The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-06-04

ABUG WHICH EATS GOLD.
ter. the same to be paid out of the cot
ton when It was picked. When the wee
vii wiped out the cotton he had moth
ing to fall back upon. and starvation
stared the greater part of the popula.
tion in the face.
f What Uncle Sam Did. A
This was the situation when Uncle
Sam, Patriarch. in the person of his
agent. the late DR.. Seaman a. Knapp.
began to instruct the farmer how to
fight this terrible bug and still make
money out of his. land. Dr. Knapp's
plan was to teach us how to control
tho weeril as far a possible from
season to season. and by tho proper
selection of seed and by deep blowing
and narrowing to produce plants which
would yield moro cotton or. rather
enough to feed the necessary wcevil
and leave something to spare. His
motto was. Double the crop by good
farming" or. rather. raise the same
crop oil half of the land
The plan also provided for diversified
farming. to make the farmer raise all
| OF his own supplies. all his farm anil
| mails and their feed, and to have one
| patch which should be planted to cot
ton to furnish the cash for the family.
This last fitted in with the conditions,
| for the boil weevil destroys credit.
wherever 1t goes and the farmers ara
compelled to raise other things In
| order to live. HER t-3 ali
$4,000 Demonstration Farms
Tho work began in Texas In 1904.
and 1t has now spread throughout the
h. hau a.,
In the cotton belt and more than $4,000
demonstration farms. upon which the
| planters. under the weekly direction of
these agents and their assistants. are
raising cotton after government meth
DDS. In the boil weevil region there
are county clubs of such farmers. and
the stories OF the success OF their
members have taken the place OF poll.
tics as topic of conversation.
/ Tho government agent selects as far
4 as possible. the best farmers, and asks
them to plant out an acre of cotton al
some conspicuous place on their es.
tates 1t is. if possible, at a cross.
roads, OF at least near some road. so
mat the people may see the results a.
they go by. a sign marking the spo,
as a government farm is put up. ana
this place Is visited by the farmers fol
miles around and the operations care.
ers are always skeptlcal, and 1t is diff
cult to get them to make the expert.
ment After the first year, however
| they are anxious to try. and the dem.
onstration farms multiply. In hun
dreds of counties his work has revo.
lutionlzed the methods of farming. and
ithe men who were practically bank
rupt have become rich. The deposits
in the savings banks have Aincrea sed,
| and new banks are being started in
nearly all such regions III,
The credit system Is on the decline.
The planters are raising their own sup
plies. and with many OF them the cot
ton receipts are almost all clear gain.
A Talk With Government Agents.
While at the Department of Agricul-
tnre to-day I had long talk with two
of Uncle Sans agents who have been
in charge of this cooperative demon
i stra ton farm work for the Bureau OF
! Plant Industry OF the Department of
! Agriculture. Each has his own terri
tory, through which he moves about
| from State TO State and county to coun-
| ty. experimenting the demonstra tors
and their hundreds of agents, These
men are w. B. NIercier and H E. Savely,
both of Mississippi. They tell me that
they arc raising more cotton than ever
| before In the sections where the dem
onstration work is. and that last year.
| OIL $4,000 acres. which were cultivated
] under such directions, a total of 72, 000,-
| 900 pounds of seed cotton was raised,
| making an average OF $50 pounds to
the acre. In North Carolina where
there is no weevil as yet. $500 pounds
of seed cotton have been raised on one
| acde. making a crop which. with lint
and seed. was worth sla5. These en-
onstration farms have shown mighty
increase I'm production over all others
bout where the old methods of ia rm-
the yare showing profit OF SIS per
acre over that of their neighbors.
In one Of the worst weevil districts
~ /. Maxwell, OF Louisiana, grew $50
| pounds OF lint to the acre on planta-
tlon OF 1000 acresr and this on land
which Is said 70 be especially favor
able TO wcevil production I
| Converting nn Old Farmer.
| This demonstration work is revolu-
1 tionizing the South. Both young and
old are engaged in II. Many OF the
boys have been each given an acre
upon which TO raise cotton. and there
are now boy cotton clubs as we'll a S
boy corn clubs. These acre farms are
to be seen everywhere and tho poor
] farmer cannot help knowing the big
! Yields of his neighbors. ID
az The government is trying to get the
very best farmers to make the expert
ments. The agents pick out those who
are noted for their success ana COM
mon sense and ability In many cases
they perenade the older planters to
engage In the work. and that with
great diMcuity. Take, for instance.
! one old Georgia farmer, who had been
. q