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Houston County Grain Being Harvested From Field
Houston County Peanuts Ready For Digging
Soil Conservation Service Here
Assists Farmers In Many Ways
Soil Conservation work in
Houston County is under the
direction of the Ocmulgee
Soil and Water Conservation
District of Georgia with
headquarters in
Milledgeville. The local
district was organized in 1938
by authority of a state
legislative act approved in
March 1937.
The first year was spent in
educational work. The
second and third years a
Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC) was located at Perry
to serve five of the nine
counties in the district.
By 1943 operations were
well underway and cam
paigns for planting winter
cover crops were promoted.
In 1944, the Green Acres
contest was launched.
In the early 19405, crop
ping systems included corn,
velvet beans, austrian
winter peas and cow peas.
Terraces were made with
mule-drawn plows and “slip
scraper”. Waterways were
usually kudza “meadows”.
Upland pasture im
provement included Kobe
and annual lespedeza with
super phosphate added.
Bottom land pastures were
planted to Dallis grass and
white clover.
In the late 19405, tractors
began to replace mules.
There were better row crop
arrangements and rotation
of crops improved. Im
proved pasture lands were
established as interest in
cattle raising reached a new
high. Thousands of pine
seedlings were planted in
reforestation programs.
Many farm ponds were
constructed and stocked with
fish.
In the early 19505, coastal
bermuda came to be the
grass not only for grazing
but for grassed waterways
and hay after it was found
that fescue was not
satisfactory because it could
not stand grazing during hot
summer months.
Soil conservation Service
personnel in the Houston
work unit have included W.
Virgil Bass, Jack C. Miller,
and Drew Bynum, the
present director.
In discussing conditions in
Houston County, Mr.
Bynum, the present con
servationist, said:
“Conservation plan No. 2
for the late J. P. Mid
dlebrooks, was dveloped in
1940. This plan was revised
in 1970 by his son, Paul.
Sericea and coastal bermuda
replaced Kudzu. Parallel
terraces were constructed on
rolling cropland and
marginal land planted in
pine trees remained in trees.
“Mulch or no-till planting
is beginning to make its
appearance as a new erosion
control practice on a number
of farms. This eliminates
several trips over the field,
conserves moisture, and
reduces erosion.
“The conservation picture
can be viewed with mixed
Houston Is In Ocmulgee
Soil And Water District
The local Ocmulgee Soil
and Water Conservation
District was organized in
1938 with district
headquarters in Perry. It
was originally called Middle
Western Ocmulgee River
Soil Conservation District
but the name was changed in
March 1949.
The Ocmulgee district was
organized under provisions
of the Georgia Soil Con
servation Districts Law of
1937. The U.S. Congress
passed the Soil Conservation
Act in 1935.
Comprising the Ocmulgee
District are Houston, Peach,
Macon, Crawford, Taylor,
Dooly, Bibb, Wilcox, and
Pulaski. This District is one
of nearly 3,000 in fifty states,
Virgin Islands and Puerto
Rico.
The first area con
servationist was the late W.
Carl Huggins. The second
area conservationist was R.
Hoke Smith who came to
Perry in 1950 to be in charge
of the Ocmulgee district
which is located in the
central part of Georgia and
includes approximately
emotions. Conservation
knowhow has arrived!
Parallel terraces, sod
waterways, and field bor
ders along with proper
rotation of crops can reduce
field erosion to a minimum.
However, land owners
continue to sacrifice soil for
speed. Large tractors pull 6-
row equipment at a rapid
pace and land owners con
tend that terraces “get in the
way.” On the plus side, we
can see more acres of land
being planted to coastal
bermuda and pines. In the
past six years some 5,000
acres of improved pasture,
35 farm ponds, 110,000 feet of
parallel terracing, 10,000 feet
of drain tile, and 3,000 acres
of planted trees have been
established.”
1,871,360 acres of land.
Draining is by the Ocmulgee
and Flint Rivers and their
tributaries.
The District is governed by
a board of Supervisors. The
first chairman of this board
was the late S. W. Kickson,
Sr. of Perry. The second
chairman was the late Sam
A. Nunn Sr., of Perry.
Each county selects a
member to serve on this
board and the state appoints
two members-at-large from
the district. Houston
county’s supervisor is L.
Cohen Walker.
The conservationist for
Houston County is Drew
Bynum who succeeded the
late Jack Miller in 1967.
Conservation work in
Houston is related in a
separate story.
Hoke Smith retired
January 15, 1971 after
completing 35 years with the
U.S. Soil Conservation
Service and 20 years with the
Ocmulgee Soil Conservation
District.
The Ocmulgee District
office was moved to
Milledgeville, Ga. in
I THANK YOU HOUSTON COUNTY FARMER! I
I DUE TO YOUR TRUST IN US, WE ARE OLDEST CASE I
I DEALERSHIP IN NORTH AMERICA! I
I \ I
I \ C# \ I
I \ *** \ I
I\ \ I
I OPEN jk I
I CASE 770 Thru 1170 I
I Join The Jet Age!- On Your Farm- I
I Move Up In Quality- To CASE! I
I GEO. C. NUNN & SON CSS I
I Jernigam St. Perry, Oa. 987-2224 I
January 1971 and is now
under the supervision erf Jeff
C. Owens, area con
servationist.
John C. Woods, soil
scientist, and Perry F.
Dominy, agricultural
engineer, will continue their
work with the Ocmulgee
District.
The program of work
includes watershed projects,
such as Tobesofkee Creek in
Bibb county and Pen
nahatehee in Dooly County;
Water conservation in
cluding remedical action for
water pollution;
classification of land ac
cording to suitability for
crops, pasture, woodland,
wildlife, or recreation;
promotion of conservation
practices concerning soil
and water and beautification
PERRY, HOUSTON COUNTY, GEORGIA, 310«9, THURSDAY, JULY 6,1972
of land through con
servation.
The Soil Conservation
Get Tough In Washington
Put Sam Nunn
In The Senate
A friend off the farmer
Service of the U.S. Depart
ment of Agriculture is an
agency of highly trained
technicians who are skilled
in the use and treatment of
land and water resources for
continuous and high
production.