The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1910-01-21
BOIL WEEvIL A BUGAB0O.
DIR. ). A. knapp, Agricultural Expert.
Delivers Foreeful and Instructive
Lecture Wednesday Evening.

duufesS Vi Df. ,. n. knapp eyDert
from the department Of agriculture
Washington, delivered before Tho
Business Mems Club at Memphis Wed.
nesday afternoon:
"Ihe theme of the speech was Tho
South has the possibilities. All TIM
Is needed is for her citizens to awake
to their opportunities.
That the awakening is at hand was
evidenced by the audience that t,,ad
'he room. 1t was in its way as re-.
markable as the address. The bankers
the solid business men of the civ tho
planter and the small farmer from
Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas
sat side by side. They were all eager
TO hear and learn of the WAYS whereby
the SOIL might give forth more. to the
enrichment of all.
AT an age when most men ara
ready to lay down their burdens Dr
Knapp impressed his hearers as full of
Vigor ana power lie had a message
10 deliver not an grafton. lie talked
straight out from the shoulder, His
message was two-fold.
Don't get scared of the boil
"eeviI. 1t can be whipped. Diversity
your crops and get more out Of the
soil.
behind all was a plea for the dig.
nifty OF labor. We cannot exist as a
republic, he said, unless we paw due
honor to labor.
Added TO this was the appeal that
The great South should hurry the
awakening which has characterized
the past few years of her existence.
and hasten the coming of the time
when with doubling of her crops,
the owners Of the land may sit down
and own the world if they wish.
=" 1t is foolishness, said DR.. Knapp.
to talk about the abandonment of
the growing of cotton. We have lust
begun to grow cotton. The man who
says otherwise is just uttering cheap
talk.
"A / the same time we are coming
to crisis in the history Of the great
crop We must meet it like men. You
can produce cotton If you wish, boil
weeyil or no boil weeyil. | do not be-
l1eve that the great American people
who have fought and conquered so
far intend TO be whipped by such an
Insignificant little thing as boil
weeyil.'
Then followed an array of facts to
show the fight could be won and how
to win. He told how in one Texas
county in 1904 the government took
charge of the fight against the boil
weeyil when the entire county was
demoralized. That year the county
produced 10000 bales In 1906 the
yield had grown to more than ~, 900
bales and conditions were better there
than ever before, as the people had also
learned 10 diversity their crops, and
to raise their own provisions. An
outline Of the fight in other parts Of
Texas, in Louisiana and Mississippi
followed. The statements were backed
up with proof. For fear you may call
my hand on some Of my statements,
said Dr. Knapp, L wish to state |
have with me the names of more than
1000 people from Mississippi and Louis
lana who have made a success Of rails
ing cotton under our plan
las essentials of his plan for fight
ing the boil weeyil, DR.. Knapp laid
down the following rules:
Early destruction of the stalks.
There must be better drainage of
the soil so there will DO a good stand
and the crop can be worked soon after
rains.
There must be excellent prepare
ton of the soil for planting. Plant
early as the season will permit and be
safe
DCCN Va an tall ludl diibS holASNy
must be used: one that puts out its
fruit limbs low on the stalk and fruits
heavily. Rows wider apart than
usual The seed also must be of the
best quality.
Cultivation should be intensive.
/" Do not lay by the cotton as usual
but continue to cultivate until the
bolls begin to open. Cotton is thus
made all the time. If the rules for
producing cotton are followed good
crop can be made.
ITO gain the greatest good you
must supervise your tenants, he con-
tinued. You must give them to I'M
derstand that the day of haphazard
methods is gone. 1t is the man who
uses the most horse and mule power
who wins to day. The successful man
is the one who enslayes machinery.
" We are in the period of higher
prices for labor. 1t is here to stay, |
believe, and the man !who will win Is
t,,l mi n = t6at no