Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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PAGE TWO THE NEWBERRY SUN FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1953 Good Forestry Practices Aid In Soil Conservation (By State Forester C. H. Flory) South Carolina is a major tim her producing state. The annual harvest of forest products pro vides raw materials for more than 1,500 forest industries, and ranks second only to textiles in the value of products manufactured. The forest industries provide 30,000 jobs and furnish the major means of livelihood to more than 100,000 people. Each year the woodlands of South Carolina add an income of $172,000,000 to the citizens of our state. Most of the forest land area of South Carolina is owned by pri vate landowners. There are ap proximately 108.000 forest land- owners in South Carolina. Of this total there are 102,000 landowners who own tracts of less than 500 acres in size. These small own ers possess almost 3/4 of the land area of our state. It is this type ownership that should be in the best productive state, since most of the private landowners live on their property and can therefore control the use and management of their land. The South Carolina State Com mission of Forestry is extremely interested in the small woodland owmers, and we are confident that if these woodland owners would practice modern up-to-date meth ods of woodland and soil mana gement on their farms, that the production of their woodlands and those of our state could easily be doubled. There has been much emphasis placed upon soil conservation in recent years. Many definitions of the term “soil conservation” may be found. The U.S. Soil Con servation Service defines it as “Using each acre according to its individual capabilities and treat ing each acre according to its in dividual needs.” The capabilities and needs of each acre are de termined by its slope, type, and fertility of soil, degree of erosion, previous use and other similar factors. If we stop and think for a minute we soon realize that we never own land as individuals. Land is something that was here thing that is here for us to use, before we came and will be here when we are gone. Land is some- and it behooves us to use this land in such a way that when some one else comes along and has to make a livelihood from it, it will be in a better shape than it was when we were in possession of it. All of us have crossed the larg er rivers in our state and seen ihem running muddy, carrying the top soil from many hundreds of farms all over the state. In re cent years we have done a lot to decrease the amount of erosion. .Terraces have been built, im proved farming practices have been used, and the proper cutting of woodland areas is more wide- \y practiced. A stand of forest trees helps to build up soil. If you walk through a good, well-managed forest, you will notice that on the ground there is a good litter and under neath a decaying layer of leaves, twigs, and other vegetable matter. This decaying vegetable matter adds organic material and plant nutrients to the soil. It builds up the water-holding capacity and helps control the surface run off water which causes erosion. When woodlands are complete ly denuded, especially those with a ten, twelve, or greater per cent, slope, surface run-off water soon starts cutting gullies down through the land, and it is not long be fore all the work that Nature has done in building up the soil is completely gone. In considering our soil, we are doing it for the purpose of pro ducing greater quantities of tim ber, crops, and other products. Just as there are ways and means for better conservation of the soil, there are modern ways to consider our timber resources. Timber is not an annual crop that is, something that is planted and harvested in the same year. It is a crop that can be grown with periodic harvest over a longer per iod of time, yet providing an in come to the owner in periods rang ing from 5 to 10 years. The idea is to keep the forest growing by periodic thinnings at a rate which is equal to, or much greater than, a comparable rate of return which could be received if the trees were converted into money in the bank, "special instruments can be used to determine how fast the forest stands are growing. When it is observed that the trees are slow ing down in growth, a thinning can be made to give the better trees more room to accelerate heir growth, thereby increasing their value in the future. One thing that many people for get in taking care of their wood land, is that big trees have to start off as little trees, and that even a little woods fire will kill a little tree. Here in South Carolina every year over 5,000 woods fires burn a quarter million acres of farm industrial, and public woodlands. They are usually not the big fires that blaze through the tops of the trees, they usually hug the ground and flare up now and then. Many people think they cause no dam age, but this is not true, for hid den in the grass are little trees which are the beginning of the new' forest. When land burns over year after year the little trees nevei have a chance to get large enough to survive the fire. The South Carolina State Commission of Forestry places as its number one objective the control of forest fires.. If only the wild fires could be controlled, it would be a great step forward in the conservation of a great natural resource. We know" that forest fires can be con trolled, because 99 out of every 100 forest fires are started by people, and if people want to con trol forest fires, they can. It is estimated that there are 1*4 million acres of idle, abandon ed, and understocked wmodlands in the state of which approximately 1 million, 3 hundred thousand acres will require artificial planting be fore they can produce commercial timber crops again. Of this 1,300,- 000 acres, some 3/4 million acres will need preliminary treatment before planting, such as scrub oak eradication. ' The S. C. State Commission of Forestry operates a forest tree seedling nursery in Sumter county capable of producing 25 to 30 mil- l lion trees per year. At our pre- I sent rate of planting it will take | some 40 years to completely plant the idle and abandoned lands of our state. Obviously there is great need to step up this program con siderably in order to complete the job in a much quicker time. It's not too late to make a new resolution for 1953, so let's make it a resolution of conservation. Let's protect and manage the forests that w r e have so that each acre can produce its maximum. Let’s protect our soil from need less erosion and waste. Let’s pro tect the little trees which are com ing up in the old fields and in the forest which will be tomorrow-’s timber. On land that is abandoned and not in use, let’s plant trees and get this one and one-half mil lion acres of idle, abandoned, and understocked land back into pro duction. The services of trained foresters are available from the S. C. State Commission of Forestry. Just get in touch with your District Forester at Newberry and he will help you handle your timber for maximum sustained production of forest products and maximum pro fits. Your forests can be one of the most valuable and important crops. It’s up to you. Elowers and Gifts for All Occasions CARTER’S Day Phone 719 — Night 6212 14 Affiliate Members Help In Conservation “Fourteen affiliate memberships have already been taken in the Newberry Soil Conservation Dis trict during 1953,” reported H. O. Long, District Supervisor of Sil- verstreet. Mr. Long says, “It’s a good feel ing to be working w r ith people all over Newberry County who see the need and are willing to sup port the good work being pro moted by the Soil Conservation District. There are many ways that districts can be financed. The best system seems to be through local people who see the need for permanent agricultural develop ment.” “We have long since learned that good agricultural production means good business for the mer chants and people who supply farmers’ needs, as w'ell as those who sell their products,,” con tinued Mr. Long. Those who have purchased af filiate memberships this year are: Johnson-McCrackin Company, Gil der and Weeks, Clary-Martin Seed Company, S. C. National Bank, Hayes Motor Company, Ellerbe Sease, S. C. Paysinger, Gulf Oil Company, William Hunter, Spar tan Grain and Mill Company, New berry County Bank, R. D. Cole man, Jr., J. F. Haw'kins and A. W. Murray. “With these contributions, the Newberry Soil Conservation Dis trict can take more active part in sponsoring speaking contests, pro viding conservation text books for schools, and many other worth while activities to assure good un derstanding of the objectives of the District,” concluded Mr. Long. Fakmbks Ice^ Tuel's Ktvs OUR TRUCKS BRING TO ^ THE FARMER'S DOOR, 1 THE GASOUWE HE WANTS TO STORE WEB.E. WE . AR.E, SIR ! Your valuable farm equipment is useless un less it has Gasoline to run on. Make sure you have plenty on hand CALL 155 NOW! Q LOCAL TRAL>f MARKS. I» FULMER-MC CARSON Saturday, May 9, 1953, Miss Lottie Mae McCarson and Mr. James Carol Fulmer were married at the residence of the officiating minister, the Rev. Julian B. Har mon, D.D., 2019 Nance Street, Newberry. The double ring cere- money was used. They were accompanied by Miss Frances McCarson and Mr. Clar ence McCartha. Mrs. Fulmer is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James G. McCarson of Laurens. She was beautifully attired in a lavender dress with white accessories and a corsage of red carnations. She attended Laurens schools and is employed in the Newberry Mills. Mr. Fulmer is a son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Wright Fulmer of the Fair- view section of Newberry county. He attended Prosperity High school and is now employed in the Newberry Cotton Mills. At present their residence will be at the home of his parents. . NEW FAIRFIELD LIVESTOCK AUCTION M. H. Lynn, County Agent, Winnsboro, has announced that the P. L. Bruce Livestock Com pany has leased the county-own ed livestock building in Winns boro and plans to operate a week ly auction market there starting Wednesday, May 20th. at 1 p.m. Sales will be held each Wednes day there-after. Ted Bruce will be auctioneer assisted by P. R. Long, Jr. nterested persons in Fairfield and surrounding coun ties are invited to visit or parti cipate in this new market. FARMS AND FOLKS By J. M. ELEAZER Clemson Extension Information Specialist BEAUTY AT ORANGEBURG My, the beauty that’s been of late at Orangeburg! There, by the swift brown waters of the Edisto, their munici pal gardens grow in grandeur. It has been camellias and azaleas, growing in rare profusion, and interspersed with Jasmine, dogwood, crabapple, tyisteria, and the like. And in spring and early summer it is roses, the greatest collection of ’em I know of any where. All of these things were tastily arranged by a skilled horti culturist from the start, Andrew Dibble, friend and classmate of my Clemson days. Yes, there on that beautiful river’s bank in the edge of town, beneath towering moss-draped cy press trees, along winding walks through grassy lawns, you see clumps and winding avenues’of such beauty as we see come from earth at few places. And it is all free and open to the public at all times! There in the river’s silent, deep, fast-moving water you will see a waterwheel mounted on a moored platform. The current turns the wheel that lifts water over the diked river bank to supply an ornamental lake and irrigate the gardens. Edisto Gardens, altogether a fascinating place! 4-H CAMPS The 4-H camping season is al most here again. Boys and girls doing acceptable work are eligible. I can well remember when I was county agent how our group look ed forward to this event. And these camps are even better now, with better accommodations and programs. For the little neces sary money it takes, these young sters sure get a lot at their week at camp. (And a good many of them earn that money beforehand by working after school closes. Our state 4-H club leader, L. O. Clayton, tells me the camp!? start on June 1 and run through late August. Each county, or group of counties, goes for a week. County and home agents handle all local arrangements. And a trained staff, with their assistance, takes over at the camp. Did you ever think of it? Our general farm program in South Carolina has become pretty well stabilized, as Director Watkins points out. Once we grew close to 3 million acres of cotton. That took the bulk of our best cleared land, leaving little of that sort for anything else. But through much pain and adjustment, for various reasons, we cut that gradually to less than 1 million. After hitting bottom, it rallied a bit and has become fairly stabilized at about 1 million acres. So we have already put our house pretty well in order, as far as the overproduction of cotton is concerned. And most of our folks feel that we need something like about that 1 million acres in cot ton in our stabilized agriculture of today. I don’t mean to imply that we have reached perfection in this and that there is no room for im provement. There will always be room and need for that. But it begins to look like we have set tled down to a pretty safe and sane basis for balanced crop and livestock production on our lands. We have more corn than we do cotton. And also about as much grain as we do cotton, and about as much grazing too. With the livestock, dairy, and poultry pro duction that fits in with all of that, it looks like we have a pretty well balanced line-up that might best become established there. Then comes the need for improvement in the management and handling every phase of it. With this line-up, we stand a chance of making cotton the “clean surplus” that Henry Grady dreamed of in his day, when King Cotton had his strangle-hold on us. And when that good day comes, we will be strong instead. A good farm ladder, do you have one? Suppose a roof blaze started on one of your buildings. Could you get up there? I saw a fine old farm home at one place and a nice schoolhouae at another go up in smoke simple because there was no way to get up on their roofs and dash a bucket of water on a small fire. BOYS ARE THAT WAY As kids, we naturally liked 1 sweets. But commercial sweets were rare then, as any sort of money was dangerously scarce. So we largely made ours. We grew the flour, made the syrup, and pro duced the butter and eggs. So there we were. Cookies and ginger-snaps were our favorites. They didn’t have any molds to cut them with. But by hand they would cut out men and animals from the rolled dough and cook us novelties like that. And moons and stars too. The rest would just be cut in squares or cut round with the biscuit cut ter. About a peck of cookies of this sort would be baked at a time and kept in a handy jar. We never let ’em last very long. And candy too. We made it from molasses we grew in the sorghum patch. Some of it we pulled until it got light in color. We called that molasses candy. And until this very day, I call that good eatin.’ Then, from our own peanuts, we made another sort from that molasses. It was peanut brittle, mighty good too. At times though we had neither cookies nor ,candy for awhile. Th£n our desire for sweets was satisfied mostly with molasses. We topped about every meal off with a bit of it mixed into a creamy yellow with fresh butter and then sopped with warm bis cuits. And I want to tell you, that’s something else that has not lost any of its appeal through the years for me. We would come in along in the mid-afternoon of long summer days simply famished. The remedy then was usually a good sized cold biscuit. In the side of it we would punch a whole with our finger almost to the other side. Then we would pour that full of molasses, pumping the sides a bit to make it go all around and soak in good. Then out of the door we would go, taking about 3 steps at a time. We were off again to some lure out there in the stone hills or down on the creek. Sometimes it soaked through the biscuit and ran down our arms. But that mattered not at all. We just licked it off as best we could and went on our way rejoicing. Lewis Completes Course In Japan Cpl. William O. Lewi#, whose wife, Daisy, lives at 103 S. Jones street, Clinton, recently complet ed a course in chemical warfare at the Eta Jima Specialist School' in Japan. ' The two-week course is design ed to teach defense against chemi cal, bacteriological, and radiologi cal warfare. Corporal Lewis, who entered the Army in June of 1947, is the son of Mrs. Pearl Lewis, who resides on the Clinton Highway near Whit- i mire.