Watauga Democrat

SWEET CABBAGE. SAUER KRAUT SEED POTATOES AND BUCKWHEAT CAKES
Charlotte Observer.
The Observer made mention a few weeks ago of the proposed advent of the sauer kraut industry for western North Carolina and it seems now to be a certainty. Mr. John B. Steele, county demonstration agent for Watauga and Mr. H. Neal Blair, sauer kraut specialist for the State Extension Department, are getting the farmers of that mountain country organized to build a co-operative kraut factory, together with facilities for handling well graded cabbage. They want to supply the Carolinas with a made-in-Carolina product of sweet cabbage and sauer kraut of high quality. Watauga cabbages are known by their crispness and fine flavor wherever they are used and Mr. Blair has had 20 years experience in making kraut in that county. He has been supplying the State Hospital at Morganton and other large institutions with kraut for that length of time.
The promoters of this project propose to make a specialty of a small package of raw sauer kraut for the hotels homes and markets to supply the hungry demands that will not be satisfied with a tin can. This will give us the advantage of the great medicinal qualities of this popular food so much talked of these days by the doctors. The factory will also have a commercial product for the grocery store and full barrels for the large institutions.
When Mr. Steele went to Watauga as a county agent last summer he found the great need was not increased production but business management in marketing the things produced in that section. He was lucky to get in touch with Mr. Blair who is a past master in making the old original sauer kraut. The two together are going to make it possible for the people who crave this delicacy to eat and be satisfied.
The Watauga farmers, together with those of Avery and Ashe have learned through their county agents that they can compete with Maine and Canada in the production of high grade seed potatoes. This is due to the altitude and cool summer climate The Mountain Seed Potato Growers Association is now organized in these counties and is putting on the market in the Carolinas, a Government-inspected, certified seed potato which has proven to be equal to the Maine grown product.
Now if the buckwheat growers and the farmers who own forests of sugar maple will just organize and give us buckwheat cakes and maple sugar we will begin to reap the benefits of the extension of good roads. When Mr. Bowie gets his railroad built that section of the country is going to lose the distinction of being called "The Lost Provinces" but will, instead, be a vital part of North Carolina.