Pocahontas star herald., 1910-07-15
RETURNED HOME
FROM THE SOUTH
John R. Ki1er, Government Agent,
Gives out Interview Relative
TO the Boil Weeyil


el through Southern Arkansas and
Louisiana, where he was sent by the
government to study the boil
weevil condition and farm demon
stration results.
TO the Star Herald be stated that
he had visited Hope Ark, where he
met the boil weevil delegation and
spent one day at that place, visiting
the local agent and looking over
several demonstration plants. From
there they went to Shreveport, La ;
and visited the local agent, at
Siblen, thirty miles distance from
Shreveport, where the boil weevil
has cleaned up house and home.
From Siblen they went to Alexan-
dra, La. and then toBayou, Sara and
st. Francisville, La, where they
visited the famous Rosedown Farm,
consisting of seven thousand acres
of fine fertil soil. Previous to five
years ago this entire plantation had
been used for the growing of cotton.
Here we met Hon. j. p. Bowman,
who said he had raised as high as
6200 bales of cotton in one season
and priced himself as millionaire
farmer and was worth in ready
cash FIVE million dollars, but that in
1909 he only raised so bales, not
enough to pay the taxes on the farm
and his advice to us was to learn
how to raise something else besides
cotton for you cannot raise 1T for a
profit when the boil weevil gets to
it.
"The U. S. Government expects
that they will reach Randolph and
Lawrence counties about 1912 and
in 1913 we will have battle with
them from that date on, as long as
we raise cotton. -
"From there we went to Baton
Rouge, La, where we examined the
mode of cultivation at the expert
ment station and found that they
were trying fibre plant called
"Rama." This plant can be har-
vested three times each year and
only has to be replanted each ten
years. This fibre is very tine and
stout and is used in the manufacture
of silk and broadcloth and at this
station the agent in charge showed
us a crop of stock beets, one acre
from which he expected forty tons
of feed. He harvested one row 100
feet in length and the beets from
that one row weighed S5 pounds.
"Our next stop was at Edenbon,
where we drove elgnt miles in the
country and talked with several
farmers and looked over several de-
monstration plants under the super
vision of the local agent at that
place and he said that they were
working night and day trying to
make cotton in spite of the weevil
under tbe.governments methods of
cultivation.
"We closed our journey at New
Orleans, where we inspected the
experiment station, which was a
sugar station. We found near Ba-
ton Rouge and Southern Louisiana
that seventy-fve per cent of the
land was laying out and that the
plantation owners had lost all their
fam labor, which was mostly color.
ed, and that land that was formerly
worth $75 to 500 per acre before
the boil weevil came, was now for
sale at any price from $40 up to
500. Where the owners can, they
are converting their farms into rice
fields and sugar cane, but the aver
age farmers do not know how to
raise anything but cotton.
'Returnlng by the way Of Mon
roe, La, we found things some bet
ter, number of small farms and
the farmers were trying TO raise
corn, oats, COW peas and in a gener-
al way showed more prosperity than
you could see on the larger planta-
tIons."
Mr.. Kizer brought home with
him large bunch of Spanish moss,
,,,b,oh c,rox,,a On tha twaoo =, C.-.A