Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1922-08-24

whole crop is considered 1t means
saving of approximately 100000
to the North Carolina cotton farm
ers.
Road Projects Scheduled for Letting.
Twenty-Five projects scheduled for
letting August 30, with an aggregate
mileage OF 1862 miles, will briag the
years letting of roads BY the state
highway commission to 1,11426 miles.
or more than 100 miles beyond the
II 900 miles in 1922" program, and the
total obligation for new construction
for the year more than 100000.
Three projects included in the list
remove the last unbuilt sections of
the Central highway from Smithfeld
to Salisbury, distance Of ITO miles
of continuous paving. The Thomas.
ville-Lexington link, the Hillsboro'
Mebane link and the bridge over the
! Yadkin river between Lexington and
Salisbury are the more important
projects.
With the award Of contracts at the
end OF the month, the commission will
have achieved more than hundred
miles beyond the mark set in Febru-
airy for IL months, and will have set
up a record that is without parallel
in the records OF road building IN
America. Since January l contracts
will have been let for 50S31 miles Of
hard surface road and 545.94 miles
Of gravel.
; The August letting will be the final
big letting for the year, and there
after the commission will focus atten'
ton on construction now temporarily
held up on account of strike condi'
, tions. Chairman Page has pushed the
:, work of getting roads under contract
, in anticipation Of more widespread de-
( mand for contractors when other
( states get their road programs under
| way next spring.
Q Altogether the road program outlin
4 ed at the work under Governor Bick
EFT in 1919 is now approximately hall
+ done. Slightly more than 2,700 miles
|. of new roads have been built, or are
|. under construction, or under contract
t In addition to this mileage the system
l. includes many hundreds Of miles o
O good roads built by counties bcfort
1. the state took over the system.
II Somewhat Of the tremendous under
J. taking the 20 projects offered for Au
n gust 30 presents may be gathere'
l. from the fact that the specification
% cali for the clearing Of 1853 acres o
land, excavations totaling 1,349, ,45O Gu
bic yards Of earth and rock. and tn
bridges on the projects will requir
232S,110 pounds Of structural steel.
~ Forecasts Point to Good Crops.
a North Cardinals corn crop, 1t
III forecasted by Frank Parker, agrtcu
" tural statistician, will this year b
IL .4s. SOS, 900 bushels or 2,628000 acre
still the ten.year average for th
ei state, while the forecast OF whes
III production indicates 5.50S,00O bushe
'e or less than half Of the states foo
az requirements, although It is an Il
e. crease Of % per cent over last year
- = crop.
Is The cotton beN outlook, judgln
m from the present conditions, foreca
:, a crop Of over 100000 bales,
>" 70 per cent Of full crOp-normal co
!e' dition. The boil weevil has done vel
ne little damage as yet, but this Is on
the first part Of his working seaso
NY Less than half Of our cotton area
re- yet infested and only a few counti'
rS seriously so. The state condition
's n per cent is about the same as 4
nu the past two years for cotton, with Il
10 acreage much more than last ye
ch With an average condition OF
ce per cent Of full crop. the probab
'as yield of oats will be a.S3s,o0o. The q
ne tional condition is almost seven p
"a, cent less. but our yield is much 10
eH per acre than the national average.
Cotton Staple viii Be Graded.
An expert English cotton grad
Ing has been employed by General Maj
md ger q. d. Blalock. Of the North Cal
CD. lima Cotton Growers Cooperative
age socSation. THIS expert viii devote
lia, time largely to what the cotton buye
~ call "stapline."
'ws While It Is generally known II
ird long staple cotton brings much M
res or PRICE than that ordinarily grown
irls North Carolina, II Is not 30 wid'
ter known that the difference in the leni
a of the staple in cotton is just
important as the grade.