The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-03-29

ton followed by a corn crop or a grass
crop, because q certain amount Of
humuS must be kept in the soil. This
Will require more work per acre, and
of course With the present labor it
means fewer acres will be cultivated
We hear it said on all sides that we
should diversity and raise less cotton.
L agree with you. We should diver
silly. but we must raise more cotton
per acre with fewer acres to the crop
It will be necessary to raise more
corn, more alfalfa more cowpeas.
have more winter cover crops, and
use certain portions Of your land for
pastures; or it may be advisa bic in
some cases on alluvial lands 10 have
farm pastures in the hilly section
where the stock can be kept during
the summer.
Hitherto you have usually leased
your lands and allowed the tenant to
farm at his will. In the future the
successful planter will be obliged to
have his plantation supervised and
his work done according to a definite
plan. In the case Of a planter hav-
ing several farms it can easily be ar
ranged. In the case Of small farmers
it will be necessary that one man be
employed to supervise and give spe-
cial directions, because it will never
be safe under bOli-Weevil conditions
to permit the old loose way of Guilt
waiting crops. This is sure to result
in failure In fact, it has always
been a failure to the extent that the
soil yielded only a third of the posi-
| BILE crop.
The planters Of Louisiana and OF
/ portion Of Mississippi have been un-
! der boil weevil conditions during the
| past year. Let US face the facts with
sanity Before the weevil strikes j.
territory. capital becomes alarmed
and credits are reduced. A part OF
the labor immediately leaves, and less
cotton is planted. This situation is
intensified as soon as the WeeVll ap-
pears. The planters frequently be
come discouraged and plow up large
areas The loss from failure to plant
and from the abandonment OF the
cotton planted and pIowed up is al!
charged to the weevil No allowance
is made for q bad season. Louisiana
ts a case in point. Prior to the au-
vent of the weevii the annual crop
production Of cotton varied occasion
ally over so per cent The crop Of
1905 was less than half that OF 1904,
though the damage by the WeeVll III
1905 was practically nothing and the
! loss was attributed to bad season
In 1908. with the weevil over largo
portion Of the State, the cotton crop
was only 1915 bales less than that
of 1905 when the weevil had barely
| entered the State. 1t IS safe to say
| that had it not been for the contin-
uous rains in July, which rotted the
bolls nearly made the crop of 1908
would have been much larger than
that Of 1906.
The cotton crop Of 1909 in louisa
ma was about 100000 bales, one Of the
worst seasons known. How much OF
this decrease in product was due to
the weevil? Suppose a full crop for
a bad season should have been o11,-
hn1l
in 1905 when the weevil had just ap-
| peared upon the border of the state
but had done practically no damage
Starting with this IS a basis our in
vestigations show that 80 per cent
! less acreage was planted in 1909, and
during the wet weather of May and
| June 40 per cent Of the acreage plant
| ed was abandoned or DloWed up. De-
duct these percentages from what the
crop would probably have been with
out any weevil under the weather
conditions and we find that the 80
per cent less planted and the 40 per
! cent abandoned and destroyed would
| leave a crop of 214, ,931 bales, due to
! bad season, failure to plant, and de-
struction of the crop by plowing up.
The crop did amount to 2T0. 900 bales.
consequently the great loss was not
! caused by the weevil. though it IS
charged to that account
In the same way We are inEestigat-
/ ing the crop in Mississippi in 1909.
The wet weather. the reduction IN
/ credits, the enormous loss or labor 1T
the infested counties, and the tropical
! storm after the cotton matured are
sufficient TO account for most Of the
reduction IN crop yield. but Of course
| it is all charged to the Weevil- l am
/ not intending to, state that the boil
/ weevil does no damage. but am trying
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