Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1929-03-07
By H. NEAL BLAIR

Having been asked to write some
thing for this publication, based on
my experience in farming, l want to
say in the outset that l have always
tried to get what information l
could from agricultural writings
based on experiment station tests,
and other farmers operations, and
then make some experiments of my
own to try out the, advices that l
had received. AS a result of these
experiences, have decided:
1. That we Watauga. farmers
should diversity our crops to include
all that will show a reasonable profit.
2. That we should be governed in
the selection of these crops by the
amount and kind of land that we
have, our location with respect to
getting out to market, our facilities
for reaching and ability to work
that market, and our ability to fl
ldHCC Illt
8. That we should figure the
normal cost of producing certain
crop, compare this cost with an
average return from each crop,
based on four or five-year produc-
ton, and market, to see if there is
to be profit.
4. Rotate crops as much as pos
sible.
5. For our soil, climate and
marketing facilities, we should Sc
lect from a the following: Cattle,
sheep and poultry raising, dairying,
growing cabbage, potatoes, apples
and hay for market-and then grain
for home use if it can be done econ
omically.
6. That we should lime all the
land that we are financially able to
lime, fertilize freely-but study the
use of fertilizer craefully-use le-
gumes, and be careful how we apply
stable manure-to get the value
ofssit.
Now, to go back and analyze. We
should diversity because our seasons
are so varied that we sometimes have
partial or total failures on one or
more of our principal crops, and we
are also subject to price level set
by the shippers from other sections
of the United States, where any of
our crops are produced on much
larger scale than they are here. For
example, the potato market this
year.
AS to kind of land, location, etc.
Hill land should be kept in pasture
as much as possible and devoted to
cattle and sheep raising-this to pre-
vent wearing and washing away.
Dairying is good business if near a
market for milk. We should bear in
mind that sheep can be wintered
much more cheaply than cattle, if
we do not have plenty of other good
tendable land on which to produce
grain and roughage. AS to the
market for cattle and sheep, we need
not have any fear. Poultry raising,
truck and fruit growing are especi-
ally adapted to the small farm. In
considering these, there is almost al
ways a good market for nice apples,
and for potatoes if they are grown
to show a large average size and are
graded and packed according to
market regulations. The cabbage
market is more limited on account
of crop being so perishable. 1t is
more necessary to know ahead of
time what you are going to do with
cabbage crop. l figure that cab
bage and potatoes are about equal
in value per acre under ordinary con-
ditions. Either will show a profit
amounting to as much as the gross
value of corn crop. But unless a
man knows where his cabbage crop
is going to, he had better go into it
moderately.
AS to the cost of production and
estimate of profit 1 figure rent On
land to range from about $4.00 per
acre for common old hill pasture to
about $4,000 for choice bottom land
run in corn or hay. l count $500
per acre for preparing land for
planting. l count the labor that l
think will be required per acre to
make and horvest a given crop
and l think l know pretty well what
it will take from beginning to end
for most crops that l grow. / count
the seed and fertilizer that l propose
to use. Then l count potato crop
at It's bushels of market potatoes
per acre at S5c per bushel at home !;
, oobbono orop of OK 000 poupdc nor