10 The Bulletin 



Corn ranks next in importance to cotton and is grown in all parts 

 of the county on practically every soil type. More wheat is produced 

 now than formerly and its production is on the increase. Oats and rye 

 are grown to much smaller extent than wheat. Until recently cowpeas 

 were grown only to a limited extent, but now quite a large acreage is 

 devoted to this crop. A small acreage of soy beans and crimson clover 

 were reported. Sorghum cane is grown in small patches on nearly 

 every farm, to be used in the manufacture of sirup for home use. To- 

 bacco is also grown in small patches on a number of the farms to supply 

 home demands. Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cabbage, together 

 with a large variety of other garden vegetables, are grown in all parts 

 of the county. A considerable number of goats, sheep, hogs, and some 

 cattle are raised. Of the fruits apples are grown to the largest extent, 

 while peaches, pears, cherri-es, damsons, figs, and a few grapes are also 

 produced for home use and the local markets. 



By far the greater number of farmers in the county do not pay suffi- 

 cient attention to the adaptation of the various soil types to certain 

 crops. It has been generally recognized that the bottom soils are best 

 suited to the production of corn and grasses and that the sandy loams 

 and lighter areas of clay loams, particularly of the Cecil series, give the 

 more profitable yields of cotton. 



The "red lands" (Mecklenburg and heavy types of Cecil), "blackjack 

 lands" (Iredell), and certain areas of the "slate lands" (Alamance and 

 Georgeville), are admirably adapted to the production of wheat, corn, 

 and oats, as well as clover, cowpeas, and soy beans. The lighter areas 

 of the sandy loams and the slate soils give the best returns from apples, 

 peaches, pears, damsons, grapes, and other fruits grown in the county. 



In general practically no regular crop rotation is practiced. A few 

 farmers follow definitely planned cropping systems which could be 

 profitably applied to most of the soils throughout the county where 

 general farming is the rule. A good rotation in present use is : First 

 year, cotton; second year, corn, sowing cowpeas at last plowing; and 

 third year, wheat, oats, or other small grain, sowing cowpeas on the 

 grain stubble. By this method cotton, a clean-cultivated crop, follows 

 a nitrogen-gathering crop. The soil should show improvement frora 

 year to year with such treatment. In those sections where cotton is 

 not grown to any extent it would be well to rotate corn with small grains 

 and grasses and not to plant the same land to any one crop for more 

 than one or two years at a time. Of course, an exception to this method 

 would be the bottom-land soils, which are naturally productive and 

 upon which corn and grasses can be produced for a long time with- 

 out causing much soil deterioration, as compared with the lighter up- 

 land soils. 



