The Wilmington morning star., 1945-09-10


to be found on Roanoke Island
but the larger land area is on th'
mainland, across Croatan Sound
and reached by ferry from the is
land. The major part Of this main
land area is one huge swamp ant
had never visited it except tt
pass through by car until las
week, when R. S. "Bob" Smith
the farm agent, and went to cal
on some of the small farmers tt
be found at Mann's Harbor and il
the East Lake section. There l:
only a narrow strip of land mgr
enough for cultivation running
along the edges of the sound ane
bounded in the rear by the
swamps. But along this narro"
strip one finds small fields c1
corn, truck crops and even pas
ture land maintaining flocks o1
sheep, chickens, hogs and ever
family cows.
M M. Sawyer, a retired fisher
man has five-acre farm, front
ing on Croatan Sound, and two
acres OF the five are planted to
neach trees. He also grows broll'
ers and has bunch of hogs on
another piece of dry land that ne
owns in the East Lake section:
He says that his peach orchard
is one of the most profitable ven
t,1res in which he has ever en-
gagged. There is little fresh fruit
except figs in that section, and
most of the other fruit consumed
there is that which is shipped IN
canned form or comes from the
orchards of other parts of the
State. People came to Mr.. saw
ver's orchard this summer as fast
as the different blocks of trees
would ripen their peaches.
s"Thev even came in the RAIN :,
Mr.. Sawyer complained, and ne
added that picking peaches with
the rain running down ones arm
is not his idea of a desirable job.
FINALLY" he said, Il told them
not TO bother me on rainy days.
The peach grower said he bought
his spraying material from Aber-
deem in the heart of the Sandhlll
section. He kept his fruit covered
with spray according to recon-
mendations of the horticulturlsts
but even then, during the latter
part OF the season, his crop be-
came worny. He found that brown
ROT was one of the great enemies
of the peach in that tidewater
country. Even so, he believes that
much more fruit must be grown
for local consumption and he ex.
pressed his full APPROVAL of the
current campaign which agent Bob
Smith is waging to get more small
planted in Dare.
Mr.. Smith said that where the
landowning families did not have
fig trees, he was asking that more
of this delicious fruit be planted
Dare County is looking forward
to the revival of the Virginia Dare
pageant next year and it will take
considerably more food than the
county is now producing to feed
the visitors who are expected to
jam the stockade at Fort Raleigh
to see Paul Greens famous story
enacted. A movement also is un-
derway to get more land put to
garden vegetables and to expand
the flocks of chickens and turkeys.
Chicken growing is possible even
on the sands of the outer banks
and many of the boys and girls
from Kitty Hawk to Hatteras have
joined in with Bob Smith and
Grace Draughan, the home agent,
to start with baby chicks.
Mann's Harbor is not only a
great little fishing village but il
= ESQ famous for the crabs
caught there during the summer
.~ crabs are placed in barrels
and many of them are shipped
back across Croatan Sound to g
processing plant on Roanoke Is
land where the crab meat is pack
ed in cold storage and shipped tt
eastern markets. The processing
plant has been. open only since
the first of June but the owner
said that ne was packing ane
shipping about 1900 pounds of thu
meat each day.
There is dirt road leading from
Mann's Harbor down to Stumpy
Point. The canal skirts the road a.
is inevitable in that part of the
State. In fact the road. was. made
from the dirt secured in digging
the canal. Between Mann's Har
Dor and Stumpy Point, a distance
of about 16 miles, one can see
only the swamp. Here and there
is small forest of native trees
with some pine, but disastrous
fires have followed the lumber.
men and only too often does one
see only fire blackened stumps,
standing amidst the marsh grass.
S,".-ce blreberries have been plant.
ed in that swampland and are
T. *eo to be very profitable.
So long as I live, l shall never
forget a picture that etched Itself
on my mind as gazed out over
the curving shores of the half.
moon bay at Stumpy Point. Per.
hans I would not have gazed 50
rapturously had I visited there on