The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-07

other advantage to come from the de- creased cotton acreage is the diversity of crops. More land can be devoted to corn, oats and cowpeas all of them being valuable staple crops Of course, this would fill the southern cribs with corn, and help to lessen the quantity of bacon that the south buys from the west. We would always have good, wholesome corn bread and not bread made from meal out of damaged corn, which is giving to the negroes in some sections of the south the disease known as pelagra. It would also save the life of many mule and horse that Is lost on account of being fed on shipped and damaged corn. Good, fine, home-raised corn and oats would add to the usefulness and prolong the lives of our horses and mules. Besides many of the farmers would have corn, oats and peas to sell to the urban popu- lation in the nearby towns and cities, and this would keep money at home that now goes to the west for feedstuffs.
 Value of Lands.
 Of course it does not now take chemist to know the value that cowpeas add to land as source of nitrogen gath cred from the air, the air being com posed as every intelligent farmer knows who has been reading the bulletins pub lished by the department of agriculture. of about 80 per cent of nitrogen, which is the most costly ingredient of com mercial fertilizers.
 Another thing which has been deter mined by Dr. Knapp and his co-workers is that it is advisable to plant early va rieties of cotton that will grow off and mature early. Dr. Knapp regards this as very important in the fight against the boil weevil.
 It does one good to go into the diff ferent parts of Alabama, where the white man, the small farmer. lives on and cul- tivates his own land. Nearly every one of these small farmers Hives at home and boards at the same place." which Is boast that they have right to make and are proud to make. In every such community in Alabama the farming lands are valuable, the farms are well-conduct- ed, the houses and buildings are good and in the midst of such farms or nearby are fine churches and good schools, and the citizens are intelligent and progress sive.
 Ready for the WeeviI.
 Dr. Knapp and his assistants are en- deavoring to impress upon the cotton growers where the weevil has not yet made it's advent the importance of pre- pairing against It's coming, and the meth ods mentioned will prepared the farmer to meet the very skirmish line of this enemy, and if the weevil cannot be final ly exterminated it can be kept in a state of subjection. The trouble has been with the average cotton grower who has not prepared to meet the weevil, when it came, that he became panic-stricken and disgusted and sold out his land for what ever he could get and moved away. In many communities where the weevil has appeared the wise and gritty farmer stayed. kept his land, and sometimes bought more at give-away prices. Every farmer in infested communities who has stayed at home and fought the weevil In an intelligent way has succeeded and is succeeding, and some of them say that they are making more money than they ever did before. God helps those that help themselves" He has given the southern farmer the best climate and the best soil, so far as variety of production is concerned on the face of the globe. The cotton grower has weathered many storms, sometimes short crops, sometimes wholly inadequate prices. But the world must have this product of his labor. His