Henderson daily dispatch., 1939-08-31

valuable piece of work done.
In 1929, j. c. Anthony was sue
ceeded as county agent by J. w.
Sanders, VINO came from Kershaw
county, South Carolina, with ten
years Of experience as county agent.
With him came the first advent of
the cotton boil weevil, and, since
the boil Weevil had been in South
Carolina for number of years, he
was able to bring first hand ex-
perience to the farmers for COM
batting this pest.
Live-At-HOme Program.
In 1880 the county and home
agents, together with the Agricul-
tural Advisory Board and the Home
Demonstration Council, drew up
long time program Of work based
on a live-at-hOme program, and on
April II they held a 'live-at-nome"
banquet, at which nothing but
Vance county grown farm products
were served. Governor O. Max
Gardner was the speaker of the oc-
casion, and he addressed $50 people
on the live-at-hOme program.
At this time prices Of cotton and
tobacco were declining fast, and
agricultural leaders foresaw the ar
at-home" campaign was intensified
in the county. A disastrous drought
in part of the county in 1881, and
another drought in 1882, coupled
with the first appearance of blue
mold in that year, reduced the
tobacco crop in Vance county rs per
cent, and the depression had already
pushed the price down to eight cents
per pound.
First Seed Loans in 1881.
In 1881 the government seed loans
were made for the first time in
Vance county through the county
agents office to- farmers who had
crop failures the year before, and
in 1882, when credit was unavail-
able from other sources, 615 Vance
county farmers received their pro-
duction funds from the seed loan
through the county agents office.
Meanwhile, R. l.. Sheppard was ap-
pointed by the Farm Credit Ad-
ministratiOn as special seed loan
representative for Vance county,
and worked in cooperation with the
county agent. The seed loans have
been continued from year to year,
but are now handled by special
loan agent.
The county agent, meanwhile,
sponsored the organization of the
Henderson Production Credit Asso-
citation in January, 1884, as a per-
manent source of production credit
for farmers in this section.
AAA in 1881
In 1888 came the enactment Of
the Agricultural Adjustment Act
and with it the cotton plow-up cam
paign, which was added to the
county agents duties. From this
time on, the work of the county
agent has been largely that Of re-
ducing farm production, in contrast
to the previous duties Of demon
strating how to produce more.
Shortly on the heels of the cotton
plOW-up campaign came the drive
to, reduce the tobacco and cotton
acreages of the nation through
acreage reduction contracts. Vance
county farmers signed these con-
tracts almost 100 percent in CO.
operation with the Agricultural Ad-
justment Administration through
local committees, and the county
agents office, which had become
the instrument for administering
the program.
The success Of the acreage re-
duction program on tobacco was
outstanding, as evidenced by the
increased prices and improved con-
ditions that followed Immediately
the execution Of the contracts. How
ever, with the voiding of the Agri-
cultural Adjustment Act in 1886 by
the Supreme Court, the program