The Port Gibson reveille. [volume] (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1890-current, 1911-02-09
THR MOST ESSENTIAL
Steps In Raising Cotton Under
Boil WeevIl Conditions.

soil. Since it is intended for pub
lication in Southwest Mississippi
am certain that the work must be.
gin in the minds and hearts ol
men.
We have seen that to make cot
ton under boil weevil conditions
that it is necessary to do smaller
work, more work and better work,
than was our custom in other days;
we have tried two years of the old,
careless, slovenly way, and we are
convinced that if we grow cotton
at all we must change our meth
DDS. We have been convinced by
the experience of few men in our
midst that the new methods are
not prohibitive in cost. if we make
cotton a surplus crop, and the
short crops of the last two years
have caused such a deficit in our
revenues that we are willing to
give new methods a trial.
But before we begin the work OF
preparing the soil for the cotton
crop we are sure to make in 1911,
we want to invite the "calamity
howlers", the "sore heads" and
pesslmists to take a back seat.
They have had their inning, and
now as a matter of fair play We
want ours. They made our battle
in 1910, fought against almost in
surmountable difficulties, still hard
er for US, and they caused many a
man to clay down on the job.
The natural load was heavy E.
nough, and the added weight of
the pessimists was too much for
US. They kept telling us, you can't
make cotton, it's no use trying,
but they didn't show us how to
make anything else. But maybe
they wanted to do something, so
they kept howling, and their wall
ing cries drove our labor away by
tie hundreds, and helped to make
a 1esolate waste of the fairest land
in the South.
1t is public duty for every man
in this section to lend every en-
couragement to the growing of cot
ton as surplus money crop. If
he is not yet convinced that it can
be done pro6tably, he can do no
possible good by discouraging his
neighbor who does see his way
clear to abandoning cotton entire
Iy. individuals have always been
able to abandon cotton, and SUBJ
stitute other crops, perhaps max
ing a greater profit than on cotton,
but the community, under present
conditions must continue to de.
pend on cotton as the principal
money crop. Since this is true we
need all the encouragement we can
get from every source. Some may
fight harder when the world pre-
diets failure, but the majority are
helped by the friendly hand-clasp
and the hearty cheer. We have
looked on the dark side long E.
nough. We read long ago all
there is for us to see, and it spells
Bankruptcy, Ruin. Despair. Let
US look now on the bright side,
take on renewed courage, roll up
our sleeves and wade in to win.
If we have learned anything
from our failures, and every intel
ligent man does that, we will be
able to do many things this year
that we did not clearly understand
last year, individual problems have
been solved and general problems
are more clearly understood. The
corn-crib and the smoke-h house
stood side by side guarding the
avenue that leads to success.
Stern necessity has forced US to
exercise economy unknown in the
past. We would not use our form
er inflated credit to its limit if we
had it. The white light of bright
er day is dawning and our success
is certain.
Let us get together and push
this good thing along. Let conf
dence be the watchword, and that
man be called traitor who does
not sound the note high and clear.
Our neighbors on both sides are
watching us; IN the alIuvial lands
.l Ill L~~~s.s -