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

tltneS on the large plantations IN the
South you can not get the negro to
use machinery. If you cam (, you will
surely fail. That problem must be
worked out. You might just as ---all
say that the carpenter shall retur
the Old plan Of saving everything III
with the handsaw instead of
modern machinery as to say that u,
1arIner shall continue in the old way
OF doing everything by hand In the
rice heldS Of louisiana where machin-
cry Is used [ found that one American
with modern implements could do as
much work in a day as two hundred
japanese could do by hand. They till
every foot OF land with spade An
acre and third to an acre and a half
is all that can be worked by one Jap
anese With his wife and daughters I
have known a man and his wife in
Louisiana to cultivate 200 acres in
rice by the use OF modern machinery
Therefore, the use Of machinery is one
of the things that is absolutely nee
essary to the success Of the farmer
OF today
The farmer who uses modern ma
chinery in planting and cultivating his
crop will succeed, and the one who
does not viii make a failure. The old
way of making crop by hand by the
use Of the hoe and the plow must
soon be thing Of the past. We
must come to the use Of modern i'm
plements, and the sooner we start
and let the negro understand that he
must work his crop in this way the
better off we shall be.
Now, there are some things that are
tending to prevent our holding our
own in cotton production. One is the
tendency to put the price OF cotton 50
high that it will force production in
other countries Once they have learn
n ha oyt nd toll
adjustment it will be difficult to win
back our former supremacy in cot
ton. The planter is entitled to a just
compensation for the production Of
cotton, but If the price is forced to a
point above what the world can at
ford to pay for its clothing it will re-
coil on the planter. If it We're not
for the boil weevil l believe we should
now be making 20,O00,OO0 bales OF
cotton annually. Not that the boil
weevil reduces the crop SO much but
it does SO reduce among planters the
confidence that crop can be made
that fewer acres are planted. Let us
now take up the production OF cotton
under boil WeeVil conditions and face
the situation.
There are certain facts that we may
conSid er settled:
First The boil weeVil will hence
forth be a prominent factor in cotton
production.
Second It's life history was ably
and exhaustiyely outlined to the
world by the Bureau Of Entomology
Of the United States Department OF
Agriculture nearly seven years ago,
and little Of practical value as to its
| habits has been added since.
| The great problem then. is how to
| make cotton under boll-weeNil con
ditions This is evidently plant
problem. Under diversity of soils,
| increased precipitation, less or more
| cloudy weather, and other changing
! conditions affecting the plans the hab-
it's of the weevil remain unchanged,
but the habits of The cotton plant are
modified in many ways.
On our strong alluvial soils the
! tendency Of the cotton plant IS to q
larger growth of stalk. A spring OF
more than usual rainfall increases this
tendency to abnormal growth. because
the generally level formation OF al1u-
| vial soils prevents rapid drainage, and
! the presence Of the boil Weevll still
further tends to promote growth, De
cause it prevents fruitage, which ar
rests, in part, the growth or the Staih
| The result of such conditions IS a
| swamp of weeds preventing cultiVa-
ton and forming an ideal harbor 1of
! the weeVils.
TO overcome the three difficulties
mentioned it will be necessary under
| boll-weevil infestation to strictly op-
serve the following plans on aliuVlal
| lands:
First. Plant only on we'l-drained
land (if not naturally drained IL
should be artificially drained) and de-
vote the poorly drained back lands-
always unsafe for cotton IN wet sea
sons-to rice or crops that will yield
under excessive m moisture.
/ Second Plant cotton that h2S ac-
oujred the dwarf habit and fruits