Applications are being accepted at the CREATE Office located on the Public Square in Laurens Next to Martin's Tailor Shop. Full-time and Part-time work is available. Young people are thinking about their future. \\ hat does a free America mean to them? Perhaps the 16th President of our country said it as well as any: ‘7/ is not merely for today, but for all time that we should perpetuate for our children's children that great and free government which we have enjoyed all our lives. I beg you to remember this, not merely for my sake, but for yours. I happen, temporarily, to occupy the W hite House. I am a living witness that any one of your children may look to come here as my father's child has. It is in order that each one of you may have, through this free government, an open field and a fair chance for your industry, enterprise, and intelligence, that you may all have equal privileges in the race of life, with all its desirable human aspirations . . . The Motion is worth fighting for to secure such an inestimable jewel. —Abraham Lincoln A Greater Opportunity Employer yM Joanna Plants