The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-08-28
TIME IS RIPE FOR CULTURE OF SILK Cotton States Commissioners Have Interesting Session. MANY SUBJECTS DISCUSSED MT. Magic Says Culture of silk Is More Profitable and Less Uncertain
 Than the Planting of
 Cotton.
MANY SUBJECTS DISCUSSED

Nashville, August 27.-Tne second days session of the Cotton States Commits sioners' association was called to order by President Patterson this morning. and the real business of the meeting was inaugurated by the reading of a paper on silk culture by L. B. Magid of Geor- gia, who spoke of the production of snk in colonial days, when every man in Georgia was required to plant 100 mrn berry trees to every ten acres of hand, and said that a man was ineligible to a seat in the assembly unless there was a female member of his family who was ed- ucated in unwinding cocoons. The decline of silk culture began with the introduc- ton of slave labor, but the manufacture of silk in this country had grown enor- mously. MT. Magid said that two-thirds of the territory in the United States had climatic condition conducive to silk cul- ture, but that knowledge of cultivating the mulberry was lacking. MT. Magid spoke in detail of the culture of silk from matching of the egg to the evolution of the fly.
 Conditions Are Rife.
 He said the conditions were ripe and advantageous for the revival of the indus try. especially in the south, and declared the United States should not stand still while her people were consuming over one-half of the entire production of the world, at an annual expenditure of s75,- OO0,0O0 The culture of silk was shown to be more remunerative and less uncertain than the raising of cotton and MT. Magid urged that the attention of farmers be directed to the industry.
 There was desultory discussion of the paper which was ordered printed.
 G. W. Herrick of Mississippi followed with paper on measures for the decrease of malaria in the south
 'The Raising of Alfalfa" was the title of the next paper prepared by w. R. Dodson of Alabama, after the reading of which the convention adjourned until this after noon.
 Cotton and Cowpeas Wilt.
 w. A. Orten of the United States de- partment of agriculture discussed cotton wilt and COW pea wilt, saying that when he began studying the matter four years ago, thousands of acres of cotton land had been rendered useless by the wilt. NO remedy for the evil had been discoy- cred, but he had found resistant cot tom when field Is ravaged and occa- sional stock Is left standing and it is the seed from this that produces the i'm mune plant.
 The disease, he said, was character lzed by the sudden wilting of the stalk. It first appears in spots and gradually spreads, the soil being permanently af- fected. The cause, he said, is a fungus In the soil that gains entrance to the plant through it's roots, finally cutting off all sustenance. Experiments in the affected fields had produced the immune plants. but they had not gone far enough to ascertain how long the seed from such plant will continue to produce immune growth. Until this matter is thoroughly studied out he thought the best thing for farmers to do is to plant other crops on the affected lands
 The effect of a similar fungus growth on COW peas, watermelons, cabbages and turnips was also discussed.
 w. M. Scott, entomologist of the aeri- cultural department of Georgia, discuss ed treatment of the San Jose scale
 Others papers were read by B. L. Wright of Cairo, Ga, on the sugar cane industry and by E. w. McGruder of Vir- ginia. on "The making and curing of Vir- ginia hams"