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The 80 th Anniversary Edition
WIDEN AND REPAVE
U. S. 41 IN HOUSTON
Houston Farmers Have Sky-Rocketed Yields of Crops, Livestock
County Agent
Recounts Many
Improvements
BY W, T. MIDDLEBROOKS
County Agent
When I came to Houston Coun
ty in July, 1934, we were in the
midst of our first year of cotton
acreage control.
In 1933, a program of destroy
ing about one third of our 12,000-
acre crop of cotton by plowing up
had been completed and a pro
gram of acreage control was be
ing initiated. No measurement of
planted acres had been made and
the committee of farmers had
quite a task to give each farm its
prorata share of the acreage al
lotted. In due time it was worked
out but not entirely satisfactorily
to every one concerned. Today
our planted acreage without con
trol is about 9,500 acres.
While all this was in process,
Houston County had about four
herds of grade beef cattle, with a
small number of cows raised for
beef on about 50 farms. There
were approximately 5,000 head of
hogs raised and killed or sold to
market and about 500 head of
cows and yearlings sold for beef.
Old Timer... on reaching the grand old age of 80 !
Shucks, we have just 61 candles on our cake, but we couldn’t miss this
V C \ 6 ‘h| . W jj chance to drop in on a fellow Georgian who's seen the twentieth
iAI 1 ifP century get itself born...who’s seen that same century pass the
I
4*“** SI w J years W ' th an un<; l ucnchablc enthu,iasm - That’s something
we in our 61st year share with you in your 80th ... a
£ jj perpetually young heart. We hope when Davison’s
( reache * its 80th blrthda v* we l1 be ea B er ln
~ 8
Houston journal
Four-Score Four-Square lB7O-1951
For Freedom, Justice, Peace and Progress
18 Herds Now
In 1951, we have 18 fair-sized
herds of good grade and pure
bred cattle, with approximately
75 farms raising from one to a
dozen beef cattle for sale each
year. All told, there are now ap
proximately 1,000 head sold each
year. Our pasture acreage has
been increased and improved
each year. Our hog crop has in
creased in quality since 1934, but
the number raised on farms is
about the same.
Peanut acreage in 1934 was
about 5,000 acres; in 1938 Hous
ton County had increased to 18,-
000 acres. Now our acreage is
about 8,000 acres for 1951.
Corn acreage in 1934 was about
35.000 acres with an average
yield of 10 bushels per acre. To
day our acreage is approximately
31.000 acres with an average yield
of 18 bushels per acre. This in
crease in yield has been brought
about by improved soil building
practices, which were encourag
ed and promoted by government
payments for planting soil build
ing crops, building terraces to
hold our soil in place, building
waterways, and proper methods
of land use sponsored by the Soil
Conservation Service. In 1934
there were about 15,000 pounds
of winter cover crop seed purch-
-
*
v
SOIL CONSERVATION PROGRAMS AND PASTURES LIKE this have contributed greatly
to the progress of agriculture in Houston County and help assure a sound economy in the fu
ture of this rich agricultural area.
ased from the West Coast planted
for soil building; today we plant
a million pounds each year and
produce from 4 to 8 million
pounds as a cash crop. Our 1950-
1951 crop was about a complete
failure on account of the severe
winter which killed our lupine
crop.
Wheat Yield Raised
Our wheat acreage in 1934 was
3,000 acres, with an average
yield of 12 bushels per acre. To
day we plant approximately 5,-
000 acres with a yield this year
of from 30 to 50 bushels per acre.
Oats have increased from 2,500
acres in 1934 to around 5,000
acres for the past two years. The
yield this year is low, due to a
heavy winter kill, causing scat
tered stands.
Family living has been made
more pleasant by the addition of
several thousand mile's pf REA
lines reaching hundreds of farm
homes that used kerosene or car
bide lights in 1934. This gave the
farm families refrigerators and
deep freeze boxes for preserving
the food supply, which means
better living. Today it is esti
mated that there are over 200
families having deep freeze units
HOME JOURNAL, PERRY, GA., THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1951
NEARLY EVERY HOME
HAS THE HOME JOURNAL
in the county.
Farming as a whole has been
put on a much higher plane. This
change has been due largely to
increase in cost of farm labor,
necessitating a more general use
of labor saving machinery. In
1934 there were about 25 tractors
on farms in Houston County and
about 1,200 work stock. Today
there are over 600 tractors on
farms and less than 500 head of
work animal.s
.Cultivated Acreage Up
In 1934 there were 75,000 acres
of land in cultivation; today
there are about 110,000 acres in
crops and improved pastures.
In 1934 practically no pine
trees had been planted for grow
ing timber and pulpwood. Today
we have approximately 5,000
acres that have been set to pine
trees, and are planting more ev
ery year. Few realize it, but
forestry is the largest agricultur
al crop—May I suggest that all
of us give our forests more pro
tection and care.
According to the U. S. Weather
Bureau, when the weather report
is given as “scattered showers,”
approximately 30 to 45 percent of
the area mentioned will probably
get rain.