The Wilmington morning star., 1945-12-24
BY F. H, JETER

BY F. H. JETER
Tabor City in Columbus county
will have a sweet potato processing
plant by February l.
Johnny Lassiter, extension hor-
says that A. R. Howard
of Wilmington and A. B. Garrell Of
Tabor City have just returned
from a trip through Georgia dur
ing which they attended the formal
opening of a sweet potato process
sing plant in Perry, Georgia. They
also visited other similar plants
now in operation in Sandersville
and Sparta, in that state. The
plants were all bought from a
company in Shreveport, Louisi-
ana, which makes a specially of
manufacturing the plants. While on
the trip, Mr.. Carroll bought a
plant to be installed at Tabor City
by February /.
This new plant will be a ire
mendous asset to the sweet potato
industry of Columbus county and
of the Who'll. southeastern section
of the state in Mr.. Lassiter's
opinion. The business men in that
area have done an excellent job
in aiding the growers to grow,
pack, store and snip quality sweets
but they have all felt the need of
a processing plant to take care OF
the off-grade potatoes which are
to be found in every crop grown.
Lassiter says that one of the
dairy companies in Georgia has
six of these new sweet potato pro-
-cessing plants to make carbohy-
drate feed for its COWS. The pro-
cessed sweets make an extra good
feed for dairy cattle. There> also
are eight of the plants now in
operation in Louisiana with 20
others under construction, and or
ders placed for q additional.
Those who are interested in
small rural industries for farm
folk would do well to study this
situation and see if the sweet po-
tato could not be made into more
profitable crop through a program
of selling only the best for use
on the market and disposing of the
remaining poorer quality by pro-
cessing and by making into feeds
for livestock.
Mr.. Lassiter believes that if
North Carolina is to retain its
place as great sweet potato
growing state and if it is to meet
competition from Georgia, Louisi'
ana and the other competing areas,
it will be necessary for us to sci
up a plan for taking the best o!
our sweets, which is approximately
only one-third of those grown, ane
prepare them for the trade as e
raw vegetable for sale to dis
eliminating housewives over the
grocery store counters. The mex
third could then be processed by
canning, quick freezing, or de
hydration for use as food later
when the fresh sweets are all gone
Then the last one-third could be
well processed into feed for live
stock.
There is many veteran, return.
ing from the wars, who is interest
ed in setting up a small business
of his own in some desirable spot
Then too there are business mer
who might consider this new pc
tato industry if they had all the
facts. Mr.. Lassiter believes tina
the sweet potato is an unsuns
source of profit to the North Caro-
lima grower when handled right
and, that more of our people
should realize its importance.
He also adds this timely remind
err, that sweet potatoes are nice
for that Christmas dinner. Such {
dinner never was complete in his
home, he said, without a big dish
of candied yams on the table.
Farmers up in Catawba county
where growing sect potatoes has
long been an art, find that the new
Louisiana strain, of Porto Rice
sweets suits their conditions ex
actly and many of them are adopt
ing the new variety. Earle Brint
nall, farm agent in Catawba, re
ports that among those who secured
was w. L. "Bilr' Cauble. He salt
seed of this last strain last spring
that from one-half acre which h
set to these sweets on June 5, h
secured 1871 bushels of first grade
marketable potatoes. A secone
patch was set out on June 20 from
the second pulling of the slip
and produced 200 bushels of mar
ketable potatoes per acre. Still
a third pulling of slips was set be
tween July 5 and 10 and failed t.
mature or develop fully becaus,
of the late date of setting. How
lever, this third setting did produce