The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-18
4 Cotton Crop.

4 Cotton Crop.
 The Department of Agriculture has
 of plant industry. an article on "Es- sential Steps in Securing an Early Crop of Cotton." by Colonel R. J. Red
 ding, director of the Georgia experi- as Farmers Bulletin No. 2i7 and con tains information which will be of value to all cotton growers, but espe- cially to those who are fighting the date cultural methods.
 In his intToductfon Colonel Bedding
 says: Tn Farmers Bulletin No. 1ss.
 issued in 1894. 1t was stated that the work of the bureau of entomology for
 several years has demonstrated that tnere IS not even remote proba ability that the boil weevii will ever be exter- minated. and that the steady exten sion from year to year. until the northern boundary is far north of the center of cotton production I nthe United States eventually be distributed ali over the cotton belt In ten years 1t has gradually advanced a distance of about 500 miles and will undoubtedly invade new territory at the same rate. It Is not at all likely that legal restriction Of any Kind would prevent or material ly hinder this spread
 These conclusions must be accepted as of the highest authority. since they have been reached by qualified scien- tiic investigators after careful Iabora- tory and field experiments conducted and in the older weevil-infested region of Texas. The matter therefore is not
 local problem, confined to Texas and nearby States, but affects the entire cated rate of migration 1t is very prob able that within ten or fifteen years every portion of the cotton producing region will have been invaved It is Wy all hAH northward and eastward of Texas to prepare for the worst by learning the methods that have been found effect I've In minimizing the ravages of the palliatives as may be developed mean while, and be prepared to apply them whenever 1t shall become, necessary. In view of the immense importance and value of the cotton crop, the sub Ject has inded become of National i'm portance.
 The bulletin mentioned, however gives assurance that. although the times may no longer be possible. 1t Is nevertheless entirely feasible to pro- duce cotton at a margin of profit that will compare favorably with that in- volved in the production of most of the staple crops of the United States by following what has become known as cultural methods. Among the most important of these methods are those directed towards securing an early de- velopment of the cotton plant and an early maturity of the largest possible proportion of the crop. and the object of this bulletin is to discuss the prac- tical details which have been found necessary and effective in promoting early maturity.
 The writer may be pardoned for stating that most of what appears in the bulletin Is directly based on long personal experience as practical cot ton planter and the superadded results of fifteen consecutive years of field ex- ment station. It was partly the pur- pose of many of these field experiments to discover the conditions of ferti1izing and culture that were effective in pro noting early maturity for the crop and the particular varieties best suited for securing such early maturity. It may be well to state that during the whole