The Wilmington morning star., 1946-07-22
Carolina Farm Comment
Bv F. H. JETER

CORNELL UNIVERSITY, 1THA-
CA, New York, July 21.-The farm.
ing country around this University
town, here in upstate New York,
is rolling and picturesque, some
thing like the foothills of North
Carolina. Where the foothills OF
North Carolina are devoted to
clean-culture crops, however, most
of this land is in sod and pasture
crops. The other day, I had the
good fortune to drive from Ithaca
to Geneva through the heart of the
finger-lake country. On one side
is Lake Cayuga and on the other
Senaca Lake. Both are deep and
both extend like slender fingers
pointing north and south. We drove
over the Lake Seneca side on Dull
way up to Geneva and came back
down the west side of Cayuga. The
scenery was so enthraling that II
was hard to keep my mind on
the farming scenes that unfolded
themselves in panorama on ether
side.
l noticed, however, that dairy
ing and poultry farming predoni-
mated. These folks are using a lot
of c~ross-bred chickens and they
say such birds produce more Wig.
orously growing broilers as well
as better layers. But the white
painted poultry laying houses
sometimes as high as three stories,
are to be found on every hand A
small part of the land is devoted
to corn and this crop is just aboui
knee-high now. Some is not SO
high and. when I think that this is
the middle of July. I wonder how
they ever will make a crop OF hard
corn. The farmers say that the
corn will step right along from
now on, however. Some land ur
here, also, is devoted to snap
beans or green beans, which are
now just about two inches high
in the fields, and to English peas
which are being harvested. That's
the same peas with which We were
so busy last May. incidentally,
much of this crop goes in the
freezers. This State has develop
ed it's freezer locker system much
beyond what it is in North Caro-
lima. Many Of the farm homes also
are equipped with the home boxes.
Somehow I had always thought
of New York as a Guernsey or
Jersey state; but, instead I find
that Holsteins predominant. That's
easy to understand, of course, when
one realizes that upstate New
York must supply most of the
fluid milk for the teeming millions
in the metropolitan areas Of the
Big City at the mouth of the
Hudson. The farmers have excel
lent pastures for their Holsteins
because it takes lots of feed for
them. Most Of the producers be-
long to the Dairymen's League
and get their grain feed from the
GLE. 1t was a common sight or
my trip to Geneva to see herds Of
Holsteins, lying in the shade or
rich pastures overlooking one Of
the lakes. 1t was cool and it seem.
ed to me that these pastures along
those lakes would be on land toe
high-priced for producing m k
But I suspect that the milk pays
about as well as cottages for rent
would pay.
ALI along the way, the farmers
we're getting in their hay crops.
I saw many fields of timothy for
which New York State is famous.
This grass, as most of you know,
makes a fine hay for race horses
and much of it is shipped to Ken
lucky. The timothy seems to have
a good effect on bone structure
and vigor. The people up here use
pickup balers, much as we do. /
say two at work on the trip and
they were turning out the bales
IN record breaking time. Apple
orchards produce much farm