St. Tammany farmer., 1906-02-17
FARMER AND PLANTER.
WAR ON THE BOIL wEEv1L.

WAR ON THE BOIL WEEvIL.
southern Planters Urged to Alter.
nate In Raising Cotton, Corn,
CowDess and Oats.
w. ]. Spillman, agriculturist Of the
United States department Of agricul-
ture, and in charge Of the Office of
farm management, visited New Orleans
recently.
Mr.. Spillman was on the programme
for q paper at the session Of the Sci
entists' convention. but was unable
to reach the city in time to appear.
| His special mission to the south was
to inspect the IS object-lesson farms
that his department is establishing in
the cotton-growing states
The future prosperity Of the south
will be made permanent only through
the diversidcation Of its crops, said
Mr.. Spillman. The farmer Of this Sec
tion must depart from his manifest In
clination toward specialization. J.
II am speaking more particularly Of
those states that produce the cotton.
In those states the planter has suffered
from the boil weevil. This insect, It
has been proved by statistics, has 10
duced the cotton crop 50 per cent. En-
tomclogists have told US that the boil
weevil can not be entirely eradicated
from the cotton fields; that he. lives
and thrives only in the cotton field.
However, the experts who have been
seeking the humiliation of this pest
have shown the planter that he can
minimize the area in which the weevil
works destruction through the applica-
tion Of known precautions, the de-
struction Of the cotton crop early In
October and the planting Of an early
variety Of seed in the spring. This will
prevent the late Matching Of the weevil.
But this advice the planters have not
been disposed to follow generally.
my department has still another
remedy, and that is that rotation or
diversiication Of crops. Plant some
thing that the weevil does not like
and he disappears. Feed him cotton
OH the same ground and he will al
ways be with you. Our plan is to al
ternate the raising of cotton, corn,
cowpeas and oats. This will insure four
crops in three years, and there will be
feed for live stock, and supply OF fer
tiiizer that will save the farmer buying
this needful stimulant for his soil.
I've have conducted demonstrations
proving that under this plan as much
cotton can be raised on one-third the
land that is being used for the raising
Of that staple under the old idea of
specialization.
"seven of these object-lesson farms
have been located in Louisiana, but
their operation was delayed year ow-
lug to the health condition here the
past summer. There are two In Ar
kansas, three in Mississippi, three in
Alabama. three in Georgia and three
in South Carolina. We are not expert
menting. We know through the re-
ports of the government experiment
stations what can and what can not
be produced on the southern soil.
Eve are merely going about giving
LESSONS on the information furnished
us by these experiment stations. The
plan is to select given points in state, |
choosing farmers that are known to be |
progressive and anxious to learn. We
apportion the land and remain for the |
planting, and then see that the farmer
cultivates and harvests according to
instructions that we furnish him. We
go further, and aid him in disposing |
Of his crops, If, it so happens that he |
has grown q product which he is not |
to marketing. The soil Of |
these southern states will grow almost
everything that the states at the north
do.
'"The farmers here know this, but
they have been timid about attempting |
to grow anything but the staples, and
perhaps some patches Of potatoes and
corn sufficient to supply their family
use.
Five years ago my department
showed the Texas farmers that they
were making mistake in going in for
cotton exclusively. We induced them
to plant potatoes and onions.
Great crops Of the latter were raised
without sacrificing the output Of cotton
In the least. They saw that the plan
was profitable, but last season erred in
The overprcduction Of potatoes, the re-
suit being such low market that the
kubers were allowed to rot In the