The Wilmington morning star., 1945-12-17
Carolina Farm Comment
BY F. H. JETER
By F. E. JETER

have been busy with their thrash
ing or picking in the past few
weeks and few of them are find.
ing that their yields are turning
out better than was expected. ;
Growers in Hartford County says
that the crop in that county is only
about IS per cent of what it was
last year, with a heavy demand
for the farmers stock peanuts.
BERTHE growers say they are get
ting the smallest acre yield ever
produced. They estimate that the
crop will not measure up to so per
cent or one-half of what it was in
A, and some of them say they
have harvested less than five bags
an acre. Martin County producers
have had the same experience and
say. that their harvest is turning out
anywhere from five to 16 bags an
acre with the average being about
one-half normal crop. - @~' ~
=. ~ -, -. St.. -
Once in while, however, there
comes a report that is more en-
couraging. = Adrian Matthias of
Barco in Curritucka County har-
vested 107. bags weighing $3.50
pounds each from eight acres of
Virginia Bunch peanuts and sold
the nuts for 1888 per. hundred. He
also produced 243 bales of excel
lent peanut hay weighing IL, $50
pounds and will use this hay as, a
feed for his livestock this winter.
Washington County growers re
port that they have sold practical
ly all of their peanuts and that the
yield will not average over six
bags an acre. This is about one
half Of the usual acre yield for
Washington and is due, of course,
to the wet weather of the growing
season. In some cases, also, the
wet ground prevented the peanuts
from being dug until too late. Lots
of the nuts pulled from the vines
and are being cleaned by hogs.
The trouble is that few growers
have hogs enough to utilize all the
nuts in the fields. Many men,
therefore, went ahead and planted
their fall-seeded small grain and
legumes without trying to CLEAN
the fields. Reports indicate that
almost all fall planted crops are
growing we'll. There is some de-
struction of early oats by plant
lice, however. *1a :<
c.. While. the peanut growers gen.
orally harvested a short crop this
fall, those harvested are Of excel
lent quality. There is little com
plant from the, growers as to the
grading, of their nuts because mos
of them are turning out a meat
grade of 70 per cent or better
Prices. also are satisfactory. II
Down in Hoke County, where the
peanut acreage is expanding, a
few farmers made extra good
crops and are getting good prices
For instance, il Tapp, Of Tim.
berland, grew two and one-hal1
acres of the North: Carolina I'm,
proved Spanish variety and pro
duced 3,840 pounds of nuts on the
two and one-half acres, selling
them for $4,000. Farm Agent Alb
ner Knowles. says there lis lots OF
sandy land in Hoke that is suit.
able for peanut growing and he
looks for the crop to become more
popular in the years to come.
He said also that his farmers
found it hard to get supply Of
seed wheat this fall. The feed
mills stripped the county of wheat
early in the summer and some
growers sold too closely. AS a re.
suit they had to hunt around try
ing to find enough seed to plant
their usual wheat acreage this fall
In Columbus County, about 5000
acres of peanuts were planted this
year. Farm Agent Charley Rapel
said the excessive rains and the
lack of labor when the rains were
over. made it almost impossible
to harvest the crop. The growers
had thought that they would have
enough prisoner-of-war labor to
harvest about $500 acres, or, one
half of the crop but the prisoners
actually. harvested only 1923 acres
While this was a disappointment
the growers were grateful for the
help that they did get because they
said. that had the prisoners moi
harvested the 1923 acres, almost
the entire crop would have beer
lost. 49,. .,,,. 4
Northampton County had almost
normal production of peanuts
this year. Growers said the croE
turned out from 8 to "a bags ar
acre and that the nuts were of q
high quality. Where they used the
sulphur dust to control the leaf
spot disease, the quality Of the