Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1947-08-07

| 1dIul HAS come pOollS uIdllCe
land then perhaps pature is the
enterprise which is best suited tc
the land. Of course, in order tc
keep the fertility high, to keep
the tobacco land disease free, and
to produce high quality tobacco
over a period of years, it may be
necessary to rotate the tobacco.
Some years the land may be de-
voted to soil improving crops.
Even if this does not provide a
cash income for that immediate
year, it pays dividends over per-
iod of years. After all, that is the
objective of farming-to earn an
income over a period of years.
At the present time and under
the present prices, it is impossible
for farmer to earn high in
come on tobacco alone. Should
the price of tobacco fall, however,
the farmer who is using every
acre of his land profitably anC
has enterprises other than tobacco
will be in a better position than
the farmer depending solely or
tobacco. Once prices fall, it will
be more difficult to add enter
prises than at present. With TIE
possibility of falling prices and
allotments being cut, it is good
insurance for the farmer to use
all of his land for whatever it is
best suited. This will serve as
good insurance for him.
The men who grow tobacco
know that it takes lot of work
to handle one acre of tobacco. The
experiment station, in its research
| ha found that it takes approx
mately Ais hours of man labor
to plant, cultivate, harvest, and
market one acre of tobacco. Com
pare this with the 120 man hours
| used to grow one acre OF cotton
and 40 acres to grow an acre of
corn. The farmers who grow to-
bacco have told me that man
who grows tobacco is never
through work. In one sense this
is a true statement and yet it IS
not. Almost half of this labor
1876 hours-comes in the months
of July and August. Practically
all the remaining labor comes IN
May, September, and October.
This leaves seven months OF the
year that the farmer who grows
only tobacco is not using all the
labor available. In most cases to-
bacco farmers have sufficient la
Dor available to handle the peak
labor season during July and
August. This means that during
the 10 remaining months Of the
year the labor on the farm Is not
being used fully.
This labor can only be used
fully the year around by adding
enterprises which take labor in
months other than July and Aug
ust. As in the case of using the
land, the highest returns on a
farm can be realized only when
all the labor is profitably en-
ployed the year around. The farm
er who grows only tobacco is fac
ed with this question: How can ne
expect to make a decent living
when he works only six months
of the year, while it takes other
people employed on other types
of farming and other Industries
twelve months of the year to make
a living.
| Many farmers all over the state
have found that they can add en-
| terprises, which along with tobac,,
co, will utilize all of the land and
most of the labor the year around.
There is one farmer in Nash
county who grows tobacco and has
herd of dairy cows. He breeds
his dairy cattle to 60 dry the first
of July and freshen in September
During the tobacco harvesting
season the whole labor force Is
available to harvest tobacco.
When the peak of tobacco har'
vest is over. the cows have fresh,
ened and the surplus laor is USED
| in the dairy enterprise. lhlS
farmer uses all that land, most OF
the labor, spreads the income over
the year, and has a higher net
income. The land which is not
being used for tobacco is used TO
produce pasture, grain, and nay.
Other farmers have worked out
profitable combinations OF hogs
and tobacco or poultry and tooac-
co. One small tobacco former IN
the northern part Of the state ada,
ed a small flock of layers ana
was pleasantly surprised to lind
that they paid for the grocery
bill, clothing bill, and covered m
cidental expenses for the family
for the entire year. If the farm
| is large, beef cattle combines very
well with tobacco, because to-
bacco requires little land and a
lot of labor, while beef cattle re-
quire a lot of land and little
labor.
1t is not necessary to add live
stock to secure full utilization OF
the land and labor. If markets
are available, early spring and late
fall truck will utilize the land
and labor and provide additional
sources of income. Many farmers