The farmer and mechanic., 1915-06-15
THE CATTLE FARMING OF THF
LUTZ FAMILY IN CATAWBA
(By GEORGE F. COCHRAN)
(By GEORGE F. COCHRANl

W. II Edton' state dalryman, wrote
his sons: Il always regarded your
father as the forerunner not only of
carrying In Catawba county but in
North Carolina" He had preached 70
MS sons and his neighbors the value
Oh cattle. blooded cattle, to be feed
crops produced on the farm, for the
production of milk and butter and
manure to be turned back to the SOIL !
Tor the production of still more feed |
crops. he was years ahead of his |
time, for when he died last year, his |
old age had just begun to see his fell
low farmers catching up with him. !
Teaches The Children
AS his children grew. he drove the
idea into their minds. There is a !
neighborhood yarn to the effect that
he would not give them an acre of
land from his estate unless they
agreed to practice farming with a
cow His teachings were effective.
Each OF his three sons is a dairyman
| today, and each of his four daughters
| Is In the business as much as the sons
The family operates six farms which
| they have named the Dutch Dairy
Farms" four miles from Newton and
six from Hickory; and they are
creating wealth and happiness in a
! cotton country without any more cot
ton than just enough "to give the
| children something to do" They have
dethrOned the king and have made
| principality that lacks little of being
the scene OF ideal country life in
| America.
1t was in this community that the
government experts labored when
they started the campaign for the es-
tabliShment of the creamery On these
farms they gathered the farmers and
talked them into the creamery. 1t
was here that they held their dairy
school. and it was a Lutz farm man
and Lutz farm woman who won the
prizes for scoring butter in those first
days of creamery development when
farmers We're. looking aSkance at the
proposition and holding back with
characteristic rural conservatism. The
Lutzes had 65 head of Jerseys. They
pledged every one to the creamery,
: and they made the creamery possible
And they have had a large share in
( it's success 1t was their family trade
mark. "Catawba Gem Butter" that
the creamery took for it's own. Henry
' P. Lutz is vice-president and director
f and his brOther-inlaw, Lewis H
q SeitZ, is a director, in the creamery
, The creamery now is shipping thou
s sands of dollars worth of butter an(
I eggs each month, and is sending bacl
" to Catawba farmers a steady stream
q Of checks that represent profit pc
butter.
- Full Cooperation Obtains.
It The six farms are owned individu
a ally but operated collectively and il
r full cooperation. They extend fo
y three miles along one Of the county
n butter. much poultry and eggs; swee
"a potatoes, bacon and pigs for the mar
~ ket; corn, wheat, clover. peas, so
~ beans. rye, fruits and truck. Th
- 9 families buy nothing but such com
20 mercial products as cannot be pro
duced on the farm.
!" Deep blowing, diversificatiOn, re
=, tation, manure in great quantities. tn
- -. production Of feed crop, the silo, an
20 all the modern teachings Of agricu
" experiment farms, and the men wh
Z, operate these properties are we
ia known to both the State and the Ns
IL tional Departments Of Agriculture 8
n farmers of the first rank.
ca Raise "SweetS' Extensively.
to AS many as 400 bushels of swe,
e. potatoes have been grown on an acl
en by them. They easily average 25
ne bushels. These they market throug
,st the local cooperative growers asst
or citation and never open their pota1
ed houses until the spring prices are hig
ms enough to tempt them; and then r
rs middle man divides their profits wit
ny them. The finest Elberta peach
known to the local markets come fro
the Dutch farms. The canned cor
Dd Deans, tomatoes, peaches ana all Otn
n canned products which have invari
es bly, won first prizes in the COUNT
nd fairs come from the same place. tt
al farms have won four out Of five priz
ng offered for the best butter produced
ub North Carolina. They have won u
cup offered for the cow producing II
of most butter in day, over thre'
ew pounds. and still hold it. Their semi
50 herd bull is an undefeated champio
ms winning first every time he has be-
on exhibited.
me But the most noteworthy feature
nd the development Of this unique far
led community is that although the
a father was a wealthy man as veal
"a goes in that section, and although t
cry lure of the town and city and pr
ous fesSional and business life was calli
arn the best young men of the cOuntr
by side away from the farm to life su
ul- posed to be of more ease and pleaSCl
in and happiness with better metho