The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1908-11-05
No Way to Destroy the Pest,
But Pluck
The LESSON FARMERS MUST LEARN
Interesting Experiences Related by
Some of the Most Successful
Pianters-Plant Early, Gull
tivate Intensely.


Monroe, Oct. 27.-H. q. Stringfel-
low of Shreveport has presented the
report of his Investigations of the
Texas farmers against the boil vice.
vii. The report proved of great in
terest
Here is Mr.. Stringfellow' report:
ITO the planters and farmers of
Ouachita. who delegated me as their
commissioner to investigate the boil
Eeevil situation In Texas.
Gentlemen: On September 80 in
your interest | took my departure to
the Lone Star state The first OBJ
jective point was Dallas. First visit
ed the crop of Mr.. Rothwell, who has
$50 acres in cotton. Here found an
object lesson in double sense. Last
year. 1907. this $50 acres was SOL
id Johnson grass farm, Mr.. Roth
we'll determined TO plant it in cotton
in 1908. The first to do was to kill
the Johnson grass. the next to check
the boil weevil ravage. He plowed
the Johnson grass under with sulky
plow, then let 1T stand, until a rain
settled the ground, then he turned
it deep with the same pillow. After
that lie disced and narrowed the land
six times and let it alone until
spring. In the spring he disced it
again. and put the soil in perfect
tilth for planting and cultivation.
Then he bought a. cotton planter,
that planted in even checks three
feet apart. Every time this machine
made click, four to sixteen seeds
of cotton was planted in a hill ex-
actly three feet apart When the cot
ton came up he never put hoe In
his crop. but let all cotton that came
UP stand in the hill and went to
work with cultivator, blowing it in
checks first one way and then the
ether. This cotton grew from waist
high TO shoulder high. Was very
we'll fruited. except the top crop.
Boil weesil had that.
MIR Rofhwell said boil weevils
are rot so bad as in 1907. Boil wee
wis appeared this year about the 9Th
of Jaly and disappeared after the
18TH of July. He saw none again
until the 18th of August, then they
only affected his top crop. This
year Mr.. Rothwell will get 100 bales
off this $50 acres. had already pick
ed and ginned 81 bales, and will
make some money.
II asked Mr. Rothwell if he got
the idea of leaving all the stalks in
hill from the late king cotton
planter OF Georgia, Mr. Dixon. He
said: No, it was his own idea He
said he had to keep the Johnson
hx, ;Y%
and he wanted the sun to reach the
Weeyil, and he had succeeded New
ne said, | want you to understand
the wee7ils were not near so bad
this year as they were in 1yv.. Some
years they are-much worse than 9TH
ers, and if your people have sent you
here to find ont how to Kill or con-
quer the boil weevil, you might as
we'll return home, because that can
not be successfully proved in Texas.
We have our good years and our bad
years.
In 1906, | had in cotton 200
acres and made 76 bales. In 1907 l
had zoo acres in cotton and male
only 80 bales, had too much rain
and weeyils were bad
Mr.. Rothwell works black prai-
RE land Before the boil weey.l
came he averaged about two-thirds
OF a bale to the acre. Since the boil
weevll he has no average. Plants cot
ton 1854 of March of the Mabin Tri-
umph variety, thinks it natures one
TO two weeks earlier than other cot
ton and yields we'll Made 1915
pounds lint from 3.00S pounds of
seed cotton. Gathered his first bale
OF Mabin Triumph on August 26.
Mr. Rothwell says the only solu-
ton TO the boil weev.l problem is to
plant early and work fast, and to
cultivate your cotton all the time. He
piowed his IL times, uses cultivators.
works 40 acres to the hand and
WORKS negro labor. He makes his
hVlng at home, raises his corn, hay
and meat and manages to clear ex-
penses every year, and makes money
some years.
II examined the stalks of cotton
grown in the hills by Mr.. Rothwell;
there were from to 10 stalks in a
hill, and averaged &c bolls to SO
boIls in hill. While this mode of
planting is living success against
Johnson grass, / would not recon-
mend 1t to any farmer or planter who
is cultivating rich alluvial land.
Think cotton would grow too rank.
! visited several other farms in
Dallas county with practically the re-
suits.
From Dallas proceeded to Nc
Kinney, the county seat of Collin
county Collin county is one of the
richest in Texas. Next to Ellis and
Fannin it is the banner producing
cotton country. They diversity, raise.
corn. cotton, alfalfa, oats, wheat.
onions, cattle, horses and mules. al
so hogs. With all this diversified ton
they stick to cotton as their main
money crop, and fight the boil weeyil
with every method Of cultivation
known to mortal man. Some years
they get ahead of the little pest and
some years they don't If the sea-
COTTON MUST GO UP.