The farmer and mechanic., 1915-05-25

Making corn and oats is so easy that |
Harnett boasts a good deal of its |
acreage yields. Tobacco has been |
making headway in the county. and |
the tobacco farmer of Dunn chuckled |
last fall when people were talking !
about hard times for he had money
stuffed down in his boot tops, and he
did not care two cents how long it
took France and England to teach
Germany to take off her hat when
her Uncle Sam has some home folks
crossing the water to Europe. Along
with these other things the farmers
Of Harnett became interested in the
truck crops that have been bringing
money into the country farther east
and it is probable that Harnett is to
become one of the garden counties of
the South Atlantic coast
The Coast Line is probably the
greatest truck moving road of the
county and maybe of the world The
management of the system encourages
the growing Of things that can be
hauled north to feed the increasing
population of the expanding country
and that style of farming is spreading
over to the main line of the road as
we'll as to the lines farther eastward.
| Between Dunn and Mt. Olive a lively
| trucking section is building up, ana
the prediction is made that sooner
or later the truck movement will
reach clear to the Cape Fear river in
Harnett. From Dunn southwark into
Sampson county is a wide range of
country that is suitable for cotton and
grain, for tobacco and trucking, and
one day the opening of the country
from Dunn to- Clinton is going to be a
feature in North Carolina develop
ment. A lumber road from Dunn
goes down into Sampson now almost
to Clinton, and is the evident fore
runner of permanent railroad as
soon as the lumber men can permit
other business to interfere with their
logging work. That will bring a big
acreage of Sampson into touch with
the world, and it is likely the lumber
interests when the trees have been
removed will undertake to replace the
lumber with farms and settlers. No
body knvws yet how much Of all of
this territory will be suitable for
gardening, but the chances are that
a couple Of hundred thousand ceres
is a small estimate.
Advent of Durham and Southern.
After the Coast Line came this way
the line that later became the Fay
etteville branch Of the Norfolk South
ern was built down through Harnett
county, giving an outlet north and
south, and opening a lot of country
Then came the Durham and Southern
road, opening the east side of the
county. The Durham and Southern
= was the fOrerunner Of q development
at Duke that is out of the ordinary
This is the town of Duke, four or five
miles west of Dunn. Duke is a cottor
mill town, and it is a novel one The
: interests that backed the Durha n
: Southern road bought several thou
sand acres Of land in Harnett count,
in the townships of Grove and Averas
, boro. They laid out town and bull
! a cotton mill. The mill is operating
; about a thousand looms now and nm
ploying some seven hundred people
: The people live in the houses bull
U by the mill in the town which is call
ed Duke. The entire plant, town, mill
:. farms, roads, stores, everything, be
!. long to the company. The township
y of Duke was created, and at the las
, census it had a population of 2,6Oa
= the vast bulk Of which is in the town
= It is a clean, thriving modern town
. attractive in every way to the visitor
: it's mill one Of the biggest in tn
= State, it's store one of the big store
:, Of the State, it's roads models Of tn
y road builders art, and everything i
l, modern.
u Duke Makes Claims.
. Duke claims the beginning Of tn
" road improvement enthusiasm of tn
county. From Duke it has spread a
over the county, and Harnett is dee
n in road construction. The Washing
IS ton to Atlanta road passing throCg
@ Dunn is the most important highway
o as it connects the important town
,e of the county with the big neighbo
S. CONTINUED on Page Two.)