The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1904-10-26
SUMTER. S. c.. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 90, 1904.

roots. The hot sunshine of the season
of fruition caused early and in many
instances, premature opening, and
this forcing left the plant with little
pigor to 90 on making cotton. There
are good lands on which this was not
so markedly the case, but as general
rule the plant was pretty near done
this season with it's first opening, and
this precluded the possibility OF much
Of top crop.
The salvation of the crop has been
the long dry spell of the picking sea,
son that has permitted cotton to stand
in the fields unharmed until the pick
ers could get to it. The early opening
and the opening all together of the
crop with labor so scarce as to make 1t
impossible to pick it as soon as it
should have been picked, would have
meant a disaster if there had come
a period of wet, stormy weather. The
picking season has been as perfect as
any one could desire, however. It
will be good many weeks before tbe
crop eau be all picked, and many
fields today look whittier and more
full of cotton than they should look,
simply because the bolls bave been
open so long that the lint is hanging
away down cut Of themN Rain and
wind would work havoc in such fields,
but so far there has been no damage OF
this kind, and a large per cent of the
crop has already been gathered, and
is as. rule very nice, clean cotton,
free from tinges and stains.
There has been great deal OF COM
plant this year a to the character OF
the staple. It is true that his com
plant has been from certain sections
rather than from the entire belt, but
at the same time it is generally taken
as rule that a plant that does not
produce a heavy, oily seed will not
produce long, strong lint. The great
est complaint as to the character of
the staple comes from Texas and
the other states where early matur'
ing'' short staple seed has been SUBJ
stituted for the lold-fashioned long
staple variety. The Snort staple cotton
does not carry more bolls to the plant
than does the long staple, nor is there
more lint to the boil, so that the fact
is evident that the large substitution
of 81 inch to 81 inch cotton for inch
to inch and an eighth cotton will have
some effect in decreasing production.
The crop except on the best iau9s in
the extreme northern portion of the
belt, has practically stopped making.
In many sections the fields are no lon
ger green. This precludes the posi-
bility of much of top crop, and at
the same time it means that the crop
has now very little to fear from frost:
The only place where frost, which has
held off well this year, could do any
material damage now is in Oklahoma
and the Indian Territory. Rain and
wind would do a great deal more
damage than could possibly be done
by frost. Ten days of bad weather
would greatly reduce the yield in
many localities.
In considering the size of the crop
this year, the boil weevil must come III
for a large share of attention. The
march of this pest has not been check
ed. 1t has entered the best cotton coun-
ties of Texas this gear. and, blown by
the Gulf winds. .Hilas found its way into
nine parishes of Louisiana. The more
this insect is studied-and no one
knows much about the boil weevil yet
the harder to understand become his
ways. There are counties in Texas
which had the weevil last year that
have made fairly good crops of cotton
this year, and there are other locali-
ties where the pest has swept every
thing before it, leaving the fields rs
barren of lint as a tar roof is of pond
lilies. The fight to raise cotton in
spite of the pest has been waged de-
terminedly and with some degree of
success, but the weevil has done its
work in Texas, nevertheless. In some
of the northern counties, however, it
GOT in too late to be q serious menace
this year, but has planted itself to do
full line of business next year. The
pest has also done a great deal of dam
age in western Louisiana, and will de-
crease the yield Of that state to con-
siderable extent.
Indian Territorys crop is usually
Jumped with that of Texas In crop
statistics There was large amount
|, of new land in the territory pat into
cotton this year, and as rule the plant
has done we'll, although it has not
been as early rs in other parts Of the
belt. 1t is popular in making large
crop estimates to tuck away large
bundles in the little cnvassed corners
and for the reason a great dead has
been said about how much cotton In
, dian Territory and Oklahoma will
raise this year. Their crop promise
is undoubtedly excellent, but labor has
been unusually scarce, many of the
fields have been out poorly cultivated,
! and while there will be good increase
it can scarcely be as large as many peo-
pie have anticipated.
In Louisiana and Missouri the crop
at one time this season looked like
perfection. Along i'll August there
was long continued period OF heavy
rainfall and this was followed by ex-
tremely hot weather. In may sections
of these states deterioration WAS as
rapid as was ever seen in any cotton
country and the prospects for bani-