The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1911-02-18
WEEVlL, SCARE
Hen, Reported. sssn Distributing Them
90 Plantations in Georgia.
WERE LOOKING FOR AID

b. + q j o. - . a aH - L.
Digging Small Holes-President
Barrett Calls on Farmers to Pro.
4 tect Themselves-says Every Pre-.
caution Should be Taken by
Them.
Have the alleged boil weevil dis
tributors been operating in Colunl-
bia county? Is the Question that is
agitating the farmers Of some sec
rions of that county, according to
a telephone message received by the
Augusta Chronicle Thursday.
The message stated that near
Evans, Ga, two men were last week
seen driving in their buggies over
several of the plantations in the sec
tion and digging small holes here
and there in the fields, and OCCASION
ally making smaller holes Will
spikes. To some who questioned
them later they stated that they
were looking for indications Of oil.
This incident occurred before the
publication of The Chronicles story
of the rumor that one man had come
to Augusta for the purpose of scat
tering the boil weevil in the cotton
fields of that section, and after read
! ing the story the farmers Of that sec
ton Il Columbia county have be-
come alarmed over the happening,
and fear that it is probable that the
/ weevils may have been placed In
their fields.
Mo one took any special notice OF
. the men, so no good description
could be gotten of them. One was
said to be in buggy drawn by a
very dark horse, and the other was
driving a horse of somewhat lighter
color. ~.
i What Barrett Says.
Following the publication Of an
alleged amazing. plot on the part OF
sche1ners to infest the Georgia and
South Carolina cotton fields with
the boil weevil, Charles S. Barrett,
president of the National Farmers
union, in an open statement, declares
I. that the advancing sweep of the
!plague of the cotton fields jeopar-
jdizes the entire agricultural welfare
of the South.
4 President Barrett deplores the
fact that cotton growers of Georgia
and adjoining states are lethargic
owe this grave menace and asserts
| thai chad this visitation, which In
Its drastic destruction of values, is
i entitled to rank with the plaques
Of Egypt, first shown its head in
any of the trained and disciplined
!, nations of Europe, the concerted.
! wealth and skill of the threatened
government would have been mus
tered to stife the danger"
He points out the fact that me
South holds practically a world mo-
nopoly in cotton, but that the very
4! foundation Of this monopoly is men
aced by the onward sweep OF the
pest, which all the science Of the
! best skill has been unable to ef-
fectlvely curb as yet. He sees hope
however, in the trem mendous possi-
bilities of diversification throu shout
the cotton belt, where soil and eli
mate combine to make possible al
most any crop grown elsewhere In
the world.
| Just at this time, when the wee
vii seems destined through its nat
..ural channels to invade Georgia
within the next year or so, his ar
ticle should be read with the closest
attention and interest. President
Barrett is a plain spoken man. He
doesn't use roundabout or evasive
methods or language. Fie has the
habit of driving direct at the point.
Therefore his utterances are not
those of an alarmist, but words or
wisdom from a careful and observ-
ant man, whose life has been and is
being spent in helping the man who
| tills the soil. He says:
"The motive Of this present ap-
peal is to stress upon Southern
farmers everywhere the absolute
necessity of taking precautionary
measures at once Had the farmers
of Texas and Louisiana adopted this
plan they would have avoided mil
lions of dollars in losses due to the
boil weevil. The only sensible pro-
cedure is to recognize that the en-
tire South seems destined to be af-
hicted by an unacceptable pest and
to 20 about lessening or removing its
possibilities for evil before it shall
have reduced us to panic by its sud
den appearance.
"I have always held that the
Southern states are so fortunately
endowed by nature that they should
be absolutely independent of other
portions of America. The boil wee
vii is the hludgeon that is going to
make us come into our heritage
sooner than we had expected In
this respect it is blessing in dis
guise. but it is essential to act in
time If we are to reap the advantages
of the situation"
|
Fatally Wounded.
Il, JIDon entering a room in Greenvllle