^& lawn Carolina State Library
The E. S. C. Quarterly
/OLUME 17, NO. 3-4 SUMMER-FALL, 1959
FARM PLACEMENT EDITION, (See Inside Front Cover) INDEX ON PAGE 93
PUBLISHED BY
Employment Security Commission of North Carolina
RALEIGH, N. C.
PAGE 2 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY SUMMER-FALL, 19591
The E. S. C. Quarterly CHAIRMAN'S COMMENTS
(Formerly The U.C.C. Quarterly)
Vol. 17, No. 3-4 Summer-Fall, 1959
Issued at Raleigh, N. C. by the
EMPLOYMENT SECURITY COMMISSION OF
NORTH CAROLINA
Commissioners : Mrs. Quentin Gregory, Halifax; Dr. Maurice
Van Hecke, Chapel Hill; R. Dave Hall, Belmont; W. Benton
Pipkin, Keidsville; Bruce E. Davis, Charlotte; Crayon C.
Enrd, Albemarle.
State Advisory Council: Public representatives: James A.
Bridger, Bladenboro, Chairman ; Sherwood Roberson, Rober-sonville;
W. B. Horton, Yanceyville; Mrs. R. C. Lewellyn,
Dobson, and Dr. J. W. Seabrook, Fayetteville; Employer
representatives: A. L. Tait, Lincolnton and G. Maurice
Hill, Drexel; Employee representatives: Melvin Ward,
Spencer, AFL and H. D. Lisk, Charlotte, CIO.
HENRY E. KENDALL Chairman
R. FULLER MARTIN Director
Unemployment Insurance Division
JOSEPH W. BEACH Director
North Carolina State Employment Service Division
TED DAVIS Editor
Public Information Officer, Member PRSA
MARTHA JACKSON Associate Editor
Sent free upon request to responsible individuals, agencies,
organizations and libraries. Address: E.S.C. Informational
Service, P. O. Box 589, Raleigh, N. C.
INDEX APPEARS ON PAGE 93
ABOUT THE COVER PICTURES
T"ie two top pictures show the dual-jobs of Mayor Wesson O. Batchelor,
of Sherpsburg. N. C. At left he is shown aboard his tractor on his farm
an i at right at the controls of a National Guard helicopter prior to a
refine training mission. Story is on page 40.
Center left is shown a view inside the missile plant of Douglas Air-craft
in Charlotte. Story on page 55.
Csrtter right is the new AEROTRON plant which is being built on U. S.
Hhhway No. 1 just North of Raleigh where two-way mobile radios are
being built. (Page 70).
Bottom left shows Farm Placement Interviewer D. H. Bunn, Migrant
C-ew Leader Ace Evans, cucumber grower N. N. Ellis, Faison, and Farm
P cc»ment Interviewer Albert Hickman.
On the right is a mechanical bean picker at work on the farm of
Wi!ey Long, Jr., Garysburg. Covering two rows at a time, this harvester
eas:.y picks as many beans as 100 pickers each day.
Henry E. Kendall, Chairman
Employment Security Commission
One of the most interesting stories in Employment Security!
is that of the work done by our Farm Placement Interview-)
ers and Supervisors. Working long hours during the harvest
seasons, these men go at such a steady pace that we oftenj
fear for their health.
KtNDALL
Mrs. Martha F. Jackson
Named Associate Editor
On the right is Mrs. Martha F. Jack-son,
Associate Editor and Secretary to
the Public Information Officer of the
Employment Security Commission. Al-though
she has been doing editorial work
for more than a year, we have just gotten
around to recognizing her efforts official-ly
with a title.
Mrs. Jackson has been in the PIO office
fcr a little over three years, but was
formerly doing stenographic work. In
her new position she edits articles sub-mitted
for publication, writes stories on
commission activities and industries, and
handles the photographic department's
production for the engravers. ASSOCIATE EDITOR JACKSON
Each of the men assigned to Farmi
Placement believes so thoroughly in the
work he is doing that when he is askedj
about activity in his area it is almost asi
though he were Coleridge's "weddingj
guest" reincarnated. He feels he musljl
tell you all the wonderful things aboulil
his section. The zeal and enthusiasm witrj
which he describes the program stemsl
from his belief and faith in what he anc
|
his colleagues are doing. He sees eacljl
day what to many of us is a hazy picture interpreted inadej
quately, but unintentionally, by some media. The overall
workings of the Farm Placement Service is so complex thaj
it is almost impossible to cover all its facets.
Who can do justice in words alone to an acre of straw
berries which yields a $1000 net profit to the grower; or
drought which ruins thousands of acres of tomatoes in
single week? What photograph can tell the complete stor;
of a celery harvesting machine which requires 60 people h
operate it and which harvests 24 rows of celery at a time
How do you do justice to describing 19 consecutive days o
rain which rots nine out of every ten stalks before it can bi
harvested? What words can describe the thrill felt by a farr
placement interviewer when he learns that despite the eld
ments which destroyed half the harvest that the growerj
plan to plant even more acreage in the crop next year? Coul
you adequately describe your feelings after you had leane
over to examine a head of lettuce only to find your fac
within inches of a deadly rattler?
No one has completely delineated the vast and expandin
farm placement story. With this in mind, the editors aske
the farm placement people to write their story. For most c
them, writing is hard work, especially when it has to be don
late at night, on weekends and at odd times between jo
orders. While we think of all our ESC people as being con
petent and interested in their work the intense interest Fan
Placement Workers have in their jobs makes them seem jus
a little more dedicated in purpose.
Your particular attention is directe
to the chart on the next page. Shown ai
some impressive ascending figures (
Farm Placements. 1959 bodes to top a
previous records.
Electronic manufacturing firms a?
also being featured in this edition of Tl
E.S.C. Quarterly. There is a comple
list of these firms in this edition ai
manufacturers outside the State &
showing more interest in electronic d
velopments.
Newspapers carrying the colun
"N. C. Job Picture" which I write ea
week are also included in this issue
are some of the leading manufacture]
of farm equipment.
Every industry listed in this editi
contributes to the support of the E
ployment Security Commission progra
It is a pleasure to have a part in pi
senting them to our readers "in prin
SUMMER-FALL, 1959 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 3
Farm Placement Is Big Business For North Carolina Employment Service
Recruiting labor for harvesting North
Carolina's money crops is a momentous
task. With no control over prices paid
for labor, Farm Placement Interviewers
and Supervisors must recruit for all who
ask for the service.
They are concerned
only with getting the
workers to the farms
when they are need-ed.
All contracts are
made between the
workers and the
farmers or growers.
Sometimes individu-ally,
often through
UMSTEAD Crew Leaders who
are paid by the grower and these lead-ers
in turn settle with the individual
laborers.
Riding herd over this tremendous op-eration,
which stretches from Manteo to
Murphy at the far ends of the State,
are two old-timers in the Employment
Service. With some fifty years of expe-rience
between them, Farm Placement
Supervisor Raymond P. Umstead, and
Assistant Farm Placement Supervisor
Curtis B. Gilliam, keep in touch with
every man in Farm
Placement by phone,
personal contact, and
weekly reports.
Coordinating the
reports and corre-spondence
is Mrs.
Sylvia Ballard, sec-retary
to these busy
|men.
More than place-
Jments were made on GILLIAM
|the farms of North Carolina last year
by the Employment Service. This is
an imposing figure, but it grows more
significant when consideration is given
Ito the fact that Farm Placement Inter-viewers
and Supervisors not only had to
recruit these work-ers,
but perform
many other minor
tasks as well. For in-stance,
when trans-portation
was being
furnished by a Crew
Leader, they had to
inspect the truck or
bus to see if it met
certain safety re-quirements
; check
lousing for migrants; contact crew lead-ers
on a moment's notice when crops
matured faster than had been anticipat-ed;
recruit whole crews of laborers and
Joordinate their activities with harvest-ng
operations according to the need, and
uccession of job orders; keep tab on
nticipated need for out-of-state migrants
nd the harvest dates of the various
rops; and work as many hours as need-jd,
knowing that it would be impossible
3 take "compensatory" time for the
BALLARD
The N. C. Farm-Industrial Relationship
**$•
By David Garrison,
State Labor Market Analyst, ESC
In 1940, just prior to World War II,
one-third of the employed workers in
North Carolina worked in agriculture.
Ten years later, the 1950 Federal census
showed that the relationship between the
State's agricultural ]
employment and to-tal
employment hadj
changed rather
sharply—only one of f
every four employed ]
Tar Heels was work-ing
on the farm.
During the 1940-1
1950 period, farm I
employment in non-
1
agricultural indus-
1
tries soared upward
by more than 306,- j
000 workers. There
*
are numerous indi-cations
that these same trends have con-tinued
since 1950 and that the 1960 cen-sus
will point up further widening be-many
hours of "overtime" involved in
Farm Placement activities.
FPS Umstead and Asst. FPS Gilliam
worked right along with the men in the
field, often driving a hundred or more
miles "before work" in order to be "on
the scene" when needed.
The articles which follow may not be
great writing in the sense of deathless
prose, but the editors challenge you to
find a more intensely interesting story,
told by people more dedicated to their
work.
GARRISON
tween the State's agricultural and non-agricultural
workforce totals.
Declining farm employment in North
Carolina, as throughout the nation, is
primarily an outgrowth of improving
technology and scientific progress. These
factors have contributed to vastly in-creased
production of farm commodities
with fewer and fewer workers. Farm
output per man hour in the United States
is estimated to have doubled since the
pre-World War II period. This increased
production—and in many instances over-production—
has led to the programs for
price supports, acreage curtailments,
soil bank plans, and other governmental
programs which have had a direct curb-ing
influence on farm employment, par-ticularly
among tenants, sharecroppers,
and unpaid family workers.
Still another important factor which
has contributed to the farm employment
decline in North Carolina has been the
relatively low economic status of many
Tar Heel farm workers. According to
the 1954 Census of Agriculture, there
were almost 800,000 persons working on
North Carolina farms in October of that
year. This total included around 209,000
family workers who received no real
wages for their labor. Approximately
90,500 hired workers were employed on
30,000 reporting farms, but only about
13,500 of these workers were classified
as full-time or regular farm hands, the
remainder being employed on a part-time
or seasonal basis. Slightly over a third
of these 90,500 hired workers were paid
daily wages which averaged $4.65 for a
nine hour day, while almost another
—See INDUSTRIAL, Page 8—
SEASONAL TREND OF AGRICULTURAL PLACEMENTS
BY MONTH FOR YEARS 1955 1959
Thousands of Placements
180
Thousands of Placements
180
160
PAGE 4 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY SUMMER-FALL, 1959
PITT COUNTY GROWS 21147.27 ACRES OF TOBACCO ANNUALLY
programs
in an ex-
AMERSON
By A. D. Amerson
Farm Placement Interviewer I
Pitt County is the world's largest to-bacco
growing county. There are 2724
tobacco farm owners with an allotment
of 25,147.27 acres. In addition to tobacco;
corn, cotton, cucumbers, and sweet pota-toes
play a large part in this agricultural
county's economy.
The expanding agricultural
in Pitt County have resulted
panding Farm Place-ment
Program to
meet the increased
and varied demands
for seasonal and
year - round farm
labor.
The largest de-mand
for seasonal
labor is, of course,
in the harvest of to-bacco.
This labor is
procured from three
sources: local, intra-state,
and inter-state. Intra-state labor is
that labor which is recruited within the
state but out of Pitt County. Inter-state
labor is that labor which is recruited in
one state to work in another.
There are four chief methods of pro-cedures
in the recruiting of local labor,
and these are: the use of NCSES-2406's,
personal contact and follow up, contacts
through Farm Employment Days, and
through publicity. The NCSES-2406
(Yearly Community Visit Report) is a
form which was devised for the purpose
of recording information on groups
of local workers. This form is com-pleted
when a crew leader or group of
workers are first contacted by the Farm
Placement Interviewer upon his first con-tact
with a crew leader or a group of
workers. This form includes the leader's
name, address, telephone number; the
number men, women, and children who
work in his crew, or the number that he,
the crew leader, can recruit at a given
time of the year; the number, if any, who
are willing to leave home for the season,
and the number of months that they are
available to work away from home.
The second procedure for recruiting
local labor is by personal contact and
follow-up. This procedure is probably
used more than any of the others because
better results are obtained. However,
there are some instances when this meth-od
would be impractical such as the re-cruitment
of a large number of workers
with a short time in which to do it. In
such cases, loud speakers, radio, T. V.,
and newspapers are very practical and
produce very good results.
The third method of recruiting local
workers are by contacts through Farm
Employment Days. A Farm Employment
Day is a day when applicants for farm
jobs meet in either the local Employment
Security Office or some designated place.
Farm applicants are interviewed and
farm employer orders are received by the
Farm Placement Representative. The
farm orders are matched with the farm
applications and employers and appli-cants
are given an opportunity to con-sult
each other and their decisions are
made known to the Farm Placement In-terviewer.
The fourth, but by no means the least,
method of recruiting local labor in Pitt
County is through the media of Tele-vision
Station, WNCT, Radio Station,
WGTC, The Greenville Daily Reflector,
The Grifton Times, and the Farmville
Enterprise. Much credit goes especially
to Television Station, WNCT and to the
Greenville Daily Reflector in the fine co-operation
they have given me in the re-cruiting
of workers and the many other
programs.
There are several procedures for tak-ing
farm orders. Principally, they are as
follows : preseason surveys of labor needs,
scheduling crews on NCSES-2408 (To-bacco
Harvest Workers Schedule), mak-ing
housing surveys on form NCSES-
2412, taking orders on ES-560-A's (Clear-ance
Order For Seasonal Agricultural
Labor), taking orders on NCSES-522
(Farm Order Form), order changes on
ES-383's (Clearance Memorandum Sea-sonal
Agricultural Workers), and com-pleting
form ES-369 (Migratory Labor
Employment Record) upon the arrival
and departure of crews. Form FP-2
(History of Crews and Crew Leaders) is
also completed upon the departure of a
crew.
Preseason surveys of labor needs are
usually conducted during the late winter
and early spring months. Consultations
are held with the county ASC manager,
Mr. Walter Hasty, the county agent, Mr.
Sam Winchester, farm leaders, and var-ious
farm groups. I am on the mailing
list of both the county agent and the
ASC office and am kept up to date on
any changes or programs conducted by
these agencies. From the ASC office, I
obtain the allotments on tobacco, corn,
peanuts, cotton, and wheat. Of course,
there are no allotments on the various
truck crops but reasonably accurate esti-mates
can be made of these by consulting
the county agent and the leading truck
crop growers. Knowing the number of
acres of each crop to be planted is a very
good barometer for determining the a-mount
of labor that will be needed.
After Department of Agriculture offi-cials
have been consulted, visits are then
made to leading truck crop farmers, to
farmers that used out-of-state labor the
previous year to harvest tobacco, and to
various farmers using the bulk of local
labor in previous year. The farmer and
I discuss his labor needs and orders are
taken on NCSES-560-A's and on NCSES-
522's. During this time, appearances are
made on Television Station, WNCT,
Radio Station, WGTC, and all county
newspapers are asked to run articles urg-ing
farmers to determine their laboi
needs and to let me have their orders as]
soon as possible. Also, any person seek-ing
a year-round job as farm hand oi
tenant are asked to register with the I
Farm Placement Interviewer. All ordersll
for out-of-state tobacco workers art
scheduled on NCSES-2408's and are for
warded to applicant-holding states as
soon as enough orders are received tc
justify a crew coming in. Usually, out
of-state tobacco crews will vary fron
30-50 workers. Some crews have come ir
with as many as 100-115 workers bu'
this is the exception rather than th
rule. Smaller crews usually operate mori
efficiently than the larger ones but some
times circumstances force the Farn
Placement Interviewer to schedule largji
crews. For instance, in some cases
enough out-of-state orders are not re
ceived to justify two small crews t
come in then they will be combined int>
one large crew. In the event this hap
pens, the crew leader is asked to furnisl
a man to assist him in the supervisio:
and transporting of the workers once i:
Pitt County.
After orders are received, it is detei
mined if adequate and qualified local la
bor is available to fill all the labor need;
If adequate or qualified local labor i
not available, then NCSES-560-A's aij
completed and forwarded to labor suppl
states, Florida, Alabama, or Mississipp
Surveys are next made to determin
if adequate housing and facilities ai
available for recruited migrant worker
Farm mechanization and cuts in tobacc
allotments have forced many farm peop;
to move into towns and cities in searo
of other work leaving many farmer ten
ant houses vacant. Housing presents ver
little, if any, recruiting problems in Pi
County. In addition to housing, farmei
provide bunks or beds, mattresses, coc
stove, lights, water, and toilet. Up unt
this year, migratory housing was not i
spected by the local health authoritie
I am proud to say that one leadir
farmer, in addition to providing tl
standard facilities, also furnished whi
sheets, pillow cases, refrigerator, and
TV set. Farmers like this will never ha
problems getting good workers
Any changes in an order are ma<
known to the applicant-holding stat(|
who in turn notify the crew leadei|
These changes are made on form E
383, (Clearance Memorandum Season
Agricultural Workers.) There are t\
changes in an order that occur more fil
quently than others and these are ad<H
tions or deletions in the total workeHlnj
needed and changes in dates for ere,
|
|;'i
to arrive. ; I'l'J
SUMMER-FALL, 1959 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 5
An ES-369 (Migratory Labor Employ-ment
Record) is completed on every crew
upon their arrival and departure in Pitt
County. This form includes the crew
leader's name, address ; telephone num-ber;
social security number; total num-ber
of individuals; individuals under 16;
number male and female individuals over
16 years of age; total number of male
iand female workers; number of families;
number single men and women; type of
jcrew; number trucks, busses, and cars
jfor hire; and the pattern of employment
(in which the past, present, and future
employment is given; also beginning
date; name and complete address of
grower; and crop activity. Copies of the
ES-369 are distributed as follows: 1 copy
to local office from which workers come,
1 copy to state office from which woi-kers
come, 1 copy to regional office, 1 copy to
Raleigh office, 1 copy to next state of
employment, 1 copy to Farm Placement
Interviewer II, and 1 for files.
A daily operational procedure will con-sist
in recruiting and referring workers,
supervising day-haul activities, checking
with growers to insure that workers are
getting full employment as agi'eed by
the grower and that workers are per-forming
standard work. Often, I am
called upon to act as mediator between
op picture shows housing for migrant workers in Carteret County which has not been improved, other
ion to keep it in livable condition. The middle photo shows migrant housing built specifically as
ving quarters for seven families. It has plumbing and cross-ventilation and is also located at
eaufort, in Carteret County. The bottom photo shows concrete block duplex apartments in the
oanoke Rapids area. This is the type housing growers are being encouraged to build.
growers and workers on such things as
housing and facilities, methods and rates
of pay, S. S. tax deductions, and a million
other things.
When a crew or group of workers have
completed their work commitments and
have departed for the next area of em-ployment,
a Form Fp-2 (History of
Crews and Crew Leaders) is completed
on them and copies are distributed to
interested parties. This form will include
the name and address of the crew leader;
a statement as to whether crew was re-cruited
for N. C. ; number workers in
crew upon arrival and departure; make-up
of crew; number men, women, and
children; number trucks and cars;
area worked in N. C.; names of principle
employers number days in area and num-ber
days worked ; whether field work or
grader work; whether workers housed
in central camp or growers quarters;
next employment area, next employer's
name and date next employment is to
start; a rating of excellent, good, fair,
or poor on the general qualifications, in-cluding
cooperativeness, dependability,
and efficiency of leader and workers. The
crew leader is rated on his supervising
ability and the employer's appraisal of
the workers and crew leaders are also
recorded.
Next to tobacco, cotton harvest re-quires
the largest amount of labor and
only local labor will be used in this ac-tivity.
Last year, one small East Coast
Migrant Crew, recruited to harvest sweet
potatoes, was used two or three days to
pick cotton in order that full employment
be insured them. Procedures in recruiting
labor to harvest cotton consist in making
pre-season labor surveys and surveys of
cotton growers which have already been
discussed. NCSES-2406's are screened to
determine the number of cotton pickers
available, where available, number and
types of transportation available, and
the organized groups available. These
individuals are contacted and placed with
cotton growers as orders are received.
I have found it to be an invaluable
source of information on cotton pickers,
to stop, whenever a group of workers are
spotted picking cotton and get the name
and address of the group leader, if there
is one, and I don't already have it or the
name of a person through whom the
given number of workers can be con-tacted.
Bethel, N. C. is the center of the truck
crop area in Pitt County. Vegetable crops
grown in this area include cabbage, cu-cumbers,
sweet potatoes, plants, white
potatoes, and string beans.
The procedures for recruiting labor to
harvest truck crops are basically the
same as any other crop. First, pre-season
surveys are made of the number of acres
of each vegetable crop to be planted. In
many cases, it is already known, long
before crops are planted the number
acres and kinds of vegetable crops plant-ed
because of contracts and visits with
truck crop growers the previous year.
—See TOBACCO, Page 8—
PAGE 6 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY SUMMER-FALL, 1959
CARTERET UTILIZES YOUTH PROGRAM TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FARM LABOR
,•
GORDON
By Hugh C. Gordon Jr., Farm Placement
Intv. Seasonal Beaufort Farm Labor
Office, Beaufort, North Carolina
The Beaufort Mobile Farm Labor Of-fice,
which operates under the Morehead
City Local Office, has two Youth Pro-grams
in operation, the Agriculture
Youth Program and Odd-Jobs-Club.
The Carteret Coun-ty
Youth Agriculture
Program is organized
in the Farm Place-ment
Service to em-ploy
the many youths
that have been idle
during the summer
months here in Car-teret
County and to
build up a local sup-ply
of labor.
In order to make
contact with prospec-tive
agriculture youth workers it is neces-sary
for the Farm Placement Interviewer
to visit the schools each spring and
familiarize the students with the pro-gram.
Schools in Carteret County par-ticipating
in the program are: Beaufort
High School, Morehead City High School,
Newport High School, Queen Street High
School, and King Street High School.
This year Swansboro High School in
Onslow County is included in the pro-gram.
This includes both white and col-ored
schools.
Another pre-season activity concern-ing
the program is the Farm Placement
Interviewer informing the public of this
agricultural program. This public rela-tions
activity is done through local civic
organizations, Parent Teachers Associa-tions,
Future Farmers of America, 4-H
Clubs, local school boards, school officials,
Vocational Agriculture Classes, Cham-bers
of Commerce, radio and newspapers,
and various athletic teams. With this
type of public relations procedure the
idea is to get the program across to the
public and to solicit their support of
the program.
The actual recruitment of youth work-ers
first begins with distribution of pam-phlets
by the Farm Placement Inter-viewer
throughout the county to the var-ious
schools. These are taken home by
the students so the parents will be cor-rectly
informed of the objectives and
aims of the program After the pamphlets
have been in circulation for a few days
application blanks are issued to students
interested in the program.
On return of application blanks to the
respective schools the blanks are col-lected
by the Farm Placement Inter-viewer
or mailed by the principal of the
school to the Beaufort Mobile Farm
Labor Office. Many interested youths are
interviewed at the Mobile Farm Labor
Office or incidental places where youths
meet. Also youths who have registered
in the program secure applications for
other youths and help them enroll in the
program.
In the Beaufort Mobile Farm Labor-
Office we have two files set-up, which
act as a basis for all the youth place-ments
under this program. One file is
called the Youth Worker File, the other,
the Youth Employer File. The Youth
Worker File is set up on a 3 by 5 card.
Each youth registered has a file card.
This card contains the youth's name,
address, his class in school, age, sex,
whether he possesses a driver's license,
past farm work experience, date of regis-tration,
and a place for the Farm Place-ment
Interviewer's remarks. The remarks
section gives any other pertinent infor-mation
on the youth. His work perform-ance
after he is placed is also noted here.
The Youth Employer File is also set-up
on 3 by 5 cards. These cards contain the
names and addresses of the employers
who have been contacted by the Farm
Placement Service and have indicated
and are interested in working youths or
are working youths and have agreed to
cooperate with the Farm Placement Serv-ice's
Youth Program. The Employer File
also contains the following information:
type of crop the youth will work in, the
kind of equipment they will operate or
work around, and space for remarks.
News and Observer Farm Editor Bill Humphries
listens as Mrs. Beebee, Carteret County blue berry
grower depicts her operation. Farm Placement
Interviewers Hugh C. Gordon and John D. Lilley
standby to explain their work to the journalist.
This remark section contains any other
pertinent information on the employer
and also Farm Placement Interviewer's
comments on the employer's relations
with his youth workers. This information
is gained by interviewing some of the
youth workers who have worked for this
employer and by observing the youths
while working on the employer's farm.
Two paramount problems in expediting
the Agriculture Youth Program in rela-tion
to field work is transportation and
supervision of workers. The most feasible
method of transportation used for youths
is a day-haul program. The Farm Place-ment
Interviewer works with the em-ployer
to see that all youth workers are
transported in vehicles meeting required
specifications for safe and orderly move-ment
to and from field and pick-up sta-tions.
In regards to the problem of super-vision
an effort is made to secure a Group
Leader when work involves a number of
youth workers. This Group Leader is
well screened according to his leadership
qualities and knowledge of the farm work
to be done. Usually this Group Leader is
recommended to the Farm Placement
Interviewer by his principal, Agriculture
Teacher, or farm employer.
Crops which call for youth placements
are beans, blueberries, tomatoes, and to-bacco.
Blueberries involve the largest
number of youth workers with tobacco
a close second. Beans and tomato crop
placements are less than the other two
mentioned. Beans, in a normal season are
practically all harvested before school
session is over but there has been some
youth placements in beans. Tomatoes on
the other hand provide work for grading
in regards to youth workers and not so
much for picking. Tomato picking re-quires
a certain experience in knowing
which tomatoes are ripe for picking that
most of the local youths have not ac-quired.
It is important that the tomatoes
are picked so as to stand up under ship-ping
conditions.
This year from March 13th to July
10th a total of 571 youth placements
have been made in the harvest of blue-berries,
tomatoes, tobacco, and general
farm work.
The pay scale for the youth workers
is in most instances the same as the pay
for adult labor where the same work is
done. The farmers are willing to pay sub-stantial
wages for youth work and in
many instances they actually prefer the
younger workers. The farm employers
seem very appreciative of the youth
workers and will continue to use them in
seasons to come.
The Odd-Jobs-Club is the other youth
program available for the Carteret Coun-ty
youths through the Employment Se
curity Commission of North Carolina.
This program is coordinated with the
Agricultural Youth Program and its pre-season
planning is similar to the Agri-cultural
Youth Program.
A different registration form is used
in registering youth for the Odd-Jobs
Club. Members in the Odd-Jobs-Club have
expressed interest in the following type
of work: retail grocery clerk, retail va-riety
store clerks, key punch operator
general office clerk, typing, file clerks
waitresses, handyman, (yard and repah
work), salesman, delivery boy, baby sit
ter, service station attendants, tractoi
drivers, clothes presser, cook's helper
theatre attendant, fish house worker
women's clothes sales clerk, carpenter';
—See YOUTH PROGRAM, Page 8—
SUMMER-FALL, 1959 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 7
INTERVIEWER I NANCE HAS BIG AREA, GROWING NUMEROUS CROPS
By Paul Nance
Farm Placement Supervisor I
The agricultural area served by me is
a varied one with many types of farming
and many different crops grown. One
area is devoted extensively to the grow-ing
of various truck crops. Another area
is primarily tobacco that is generally
owner-operated, while another area is
mainly the growing of tobacco by Ten-ants
or Sharecroppers. This part of the
state is well known for the production
of Corn, Soy Beans and Lespedeza which
are harvested for seed.
The Farm Placement Program in this
area is in a constant state of change to
keep pace with the ever changing agri-cultural
employment patterns within the
area.
My work area is
'
the Southern half of
Beaufort County or
that part lying
South of the Pam-ilico
River, the
! Northern part of
Craven County or
jthat part of the
[county lying North
lof the Neuse River.
JThe Bayboro section
lof Craven County is nance
(served during the
(peak harvest period from May 15
jthrough August each year.
The truck farming area served grows
a variety of crops such as White Pota-jtoes,
Snap Beans, Cucumbers, Peppers,
Cabbage, Tomatoes, Sweet Corn, Sweet
Potatoes as well as other truck crops in
lesser acreage that are grown on a com-mercial
scale. There is a large acreage
planted to Flue Cured Tobacco in this
section. The tobacco planted is generally
allotted in comparatively small acreages.
Many of the smaller tobacco farmers
handle their crop with their own labor
or on-the-farm labor while other growers
have tenants or sharecroppers that han-dle
a good portion of their acreage on a
share crop basis that may vary in differ-ent
sections. There are many types of
Sharecropper agreements and each grow-er
and each Sharecropper or tenant work
out their individual agreement that may
be a verbal agreement or it may ba in
the form of a written contract.
Each year during the month's of No-vember,
December, January and Febru-ary
Farm Employment Days are ob-served
and this is limited mainly to the
areas where much of the tobacco grown
is handled on a sharecrop basis. The pur-pose
of these days that are held at a
designated place the same time each week
is an effort to get the prospective tenant
or sharecropper and the farmer or land-lord
together and match, as nearly as
possible, the tenant that is qualified and
has the potential to handle a particular
tobacco farmers needs. The actual bar-gaining
and hiring is left strictly up to
the Landlord and tenant.
Special recruitment programs are
many and varied. During any time of
peak need whether for this state or some
other state special recruitment programs
are launched to get workers in large
numbers in a comparative short time.
This recruitment is also done in various
ways such as Direct Recruitment, con-tacts
by the use of Public Address Sys-tems
in areas of concentrated labor po-tential,
through Crew Leaders or any
other method that is deemed advisable
at the time.
Each year at harvest time a Farm
Labor Office is set up in or near the
center of the area of greatest need. This
is done during the harvest season when
workers are needed in large numbers to
handle the needs during the peak harvest
of the various truck crops grown in the
area. With all the progress in agricul-ture,
improvement in machinery and
methods of harvest this work is mainly
performed with hand labor which neces-sitates
large numbers of workers during
this period as all truck crops are perish-able
and the time limits of harvest vary
slightly with the different crops. Many
factors directly affect the time and num-ber
of workers that are needed in any
crop harvest. Crop conditions, weather,
market conditions and many other things
make this an ever changing picture so
far as labor requirements are concerned.
For instance, a grower with 100 acres
of Snap Beans that are all ready to pick
at one time, 1000 bean pickers could be
used to an advantage on that particular
day and the grower would not have a
surplus of labor. In an area such as this
where Cabbage, Snap Beans, White Po-tatoes,
Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Sweet Corn
and other truck crops are produced there
is no such thing as a balance between
supply and demand of labor only for very
short periods during the peak harvest.
This balance between supply and demand
for workers is what the Farm Placement
Interviewer is striving to attain. Even
though he knows this will happen only
occasionally for a short period of time
this is the challenge that makes him
work even harder trying to achieve that
which seems always just beyond his
reach. These short periods of balance
between supply and demand can mean
much to a Farm Placement Man in the
feeling that he has been partially respon-sible
for getting the right numbers of
workers at the right place and at the
right time. I feel that much more satis-faction
is derived in capturing the very
elusive for short periods of time than
could ever be experienced in doing a job
that was more predictable. It may be
truthfully said that each day brings
many new challenges and it is so true
that during the peak harvests there is
never a dull moment. I sincerely believe
that it is this constant change and chal-lenge
that keeps the good Farm Place-ment
Man striving to reach that which
seems to constantly remain just beyond
his grasp.
The labor picture is changing as fast
as the agricultural program and this
alone is one thing that makes the keeping
of records most important. All available
qualified workers are first contacted and
when it is determined the number of
local workers or labor in a commuting
distance available for the particular need
it can be determined with a good degree
of accuracy the amount of out-of-area
or out-of-state labor that will be needed
to supplement the available local labor.
Acreages vary greatly from year to
year making it necessary to make pre-season
contacts of all growers to deter-mine
their needs for the coming year. A
housing survey is made to determine the
availability of adequate housing for any
migrant or out-of-area labor that will be
housed on the respective farms during
the harvest season. A review of the His-tory
of Crew Leaders will help to deter-mine
which crews will be asked to return
to this area. These crews are contacted
personally or in the case of the Migrant
Crew Leader they are told by written
correspondence the approximate acreage,
size and conditions of housing, dates of
harvest, number of workers and trucks
that will be needed and many other
things that help him to arrive where he
is needed, when he is needed with suffi-cient
workers and equipment to handle
the respective job for which he has been
selected.
Upon the arrival of a crew leader in
the area a 369 form is filled out giving
much information as to size of crew,
number of male and female woi'kers,
number of trucks available, employment
dates in this particular area as well as
much other information that will be valu-able
in the next state or area of employ-ment.
This form is mailed to the next
state of employment, just prior to the
completion of his work agreement here
a revised 369 is mailed to the next state
of employment to keep them informed as
to any change in plans or makeup of
the crew.
There is an excellent working relation
between the Farm Placement Men of this
state thus making it possible and feasible
to transfer workers from areas of lesser
needs to the areas of greater need on a
commuting temporary or seasonal basis
as the need demands.
Pre-season planning and determination
of labor needs to handle any given crops
at a particular harvest is of prime im-portance.
During a harvest with strong
demand and good prices a larger number
of workers for a shorter period of time
are needed than would be the case in a
season of poor demand and poor prices
when the harvest may be slowed down
appreciably. This of course varies in each
—See BIG AREA, Page 12—
PAGE 8 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY SUMMER-FALL, 1959
TOBACCO
—Continued from page 5
—
Determining- the amount of labor need-ed
to harvest truck crops is simplified
by the fact that only 2 or 3 growers
comprise the major truck crop growers
in Pitt County and the largest of these,
Mr. L. N. James, lives in Bethel. On peak
days, Mr. James will employ from 75-100
workers. With day-hauls out of Tarboro
and local labor, usually 1 or 2 migrant
crews are used in Bethel to harvest the
truck crops. This year Mr. James planted
100 acres of cucumbers, 50 acres of cab-bage,
and 120 acres of sweet potatoes.
One crew of Indians from Pembroke,
N. C. and one migrant crew from Florida
were recruited to assist in this harvest.
Two returning crews of East Coast Mi-grants
will be used to assist in the sweet
potato harvest. These crews will also be
used to supplement local labor in the
peanut and cotton harvest if the need
should arise. During the harvest of truck
crops, constant checks are made with
growers and workers to insure that work-ers
have full time employment and to
insure that standard housing and wages
are furnished as agreed in the work
agreements. If all workers are given full
time employment, the Farm Placement
Interviewer's job is made much easier
but if they aren't, then I have to try and
find employment for them. In many cases,
the growers will assist me in finding
work for the workers.
Usually after tobacco markets close
and during the months of November,
December, January and February orders
are secured for year-round tenants, and
general farm hands. Referrals are made
to farm employers from farm applicants
who registered for jobs with the Farm
Placement Interviewer. Applications on
workers, are accomplished by the use of
NCSES-511A (Farm Application Card.)
Farm application cards are screened to
match a particular order and if no suit-able
applicant is registered, then positive
recruitment is conducted until the order
is filled. After screening application
cards and one is found that matches the
farm order, an interview is arranged
between the farm applicant and farm
employer. After they consult with each
other, their decisions are made known to
the Farm Interviewer. To facilitate and
speed up the filling of farm orders for
year-round tenants and farm hands and
to place as many applicants as possible.
Farm Employment Days are held. These
are held during the months of Nov., Dec,
Jan., and Feb. In 1958-59, Farm Employ-ment
Days were held at the following
places. On Mondays and Fridays, at the
INDUSTRIAL
—Continued from page 3-
third worked by the hour for an average
wage of 56 cents per hour. Workers em-ployed
by the week received an average
of $30 for a 46 hour work-week, and
monthly paid farm workers averaged
$115 for a 200 hour work-month.
The State's farming economy has been
cited as primarily responsible for North
Carolina's low standing in per capita in-come
ranking among the states. This is
understandable since North Carolina has
the heaviest farm population of any
State in the Union and since this large
population derives its income principally
from small farms—82 per cent of which
consist of fewer than 100 acres. Only
about 22 acres of land are actually cul-tivated
on the average North Carolina
farm.
North Carolina's non-agricultural econ-omy,
however, is not altogether blame-less
for the State's low per capita income
ranking. Figures released recently by
the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
show that production workers in North
Carolina factories earned an average
wage of $56.26 a week during 1958—the
lowest earnings level of any state in the
Union; yet, in 1958 North Carolina rank-ed
10th among all states in the total
number of manufacturing workers em-ployed,
464,000. The relatively low earn-ings
average of factory production work-ers
in North Carolina is attributable
mainly to the fact that over 72 per cent
of the State's manufacturing employment
is concentrated in industries producing
nondurable goods. Nationally, only about
43 per cent of all factory workers are
employed in nondurable goods industries.
Wage rates in North Carolina's nondur-able
goods industries compare rather
favorably with the rates paid in the same
industries of other states, but North
Carolina just happens to have more of
the traditionally lower-paying industries.
Unfortunately, the State does not appear
to be making as much progress in wage
gains as the country as a whole. Although
average weekly earnings of manufactur-ing
workers in North Carolina advanced
by $7.92 between 1953 and 1958, nation-ally
the increase amounted to $11.81.
Pinched and prodded by rising living
costs, many farm workers have dropped
the plow and have headed for the nearest
factory, warehouse, store or other places
where a better living might be afforded.
Some of these workers have been suc-cessfully
absorbed in North Carolina's
expanding nonagricultural economy, but
others have found it necessary to leave
the State to seek and find work.
A substantial number of workers in
North Carolina, however, are "dual job
holders", earning their livelihoods both
on the farm and off. Data from the 1954
Census of Agriculture indicates that
roughly forty per cent of the State's
268,000 farm operators do some off-the-farm
work each year. Of the 110,700
—See INDUSTRIAL, Page 69—
Employment Office in Greenville. On
Tuesday, from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon at
the City Hall in Bethel. On Wednesdays
from 10 a.m.-12 noon at the City Hall in
Farmville and each Thursday from 10
a.m. -12 p.m. at Smith-Douglas Fertilizer
Company in Grifton. Farm Employment
Days were given publicity through the
use of posters, newspapers, radio, and
television. Posters were posted through-out
Pitt County in such places as FCX
Stores, P. O. Buildings, Gen. Farm Sup-plies
and Implement Stores, Feed and
Grain Mills, and country stores. Through
newspapers, radio, and television, farm-ers
are urged to place their orders with
the Farm Placement Interviewer as soon
as possible to be assured of better service.
In addition to placing applicants and
filling the farm employer's labor needs
through the use of Farm Employment
Days, there ai-e also other values of this
system. New sources of labor are found
both seasonal and permanent, and good
public relations can be had with em-ployers,
business people, and labor.
The increased demands in Pitt County
for seasonal and year-round farm work-ers
has resulted in an expanded Farm
Placement Program in both the seasonal
and permanent farm worker fields.
YOUTH PROGRAM
—Continued from page 6
—
helper, general housework, painter's
helper, and stock clerk.
A file for Odd-Jobs-Clubbers and Agri-cultural
Youth Workers is kept on all
youths who register. Since the Odd-Jobs
Club serves to bring many youths intc
the agricultural program an applicatior
form NCSES 511 is used. A health form
is attached to each NCSES 511 and il
requested by applicant he can receive a
free medical examination at the Countj
Health Clinic.
The Odd-Jobs-Club operates yeai
around and special projects are carrier
out by the club for groups of youths ir
the various schools. One special project
carried out through the Odd-Jobs-Clut
this year enabled the eight grades oj
Morehead City High School to earn $10(
in their efforts to secure money foi
an educational trip to Chapel Hill, Nortl
Carolina. Forty three students partici
pated in this special project and jot
openings consisted of mowing grass tc
sitting with the sick. Publicity througl
the radio and newspapers helped to in
form the public of the special projec
and they responded quickly by telephon
ing in request for youth workers. Specia
projects such as this is planned, organ
ized, and carried out by the Farm Place
ment Interviewer.
Morehead City and close-by Atlanti
Beach, being resort areas provide man;
seasonal jobs for which local youths ar<
available. The Odd-Jobs-Club is a mean
—See YOUTH PROGRAM, page 12-!
UMMER-FALL, 1959 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 9
IWO WINSTON-SALEM FARM MEN TOUCH EIGHT COUNTIES IN THEIR WORK
BOWLES
The Winston-Salem Farm Placement
Program consists of many tangents, cov-ering
a large area: Forsyth, Stokes,
Surry, and Yadkin counties plus fringe
ireas of Rockingham, Guilford, David-son,
and Davie counties. The area covered
:>y Farm Placement representatives Bar-ow
J. Bowles and Ivey W. Singletary
(part time represen- ^^ :ative) represents a
ive - local - employ-nent-
office-area su-jervised
by John G.
Harris. Farm Place-nent
Representatives
Bowles and Single-
;ary are under the
lirect supervision of
Assistant Far m
Placement Supervis-or,
Curtis B. Gilliam,
ivhen on Special As-signment
and John H. Wilson, Jr., Man-iger
of the Winston-Salem local office at
ither times. The Winston-Salem office is
he local administrative headquarters for
he Farm Placement Program in this
irea. Special assignments are made dur-ng
harvest seasons. These special as-ignments
are located in Danbury, Stokes
"ounty and East Bend, in Yadkin
bounty.
The Farm Placement Program was
tarted in this area in 1946 by the Em-doyment
Security Commission as the
jieed for farm workers began to rise in
jhe early post war period, coupled with
he increasing number of out-of-area and
ut-of-state farm workers that were corn-rig
into this section of North Carolina
eeking temporary employment on the
bcal farms during peak harvest periods.
fo the present time, the Farm Program
as expanded into a gigantic year around
jperation. Following is an outline of
ctivities and services rendered by the
peal Farm Placement representatives
:
| I. Organization of Farm Program.
A. Plans
1. Agriculture activity needs in:
a. tobacco, b. fruit, c. vegetables,
d. small grains; 2. Community
and employer relations; 3. Pub-licity;
4. Housing; 5. Recruit-ment;
6. Placement: a. Year
around worker, b. Seasonal work-er,
c. Canadian tobacco workers.
B. Application of Plans
C. Achievement.
Plans are completed as nearly as pos-ble
for one year in advance for the
rogram conducted by the Farm Place-ment
interviewer, Bowles.
j Agriculture activities are primarily in
>ur categories, tobacco, fruit, vegetables,
id small grains.
Tobacco: The chief money crop in the
:ea is tobacco, some 55 thousand acres
irrently being grown in the area on
i)Out 15 thousand farms of which ap-oximately
five thousand farms receive
lee services rendered by Farm Place-ment
Representatives. Anticipated tobac-co
labor needs are based on past require-ments
for workers and the number of
acres expected to be planted.
Fruit: Fruit crops in the local area
are chiefly apples (approximately one
hundred thousand trees), peaches (ap-proximately
thirty thousand trees), and
berries—including improved and native
blackberries, strawberries, and dewber-ries.
Demands for berry pickers fluctu-ates
as to the need for berries in local
canneries and processing plants and the
quantity of the crop. Crop conditions and
quantity govern the needs for workers in
apple and peach crops. With normal sea-sons,
needs are determined from past
seasonal experience and market forecasts.
Vegetables : The vegetable crops in-clude
potatoes, tomatoes, sweet corn, cab-bag"
e, and beans. Few commercial vege-table
farms are located in the area, there-fore,
accurate predictions of labor needs
are difficult. Vegetable crops for commer-cial
purposes are expanding each year
due to the rising cost of living and more
farmers realizing the need for diversifica-tion.
Small Grains : Small grains have been
on the up-climb in the number of acres
grown. Approximately 140 thousand
acres are currently grown in the area.
Labor needs, as in other crops, are deter-mined
by past records and market condi-tions,
combining crews have been set up
to harvest smaller acreages for farmers
who do not grow enough grain to merit
the purchase of this expensive harvest
equipment.
Community and Employer relations:
Community meetings are set up for em-ployers
to discuss the free services that
are offered by the farm representatives
of the Employment Security Commission.
Employers are urged to make their plans
for labor as soon as possible. Employers
are told what to expect of the worker and
what the worker expects of him in re-gard
to housing, transportation, and gen-eral
working conditions. Farm Placement
Representative Bowles is active in many
community projects such as: Northwest
Development Association, Farm Bureau,
Grange, Agriculture Council, veterans
organizations and churches.
Publicity: Farm Placement publicity
is obtained by newspapers (6 in the
area), television and radio stations (two
and nine stations respectively), and com-munity
acceptance of the good services
rendered.
Housing: In the early spring of each
year, we determine the number of houses
that are available for the farm workers.
At the present time, there is no public
housing unit that can be obtained for
this purpose, therefore, the depending
upon vacant tenant houses results in an
acute shortage of living quarters for
these farm workers. These houses have
to meet certain specifications before these
workers are allowed to use them. Work-ers
are transported from their living
quarters to farms by crew leaders.
Farm Labor Recruitment: This job is
always a big one in this area but so far,
we have won this battle. Our emphasis
is placed on community understanding.
We make our people feel that our first
thought is for them. That is why it is so
important that jobs are offered to the
local workers first and that everyone is
made aware of the fact that these jobs
are to be had and they are urgently
wanted for them. When we bring in out-side
workers, we must again convince our
local people that these workers are here
only because they are needed in our har-vest
and these outside workers are vitally
important to our community. We also tell
our local people how important it is to
make our outside workers welcome. Local
recruitment for the planting season is
done in the early spring. These workers
have usually had past experience in this
type of work. The recruitment program
continues through the apple harvest in
October.
Year Around Workers: Of all the
types of farm labor shortages, that of
the skilled worker remains the most diffi-cult
to meet. These workers who have
had farm experience are encouraged and
assisted to return to agricultural work.
This is never easy and becomes particu-larly
difficult in areas where these work-ers
have been able to get higher paid jobs
elsewhere. The tenant family and the
hired workers make up most of the farm
workers in this area. Beginning in July
and continuing through March, tenant
families are looking and inquiring for
larger acreage and better farms for
themselves and their families. The hired
worker is always looking for more money
and better living conditions. Under this
year around program, we hold our Farm
Employment Days December through
March. These Days are arranged in win-ter
to enable the farmer and year around
farm workers, tenants and sharecroppers
to g-et together in order to match the
right worker with the right farm open-ing.
These Days are spread out over the
entire area at pre-arranged places and
are advertised through radio, newspapers
and posters. Last year 179 tenant fami-lies
were placed as a result of these Farm
Employment Days. Placements for hired
workers totalled 181 for the same period.
Seasonal Workers : Seasonal workers
are chiefly required in the harvest of the
local tobacco and apple crops. These per-sons
are recruited from Mississippi, Ala-bama,
South Carolina, Virginia, and var-ious
areas in North Carolina. Upon com-pletion
of their work in this area, they
return to their own homes. These seasonal
workers arrive in crews of 35 to 50 peo-ple
supervised by a crew leader. These
crew members are scattered each day in
regard to their work location, due to the
small acreage of the farms. An average
—See FARM MEN, page 12—
PAGE 10 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY SUMMER-FALL, 1959
CROPS AND THE FARM LABOR PROGRAM IN SAMPSON, SOUTH JOHNSTON
AND SOUTHEASTERN HARNETT COUNTIES
By J. Scott McPhail HBHHHH
McPHAIL
Throughout this area, which is the
heart of the State's trucking section, sev-eral
different crops are grown and a lot of
farm labor is used. Much of this labor is
obtained through the facilities of the Em-ployment
Security program to carry on
the necessary farming operations of these
crops. The pre-plan-ning
and organiza-tion
in the obtain-ment
of the neces-sary
farm workers
to be placed on farm
jobs involves a great
deal more than is
conceived by most
persons — excluding
those connected di-rectly
with the Farm
Labor Division of
the Employment Se-curity
Commission.
Pre-planning for and actually placing
farm workers on farm jobs begin about
the first or middle of November and
•extends through the next year. During
the winter months, a farm employment
schedule is made and carried out by set-ting
up itinerate points to be visited one
day each week. Farmers and farm em-ployees
are informed of this schedule
through the media of radio, correspond-ence,
newspapers, posters, volunteer farm
placement representatives, and other per-sons
and agencies connected with farm-ing
in this area. The itinerate points are
visited by farmers and prospective farm
employees. Orders are written from in-formation
given by the farmers and ap-plications
are written for all farm appli-cants.
In most cases, suitable applicants
are referred as needed—depending upon
the availability of the applicants. The
primary purpose of the employment days
is to place sharecroppers and year-round
farm workers on farms ; nevertheless,
many orders are taken requesting sea-sonal
workers. Farmers, local labor lead-ers,
and individual farm workers are
visited before and after the itinerate
commitments each day.
Pre-planning for the referral and
placement of seasonal harvest workers
consumes much of the farm interviewer's
time in March and April. This pre-plan-ning
consists of farm visits, crop and
housing surveys, tobacco meetings, pub-lic
information programs, correspond-ence,
and completing orders for inter-state
farm workers. Local seasonal farm
workers are recruited for Florida's citrus
harvest from December through March.
The number of workers recruited and
referred depend upon the number of job
openings received from Florida.
Most of the placement work done in
the aforementioned counties is for sea-
Above is the typical migrant housing tor McPhail's area. Houses are renovated to serve as migra )
housing in many cases. Growers are going to the more up-to-date housing built primarily for migratii 1
farm labor.
sonal harvesting of the various crops
grown in them. These crops include
strawberries, dewberries, blueberries,
snap beans, cucumbers, irish potatoes,
corn, pepper, squash, tomatoes, egg
plants, cabbage, asparagus, okra, peas,
lima beans, melons, tobacco, cotton, sweet
potatoes, cane, peanuts, small grain, soy-beans,
and turnips. As can be seen, this
is a highly diversified farming area.
Poultry and livestock workers are also
placed on jobs within this section. The
harvest activities carried on in this area
are continuous—beginning in April and
ending about December. Our harvest sea-son
opens with the picking of strawber-ries
and ends with the cotton, sweet
potato, and soybean harvest operations.
Major crops grown in this section are
tobacco, cotton and corn—at least most
farmers think so. However, many farm-ers
are leaning more and more toward
successful truck farming.
Just a few years back most farmers
who grew truck crops would harvest
them until the tobacco harvest season
began. Then, they would discontinue
gathering the truck crops completely (re-gardless
of the condition of the truck
crops—at peak season or whatever) and
totally bury themselves in the tobacco
barning activities. One factor responsible
for such a poor farming practice was
the farmers not knowing where or how
to obtain supplementary labor to carry
on their trucking and tobacco harvest
operations at the same time.
The relatively new concept of harvest-ing
several different crops during the
same period is a rather common practii
now. The Farm Labor Section of Tl
Employment Security Commission <
North Carolina is more responsible fi
this accelerated progress than any oth
farm agency or even the farmers thei
selves. Farmers in this area say that tb
will not even attempt to plant certa 1
crops until we of the Farm Labor Offi
in Mt. Olive assure them of adequa
labor to house those crops. Anoth
change made by many farmers, is th
of doing their own farming rather th;
dealing with sharecroppers. Again, t
North Carolina Farm Labor program §
rendered considerable assistance in ms
ing this possible by the referral a:
placement of year-round farm worke
to those farmers who prefer doing the
own farming.
The farm interviewer in carrying
the multiple tasks which are essential
a good farm labor program lives a uniq I
style life. His work begins, on ma
days, while most people still sleep. Di
ing the middle of the day he is accus
of never working because at that "till
he has already put in a day's work aT
takes time out for a short breath |
Again when most folks are preparing
quit work at four or five, the farm inti
viewer is beginning to put in anotl
|
half day before the day ends. In
course of this day's work the FPI 11
taken crews of farm workers to fa
employers; changed a crew from (|
farmer to another due to effect of
verse weather ; mediated disagreem
—See LABOR PROGRAM, page 12-
,UMMER-FALL, 1959 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 1 1
Southern Wayne, Duplin, Pender And New Hanover Highly Diversified
By Albert D. Hickman
Farm Placement Interviewer I
Diversified farming, or the planting of
many different types of crops to supple-ment
farm income, being in an area
where the soil is suitable for the growing
of truck crops, having many auction mar-kets
including the South's largest at
Clinton, N. C, and having the state's top
poultry producing county makes the
.Farm Program a full-time, year-round
activity in the area.
Work during the year at the Farm
Labor Office is usually worked in con-junction
with the farm pattern that
growers use in the area. At the beginning
of each new year, an annual plan of
work, or schedule, of the next year's
activities is made out for the area. This
is an outline, or estimate, based on the
previous year's activities and our ideas
of the work load for the coming year.
The activity which utilizes most of the
time during January, February, and
March of each year, is Farm Employment
Days, or Farm Employment Clinics. These
Farm Employment Days have been found
by the Farm Placement Service to be
lone of the best ways of placing year-round
farm labor. For this reason, all
lover the entire area itinerary points are
jset up; usually in places throughout the
area which are most likely to be visited
by farmers during this time of year, such
as County Agent Offices, ASC Offices,
feed stores, hardware stores, and country
stores located in certain sections of the
area.
The purpose of establishing Farm Em-
Dloyment Days is to bring together em-ployer
and employee at the same time so
;hat they may talk things over. Workers
ind farmers will convene at the same
ocation, date, and time, where on-the-spot
hiring may be accomplished. Farm-ers
needing year-round workers or work-ers
needing farm jobs can meet at cer-
;ain itinerary points set up by the Farm
abor Representative, for discussion of
)otential farm job openings. Over the
/ears it has been found that Farm Em-
)loyment Days save considerable time
and work out employment problems
wiftly to everyone's satisfaction.
The greatest advantage in establish-jnent
and success in Farm Employment
)ays is advertisement—letting the farm-rs
and workers know of your plans,
rour organization, and the importance
f Employment Days.
Harvest operation, although not as
;reat this time of year as other times, to
e successful is carried out in the usual
rocedure. No out-of-area or migrant
abor is used during this period. Harvest
perations consist of leafy vegetables or
'reens, and flower bulbs. Local crew lead-rs
ana day-haul labor is used entirely
his time of year. This labor is available
) growers because of the organization
of crews and crew leaders with or with-out
transportation by the Farm Place-ment
Representative. This is done any
time during the year when a responsible
person, or above the average individual
is found that is experienced in handling-labor,
knows the harvest operations, and
has the ability to get along with and
supervise labor. Once this type individual
has been contacted, a permanent record
is made out on him showing the days and
months available, the number of workers
that he can haul and supervise, trans-portation
facilities, and address. This is
one of our most important phases of
Farm Placement, as we organize our
labor supply—produce a dependable labor
supply and reduce unemployment in the
area by using local labor.
During the months of April, May, and
June, pre-harvest operations and the ac-tual
harvest operations receive the full
time of Farm Placement. Pre-harvest
operations usually begin with farm visits
to employers who have been helped by
the Farm Placement process before, the
operation is used mostly to find out and
adjust labor operations, for the harvest
season. Orders for labor are written,
acreage surveys are made, and all infor-mation
necessary to determine the esti-mated
amount of local labor, intra-area
labor, inter-state labor, and migrant labor
to supplement our own state's labor to
be needed for harvest operations. At this
time, a housing survey is made through-out
the area and pictures are taken of
houses to be used to house our labor
supply. This is done to promote better
housing in the area, better equipment,
and better living conditions for our sup-plement
labor supply. Improvements in
housing can be seen one year over an-other
as the pictures labeled then and
now tell the story. After all orders have
been written and all surveys made,
Clearance Orders for seasonal agricul-tural
labor are written up. After utiliz-ing
all available local labor, inter-area
labor and intra-state labor that can be
assured of for harvests; then, orders are
written for supplement labor from our
neighboring states of South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Missis-sippi
to be used in our harvests. These
orders are taken to Florida by our Farm
Labor Representatives designated to at-tend
the annual pooled interviews of
eastern seaboard workers in Florida.
Most of these orders are filled by these
Representatives.
Harvest operations begin around the
20th of April, under normal conditions,
with strawberries. Most all the labor, ex-cept
two or three migrant crews for
berry harvest, is local and day-haul labor
from our own area. Labor is referred
and placed by the placement process.
Commercial vegetable harvest starts in
the area with snap beans in May and
continues with cucumbers (long green
and pickle), white potatoes, sweet corn,
—See DIVERSIFIED, Page 12—
Farm Placement Interviewer Homer Bunn, Crew Leader Ace Evans, Grower N. N. Ellis, FP Supervisor
Jim Hunter and Albert Hickman, exam a basket ot cucumbers just picked near Mount Olive. (Lower)
Crew works quickly up rows of cukes harvesting basketfuls as they go.
PAGE 12 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY SUMMER-FALL, 1959
BIG AREA
—Continued from Page 7
—
type of harvest operation as some crops
are of such a nature that they must be
harvested within a two or three day pe-riod
or they are unfit for market.
In the event of a labor shortage during
any period the Farm Interviewer will
first contact all available local crews or
groups in an effort to supplement his
labor with local labor or labor within a
commuting distance. Other Farm Place-ment
Interviewers may be contacted that
are in a reasonable distance and addi-tional
labor is often arranged for through
them to take care of the present needs.
Special recruitment efforts are often pur-sued
by using public address system,
direct recruitment or any other method
seeming practical at the time.
In the event of a labor surplus in this
area, Farm Placement Interviewers in
other areas are told of this surplus, if
they are needed in other areas efforts
are made to move them into the area or
areas of greater needs.
This particular area has unusually
good soils for the growing of commercial
truck crops and it is my belief that only
the surface has been scratched. Various
truck crops are taking the place of some
acreage that has been devoted to the
growing of potatoes and with a more
diversified planting and growing pro-gram
of truck crops it appears that the
demand for out-of-state or out of area
labor will steadily increase for the next
several years.
YOUTH PROGRAM
—Continued from Page 8
in which to give a service to the employer
and to the youth desiring an odd job.
Also the Odd-Jobs-Club is an aid in se-curing
vocational employment on farms
for town and city boys who are interested
in agricultural work and particularly
town and city high school boys who in-clude
agricultural work as an elective
study in their school courses.
LABOR PROGRAM
—Continued from Page 10
—
between employer and employee; given
free advice to everyone about every-thing;
consoled disgruntled farmers and
crew leaders; prepared forms and re-ports
and correspondence; checked on
referrals made that day and prepared
schedule for the following day.
There are always new and different
problems arising in the farm labor pro-gram;
therefore, new methods and a
great deal of discretion must be employed
by the farm labor interviewer to solve
these problems. Sometimes, seemingly
unorthodox methods have to be practiced
in order to keep the program operating
on a constructive basis.
DIVERSIFIED
—Continued from Page 11
—
pepper (green and red), squash, toma-toes,
egg plants, lettuce, cauliflower, blue-berries,
and dewberries. During the har-vest
season of commercial vegetables is
the time when the work load is the heav-iest.
It is at this time that our tobacco
harvest starts in the area, before our
harvest operation of commercial vege-tables
is over. By the over-lapping of our
harvest seasons in the area, it becomes
necessary for the tobacco harvest to
again call upon some other source of
labor to supplement our own labor. This
is done through a well organized working
agreement with the state of Mississippi.
Preliminary work for this harvest starts
during* the first three months of the year.
An estimate is made of acreage and
labor force needed to determine the
amount of supplement labor needed, un-der
normal conditions, for the tobacco
harvest. The Mississippi State Office is
informed of the estimated number of
workers to be used in this harvest from
their state. Tobacco harvest crews usual-ly
come into the area around July 1st to
July 4th for about six weeks of work in
the tobacco harvest.
Cotton harvest season usually starts
around September 10th in the area and
unlike the other harvest in the labor
force needed, unlimited numbers of work-
FARM MEN
—Continued from Page 9
—
of 3 to 6 members are used per farm.
During the peak season 850 to 900 out
of area seasonal workers are employed
along with 1200 to 1400 local seasonal
workers.
Canadian Tobacco Harvest: In this
area, there are approximately 600 to 700
curers and 300 to 400 primers and string-ers
who go to Canada each year to help
in the Canadian tobacco harvest which,
in most cases, we interview and issue
their Border Passing Permits. For a
period of six weeks prior to the workers
leaving for Canada, we spend a third of
our time talking to the workers that do
go and the ones that would like to go
that don't have the chance or never re-ceive
orders to come. These workers sel-dom
go to Canada in groups or crews.
Usually they are individually selected by
local Farm Placement Representatives.
Application of Plans: The actual ap-plication
of plans are adhered to as much
as possible, however, due to weather and
crop conditions, the plans have to be
altered from time to time.
Achievement: The Farm Placement
Representatives compile all available data
in regard to actual achievements that
are made during each month.
The Farm Placement Program is
spoken of, by the farm employers, com-munity
organizations, and business exec-utives,
as a service that cannot be meas-ured
by dollars and cents but by the
yardstick of family, community, and busi-ness
relationship and progress.
ers can be used effectively in this harvest.
By the close relationship of growers and
ginners in the area, it has been found
that considerable money can be saved for
each if the harvest season is over before
our winter weather begins to cover the
area:
During the fall and winter months, as
our harvest seasons in area are over, we
have openings in Florida to send our sur-plus
labor for work. This requires quite
an extensive program of visiting concen-trations
where labor is plentiful, pub-licity,
and the actual loading of workers
on buses for the sunny South.
The Farm Placement Program in the
area throughout the year is to help oui I
farmers and farm workers in the area I
To do this, communication is a very im-jl
portant factor in carrying out and mainjl
taining a successful Farm Program. Thfjj
farmer and farm worker must be tolc I
of the Farm Placement services offered I
They must be told of how this servicql
can help them secure work and the neces|
sary labor for harvests. This is don<
through several ways. Radio and televi
sion are two of the most important publij
city means utilized in the area. Announ
cements are made and in some instances
slides or movies are shown of workers iij
the fields or women working- in process
ing plants. Newspapers are used ex
tensively, as this is one of the best way
to reach the farmer, the worker, an
the whole community. Everyone read|
the newspaper and Farm Labor news ca
reach people rapidly through the press
The editors of newspapers in the area ar
kept in contact with and told of the need]
of farmers, or news releases are printe
that are of interest to both farmers an
farm workers. One of our greater:
sources of communication is the coir)
munity organizations within the are;'
Some of which are the local Grange
Farm Bureau, P.T.A., Civic organiz
tions, and service clubs such as Kiwani
Rotary, and Lions, all of which play
part in the program. Community organj
zations are helping young people, hous'
wives, and students to go out and he
with the harvests. Remember, peop
would not be in many of these organiz
tions if they were not civic minded,
the Farm Placement Representative c
make them understand his problems, th<[
will try and help him to solve the protj
lems.
Speeches, when given by the Far
Placement Service in the area, cover
broad field of action. Speeches are mat
before civic groups, clubs, or in mai
cases, where a group of interested pej
pie can be gotten together, and it offe1
the best way to explain the problems
the area.
Posters, placed in designated parts
the area, play an important part in o
Farm Labor Program. Posters are us
for several occasions, such as recruitme|
program, seasonal and year-round woi
ers. Posters are used to designate Volt
teer Farm Placement Representatives,
—See DIVERSIFIED, page 14—
I SUMMER-FALL, 1959 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 13
ayefteville FPI Works on Getting Job Done Where it Will do the Most Good
Historical Fayetteville, located in
the heart of the Cape Fear Valley, about
one hundred miles upland from Wilming-ton,
N. C, is also the site of the local
office of the Em-ployment
Security
Commission, serving
Hoke, Harnett,
Sampson, and Cum-berland
Counties.
Agriculturally these
counties are made
up of many units of
family size farms,
growing some varie-ties
of most crops
which are grown on POPE
the east coast of the United States.
The local office, under the manage-ment
of S. T. Cherry, has one farm place-ment
representative working directly out
of the office who is familiar with the
territory and crop activities over all the
area. This representative is Wiley 0.
Pope, who was born, grew up, and still
resides on a farm and is in a position
to know the farmers' problems first hand.
He works full time with the farmers
and farm workers, visiting, talking, and
offering his services at every opportuni-ty.
The Employment Service is vitally in-terested
in the well being of the farmers
and farm workers in the area and is
making every effort to render services
which will benefit them, as well as in-dustry;
realizing that a progressive rural
community is a must where surrounded
by thriving industrial activities. Since
most of the farms are operated by ten-ants
and on-the-farm operators, labor
demands are not so great until harvest
begins when a tremendous step-up in de-mand
is noted.
Getting the job clone where it will do
the most good is the aim of the farm
placement service. At the beginning of
the year contacts are made with the
workers and growers. Data of major crop
acreages, potential labor needs and avail-able
housing is collected. Farm visits,
personal interviews, employment days,
newspaper, radio and other media is used.
Through the spring months, while the
crops are in the planting stages, farm
visits are continued for the purpose of
keeping current on crops planted and
their condition. Orders for year-round
workers, tenants, and day hands are con-tinued
to be taken, applicants interview-ed,
and referred to job openings. Tenta-tive
orders for migrant crews needed at
a later date are discussed, and recorded
for future use. Daily, weekly, and month-ly
reports are kept current.
Seasonal harvest work starts in late
spring. Recruiting, referring and place-ment
begins in a big way. Day haul pro-grams
are put in operation. Migrant
crews arriving are placed in housing
provided, family groups and individuals
referred to job openings. A first hand
picture of current needs is kept at all
times by farm visits and personal inter-views.
Information gathered from mer-chants
farm organizations and other
sources is compiled. This is late spring
harvest, known as the fruit and vege-table
season, when snapbeans, irish pota-toes,
cucumbers, strawberries, dewber-ries,
and peaches are being harvested.
From mid summer through November
harvest in tobacco, cotton, corn, and
sweet-potatoes are at their peak. A tre-mendous
supply of labor is required dur-ing
this period. All available workers,
local and migrants, are on full time sche-dules.
The service is taxed to its limit
to meet the demands, recruiting, re-ferring,
follow up visits for purposes of
verifications are at the peak of the years
heaviest loads.
With the completion of harvest, a
breathing spell is partially realized. With
only routine work such as orders for
tenants, day hands, dairy workers, and
other jobs related to agriculture are
taken and interviews with applicants
and referrals are made. Employment
days, personal interviews, newspaper,
and radio announcements are again used
for this purpose.
A new mode of farming is beginning
to shape up in the area which could
have some effect on the pattern of farm
operations from the old. It is known as
CONTRACT FARMING, a relatively
new name in agriculture—but apparent-ly
here to stay. It is increasing yearly
in the Fayetteville area. Claims as to
advantages and disadvantages are de-bated
among producers. Some claim the
risks involved in selling on the open
market Avith fluctuating prices are being
eliminated for a more protected, though
in some cases, lower prices. This, they
point out, enables them to plan and fit
their operations and expenses to a more
secure source of income. Others say con-tract
prices reduce profits so low that
operations cannot be justified; however,
be as it may contracts are negotiated
yearly in hogs, poultry, and several vari-ties
of vegetables, between producers
and processors.
Labor requirements for livestock and
poultry are small. Vegetable harvest
is an entirely different matter, since most
work is done by hand and requires a
tremendous amount of labor during the
busy harvesting season.
The largest acreage of this type in the
Fayetteville area is snap beans, grown
under contract with H. P. Cannon and
Sons, Inc. They are a large and well
known food processor with headquarters
in Bridgeville, Delaware, but with a fast
growing and thriving branch plant lo-cated
in Dunn, North Carolina. This
plant is under the management of Roy V.
Tew, a local, energetic, young man of the
area.
This plant was established principally
for pepper processing, the raw products
being grown under contract in small
tracts within a twenty-five mile radius
of Dunn. Snapbean contracts are furnish-ed
as a supplement to this crop.
Unlike pepper, contracts for beans are
usually limited to a minimum of ten
acres per farm. The contract stipulates
the farmer furnish land, labor, fertilizer,
seed, and insecticides; also that he culti-vate
the crop up to harvest. The proces-sor
takes over from there, assuming the
responsibility of harvesting and trans-porting
to the plant for processing. The
farmer is paid on a tonnage bases for
his share.
Due to the nature of the crop, labor
must be available at a moments notice;
therefore the processor requests experi-enced
help in sufficient quantities to
take care of the harvest when and where
needed. Local workers have not proven
satisfactory due to their inexperience
and lack of qualifications, so aid from
the Employment Security Commission
through the farm placement service is
requested in locating qualified workers
who will assume the responsibility of
the entire harvest operations.
These workers are in groups under a
crew leader, or supervisor, who follows
the vegetable harvest yearly. This leader
starts in Florida in early spring and
works his way up the coast as crops
mature, ending in the fall in New York,
New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Upon receipt of an order from the pro-cessor
for workers, stating number, date
needed, wage rates, perquisites, etc., files
are immediately checked for crews who
can qualify. Contacts are made and in-terested
leaders given job orders for
consideration. If an agreement is reached,
tentative plans are made to receive them
on the date and time specified.
Through the growing season, and up
to maturity, crops are visited periodi-cally
by the farm placement representa-tive.
This is done because of changes
that might occur from the original plans
due to weather, insects, and various
other things which at times effect grow-ing
crops.
A careful watch is kept at all times
to help avoid loss of time or convenience
to workers or employers. Should any-thing
happen of a nature that would ef-fect
the crop or working conditions, crew
leaders are promptly notified by corre-spondence,
telephone, or personal con-tacts.
With the arrival of crews at harvest
time immediate contacts are made with
the crew leader. Orders are reviewed,
housing checked for occupancy, work
schedules arranged, and problems which
might cause future conflicts ironed out.
—See FAYETTEVILLE FPI, Page 17—
PAGE 14 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY SUMMER-FALL, 1959
farmers of
Beaufort FPI Says "Fan
By: John D. Lilley
Farm Placement Interviewer I
Beaufort Mobile Farm Labor Office
The Beaufort Mobile Farm Labor
Office, Beaufort, North Carolina of the
Employment Security Commission of
North Carolina makes available Farm
Placement Services to
Carteret and Onslow
Counties. This office
is active all four sea-sons
of the year.
Winter work con-sists
of pre-season
planning with the
grower, as well as
supplying local and
out-of-area workers
to plant the spring
cabbage crop. Hous-ing
surveys and lilley
housing programs, orders for year-around
workers, and Farm Employment
days carried out during the winter sea-son
by the Farm Placement Interviewer.
The spring season brings a demand for
strawberry labor. This labor is recruited,
as much as possible from local sources.
To supplement the local labor a day-haul
program from New Bern, North Caro-lina
has been set up. One migrant crew
is used to supplement these N. C. workers
in the strawberry harvest. The number
of migrant workers required is approxi-mately
one hundred. The demand and
supply for strawberry labor is kept in
balance by using local, out-of-area, and
migrant workers.
Another crop to be harvested in the
spring is cabbage. This harvest begins
in late April and ends in June. This
crop requires the use of out-of-area work-ers
to supplement local workers in meet-ing
the growers demand for cabbage
labor. The Farm Placement Interviewer
makes arrangements to secure nineteen
out-of-area N. C. crews. This out-of-area
labor comes from the following areas
:
Lumberton, Maxton, Laurinburg, Rocky
Mount and Greenville, North Carolina.
About five hundred per day are trans-ported
through a day-haul program from
the North River, Harlow, North Harlow
and Mansfield areas of Carteret Co.
It is also necessary to have several
migrant crews scheduled for this harvest.
They come from Florida and Georgia.
The combined worker strength of these
migrant crews is about 165.
The snapbean harvest normally begins
in May and ends in June. There are
about six hundred acres of snapbeans
grown in Carteret County. To meet the
large peak demands for workers to har-vest
this crop all day-haul programs are
put into operation. During the bean
harvest the day-haul programs produce
nearly five hundred workers per day
from the following areas: Harlow, North
Harlow, Merrimon, North River, Mans-field,
Bayboro, New Bern and James
City. Over eight hundred migrants are
also scheduled to harvest this bean crop.
We have number of small bean growers
so it is a problem for the Farm Place-ment
Interviewer to have sufficient num-ber
of bean pickers at the same time for
all the different growers. In case the
crop should fail, I must also be ready
to move the workers to other work at
once and not let a surplus of labor devel-op.
Practically all migrant bean crews
stay in the area and are used in the har-vest
of white potatoes. The potato harvest
begins in June and ends during July.
All of our local potato crews have a full
schedule during the potato harvest. How-ever
due to the fact that our local labor
is in such short supply we have to sup-plement
their efforts with about twelve
migrant crews. For each of the crews the
Farm Placement Interviewer has to ar-range
the work, housing, and scheduling
details.
The blueberry harvest presents a prob-lem
in that one operation is in Beaufort
In front of fhe Carteret County Mobile Farm
PSacement ES office are: (L to R) WNCT-TV
Photographer Lynwood Perkins, FPI Huqh C.
Gordon, Jr., FPI John D. Lilley, Area Supervisor
Philip Pollock, and News and Observer Farm
Editor Bill Humphries.
and the other is located at the other end
of the county at Stella. In administering
the day-haul programs for the blueberry
harvest the Farm Placement Interviewer
must plan with the blueberry growers
well ahead of the harvest season. We
extend our day-hauls for the Beaufort
crop to Beaufort, Morehead City, Mans-field
and New Bern. Labor for the Stella
area is recruited and day-hauled from
Belle Glade, Maysville and Pollocksville.
The Agriculture Youth Program is used
extensively in the blueberry crop when
ever possible.
Due to dry weather this past season
the blueberry matured early and migrant
crews were needed to help with the har-vest
in the Beaufort and Stella areas.
This is a growing crop in this area and
we anticipate a steady increase in acre-age
each year and a corresponding in-crease
in the demands for labor.
Approximately 100 acres of sweet corn
were grown in this area and harvested
by migrant crews. This crop for commer-cial
use came at a time when local labor
was employed in other crops, therefore
the grower requested a migrant crew
skilled in the harvest of sweet corn to do
his work.
Two hundred acres of tomatoes and one
hundred of pepper were harvested by
local adult labor, Agriculture Youth
Workers, and migrant crews. Local labor
and youth workers filled the bulk of de-mands
in the two crops with migrants
supplementing when market, weather
conditions, or crop yield demanded more
labor.
The harvest of green tobacco begins
in July and ends the last of August. This
tobacco harvest requires out-of-area labor
that is secured by the Farm Placement
Interviewer, through Intra-state clear-ance
with the Lumberton Office, from
Lumberton, Maxton, Laurinburg and
Pembroke areas. About 100 out-of-area
workers are necessary to harvest tobacco
in Carteret County and the lower part
of Onslow County. Only local on-the-farm
labor and intra-state labor is
used in the harvest of green tobacco.
Many Youths are also recruited to har-vest
green tobacco through the Agri-culture
Youth Program. After the har-vest
of green tobacco some of the crews
stay in for the harvest of soybeans, corn,
sweet potatoes and peanuts. Normally
this harvest is over about the 15th of
December, which is when the cabbage
setting starts for the spring crop of
cabbage.
In addition to the normal seasonal
routine given I have to maintain four
Farm Employment Day points per week
in Carteret and Onslow Counties. These
days are held through the months of
November, December, January and Feb-ruary.
The labor camp housing survey
and labor housing programs also take
considerable time as we have fifty-five
labor camps in the Beaufort Mobile
Farm Office area.
The Farm Placement job in the Beau-fort
Mobile Farm Office is a "thirteen
month a year" job. Although it requires
many long hours to keep up with the
expanding program I enjoy meeting the
challenge the work presents.
DIVERSIFIED
—Continued From Page 12--
to call to the attention of farm workers
that jobs are available in nearby areas
or states. Posters are used to tell school
youths of summer vacation jobs, or wom-en
for part time work, each stressing the
chance to earn extra cash.
The little black instrument on the desk
called the telephone, is used to save val-uable
hours and often can accomplish in
a few minutes what would take days
of correspondence. As a follow-up on
news releases, letters, and announce-ments,
it is a great aid.
Meetings held throughout the area are
one of the best possible means of ex-plaining
the services of the Farm Labor
—See DIVERSIFIED, Page 18—
JSUMMER-FALL, 1959 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 15
NANCE SPECIALIZES IN HAVING THE RIGHT PEOPLE AT THE RIGHT PLACE
r*"»
>
NANCE
supervision, and
By Frank L. Nance
Farm Placement Interviewer II
The basic aim of the Farm Placement
Interviewer II is the same as that of
any other person in the Farm Placement
Program. This is to see that agricultural
employers have the
right kind and
amount of workers
at the right time and
'that our North
I Carolina workers
tare kept as fully em-ijployed
as possible.
[A supervising Farm
'Placement Inter-viewer's
duties fall
{into three broad di-visions,
functional
(Supervision, direct
jplanning and co-ordination.
During normal operational procedures
II have functional supervision over the
[local office Farm Placement Program in
[my area. I have had very good co-opera-tion
from all the area supervisors and
[office managers with whom I work. In
keeping with the functional supervision
jprocedure I discuss various farm pro-grams
with the area supervisors, office
imanag-ers and Farm Placement Inter-viewers
concerned. I offer technical as-sistance
and suggestions in interpreting
land carrying out the various existing
(regulations in the farm program and
any new state or federal regulations that
affect the farm program. We work to-gether
in putting new operational forms
and procedures into effect as they are
(developed.
I When occasionally the Farm Place-jment
Program has to operate on a limit-ed
time schedule and there is not suffi-cient
time to operate through normal
jchannels, then the local Farm Placement
Interviewers concerned are assigned to
my direct supervision. The area supervi-sors
and the local office managers are
jkept fully informed at all times as to the
status of the Farm Placement Operations
in their areas. Direct supervision enables
us to coordinate the activities of our
labor supply areas and labor demand
areas on a tighter time schedule. Some-times
we have only a few hours to fill
emergency harvest orders for several
hundred workers and normal procedure
through channels would be to slow an
operation. Direct supervision also enables
as to utilize labor supplies more quickly
and fully when needed as we can insti-tute
special recruitment programs and
set up new inter-area labor exchange
operations on the spot wherever needed.
In my Farm Placement Interviewer
II activities the planning and coordina-tion
phase falls into three parts : pre-season,
in-season, and post-season. In the
ore-season planning and coordination I
ittempt to get a probable labor and de-mand
picture for my area through the
crop surveys and labor surveys made by
local Farm Placement Interviewers.
From the information thus gained I can
determine, in all likelihood, where labor
demands will develop and the time that
they will occur. I also know the sources
and amounts of local and intra-state
labor that I will have available and at
what times they will be available. After
working out the probable labor demands
and local and intrastate supply then I
know roughly how much out-of-state
labor will be needed for any particular
crop at any time in any local office area.
Then contacting the prospective labor
source through the local office Inter-viewer
I's is started. This takes the form
of pre-season letters to out of area work-ers
and personal contacts with the local
workers. During this time housing sur-veys
are also made to determine the
availability of suitable farm labor hous-ing
that meets local regulations.
After the various supplies of labor
have been organized and contacted
throughout pre-season activities and the
; .::;** «•&;•; /,V:
- ; •••;. - '-
*
::W"Vi
*/..;-; ;- ". "-•
4.'. - *
:
"Quarterly" Editor Ted Davis (top) has his picture
snapped in Irish potato field by News and
Observer Farm Editor Bill Humphries as he pre-pares
to take picture of a "field walker" (below)
near Beaufort.
out-of-area laborers have been moved
to their places of employment and local
dayhall operations are functioning, we
are in our seasonal operations. In any
seasonal operation there are just two
basic procedures that have to be kept
in balance. They are what to do when a
labor shortage develops and what to do
when a labor surplus develops. In most
instances when a shortage develops
there will either be an active labor
source within my area that can ease the
shortage or if necessary additional farm
placement personnel are moved into a
possible labor supply area and put on
special recruitment programs until the
shortage is alleviated. When possible
they move mobile groups or crews of
workers into the shortage area and house
and work them there until the emer-gency
is over.
When a local Farm Placement Inter-viewer
anticipates a surplus of avail-able
labor in his area, or a surplus sud-denly
occurs, he will inform me of the
situation and I will put him in contact
with an area that has a shortage or has
a possibility of a shortage developing.
When the surplus problem cannot be
solved in this manner I sometimes have
to institute a special employment pro-gram
through publicity and personal
contact with prospective employers to
keep the surplus workers as fully em-ployed
as possible.
It is also my duty to attempt to antici-pate
any future demands that will be
made on the farm placement services of-fered
in my area. These demands could
come about through the introduction of
new crops, new processes and harvesting-crops
or new food processing plants
locating within or near my area. It is
also my duty to locate and assist in
developing new labor supply sources in
my area. I also assist the local office
in keeping the public informed on the
farm placement activities of the office.
It is also necessary to keep informed
on new federal and state farm programs
that might affect the employment of
agricultural labor in my area. I must
keep informed on all the details on each
local office operation because I have to
replace, when necessary, any Farm Place-ment
Interviewer I who has to be off
duty when there is activity in his area.
This sometimes poses a difficult problem
when two men in different local offices
are both out at the same time.
Even though I have a wide variety of
duties and in some instances long hours
of work I still enjoy having a part in
a vital and growing Farm Placement
Program. Although my duties fall into
three broad classes: functional super-vision,
direct supervision, and planning
and coordination their ramifications are
many and varied.
INDEX
ON PAGE
93
PAGE 16 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY SUMMER-FALL, 1959
1
1
SMITHWICK
Hyde County FPI Recruits Labor for
B5- S. D. Smithwick, Int. I
Washington Local Office
A. Duda & Sons with home offices in
Ovieda, Florida, have come to the Fair-field
se:tion of Hyde County in eastern
N^rth Carolina and are successfully
growing celery and
sweet corn on a com-mercial
scale. This
outfit is possibly the
biggest celery grow-er
in the world.
Each year in Flori-da
they grow and
harvest thousands of
acres of celery,
sweet corn and other
fancy vegetables. In
recent years they
have got in the production of citrus fruits
and registered Brahman cattle. After ex-perimenting
with some 10 to 20 acres of
celery in the Bayboro section of Pamlico
County, North Carolina, last year the
Dudas moved into Fairfield this year
growing some 80 acres of celery to be
harvested as a summer crop during July.
A little less than this amount will be
planted to be harvested as a fall crop
in late October or during November.
The Dudas also grew some 200 acres of
sweet corn this year. The celery and
sweet corn harvest was carried on simul-taneously
and it is believed at this time
they will greatly increase the acreage
planted to celery and sweet corn in the
farming year 1960.
This farming operation may some day
rival the farming operations that were
carried on in the same section some 35
to 40 years ago when northern capitalists
drained the entire Mattamuskeet Lake
with the second largest pumping station
in the world and farmed its 30,000 acres
of fertile lake bottom growing principally
corn and soy beans but experimenting
with a variety of crops ranging from
rice to sun flowers.
The Dudas do not propose to defy
nature and again drain this huge lake.
They can see the potential of the black
fertile soil that surrounds this lake, a
soil so high in organic matter that it
has been known to catch on fire and
burn for months. Over 100 square miles
of fresh water in this lake affords un-limited
opportunities for both ditch and
overhead irrigation purposes. The soil
acidity is corrected by heavy applications
of lime, the fertility is maintained by
plowing organic matter into the soil and
adding some commercial fertilizer and
the water table is controlled by hugh
pumps that pump fresh water either in
or out of the fields depending on the de-sires
of the grower.
A corrected soil acidity, controlled
fertility and moisture, plus a favorable
climate all add up to a favorable celery
operation in this Mattamuskeet Lake
section. The celery and sweet corn that
Top picture shows celery harvesting machine in action, second shows two "field walkers" and Asst.
Employment Service Director Ernest McCracken with Area Supervisor Phil Pollock and FPI Dennh
Smithwick watching as the celery harvester turns around. Notice how celery has been taken from the
field leaving only the outside and unsuitable stalks behind. Third shot is corn harvesting machine
moving down road to next field. Bottom is closeup of corn harvesting machine in action. Note mer
on top assembling shipping crates which move along a belt conveyor to truck which is coupled to am
towed by the harvester. Machines are complete with refreshment stand and toilets.
I
SUMMER-FALL, 1959 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 17
is being grown in Hyde County is gener-ally
closer to the consumer than that
grown in Florida, thus giving the grow-er
a decided advantage in freight rates.
The summer crop of celery produced in
this area is generally harvested and sold
at a time when there is very little celery
coming off any where else on the East
Coast. The celery produced in the Lake
section of North Carolina is of high
quality and good yield and sold around
$3.00 per crate and averaged much better
than $2.50 f.o.b. shipping point.
While we make good yields of high
quality corn in this section, unfortunate-ly
corn is being harvested north, south,
and west of us at the same time we are
harvesting our corn crop here. The
plentifulness of green corn at this time
usually has a great tendency to depress
the sweet corn market. Most of the corn
was sold for approximately $2.00 per
crate f.o.b. Fairfield until the latter part
of the harvest when New Jersey started
harvesting heavy, this causing corn in
this area to move at $1.50 per crate f.o.b.
shipping point.
We started harvesting celery in Fair-field
June 29 and sweet corn July 5 and
[carried on both harvesting operations
simultaneously until the crops were har-vested
which lasted until the latter part
of July. It was necessary to harvest corn
seven days to the week while there were
two Sundays during the celery harvest-ing
period that we were caught up
enough that we did not have to work in
this crop. Continuous rains for approxi-mately
three weeks during July hastened
and shortened the harvest season of both
celery and corn and damaged some of the
later crops of celery to such a degree
that it was not even profitable to harvest
some of the later plantings. About 80
percent of the celery grown this year in
Fairfield was Variety 259-19 and 20 per-cent
was Emerald and averaged from
700 to 900 crates to the acre while an
javerage yield might be considered at
550 to 600 crates per acre. Practically
all celery being grown at this time is of
the green variety although several years
ago only the bleached was in demand.
Eighty percent of the sweet corn plant-
3d this year was Golden Security, a
hybrid yellow and 20 percent was Wapan
iwhich is also a yellow sweet corn.
j Corn is usually packed 5 and 5% dozen
:o the crate and occasionally is packed
4% dozen to the crate. Corn generally
iverages 200-250 crates to the acre. This
fear was an exceptionally good crop and
an around 300 crates to the acre.
One corn harvesting machine was used
n the harvest. It requires a crew of
ipproximately 40 people to operate this
nachine. Sixteen rows are harvested at
he time with 16 corn breakers and a
ground foreman, 12 assorters or packers,
this box makers, drivers, packing fore-nan,
crew boss and checkers. A good
rew will pack from 2,000 to 3,000 crates
n a ten-hour day, depending on the
mount of corn, length of rows and
reather conditions. Sometimes a topping
machine is used to cut off the upper
portion of the stalk above the ear. In
extremely hot weather this makes it
much easier on the men that are break-ing
the ears. The celery harvesting ma-chine
was referred to by many of the
Negro harvest hands as "mule trains."
They are huge machines that require a
crew of 55 to 60 people to operate one
machine. These machines are wide enough
that they harvest 24 rows of celery at
the time with each machine. The celery is
cut by 24 experienced workers called
"strippers" that cut the celery off at the
ground level which is below the stalk
and above the root growth. These "strip-pers"
use butcher knives to cut the stalk
Asst. ES Dir. Ernest C. McCracken and Duda
Foreman examine celery plants which are to be
planted for second 1959 celery crop in Hyde
county. Below Dani Davis collects an armful of
celery too ripe to ship.
and then strip off certain outside un-desirable
stalks from the main bunch
and place the bunch of celery on conveyor
belts where the stalk goes by a topper
or cutting machine that cuts the top
of the stalk off making all stalks a
uniform length. The celery then goes
through a washer and comes out on a
belt conveyor in the middle of the ma-chine.
Eighteen experienced packers
have to be able at a glance to determine
how many bunches it will take to fill
a crate. It is packed in crates according
to size. The biggest stalks require 2%
dozen to fill a crate and range to eight
dozen to the crate for the smallest stalks.
Each packer has a different number and
is required to put this number on every
crate and also the number of dozen of
stalks of celery that are supposed to be
in the crate is written on the box. Pack-ers
have to be fast and accuracy is a
must. A packer is allowed only three
mistakes a day before they are set aside.
The crates are hauled to the celery
harvester knocked down, and placed on
top of the machine and one man is fully
employed making up the crates as fast
as they can be filled. After the packers
fill the crates a set-off man on each side
of the machine sets the full crate of
celery on another conveyor where two
lace-up men close the crate by wiring
the top down, and send it on to the back
of the machine where it is checked and
tallied according to the packer number
and is loaded on a big truck that is
coupled to the harvesting machine and
is towed by the harvesting machine until
it is loaded at which time it is cut loose
and replaced with an empty truck. Then
the loaded truck goes directly to the pre-cooler.
Celery is cooled by running it
through ice water and loaded on van
trucks, iced down with snow ice and
transported to the market. An experi-enced
sales force of marketing experts
does the selling of all this produce. It
is sold to various buyers who distribute
it to where it is consumed all over the
nation.
Sweet corn is harvested and handled
very similar to celery. The corn harvest-ers
are lighter than the celery harvesters
as it is not necessary to equip the corn
harvester with washers. After the corn
has gone through the pre-cooler and has
been loaded on the truck, it is necessary
to ice it down with snow ice.
A good day, harvesting with the two
celery machines will pack 3,000 to 4,000
crates in a ten-hour day while the one
corn harvester will cover from 6 to 10
acres a day and pack from 2,000 to 3,000
crates of sweet corn. The growing of
celery and sweet corn on a commercial
scale in Fairfield, North Carolina, this
year has been successful and it looks at
this time as if these two crops are here
to stay.
FAYETTEVILLE FPI
—Continued from Page 13
—
A typical work agreement stipulates
that the crew leader transport workers
under his control to the field and super-vise
them in harvesting according to
specification. For this he receives a fixed
price previously agreed on by himself
and the employer. This price is based
on each unit his workers harvest. Out of
this he pays the workers a percentage
and keeps the balance to compensate for
his responsibility.
As the harvest progresses, daily con-tacts
are kept with the producer and
workers because of circumstances that
might arise which would require help
other than that housed in the labor cen-ter.
Should this happen a day haul pro-gram
is instigated in the local area for
additional workers. In setting up this
—See FAYETTEVILLE FPI, Page 18—
PAGE 18 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY SUMMER-FALL 1959
LUMBERTON FPI RELATES FOUR-SEASON OPERATION
r
.:::*-«-,,
By P. C. Brooks
Farm Placement Interviewer I
The fact that I operate in an area that
is a large agricultural labor demand
area, as well as an agricultural labor
supply area, causes my work to be de-manding
in the local placement phase
as well as the out-of-area recruiting
phase. Due to the nature of the Lumber-ton
office area we have an intensive
Farm Program all four seasons of the
year.
The winter season is the starting sea-son
for all the out-of-area recruitment.
I make new contacts
with available
g-roups of labor and
renew old contacts.
These contacts are
recorded on NCSES-
2406's for future
use. I assist the lead-ers
of these groups
to organize their |
!
workers and to se-cure
transportation
whenever possible. brooks
During this period Farm Employment
Days are also being held to promote the
placement of year around workers and
tenants. There is also some crop activity
during the winter months as cotton pick-ing
does not end until sometime in De-cember.
This activity places heavy de-mands
for labor on the local office. The
chief planting activity during this sea-son
is onion setting. The labor demands
for this operation are also heavy. The
employers want large groups of twenty-five
to fifty workers with a composition
of 85% women and 15% male. The
onion setting operation runs through
February into March.
The winter season also brings on in-tensive
recruiting programs to secure
workers for both intra-state and inter-state
referral. Workers are recruited
and organized to take contract cabbage
setting jobs in Eastern North Carolina.
The wage, housing, and transportation
details are worked out from the ES-560's
and ES-383's received from the order
holding office. We also recruit many
workers for Florida to fill inter-state
clearance orders. Both Indian and Negro
groups are referred to both the intra
and inter-state job openings.
The spring season sees a continuation
of the pre-season contacts with available
labor. I also, am contacting the straw-berry
growers in my area to ascertain
how much and when they will need their
strawberry harvest crews. I have quite
a large inter-area movement of straw-berry
crews as I bring fifteen crews from
other parts of my area and have them
housed and worked in the Chadbourn
area during the berry season. We also
work about one hundred South Carolina
workers in the strawberry harvest. This
amounts to a total of about four hun-dred
workers from out-of-area working
in the Chadbourn area during straw-berry
harvest.
At the same time the Chadbourn straw-berry
deal is going on, I am carrying out
the final recruitment procedures on the
strawberry crews and cabbage cutting
crews ordered by the Beaufort Mobile
Farm office. These crews amount to
about two hundred and fifty workers.
While all the recruitment and referral
work for both Chadbourn and Carteret
County is in progress I still have the
local demand for day-haul labor for the
onion harvest. To satisfy the demands for
onion labor during this period we refer
up to one hundred and seventy-five
workers per day.
During the summer season of June,
July, and August the harvest of green
tobacco is my primary activity. The
green tobacco harvest generally starts
about the 10th of June and continues
through the last part of August. During
this period, I have recruited, organized
and referred 35 to 40 tobacco crews. The
total working strength of these crews
equals about 500 persons. These crews
are referred to both intra-area work as
well as intra-state employment. I also,
use about 150 South Carolina tobacco
workers in the green tobacco harvest in
the Columbus county area. The same
crews are used in the tobacco grading
operation during the summer season.
During this period we also have the cu-cumber
harvest. The demand for labor
for the cucumber harvest is not very
heavy but it is sometimes difficult to
secure due to the intense tobacco har-vesting
activity in the area.
During the fall season, my primary
activity is cotton harvesting. I have 40
to 50 crews each year organized to har-vest
this crop in this area. The number
of workers in these crews totals some
500 to 600 persons. This activity usually
starts around the first of September and
normally ends about the last of Novem-ber.
In some cases, due to weather condi-tions
or heavy harvest it has been known
to continue through December. During
this period we have a constant demand
for workers in harvesting field corn.
I also recruit, organize, and refer a few
sweet potato crews to the eastern North
Carolina offices. Our interstate referrals
to Florida for their citrus harvest
begin during the month of November
with the referral of several hundred
male workers on these Florida clearance
orders.
The number of different activities in
my job as Farm Placement Interviewer
I requires a great number of hours each
week to keep abreast of them. My area
at this time supplies a great deal of the
needed seasonal harvest labor to other
areas of North Carolina. However, I feel
that the potential of this area has been
for the most part untapped. This has not
been due to lack of effort on my part
but rather a result of having only twenty
four hours in a day, and seven days a
week. Despite the long arduous hours I
have spent developing the Farm Place-ment
Program in this area, I still enjoy I
my work and I am proud to be a part
j
of a growing and expanding Farm Place- I
ment Program. I
DIVERSIFIED
—Continued from Page 14-
Office. Here the farmer is told directly |l
his relationship with the Farm Labor I
Representative and how he can be helped!!
in regard to his labor supply, if he willi
tell his requirements to the local office.il
At these meetings, questions of farmers!
and workers may be answered. Emphasis!
I
can be put on the scarcity of farm laborjj
or other factors which might affect the
labor market. By holding meetings in the
area, the Farm Placement Representa-tive
can be heard and seen by the farmers
and workers, and in turn can answer
their questions.
The Farm Placement Service has made
great advances, expanded and been re
built in response to the demand of the
times in the area. During this time, crop
specialization, improved farm machinery
and scientific farming have shortenec
the harvest period of many crops. Or
the other hand, crop diversification anc
consumer demand have increased th<
need for a more highly skilled type oJ
farm worker. To meet the changing time;
in the area, greater efforts are bein|
placed on the improvement of working
conditions, in the recognition that loca
workers should always have first choia
over out-of-area and migrant workers
better housing and living conditions. Witl
this in mind, throughout the area W'
hope to expand, grow, and provide ;
service to the farmers within our area
FAYETTEVILLE FPI
—Continued From Page 17
—
program, workers in concentrated area
are contacted, pick up points establishec
and time schedules arranged for tran;
porting workers to and from the field
when needed.
When it becomes necessary for a da
haul program to be put into operatioi
the producer, or processor, usually hs
to assume the responsibility of tran
portation and paying the worker on a
individual bases; thereby creating pro!
lems, responsibilities and expenses whic
he does not wish to assume if possibl
For this reason he stresses in his orde
the crew leader type method of harve;
operation.
The farm placement service, along wi
the producer, has found that a fast
and more satisfactory job can be a
complished in big harvest operations 1
using this source of labor in preferen
to a day haul local labor recruiting pr
gram.
—See FAYETTEVILLE FPI, Page 23
SUMMER-FALL, 1959 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY PAGE 19
1960 To Offer Real Challenge For Elizabeth City Farm Placement Interviewer
By Floyd I. White
Farm Placement Interviewer II
The year 1960 promises to be another
year of challenge for all those engaged
in the recruitment and utilization of farm
labor. The past seven years have been
years of unprece-dented
high levels of
economic activity.
Year after year
there have been in-creases
in seasonal
agricultural employ-ment
in this area. In
spite of higher and
higher agricultural
output, the farm
population and work
white force have been de-clining
steadily. As a matter of fact, the
farm population has made a very sharp
drop in eastern North Carolina. Under
these circumstances, the challenge is for
us to double our efforts, to utilize fully
all available local workers, and try
to achieve more conscientious employ-ment
of migrant workers through the
migrant leader counseling plan we have
used during the past four years. It is
our task, however, to demonstrate that
every possible means have been used to
see that jobs in agricultural activities
are offered to unemployed workers to the
extent that they are qualified and avail-able
to accept this employment.
Beginning with January, the writer,
in a functional capacity, with the other
farm placement representatives checked
with brokers as to seed bought and the
outlook of crop acreage from their ob-servations.
Along with this operation, all
Forms ES 369 and ES 2402 are checked
for disqualifying statements and are
also checked with the growers for the
first time as to their attitude in regards
to such crews with disqualifying remarks.
In many cases, the majority of those
crews are accepted. Some, however, are
deleted. During this contact with far-mers,
local groups are organized and
leaders with crews are interviewed are
prepared and possibly revised according
to the present status of those in question.
All information that we can possibly get
pertinent to our set up is received for
our approaching harvest.
In February we are again following
the same procedure as in January in
order to catch any changes that some
of the growers have made relative to
crew shifts. We again check with the
fertilizer dealers and resume housing
surveys with the farm placement repre-sentatives
in the area. As of February
1st, we try to have a conference at least
jonce a week of all farm placement per-sonnel
and the local office manager.
This is necessary because of the writer's
functional duties in regard to current
operations. Later in this month, the
Manager of the Virginia Employment
Dffice in Norfolk, along with his large
strawberry growers, make an appoint-ment
with Mr. Pendleton, our Manager,
for a conference with all farm place-ment
personnel here in this office. This
meeting is necessary, since the Elizabeth
City area for the past seasons has sup-plied
day-hauls to these growers, and at
this particular time arrangements are
made and loading points given to these
growers' truck and bus drivers. This mat-ter
of exchanging berry pickers with the
Norfolk Office area has been very bene-ficial
to use here, and they have always
been responsive and cooperative in as-sisting
us when we have called on them
for workers.
Entering into the month of March in
a functional capacity, I have a consulta-tion
with the Manager and request the
farm placement personnel, each Friday
and more often if necessary, to hold
conferences. We, at this time, discuss any
problems that confront us, exchange
Truck loads of Pasquotank County potatoes line
up for market. Below bags of potatoes sit in
fields where harvest hands have left them for
the trucks to pick up.
ideas, offer suggestions, and make suffi-cient
adjustments to clear our work cal-endar
before it is necessary to have the
next call meeting. In other words we
cannot afford to let such accumulate; it
is so easy to become confounded with
confusion. During the last days of March,
the writer is very busy seeing that the
Forms 360-A are put in order with neces-sary
information on each one to give the
crew leader to be interviewed a clear
understanding of employment opportuni-ties
being offered him. By this time, he
has received a second follow-up letter
from the Elizabeth City Local office ad-vising
that he has employment, and those
who have been taken from our active
list are requested to meet the Elizabeth
City representative at one of the most
convenient points while on his annual
Florida itinerary. At this time different
leaders who might have been deleted
from our list are given assurance that
the first opportunity we have, employ-ment
will be offered. We find it very
necessary to keep the relationship of the
farm placement service above reproach
at all times. (Occasionally, we have to
take some of those to bridge the gap of
shortages.)
The first few days of April last
minute checks on housing and orders and
grower contacts made. Then the de-signated
interviewer for the Eastern
Seaboard States schedule is on his way
to Florida. Duties of this interviewer
while in Florida are to interview pre-designated
crew leaders and all other
leaders who are interested in existing
employment chances in North Carolina.
All crews are assigned identification
cards. These are given the leader for
each vehicle to be used in transporting
equipment and labor to the employment
area. A daily work sheet is kept intact
by the North Carolina representative
while in Florida. This is in addition to
the Forms 369 used. As soon as this
schedule is completed, the representative
returns to Elizabeth City and immediately
all farm placement representatives are
called in. Forms 369 that are made on
this trip for the Elizabeth City area are
examined along with the daily work
sheet. These are checked for any dis-crepancy
that might have developed
while the interviewer was in Florida.
During the month of May, my super-vision
is changed from functional to
direct. The writer recommends to the
Central office the need, if any, for addi-tional
Farm Placement Interviewers,
who are also assigned under the super-vision
of the Interviewer II. The five
farm placement interviewers and I get
together, and everything that has hap-pened
contrary to our original schedule
is discussed and adjustments are made.
They give to the writer a report on
old housing, such as renovation, new
housing, and fixtures. The growing
stage of crops is watched very closely.
The growers are contacted quite often.
All information on crop maturity pos-sible
is received and relayed by letter
to the various groups that are to start
reporting in here May 18th. This proce-dure
is followed until June 10th when all
predesignated crews are in and sheltered.
At this particular time we have what is
better known as free-wheelers. These are
mostly automobile, pick-up and one-truck
groups who come here to the office. All
farm placement men are contacted to
determine the need for additional work-ers
of this kind. The writer is in the
field most of each day from 9:00 o'clock
until 6:00 o'clock P.M. He is always in
the office from 5:30 til 9:00 o'clock
—See CHALLENGE, Page 26—
PAGE 20 THE E. S. C. QUARTERLY SUMMER-FALL, 1959
Camden County
Between Pasquotank
& Currituck
By S. B. Seymour, Jr.
Farvn Placement Interviewer I
Camden County lies between Pasquo-tank
and Currituck Counties and has a
rich farm land which produces as its
chief crops, potatoes, corn, soybeans, pea-nuts,
wheat, cotton and many kinds of
truck crops, varying in acreage from
year to year. These consist of snapbeans,
cabbage, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes
and sweet corn. Camden County has three
large grain elevators, giving a general
idea of the volume of grain produced in
the County. Due to adequate rainfall and
soil fertility, a crop failure in Camden
County is almost unheard of.
Farm activities begin around the first
of January with the recruiting of local
labor. Around January 5th, cabbage set-ting
begins. Acreage of this crop varies
from year to year. In February, farmers
begin planting potatoes from the 10th
of February until the last of March.
During these months, the farm place-ment
job is to evaluate how much labor
will be needed to harvest these crops;
also to check on housing facilities avail-able
for migrant crews who will arrive
in May.
During the month of April, quite a
recruiting program is carried out for
local labor to pick strawberries in an ad-joining
state. A sufficient number of
these crews are retained in the area to
take care of the spring cabbage harvest,
which begins about the 15th of May and
will usually last for about three weeks.
Strawberry crews are brought back to
the area in time for the spring snapbean
harvest.
The first arrival of migrants is usually
around the 18th of May through the
month of June. These early crews, plus
local crews, are used to harvest snap-beans
in Currituck County on a day-haul
basis, and are used there until about the
5th of June, at which time they are
brought back to start potato harvest in
Camden County. Approximately 1400
migrants and 700 local workers are re-quired
to harvest the potato crop.
The greatest satisfaction of Farm
Placement work is when a man gets by
one day without being fussed at about
showing partiality, and in knowing he
has done a good job to help some farmer
harvest his crops. In order to do a good
job in the harvesting of the potato crop,
one has to know where each crew is locat-ed,
how many potatoes need to be dug per
day and exactly what time they will
finish a job in order to be able to shift
them to some other farmer who is in
desperate need of labor—especially when
demand and price are good. We had the
satisfaction this year of having one rep-resentative
of a potato chip firm to tell us
we had one of the best operating farm
—See CAMDEN COUNTY, Page 25—
Pasquotank Has Real Farm Placement Supporters
By E. T. Berry
Farm Placement Interviewer I
In Pasquotank County the atmospheric
conditions are splendid for growing vege-table
crops of all kinds. In fact, Pasquo-tank
County cabbage and potatoes are
known along the eastern half of the na-tion
for superior quality and packaging.
Lettuce compares favorably with any on
the market and is rapidly gaining in
popularity as a crop and a commodity.
Approximately l 1
/^ million bushels of
corn and V2 million bushels of soy are
raised each year. Every spring and fall
48 million pounds of cabbage are harvest-ed,
along with 3000 acres of wheat, oats
and milo. One hundred million pounds of
potatoes and 150,000 crates of sugar corn
are marketed products of Pasquotank
County's fields. Rich soil and above
average rain fall make this County one
of the most productive in the State.
On the 16th day of May, the writer be-gan
duty as a full time farm placement
representative in the Pasquotank County
area (having previously worked part
time during 1958 on a temporary
basis). At this time of the year potato
planting was in full swing. The pro-cess
of planting, hoeing and harvest-ing
4,500 acres in potatoes is no mere
detail, especially when practically every
farmer in the County is anxious to get
his potatoes in the ground fo