10 Quotes by Hayes Harbour

We found out that tobacco was the only thing that could carry us.

We bought this farm in 1955 as part of a partnership my father and three brothers had. That lasted until 1962 when we split up, and Doris Jean and I got this farm. It was a good partnership. I mean, nobody had any squabble or anything.

One suggestion that did not pan out was the Forest Service's love affair with Slash Pine. We planted 20 acres. From what they tell me, we ended up with the best stand that they had ever seen.

We made more money on dirt than we ever did on tobacco. Selling dirt is the best way to get money.

When we realized that we had land that we didn't want to utilize in other crops, we just decided that we would start setting pines.

Tom Morgan with the North Carolina Forest Service got me started back in 1964. He drew up my first plan. From there, he made a lot of suggestions for me to follow. Some I did, and some I did not. Then, Bill Holmes drew up my second plan. He was with Stone Container. Somewhere in this time, I joined the Weyerhaeuser Company Tree Farm Family Program, and they gave me technical advice that was good.

We furnished the farm house and the land. They furnished the labor and the equipment and then we divided the profits. It was a perfect arrangement.

Originally, we had about 275 acres in this farm. The state took 13 acres of the land to build the highway. We didn't like it to begin with.

David gives us guidance. We had a clear-cut 10 years ago. We had nine bids from $60,000 to almost $200,000. If we had just gone in the middle, say $100,000, you see how much money we would have lost. I wouldn't think about making a timber sale without a forester. I would say that's the biggest benefit. You get good, free advice from the North Carolina Forest Service, too.