flgriculture

Farming was the principal occupation of the majority of immigrants who settled the area. North West Tryon had twenty six farms 1n 1880, ranging from fifty acres to two hundred acres. 1Most farms, in addition to the usual farm animals of beef cattle, dairy cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses, had their own fowl comprising of geese, ducks and hens, an orchard, and a garden of vegetables and herbs located near the house. The twenty six farms of 1880 had become thirteen farms by 1973, ranging in size from eighty-eight to two hundred and seventy-eight acres 2All the farm land 1n North Tryon is utilized in 1992 by nine farming operations: Lester Craig; Richard and Morley Newsome; Ver- non and Alan Inman; Vance, Eric, and Carl Dixon; Alan and John Robinson; Myron Dawson; Raymond and Steven Thomson; Elmer and Earle MacDonald, Augustine Cove; and David Best and Sons, Tryon Point.

Farming

Feeding the chickens: Cora Dawson beard. Evelyn Cudmore collection.

The orchards have all but disappeared on today’s farm. Sheep, pigs, and fowl are a thing of the past, and dairy cattle have given way to beef cattle. A few farmers grow an acre or two of turnips for some ready cash, but potatoes are the main cash crop. Work horses have been replaced by tractors, although some lighter breeds of horses are kept

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