The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-12-25

fazoo Delta. Tensas and Madison wher,
.ne negroes are ten Ia one. show a loss o
\ 10 yer cent IN the population "a compare,
WIN l@S Consider this in the light o
the Tact that in the meanwhile ahsolut,
scuI"y mas been secured against ere
| NaSse And Hoods and that cotton en-,
| in value
| From the Rio Gran.l, whar. the boI
Teevil crossed from Mexico. To tbs. Yazo.
Dena, ~ over a thousand miles Tn.
ATrh OF That destructive insect hereto
| - was mainly over country oCCupied b.,
whites until 1t struck tn. negro region
aong the Mississippi River The hol
| ~~eNh was Jnst as destructive in Texa,
anu eastern Louisiana a. along IN. greal
river. indeed more so. for ls.s was known
~ ~. ,s habits and how TO fight it. But
me diff,culty has been overcome
ieSas now raises I'm spite OF the pre-.
me OF the weevil a. large a crop ol
totton IA ever and western Louisiana l.
recovering from the raid Those whit.
rections where the DO weevil il doing
me greatest harm are adapting them
selves to the new conditions and are meet
ing WIN great success They have al
most completely recovered from IN.
shnck and show an increase IN popuIat ION
And agricultural output
ror instance. the farmers cut down
Their cotton acreage and planted othe,
crops instead which the weeyiI colit
no' attack. As consequence north
Louisiana has Increased its corn Crot
Iouriold and instead OF buying corn from
Toe West; as had been the practice fou
years. u has now more corn than ~ car
use ana ~ exporting to Europe
The second best crop substituted 70,
cotton H. peanuts, which have proved
very proftabie this year. with the chance
mat louisiana will Dust Virginia from
n rs goooer prominence in few years
'nlru among the new crops is rice.
by cultivating these crops instead OF
cotton and by giving closer and more
attention TO such cotton a. they do raise
the white farmers OF north Louisiana
nave been able to wre-tls through the
crisis.
With the negro it has been din.r.p,
He has all along been a careless Guilt.
vator and the presence Of the boil w.evil
ma kes careful cultivation absolutely
necessary. Every plant OF cotton in
which the boil weevil may hibernate must
oe destroyed by fire and il il almost az
much work after the cotton il picked To
destroy all possible habitats for the insect
"a TO grow the crop.
The negro naturally does not take thia
care. Tor he likes to enjoy q rest after his
crop has been harvested: A. a consequence
his fields show the earliest weevils and his
crop is destroyed before il is ready for
picking. Again, he knows only how TO
cuitavate cotton. to plant and pick il .
anu does not understand corn rios or
peanuts: he has no other agricultural
resource.
when therefore two years ago the negro
farmers Of the new Africa woke up to
ind their cotton crops destroyed by tn.
boil weeviI a sudden panic seized on them
and a negro exodus started the like Of
which had noe been seen since the days
OF the Kansas craze in the 'TO@
The negroes fed by rail. by boat. nv
cart. selling their POSSESSIONS for any
thing they could get. The panic reached
such proportions year ago that the
whites interfered and took such action
as they could 10 prevent the bulk OF the
negro population from leaving
very vigorous campaign was made
through the boil weevil district by the
United States Department Of A9ricul-
fure. the State authorities and the rail-
roads uniting TO calm the panic. TO quiet
the negroes and to show them what was
good was accomplished in that way
md the exodus was checked. but never
iheless a smaller but stcadier stream OF
negro emigration has been kept up ever
since.
Generally IL was the po or~r and more
shifties negroes that left Some moved
Dnly a hundred miles away lust bevond
he boil weevil line. and another year will
see new panic on their par and see
hem moving eastward or northward
again number moved OUT Of Louis
ana and Mississippi altogether. Arkansas.
oklahoma and Kansas receiving many
q the emigranis. some going 10 the North.
Jhicago and ~ Louis being special
'avorit@s
This fall the emigration has started ND
again and - causing apprehension among
he part OF the white farmers who have
'een their laborers leaving them The
present trouble In attributed TO labor
agents who were warned away a year
,go Int who have returned and ar.
'arrying on negro labor.
Mass meetings have been held in Clai-
Dorns. Jefferson. Adams. wilkinson and
'opiah counties, Mississippi and in Fast
md West Feiiciana parishes. Louisiana.
war on the land agents from
Arkansas. and they have been warned
hat IL caught plying their vocation they
yill be sterniy dealt with II il probable
hat these warnings will break up the
business. but the emigration will con-
inue a. long a. the cotton crop continues /
hort IL has benefited rhe negroes who
emain behind in the respect that they
more consideration from their
Andlords or empioyerr than ~ old /
Very little has been done as We. 10
upply the places Of these deserving
Aborers. for the white immigrant still
hows an indi-pOsition 10 settle as q
aborer or farmer in a section where the
egro element IL largely in a majority
mere - arg" NniIr immigration INTO
9th Mississippi and Louisiana. but the
Thites like the negroes. prefer 70 settle
monR people Of their own race
Thus in the next district to that Of
where the population ia de
lining the fifteen counties in the south
Testern portion 81 the State there has
cen an increase in the population Of
rom iss $50 10 2Io. "a. or nearly ~ per
..nt This increase il nearly all white
nd due to the development OF the lumber