There were dramatic changes in Henderson County agriculture from the 1930s to 1950.
The dairy industry more than doubled in size to become the largest agricultural contributor to the economy. These statistics are based on the agricultural census reports.
Field crops, including corn and potatoes, dropped from number three to number six in five short years.
The total number of farms in the county dropped slightly, but income from farm products sold increased, from 1945 to 1950. There were 2,703 farms in Henderson County in 1945 and 2,394 in 1950. In 1950, Fifty-seven of these farms were black owned. Income in farm products sold increased from $2,007,102 in 1945 to $2,235,279 in 1949.
Agriculture was the second largest employer in Henderson County by 1950. There were 2,412 people employed in agriculture. It was the largest employer in 1940, but dropped behind manufacturing by 113 persons in 1950.
Almost three-fourths of the farmers in Henderson County described their farms as miscellaneous, meaning the farmers grew a variety of crops and raised a variety of livestock, poultry and milk cows. A total of 1,746 farmers describe their farm in Henderson County as miscellaneous. “General” farms, meaning a combination of crop and livestock, totaled 114.
Only 672 farmers in the county state they are commercial farmers. The average size of these commercial farms was 99 acres.
A total of 1,722 farmers list themselves as “other,” meaning they consider themselves a combination of self-sufficient farmers and possibly commercial farmers. Also, the vast majority of Henderson County farmers, 1,954, state they harvest crops for home use. The average size of these farms was 34.7 acres.
The percentage of Henderson County land in 1950 considered farm land was 51.7 percent.
By 1950, slightly more than half, 1,706, of the farms had electricity. Only 415 had telephones, 442 had a tractor, and 976 had an automobile. There were seven businesses listed in 1950 as selling farm equipment.
The dairy industry in Henderson County ranked number one in monies from farm products sold, more than doubling from $364,338 in 1945 to $724,301 in 1949. There were 103 farms listed as strictly dairy farms. But, 522 farmers stated they sold dairy products, with 244 selling milk, 56 selling cream and cream products, and 292 selling butter, buttermilk and other products.
Two companies in Henderson County by 1950 were producing and selling dairy products: Kalmia Dairy and Biltmore Dairy Farms.
The number two agricultural income producer in Henderson County was vegetable farms. Vegetables had ranked number one in 1945, but dropped to number two in 1950. In 1945, the income from vegetables was $630,000, and dropped less than 25 percent to $485,611 in 1949. In 1945, the number one vegetable crop was green beans (snap, string and wax). By 1949, tomatoes surpassed green beans. The top three vegetable crops in 1949 were tomatoes, green beans and cabbage. A total of 148 farms are described as vegetable farms, but 578 farms are selling vegetables. In addition to the top three crops, farmers are growing for sale green peas, peppers, sweet corn, cucumbers, squash, green lima beans, asparagus and lettuce.
There were two canneries in the county in 1950.
The income received from fruit and nut sales rose from $244,099 in 1945 to $359,273 in 1949, moving this category from number four in 1945 to number three in 1950. A total of 141 farms in 1950 were listed as a fruit/nut farm, with an additional 1,577 farms selling fruit/nuts. By 1940 and 1945, apples were the number one fruit being grown, with 1,548 farms selling apples. Other fruits/nuts, listed in order of number of farms selling and income, are grapes, cherries, pears, plums, peaches, strawberries, other fruits, figs, pecans, and other berries.
In 1947, the N.C. Apple Blossom Festival is held. The date for the festival is later changed to Labor Day and is now known as the N.C. Apple Festival.
There were eight produce companies in Henderson County in 1950. Produce companies packed and/or shipped the vegetable and fruit products to other areas.
Sales from livestock increased from $208,256 in 1945 to $288,010 in 1949, moving this category from number five to number four. Livestock, as defined by the census report, includes cattle other than milk cows used in dairy production, hogs, oxen, horses, mules, sheep, goats, rabbits, etc. A total of 78 farms describe themselves as livestock farms. But, a total of 1,855 farms had cattle and/or oxen and 1,716 had milk cows. There were 3,593 hogs in the county in 1950, with 1,254 farms raising hogs. A total of 913 farms had one or more horses and 370 had one or more mules. For the first time in the county’s history, goats surpassed sheep. Fifty-eight farms had goats and only nine had sheep. Fifty-seven farms were raising rabbits. Most of the farm income from livestock was from selling the livestock alive or selling the fiber. Only $3,845 was received from selling butchered meat, lard, hides, etc.
There were three blacksmiths listed in the 1950 business directory.
Poultry sales ranked number five in 1950, a slight increase from 1945 when the poultry industry ranked number six. But, the income from poultry actually dropped from $201,334 in 1945 to $187,024 in 1949. Fifty-five farms are described as poultry farms, but 1,042 farms are selling poultry or poultry products. The overwhelming majority of these farms are chicken farms, with only 87 farms having ducks, 51 farms having turkeys and a small number of geese and guineas.
There is one company in Henderson County in 1950 listed as a poultry company, Hendersonville Poultry, Hide and Fur Co.
The most dramatic decrease in farm sales was from field crops. Field crops, as defined by the census, include grain products and potatoes (white and sweet potatoes). Field crops dropped from a ranking of number three in 1945 to number six in 1949. Sales from field crops dropped more than 50 percent, from $314,315 in 1945 to $139,928 in 1949. This large decrease is apparently the result of people buying packaged cornmeal and flour from stores and the dramatic decrease in grist mills. There is only a handful of grist mills in Henderson County in 1950, with only two listed in the business directory: McFadden Mill on King Street and Community Mill near the depot. It also appears as if farmers are buying feed for their livestock instead of raising the feed themselves. There are three businesses selling feed and fertilizer in 1950. A total of 1,831 farms state they grow and harvest corn on 10,416 acres. There are 1,758 farms growing corn for grain, 85 growing corn for silage, 52 growing corn for fodder, and 84 farms selling sweet corn. A total of 828 farms are harvesting hay, 100 farms harvesting wheat, 65 farms harvesting rye, 34 farms harvesting barley, and 33 farms harvesting oats. There are 297 farms raising soybeans, but only 91 of these farms are raising the soybeans for the beans. The rest are raising soybeans for hay or green manure. Ten farms are growing sorghum for molasses and 46 farms are growing some burley tobacco. A total of 976 farms are growing and selling white potatoes and 295 are growing and selling sweet potatoes.
Forestry is holding its own from 1945 to 1950, with a ranking of number 7 and sales almost the same, $40,118 in 1945 and $40,198 in 1949. There are 1,208 farms selling firewood, 118 farms selling fence posts, 145 selling saw logs, 55 selling pulpwood, 53 selling standing timber and nine selling Christmas trees.
Even though horticultural farms and the sales of horticultural products rank number eight in both years, there is a substantial increase in money. The sales of horticultural products more than doubled from 1945 to 1950, from $4,642 in 1945 to $10,880 in 1949. This is most likely due to more people growing grass for lawns, the increase in landscaping for homes and more people buying flowers. There were three florists listed in the business directory in 1950. There were 11 farms selling trees, shrubs, ornamentals and vines with sales of $6,782. Twelve farms were raising flowers with sales of $3,960. Some of these were the gladiolus farms in the Mills River community. Only one farm had a glass greenhouse. There were only four farms raising and selling vegetable plants, bulbs, and vegetable and fruit seeds.
Bees, beehives and honey were a part of Henderson County agriculture since the early 1800s. In 1950, 430 farms were raising and selling bees, honey and/or beeswax. Of this total, 139 farms were selling honey. There were 1,590 beehives in Henderson County in 1950. Monies from the sale of bees and bee products was $1,215.
In 1949 the N.C. Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station opened in the Mills River community. For more information on the facility and its history, visit https://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/mission.html