The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, April 08, 1954, Image 4
THE NEWBERRY SUN
THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 1954
PAGE FOUR
Everyone Has A Part To Play In The
Work of Conservation In This County
(By T. S. Buie, Soil Conservation
Service, Spartanburg)
Soil Conservation District Week
is an important ocasion for all the
people who live in South Carolina.
Farmers and city dwellers alike
will have an opportunity to learn
about the important problem of
safeguarding our productive land.
The tours, demonstrations,
speeches, and sermons which have
soil and water conservation as
i their theme will be interesting
and informative. Newberry Coun
ty is participating in this program
by a series of events—one or more
of which is being held each day.
There was a time when only
farmers were interested in the
land and what it produced. Every
one else took it for granted. Many
people did not realize that the
land was the ultimate source of
their food and not the grocery
store or meat market.
Today, town people, and espec
ially those who live in towns sup
ported by rural areas, realize that
they have a tremendous stake in
how we use our land. The land is
the source of a very large .share
of our original wealth. Not only
food and clothing, but a large part
of the raw materials for our in
dustries come from the soil. All
of us whether we are manufactur
ers, bankers, storekeepers, doctors,
teachers, or ministers, are direct
ly concerned with what happens
to the land. We are affected,
basically, as consumers of food,
and our income likewise may be
determined by the kind and size
of crops produced. So the im
portance of productive land in our
economy hardly can be over-em
phasized.
We can take pride in the whole
hearted spirit with which South
Carolina farmers are tackling the
problem of proper land use. Every
county in the state has been or
ganized into a soil conservation
district, the second state in the
Nation to become completely or
ganized. In each of these districts,
five farmers act as supervisors,
serving without pay to coordinate
the work of the districts with the
services offered by the Soil Con
servation Service and other pub
lic agencies.
Soil Conservation Districts serve
as a connecting link between all
the people and the individual
farm owner. Thus, technicians of |
We are Interested in
GOOD THINGS TO EAT!
and of course we are interested in conserving the
land, for it is from the land that come many of the
good things to eat which we sell.
The full market basket comes as a result of CON
SERVING the gifts of nature ... all these good things
comes from the earth—the GOOD earth; not the rut
ted, eroded earth. y
The full market basket would quickly disappear if
there were not men working daily to keep our lands
productive.
Soil Conservation has become a MUST and more
and more people realize the importance of this vital
work.
WE EXTEND OUR VERY BEST wishes to the peo
ple of SOIL CONSERVATION. You are doing a won
derful work.
Market Basket
the Soil Conservation Service,
paid by federal funds, are made
available to local Soil Conserva
tion Districts for the purpose of
aiding each farmer in planning for
the proper use of the land on his
farm and also assist him in install
ing those measures which are
needed for its protection.
Farmers of Newberry County
are doing something about this
very important problem. As of
January 1, 1954, 1,203 farmers
owning 156,205 acres of farmland
had developed scientifically sound
conservation plans for the proper
use and treatment of the land. Of
course, not all of these plans have
been put into effect, but at least
a start has been made on each one
and many are wel along the way
to completion.
Farmers throughout the coun
try, and particularly those in New
berry County, can take justifiable
pride at what is being accomplish
ed. Well-planned terraces, sodded
waterways, strip crops, farm
ponds, and other conservation
measures which may be seen as
one travels almost any road in
the county point to the part local
farmers are taking in the nation
wide movement to conserve and
protect our soils.
We must not let our record—
however good it is at present—
let us become self-satisfied, how
ever. The rolling hills of the
Biedmont still contribute to the
millions of tons of topsoil that
wash each year into the sea.
The task of restoration and con
servation is a gigantic one, and
will take many years and the con
certed effort of both rural and
urban people to get the job done.
City dwellers and farm people
alike have the opportunity during
Soil Conservation District Week
to learn more about this problem
in which they have a mutual in
terest and its tremendous im
portance to the welfare of our
country, and especially the part
each can play in advancing the
program of the Newberry Soil
Conservation District. If we are
to leave as heritage to our chil
dren the kind of a country which
they have a right to expect, then
we must leave to them a soil
which will sustain their bodies
and also the democratic wiay of
life which we feel to be the in
herent right of every American
r*-
I REMEMBER,":
BY THE OLD TIMERS
From Mrs. Marie Wilson, Find
lay, Ohio: I remember when I first
went to housekeeping. We paid $4
a month rent. We had a pump out
side for drinking water and a large
cistern that I would use for wash
ing clothes. I drew water in a
large bucket, which was let down
by rope.-I also used this for a re
frigerator, lowering my perishable
foods in small tin buckets.
My washing was done by hand,
on ap old-fashioned wash board—
took all day. Street cars were
drawn along Main Street by horses.
My four children were all born at
home. The doctor came beforehand
and spent several hours. His trans
portation was a bicycle and his
fees were $5.
A few years after my husband
and I married, we moved into a
strictly modem home and the rent
was $7.50. I once went to a nearby
hospital. We paid $25 a week for a
private room, the best they had—
today the same room costs $18 per
day.
I also remember that I took an
old large flour sack, cut it into
strips and tacked it on half of a
broom handle. This was my fly
swatter.
I had long, lovely hair which fell
to my waist—until my husband
bobbed it. Everyone thought it was
a crime, but soon short hair was
the style.
EEVE
B ACK in my romping days, in
the Piney Hills of Mississippi,
it was fashionable for the short-
britches crowd to dream of the
great things they were going to
do—and going to be—when the
magic age of 21 came along. Warm
summer days in the shade of the
Ole fishing Hole and cool autumn
nights by the light of a Boy Scout
campfire were the time and the
place for “airing" noble ambitions.
The lads of my day were made
of sterner stuff than their counter
parts today, \yhere great aspira
tions are concerned. Most of us,
as I recall, planned to join the
French Foreign Legion. Responsi
ble in the most part, was Freddie,
the Eagle Scout, who had earned
nearly every medal in the Scout
ing repertory and felt the Legion
the only place where he would
stand a good chance of adding to
his collection. But, we had a good
ly number of would-be cowboys,
Indians, sea captains, and pirates.
The thing that got me to thinking
in such a vein was a conversation
with a few members of the “new”
generation. Do they want to trek
the hot sands of the Sahara, sail
a schooner around the world, or
even ride a horse? Don’t be silly!
Respectively, they aspire to be a
jet jockey, captain of a space
ship to the moon and a manufac
turer of atom bombs.
Streaking through the sonic bar
rier, cruising merrily among the
oufer planets, and manufacturing
atom bombs—how can you compare
these with the dangers of battling
desert nomads, braving the on
slaught of fierce and determined
Indians,
We have modernized ourselves
into a race of weaklings.
Call us for your dry cleaning
needs. You will like our mod
ern, supercareful methods that
actually add months to the life
of your clothes! You will like
our prompt delivery,our cour
tesy, and our reasonable prices.
ROYAL
DRY CLEANERS
Phone 12 1107 Caldwell
Newberry, S. C.
AT DOMINICK’S
DRUG STORE
PRESCRIPTIONS FILLED
BY LICENSED
DRUGGIST
PRESCRIPTIONS ARE
CALLED FOR
AND DELIVERED
PHONE 981
OLD SOLDIERS MEET . . Conference at White House between
Pres. Elsenhower and Gen. Douglas MacArthur was attended by
ip military and administration leaders. ' but subjects discussed
not revealed.
Part of Every S, C. Farm
Not Doing Its Share
(By State Forester C. H. Flory)
Part of nearly every farm in
South Carolina is forgotten. Or,
if not entirely forgotten, it is not
doing its full job to make dollars
and cents for the man who runs it.
These forgotten acres are the
farm woods.
The farm woods are usually on
land not good enough for field
crops. They provide some stove
wood and fence posts, but usually
return little cash to the owner.
In short, most farm woods are
loafing.
Yet, on farm after farm here in
South Carolina it has been proved
that the woods need not loaf. They
will go to work for owners who
give some thought and attention
to them. Such owmers know it
isn’t good business to let half of
their farms be idle, when they
can be money-makers.
Part of the job of State Com
mission of Forestry is to en
courage and assist farmers and
other owners of woodland to con
sider trees as a crop.
The State Commission of Forest
ry cooperate with Soil Conserva
tion Districts in the state in a
number of ways in the program of
conservation of soil and soil re
sources, including forests.
The Commission advises and
assists in conducting surveys,
studies, field tests, and demon
strations relating to the forestry
program of the District.
Commission foresters assist SCS
District personnel in preparing
detailed forestry recommendations
in individual farm plans, and fol
low up such recommendations
with necessary action with the
landowners.
Commission of Forestry person
nel participate individually and
with cooperating groups in active
informational and educational
work, using newspapers, radio,
moving pictures, exhibits, talks,
field demonstrations, and other
means to bring about a better un
derstanding in the District con
cerning forestry and conservation.
The State Commission of Forest
ry grows forest tree planting stock
to provide to landowners for
planting. During the past winter
more than 34 million forest tree
seedlings were grown and dis
tributed in the state. The seed
lings are sold for $2.50 per thou
sand trees, which is about the
cost of production. Commission
foresters advise and assist leand-
owners in selecting proper species
for planting and in proper methods
of planting and protecting forest
tree seedlings.
The Commission of Forestry
provides personnel, equipment and
supplies for the prevention, detec
tion, reporting and suppression of
forest fires on all wioodlands in
the state except federally owned
areas. A fire protection organiza
tion is set up in each county to
assist landowners with this pro
blem. ach county organization con
sists of a ranger, one or more
wardens, one or more lookout
towers, and a fire suppressing
equipment operator.
Commission foresters assist and
advise landowners in applying
forestry practices to woodlands to
improve existing forest stands and
manage woodlands for maximum
production and profit.
The farm woods can be a very
valuable part of the farm economy.
The maximum production of wood
products and profits from all
woodlands, whether large or small
is good from a business stand
point and good from a conserva
tion standpoint.
The District Forester of the S.
C. State Commission of Forestry
at Newberry stands ready to as
sist farmers and other owners of
woodlands to protect and to man
age their woodlands for maximum
production and profit.
F. H. A, Farm Financing
(By Frank Kolb, State Director
Farmers Home Administration)
The Farmers Home Admini
stration is an agency of the United
States Department of Agriculture
and as such operates all over the
country including every county
in South Carolina. As a organiza
tion it offers the family-size farm
ers a start on the road to better
farming and improvement in living
^conditions for the family through
guidance and credit. Both are rec
ognized as essentials for farmers
who are unable to obtain satis
factory credit from any other
source.
The agency approves short
term loans for making adjust
ments and improvements in farm
ing systems and practices, and for
other normal farm operating pur
poses. Also long-term real estate
loans are made for purchase, en
largement or development of fam
ily-type farms. In the past eight
months approximately $6,000,000
has been used by 4,831 South Caro-
| lina farm families cooperating
with the Farmers Home Admini
stration to establish and carry out
a sound system of farming.
A conservation plan, prepared
by SCS technician, for the entire
farm is considered one of the
first steps tow'ard a sound farm
ing system. Eighty-five per cent
of the FHA Farm Ownership fam
ilies in the State have an approved
conservation plan on their farm to
guide them in a more efficient
and businesslike operation, fn
Newberry County last year 90%
of the Farm Ownership families
were carrying oui these plans as
scheduled.
Farmers Home Administration
has always considered soil the
basic factor upon which farm pro
duction depends. It is the source
of the income from which the
loan is repaid and progress is
made toward ownership. It is good
business any time for a farmer to
conduct his operations on an ef
ficiency basis. Now that costs are
high and receipts are lower it is
necessary that more careful con
sideration he given to production.
High and economical production
cannot be obtained from eroded
fields with commercial fertilizers
alone. A good farm plan however,
will make adequate provision for
a cropping system that will bring
a maximum income over a period
of years and at the same time
maintain and/or improve the fer
tility of the soil and control eros
ion. .
Farmers Homf Administration
takes the position that a cooperat
ing farmer by consulting his local
FHA Supervisor and Soil Conser
vationist and carrying out the
plan designed for his farm will
have taken a vital step toward
improving his economic condition
as well as protecting our natural
resources for future generations.
Accordingly loan advances for ad
justments and improvements along
this line are viewed with favor by
FHA loin approval officials and
farmer advisory committees.
For important Nows
highlights and back -
grounds, road Scanning
tho Nows—« condensed,
analytical report on
what's behind tho big
headlines...
■ ins MPOEVaT WEEK
Water Management Has Big Part *
In Successful Growing of Crops
(By C. P. Guess, Jr., Executive
Secretary, S. C. Soil Conservation
Committee)
Thirsty crops have a hard time
producing good yields. This is
true, even though a farmer ap
plies the best fertilizers, plants
the best seed available, uses the
best insecticides, and cultivates
with the most modern machinery.
The investment per acre, now
days, for almost any crop runs
pretty high. Yet with all the ad
vanced scientific methods, one
link in South Carolina crop pro
duction hasn’t yet been connected.
This seems to be good Water man
agement methods.
Crops which are periodically
flooded from too much rain are
damaged, just as they are from
too little waiter at the right time.
For years, farmers through their
Soil Conservation Districts have
been working with the “too much’’
side of the water problem by ter
racing, building meadow strips,'
contour farming, building-of farm
ponds, providing adequate drain
age, and many other practical con
servation measures.
Nature supplies water from the
sky as it sees fit in reasonably
uniform patterns. To get the best
use of this rainfall, water users
must develop the methods to re
tain some of the dry periods as
well as provide for the least harm
ful means of getting it to the/
ocean. When more falls in a short
period than can be used.
Irrigation experiments at Clem-
son College indicate that water
applied at the right time to many
crops can bring a great increase
in profit above cost. Many farm
ers are proving this for them
selves. As irrigation grows in
popularity and is further proved
a succes on the land, farmers may
begin to wonder where they can
get a good supply of water dur
ing dry seasons.
It is true, with some exceptions,
that a farmer whose land does
not touch a flowing stream, has
no legal right to get water from a
nearby stream, even though hun
dreds of thousands of gallons may
flow unused to the sea. This hard
ly seems fair, when someone could
be using this water for a bene
ficial use along the way. What
happens here is largely true of
water for Municipalities, Indus
tries, and recreational uses. In
some cases, to put water to its
best use, some would have to
take from the stream and dis
charge it into another watershed.
This is not legal, unless it is ex
pressly permitted by the General
Assembly.
Then there are users who have
land adjoining a stream who
could and are in some cases using
Water for irrigation and other pur
poses. They have invested money
in the use of this watdr in the
form of pumping equipment, ir
rigation equipment, and other ma
chinery. Will these people always
have a quantity of water to meet
the needs, thereby guaranteeing
their investments in water?
Landowners are the first to re
ceive the rainfall on their lands.
It is in their hands, tl)e problem
of how this water can be put
to best uae. Will it be allowed to
wash away our soils to the sea, or
will it be controlled with good
conservation measures applied to
the land? When excess waters are
harnessed, will they be put to
their best use before they are al
lowed to flow on to the * sea?
These are the questions a Soil
Conservation District can help
provide the answer for. It re
quires a great deal of work on
the land to prevent harmful ef
fects of too much water. It takes
community spirit and cooperation
to see that all water users have
their fair share of the water avail
able in times of drought.
One of the recent developments
among Districts points to* the
necessity of considering a new
water policy for South Carolina.
Such an act by the General As
sembly should provide for the
equitable distribution of water,
and a method of discouraging the
unwise and wasteful use of this
natural resource.
Generous Americans contribute
well over 4 billion dollars an
nually to charity and religious or
ganizations. Of this amount near
ly 200 million dollars goes to the
fund raisers themselves.
YOU’RE INVITED!
Carter’s Flowers and Gifts extends an invitation to
the public to visit their greenhouse Sunday, April 11
and see the thousands of beautiful and unusual orchids
at their heighth of bloom. .
Cutting and shipping of the plants will begin Mon
day, April 12 and the greenhouse will be closed from
that time.
Carter’s Greenhouse is located approximately four
miles south of Newberry. To get there take the Hart
ford road and turn right just before reaching the
Hartford schoolhouse.
Carter's
Flowers & Gifts
Phone 719
1109 Caldwell Street
Congratulations, Newberry Soil Conservation District!
I
and
Congratulations to The Award Winning Co-operators
You have had a fine and successful meeting here in Newberry and we
are pleased to see so much interest shown in the work of preserving the
good things nature has so graciously bestowed upon our land.
The work of the sponsors of this work is paying off, not alone in the
minds of our citizens but also in a very practical way. On most any road
leading out from Newberry is to be seen the results of this conservation
work.
Newberry is “blooming like the rose” and our county will go on to
greater achievements with the type of devoted men who are donating their
time and talents to this vital work.
Again, congratulations!
Fairfield Forest Products Company