The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1904-03-04
the pest is sure to spread and that in
three or four years 1t will take South

u
nary pest is by finding another bug
which will devour the weevil, as was
done in California when the orange
trees were attacked by a scale louise.
The common lady bug'' was put on
the trail of the scale vermin and in q
short time the pest was driven out.
But there is nothing known inscience
which will exterminate the boil wee
| vii. 1t cannot be reached with spray,
for the r?al instrument OF destruction
Is within the boil where the poison
would ruin the fibre as well as the
vermin.
The only hope OF growing cotton
with any success in an infected terri
tory Is to get very early variety and
plant 1t very early, and even then
half the bolls would be ruined by the
weevil.
The price of cotton is driving farm
ers to increase their acreage. The
time may come when cotton will be at
such a high price that half crop will
pay. The object of this movement is
not to diSplace cotton entirely, but to
give the farmer something additional
to rely upon. The boil weevil cannot
be fought with spray, but third Of
the appropriation has been set aside
as a fund with which to make expert
mentS against the boil weevil. In
Louisiana an effort is being made by
the government to raise crop despite
the boil weevil, the government ex-
pecting to get half a crop developed
before the weevil gets to work and
then to cut down every stalk and burn
it and plow up the land carefully.
The early varieties are not so good as
a rule because they drop the fruit too
easily.
METHODS NOT EXPERIMENTS.
ing hybridization around Columbia
for several years, will try to breed up
improved varieties Of early cotton.
The department. of entomology has
discovered varieties which are not vul-
/ nerablc tC root rot' and wilt dis
ease" aud is now working on rust. u
The wilt" is caused by the water
veins in the plant being stopped up
by some kind Of fungus.
In regard to the work which DR..
Weber has been doing here in connec-
tion with MIR. II. G.. Keenan, and 9TH
ers, DR.. Spillman spoke in terms Of
commendation, but that Is an expert
ment farm and the new venture is a
farm to teach methods.
DR.. Spillman then told of the man
ner in which the quarter of million
appropriation would be expended
One third would be given to the de-
partmcnt Of entomology to find some
very early plant which could be made
vigorous. Another third has been set
aside for the purpose Of making ex-
perimcnts to see if the pest can be ex-
terminated BY the use Of any ether
OF the remainder, $40, 900 has been
set aside for the diversiiication Of
southern agriculture. This, in his
mind, is the remedy for the boil wee
vii. In order to induce men to let
the government have the use of part
OF their farms, the seed and half of
the fertilizers will be furnished.
These farms are not experiment sta
t!ons but are being run solely for
profit and to exhibit approved meth
ods. The government wants to take
advantage Of local experience. He
had not come here to tell Mr.. Hyatt
what to DO, but to get his neighbors
to assist him, and for that reason they,
would have board of directors
There is a fine market for farm
products right here in South Carolina
where there are so many mills, but
from bleak and barren Ne.g England
many commodities are shipped into
the 81 ate whereas they could be raised
plNn ~ ,,1r ?.
profit than cotton.
He had looked over Mr.. Hyatt's
farm and is very much pleased He
does OF expect as much success from
any oEhcI of these farms as ne does
from Uhis one in Columbia
lie then told that in the fall he will
establish another diverSification farm
in this State, perhaps in Spartanburg,
where the character Of the soil is diff
fcrcnt, and during the progress Of the
farm work, he wants criticisms, COM
plimentary or otherwise, just SO they
are helpful.
In order to exhibit the manner in
which he will go about operating
these diycrsiticatiOn farms, he cxhib-
TIED charts showing the work to be
done on 3O-acre tract in Texas. He
accounted for every item Of cost and
estimated item of receipts, although
he declared that the estimates in the
latter case were really little lower
than the receipts would be, Judging
by past experlnce. He accounted for
every pound Of provendcr which would
be obtained, showing the percentage
which would be used and the part that
would be sold.
AN EXAMPLE CITED.
On this farm Of 33 acres he would
have 10 dairy COWS, ? young cattle, 10
hogs and 2 mules. lie would plant
alfalfa for the hGgs, one acre support
ing 70 hogs, and 6 additional acres of
this succulent food for hay for the
cattle, the hay being the best stock
food in the world, and entirely too
rich before curing. His farm would
TIC divided into | l acres for permanent
crops and % to be used alternately for
summer and for winter crops. OF the
acres for permanent crops the dis
tribution would be acres for alfalfa
and for Bermuda. or the summer
crops the planting would be as fol-
lows: 10 acres in corn and peas,
acre in sorghum and 1 acre in peas
alone. The winter distribution would