The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1910-12-23
GROW COTTON
DESPITE WffWL
Farmers Tell Experts Methedsins
Response to inquiry.

may be grown successfully 10 weevil
invested territory Is shown by two let
tiers received to-day BY 9. A. Afford,
special agent here Of the Department
Of Agriculture, Bureau OF Plant Indus-
ry. the letters come In response I
queries from Mr.. Afford, and contain
valuable information for farmers who
are battling with the pest.
B. @. Humphreys, . planter near Port
Gibson, has this TO say about winning
the battle against the wceyil
II planted 100 acres in cotton this
year. have tied 70 bales. plantc
on land that was 10 corn and peas last
year and turned under deep with disk
plows In the fall. 1 planted Aliens
Hybred, Simpkins, Triumph and Clcve-
lands Big Boil. | can't say which Of the
short staples | like best, but | lean
to the Triumph and Cleveland. 1t may
be that the simpkins was more pro-
life, but the fibre Is not as good and
does not command the price.
II used no fertilizer this year, but
expect to experiment with acid phos-
phate a little next year.
II cultivated the cotton once a week
until the last Of August. / also picked
the weevils and squares until the mid
die Of July. / do not think that 1t pays
to pick the squares after the second
crop, then cultivate instead.
Il feel confident that we can raise
profitable crops Of cotton on rich, we'll
drained land. think that the season
cut my yield of half. / had TO plant
my crop over from April rs 10 May 10.
in the 100 acres Of cotton is included
eight acres Of long staple, planted May
10Th. he weeyil played havoc, as it
made only 800 pounds OF seed cotton.
This cotton pulled the average down,
and the prices willhaye To BE- high to
make " profitable over the short, early
cottons.'
&C. GOA, also residing q Port
Gibson, tells Of his experiences, thus :
a planted 35 acres in cotton and
made AS bales. 1 made nine acres Oh
one ~twelye-acre cut. 1 did not use any
fertilizer.
:" broke the land good and deep with
two-mule pIows and cultivated the beds
good and made . good seed bed. AS soon
as the cotton began to come up / har-
rowed on top "a the beds. The cold
killed the cotton and ! had to plant
over.
1T began to rain . 0 after the cot
Ten came up the second time. / barred
" Of and iplowed out with turning
plcws As often Az possible, and al often
as 4 could catch ~ dry enough | culti-
waited the beds down. The wet weather
continued. and | continued to pillow the
COTTON IN order TO keep Gown the grass
and weeds. 4 continued to tear down
the beds between plowings. Early In
June the rains held up, and 4 used the
cultivators once each week, ana some
times earlier. By this means l got an
early growth Of the cotton, and, as num-
erous as the weevils were this year,
the cotton put on squares faster than
the weevils could puncture them.
n checked the weevils early in Juns
by picking them on the little cotton
and, later, by gathering the punctnred
squares. 1 do not think that ii pays to
pick the squares until late in July.
I'VE a make cotton. n~ctwithstand-
Ing the weevil, IN q small scale, four vi
ELK acres to tho mule. Make Up thu
acreage in other crops that We a us
at home and feed to stock. By pursuing
this course w will soon be independ
x-ky 4-tEeotrt4a44f