Rural Holidays (1965)

A vacation on a farm. Have you ever thought of this? To get away from the big crowds, to relax and play without pressure, to drift down a quiet stream, to recharge your spirit and body with a peace of the open country. To relive the land of your childhood. Rural recreation. The US Department of Agriculture recognizes it as a modern farming enterprise and offers individual land owners and community groups technical and financial assistance and credit to develop facilities for outdoor recreation. For a farmer, it can be a full-scale business or a sideline. But to be profitable to him and of greatest enjoyment for the vacationer, it must be planned just like any other kind of land use. One important factor is the soil. A soil survey will help determine the best recreational use of any piece of land. Here is a farm devoted to camping. Soil survey is used to locate campsites, septic tanks, and play areas. A small farm pond for swimming or a larger community watershed lake can be built only where the soil and drainage conditions are right. A detailed map of the soils of the farm is prepared. This helps the farmer develop a final map of the proposed land use, a plan for recreation. Then, one day, there's a new golf course where potatoes once grew. A landowner can offer the public many forms of recreation. His choice will depend first on his own interests, then on how far his farm is from the city, and what kind of land he has to work with. Ed Noller of New Jersey grows potatoes for the metropolitan market. These are high quality potatoes and he is proud of them. But he also has a farm pond that he originally built to provide irrigation water for his crops. Now it is a community swimming lake and picnic area with cabanas. Noller tends the snack bar after work. Here the little ones ride the swings. And the older ones play touch football. Recreation brings an additional source of income to Noller. Vacation farms and dude ranches are typically a summertime operation. Those who offer this kind of rural recreation must be able to provide sleeping accommodations and meals along with a full program of entertainment. Cold water pumped from the well helps wake in the sleepy guests for a family style breakfast at this vacation farm in West Virginia. I'll leave it to the young folks to put away the food. Fishing is popular with the youngsters. Bass and bluegill in the pond by the farm. Or fighting a trout with a spinning outfit at the cold water lake on the hill. Women guests have other interests. Imagine picking garden fresh vegetables for the dinner table. Or relaxing in the water at the swimming pool. A pony ride with the children is a highlight of the afternoon. While another group learns the fine points of horsemanship in the riding ring. The landowner can get help through his local soil conservation district to solve many of the soil and water problems connected with developing a vacation farm or other kinds of farm-based recreation enterprises. There's a special kind of vacation farm just for children called a day camp. Children love the activities. It's part of growing up. They learn safety, too, and take themselves most seriously. Now, if everyone will paddle together, we will have a race. Just keep the boats pointed in the right direction. The young children want to know everything. Now, this pump sucks the water from the pond. It goes through the pipe to water the fields. So, we can grow more grass to feed the cows. First, she must learn to mount a horse if she's going to ride. Then, with the junior leader keeping a careful eye on each horseman, the group rides around the lake and off through the woods. At milking time in the late afternoon, the older boys show their skill as cowhands. You might think the cows really didn't know their way to the barn. The day camp is farming with fun, a happy mixture of work with the exuberance of childhood. And many a junior counselor goes back to college in the fall helped by the money earned at day camp. Dams are being built where the watershed protection and flood prevention act can help communities control costly upstream floods. That is through a combination of conservation farming practices and dams on the small tributary streams. This is where 50% of our average annual flood damages occur. Dams like this are built to catch the crest of the runoff and let it out in a controlled that will not damage the lowlands. Water sports so popular today are a byproduct of the lakes created by many of these dams. The Department of Agriculture can provide technical help, cost sharing, and loans for the recreation facilities, as well as for the flood prevention and water supply features of the watershed projects. These folks are off for an afternoon's fun in the water. A stop at the country store for gas and bait. The cash register jingles and on to the lake. Watershed improvements are community improvements for the attraction of the lakes, the recreation on the water and around the shore, all combined to create new sources of income for the community. Local sponsoring organizations that manage the watershed lakes often set aside areas for picnics, that popular American custom where the watermelon is king and everyone eats too much. This barn once held the hay for 20 cows, but now it is the store and office for a camping farm in New York. There's Dot Gordon going out to take care of a customer. Camping is now a full-time business for the Gordon farm. People come for weeks at a time because the camp is fun and convenient for other nearby activities. Jim Gordon spent a year visiting other farm camps, asking questions, and getting the facts about costs and returns before starting the development of his own campgrounds. His property is located near Cornell University, the Finger Lakes, and one of the state parks. Visitors can set up their tents or trailers and then go sightseeing. Camping farms are more successful if there are scenic attractions nearby. Many come just for the fun of camping. Outdoor living is a sport in itself. Camping farms take the pressure off overcrowded public camps and provide a needed place to rest and relax along our highways. Here an organized group is enjoying a picnic supper, and the Gordons, whose campgrounds have made such picnics possible, are the honored guests. There are many rewards for the farmer or rancher who likes to work with people. The camping farm helps the community by the additional business it attracts to the local stores and gas stations. It also offers the traveler a clean, wholesome place to stop. A place where the children can stretch their legs. Gordon's farm pond was designed by the conservation engineer for livestock, but now it is the center of the camp and the center of activities. Swimming has universal appeal and is an important attraction at this farm camp. On Sunday, the campfire circle becomes a place for worship. These services are organized by the campers themselves. It's autumn. The birds are flying south. The abundance of wildlife found on many farms and ranches in the United States offers their owners unique opportunities. The rancher who opens his lands to hunting or the farmer who builds and rents duck blinds is providing a service to the city dweller, diversifying his own income, and taking out of crop production land not needed or suitable for such use. 25 miles from the Pentagon in Virginia is a farm dedicated to hunters. Here, dogs are taught to point, to recognize the scent of a game bird. Here, too, the hunter can sharpen his skills for those moments of reality. Philip Mitchell operates the ranch as a full-time recreation business. He knows dogs and guns and understands hunters, but he also knows the land. His fields, once used for farming, are now planned for wildlife, for successful hunting. Mitchell has used the technical services, cost-sharing and loan programs of the US Department of Agriculture, and has been able to develop a successful recreation enterprise. Wearing the red coat of the guide, his dog running in widening circles, Mitchell escorts the hunters in the field. A field carefully planned for hunting. Now, the dog has found the scent. The bird is hiding in the grass. The strip planting pattern of sorghum and meadow grass was recommended by biologists of the conservation agencies as ideal habitat for game birds. There's the point. Beautiful. Look at him hold. Will the bird flush? There he goes. The hunt is over. The hunters return. A successful day. It is the night train from the city. Winter sport enthusiasts pour into mountain communities from Vermont to Virginia as new recreation facilities rapidly appear. The US Department of Agriculture's rural areas development effort is putting emphasis on aid to these rural communities. One way is to establish recreational activities that stimulate the local economy. Snow sports bring many visitors to the mountains. People who want to learn to play, who will spend their money to enjoy themselves. Want a place to eat, and a place to stay. Morning comes crisp and clear. Already a few hardy souls are on the slopes. Skis are put on in anticipation of the most exhilarating of sports. And on up onto the snowy hill they go, gliding easily on the lift. Or using the rope tow. On these slopes cows graze the sweet grasses of summer. Adjacent orchard lands yield the crisp apples of autumn. Now on the same land, skiing and other winter sports are an important part of farm and community income. The bargains are not commonly found at commercial ski resorts, but here on this farm winter sports include many things. There, they lost one. Half the fun of snow is falling in it. Ice skating is one of the most graceful of winter sports. This pond the boys and girls are skating on was built to water the cattle and irrigate the pasture during dry seasons. Winter skating is an added bonus to the farmer. Ice fishing, an age-old sport, is new to many people. These fishermen are fishing in a lake created by a watershed dam built primarily to prevent flooding of the surrounding land. Here is a novelty in ice sleds. A couple of fans hooked to outboard motors and away it goes skimming down the lake. The graceful sail takes more skill to manage and a bit of wind to keep her going. Now to get warm by the fire. And a refreshing drink. Colorfully dressed, happy people are bringing new life to many a snowbound community. Whether it be winter or summer, rural vacations are always in season. There are many public agencies assisting farmers and community groups in developing recreation facilities for paying city guests. And everyone benefits. Tourist bureaus, chambers of commerce, travel and camping magazines and directories will help locate a country vacation spot for the city dweller. The landowner who adapts his farm or ranch to recreation is helping meet this growing demand. He invites you and me to enjoy the real fun of country living on a rural holiday.