The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-06-06

Our Worst Mexican Invasion and How
IL is Being Fouglrt-A Bug Which
| Eats Gold-How the Boil WeeviI
Norks-Uncle Sans Army of Farm
DenOnstra tors-Seventy Thou
sand Farms Under Government Di-
rection-A Talk With the Agents
Converting the Planters-A Won
derf,iI Industrial Revolution.
lCopyright, 1911. by Frank G. Car
penter.)
Washington, D. c.. June Al want
to tell you how Uncle Sam has saved
the cotton crop of the naHon-hoW
he has kept his children from bank
ruptcy and thereby prevented untold
millions Of human being at home and
abroad from going in rags. The story
l. one that deals not only with the
South but with our balance OF trade.
1t affects the cotton factories OF New
England as we'll as those Of Great
Britain and all parts OF Europe. It
affects the lfeWOrk Of millions OF
women and children and the pocket
book of every man in the country.
1t is the story of a plague greater
than that of the locusts which ate up
Pharoah's Egypt or Of the grass hop
pers which some years ago chewed the
heart of bleeding Kansas" It is the
story of a bug not one-tenth the size
controlled, bade fair to scratch pros
perity from the face of the best States
south of the line of Mason and Dixon
II is the story Of the boil weevil and
of how Uncle Sans army Of $4,000
demonstration farmers scattered O"er
tae cotton belt are fighting 1t ana
thereby bringing in an era Of wealth
the possibilities Of Which are beyond the
widest dreams Of that land.
The Realm Of King Cotton
Have you ever thought how mighty
King Cotton is. He is the richest mon
arch on the face Of the globe. He mas
an aggregate annual income in raw
material and goods. worth billions or
dollars ana This is steadily growing IN
Aiue. Our own share Of the cote n
crop has more than doubled within the
past twenty years and has quadrup pie
Within the past fifty. If the pre'e le
rate Of increase continues the deman
Will be twice as great within twenty
ears more. and by 1850 we shal oe
asked to supply more than fifty mil
lions Of bales. This estimate is based on
the worlds consumption Of cotton, OF
Which we are bound to always be me
chief factor. We are now making
more than seven-tenths Of the Whc.e,
and although England, Germany and
Russia have been spending millions to
compete with US. They have so la:
IdoOreO IN vain Iney nave tTle1 ~
develop new fields in Africa. Asia ant
elsewhere, b,t the climate and lahct
n those fields are such that they have
out little hope for the future.
There is some cotton made in India
aho Egypt and smaller amounts in
tusslan Turkestan, Brazil and CHINA.
bu' Of the total crop of the world, the
United States still produces great
ueat more than two-thirdS, and the
prospect is that she will do that for all
tlme to come. She would certainly CO
more it it we're not for the boil WecVil
and She can still do that. So the scien-
tistS Of the Agricultural Department
Tell me- with the Weevl to fight
4 Bug Which Eats Gold.
But before I go farther l want to
teil you something about this little bug
winch eats gold faster than the mer-
curry used our smetlerS. / saw one
uaflng visit to the Agricultural De
partment this afternoon. 1t was in
ciosed IN glass bottle no bigger
around than lead pencil, and not al
men long. with miniature snOut OF
more than $500, 100000 year AS