Various

“ Those who at an early period assisted or directed nature in the use of her forces, and by the skilful application of fertilizers, and by the careful husbanding and the skilful manipulation of all domestic stores of fertility, made Greene County conspicuous as one of the best agricultural counties of the East. Tobacco, corn and cotton constitute the most valuable field crops, but almost any crop grown in the State may be grown within its borders, such as wheat, oats, rice, potatoes, peas, and many other crops are grown successfully. ”

“ It is nothing short of marvelous as a demonstration of the magnificent agricultural resources of the Coastal Plain Section of North Carolina. Each department is a show within itself and each housed in accordance with a perfect system never before seen at a county fair in the South Atlantic country. ”

“ Though rich in historical interest, being the proud possessor of the site of the first state capital, where the first state constitution was written, and from the days of the Revolution until the time of the Reconstruction following the War Between the States, dotted with the homes and broad acres of the aristocracy of the old South, it has imbibed and grasped the spirit of modern progress until today it ranks among the first counties in the State in material wealth, school facilities, and good roads. ”

“ It is hardly possible that any section of this country can excel Eastern North Carolina when it comes to the question of ability to produce feed. It is richly endowed by nature with a deep fertile soil, and one that is exceptionally easy to cultivate, making it possible for the number of acres that can be cultivated by one man to be very large, as compared with other good sections of the country. In addition to a fertile soil, the section has an abundant rainfall, lack of which is one of the constant fears of dairymen in certain sections of our own State. ”

“ The State has both natural and economic advantages for the development of the sweet potato industry. The climate and soil are well suited to producing large yields of potatoes of high quality and the close proximity to markets is of distinct advantage. The cultural practices with sweet potatoes are not so intensive as are those of most truck crops. The sweet potato thrives best on only moderately fertile soil, and will even produce good crops on poor soil. The sandy lands of the Coastal Plain Section yield abundant crops, 300 bushels an acre being attained with only average attention. ”

“ The pecan is the oldest food crop in the South. Before Raleigh, DeSoto, Columbus, the pecan was gathered and eaten by the first Americans. Prevailing necessity now calls for a basic change in our food regime, a change from animal to vegetable, the primal factor of which will be nuts. "To nuts, then, must we look for the future sustenance of the race", says a national dietetic expert. "The nut growers of the future will be the aristocrats of the agricultural world. ”

“ Next in importance after ability to grow feed, from a dairy standpoint, is the matter of markets. The first great market to be supplied is the local or home market. Dairy products should make up a greater portion of the daily diet of the people of Eastern Carolina. At present there are in the fifty counties that lie east of Raleigh only one dairy cow to every 14 people, or approximately one cow to every three families. The man who would be a dairyman in this section should first strive to see that his local market is well supplied. ”

“ Our rapidly growing population means rapidly increasing land values. Population growth is the greatest factor in land value increase. Another primary factor is the ability of the soil to produce wealth. We ranked third in this State in the production of agricultural wealth, which includes crops and live stock, with $20,647,000. Of the 3,000 counties in the United States, Johnston ranks among the 50 highest in the production of crop values. The production of agricultural wealth per farm in the county was nearly three thousand dollars, which is exceedingly high, and very gratifying. ”

“ Soils, climate, open days and precipitation are so favorable to Pitt County as to make any line of farming attractive. Any crop that will grow anywhere, unless it be tropical fruits, can be grown in Pitt County. Dairying, trucking, and poultry are the three fields which offer sure and certain rewards, when matched by experience, intelligence and a reasonable capital. ”

“ Education and good roads go hand in hand. Long before the State as a whole inaugurated its comprehensive program of road building, Halifax County had issued serial bonds and built its own roads and today, in addition to the road mileage which has been taken over by the State and maintained by them, the county has its own road building organization headed by an experienced civil engineer and road builder, and its collateral and county roads, which connect with the State highway system, are a credit to any section. ”

“ Owing to the fact that 51 per cent of all of the millions of hogs arriving at seven of the largest markets of the United States travel east, an increase in the number of hogs raised in North Carolina would not be followed by a serious price break providing they were sold at a time when the markets are not flooded with hogs from the corn belt.
We are not trying to prove that there is any profit in raising hogs on land that will not yield over fifteen or twenty bushels of corn per acre—there may be a way of making a decent living on such land—but it is not through raising hogs. ”

“ Economic Resources of Duplin County
Duplin County, situated in the southeastern part of the State of North Carolina, has an ideal climate for farming. The population is, therefore, for the most part, rural, and of the purest American stock. This rural population is educating its children with modern means and methods, always steadfastly clinging to the curricula which will make for men and women trained both for citizenship and life. Of the 483,306 acres of land, there is a great portion that is offered for development, and the new vitality and knowledge of the new-comer is welcome. ”

“ We are almost wholly an agricultural people, digging our living out of the soil, contributing enormous totals of agricultural wealth yearly, and building up a sturdy race amongst wholesome surroundings. ”

“ Farmers in North Carolina, especially in Jones County where crops grow twelve months in the year do not have to depend entirely upon the proceeds of one crop or one season, to make money. Should one crop be short, or through over production fail to bring a good return on the market, there are always crops of the other seasons to fall back on. ”

“ The geographical location, its splendid soils, its progressive people, and other natural resources are its greatest assets. Here it is cold enough in the winter to encourage thrift and industry among the people. There are usually enough cold days to rid Nash of many noxious insects that become a serious pest in more southerly sections of the cotton belt. Being in the very northern part of the cotton zone, the boll weevil is not expected to survive here in sufficient numbers to become a serious menace to Nash County's high rank as a cotton county. ”

“ As a whole the people have a generous spirit toward education and are waking up as never before for better consolidated schools. In 1921 Greene County constructed its first modern school building at Snow Hill, costing $90,000. This building is modern in every respect, and has a large library and well equipped laboratory for the teaching of science. It is on the accredited list of high schools and has a high school enrollment of 140 pupils. All work is standardized and it draws high school pupils from many districts in the county. All teachers are college trained. ”

“ Diversified farming is the chief occupation of the majority of its more than 40,000 inhabitants. Tobacco, cotton, peanuts, corn, soy beans and sweet potatoes comprise the principal growing crops, with yields per acre which are surpassed by no section of the South, while hogs, sheep, cattle, and poultry are prominent in the live stock activities of the farms. Halifax County has the highest average acreage yield of lint cotton in the South. Two agricultural agents are employed by the county to look after its diversified agricultural program. ”

“ When the local needs are supplied, then the man who keeps cows can look for an outside market. He will not have to look far, for practically every farm in the eastern part of the State is within easy shipping distance of an already organized creamery, that is properly financed and on its feet, and that has already passed through that uneasy, experimental stage that all new creameries pass through. ”

“ More improvements have been made in Sampson County in the past decade in building better homes, adding home comforts, in added facilities for better schools and churches, in improved farming lands, and in improved fertility of the soil, in improved stock, hogs and cattle, in better highways and improved health conditions, and in every way that tends to make farm life more pleasant and profitable, than in many other counties in this section of the State. ”

“ The early crop of English peas is a very important one to the truck growers in certain sections of Eastern North Carolina. The main crop of the extra earlies is sown in January and goes to market late in April and early May. Single growers will often plant one hundred acres in peas. They are a cheaply grown crop and are soon off the land. The vines can be turned under for the improvement of the soil, and the land at once made available for some later crop, such as cucumbers or melons. ”

“ It has been established by experiments and experience that a greater number of leguminous plants thrive in Edgecombe County than in any other area of like size in the United States. The number of field crops that can be successfully grown, including vegetables, grapes and nuts, is almost only limited by the known varieties. The farmers have organized a seed breedings association, which insures the highest type of seed, and those best suited to the soil and climate. Live stock, principally hogs, cattle and sheep are easily and successfully raised and marketed. ”

“ Dairying A Specialty in Edgecombe Edgecombe is strictly a Coastal Plain county, although its boundaries extend to the foot of the Hill Country. Our fields are level, we have no rocks or heavy clay soils, and the streams that rise in the hills flow through the county, following the general incline of the surface, northwest to southeast, and have worn themselves deep streams beds, thus giving an excellent natural drainage, and reducing overflow lands to a minimum. The rainfall is perhaps as nearly ideal as in any land upon which the sun shines ”

“ A whole-time Welfare Officer, Public Clinics for operations and treatment of venereal diseases, a county farm and home for the poor, aged and infirm people, incapable to provide their own support. Our rural population is not dense, hence our farms are usually large and our lands are cheap. We need to increase our population, subdivide our large farms and intensify our farming. ”

“ PINK HILL, the third largest town, is located in the extreme southern part of the county, 17 miles from Kinston, on a paved highway and served by the Kinston Carolina Railroad. It has an excellent county consolidated school, and many facilities similar to those found in larger towns. It is in the center of a section which produces the highest grade of tobacco in the belt, and is adapted to the profitable production of peaches and dewberries as well as general crops. One growing bank provides for the financial needs. ”

“ The tobacco farmer finds in Rocky Mount (half in Nash County) one of the best and biggest tobacco markets in the State. While it is not the largest market it always ranks either at the top or near the top in average price paid to the farmer. The cotton producer finds a ready market for his product in any of the several towns and cities in the county. Some of Nash's cotton is manufactured in the county, and this field of development is just being opened. ”