A. C. Griffin holding soil

Item information

Title:

A. C. Griffin holding soil

Description:

Transcribed from enclosed press release: A. C. Griffin survived the Great Depression, learned to live with the boll weevil and even conditioned himself to the crazy doings of the watermelon market, but the one challenge that almost did him in as a farmer was nematodes in peanut land. "That one darned near sent me to the poor house," the Edenton farmer declared. "I didn't learn how to handle it until I almost lost my farm and everything else." That was over a decade ago. The 1973 crop yield is an indication of how well in control Griffin and partners, brother Fred and son Thomas Paul, now have the nematodes problem. They averaged 3,900 pounds on 84 acres last year, despite having to grow peanuts on several different soil types and suffering heavy losses to pod rot on one 12-acre field. Pete Thompson, Chowan County extension chairman, said the Griffin operation is "a good example of how farmers are coping with a problem that could possibly have done away with peanuts as a major crop in this county." The problem or the potential for it, is that bad. Nematodes are particularly serious on some of the best sandy and sandy loam soils--"Just like these," said Thompson, pointing to a sandy looking field lying between Griffin's home and a nearby highway. "I use to notice these peanuts when I drove by here before I came to work in this county," Thompson said. "I remember how small the plants were--never coming close to meeting in the middles. Now A. C. has to use a growth regulator on them to keep them from lapping.

Topics:

Agriculture
Community and Extension

Subjects:

Boll weevil
Crop science
Farmers
Peanuts
Soils

Original Format:

Black and white print (photograph)

Item identifier:

ua023_007-006-bx0019-011-018

Created Date:

1974

Location:

Edenton (N.C.)

Digital Project:

University Archives Photographs