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

and cause a loss to the country Of
it is now, Notwithstanding its ravages
Ey the improved farming methods an
equal amount of cotton has been
raised; and last year our product was
greater in quantity and money than
ever before. Had there been no Dol,
weevil and had the same methods Oeen
used throughout the whole Gotten bet,
or crop would have been doubled
and we should now be producing as
much as 2O,O0O.V00 bales and upward
a year. This is the estimate Of the
late DR.. Seaman Knapp the father CT
the cooperative demonstration wol
of the Agricultural Department
throughout the ,ou:h. which has
proved the salvation Of the country.
Before DR.. Knapp and his agents
had shown the planters what might
be done in cotton raising, nOtWlth-
standing the weevil, the farmers were
in despair They had been raising
only cotton, and the weevil became
the terror Of millions. The planters
thought it was impossible to fight it,
and a man who had lost a big planta-
ton said it was proof against anything
under the sun. At one of the con-
ventions he said he had put a weeyil
in a bottle of alcohol which was 95
per cent pure and lett 1t there Tor
two hours. At the end Of that time
he took it out and put 1t on the table
and it was only staggering drunk. He
then sealed a handful of the insects
in a tin can and laid it upon brush
heap, which was set on fire. The
flames melted the solder from the can
and the red hot weevils flew out and
burned down his barn.
Has Cost Millions.
Speaking seriously, however, the
department estimates that the weevil
has already cost us millions Of bales
of cotton and many millions Of dol
lars 1t has annually cost Texas more
than twenty millions for series Of
years. and it is now ravaging the states
farther east.
Take Mississippi, for instance, the
Southern part Of which state is now
weevil covered. In 1906 the cotton
crop Of Adams county amounted to
$4,000 bales, and it was more than
1900 in 1907. Then the Weevil flew
in and in 1900 the yield dropped to
LOO bales. The tenant farmers and
laborers left the county in gangs, and
today lands can be bought there for
song. 1t is the same in some cOun-
ties of Louisiana. In POnte Coupe
so, 900 bales Of cotton, which. includ-
ing the seed, were worth over s3,50o.-
OO0, were raised in 1906, and the crop
of 1907. amounting to 41.o00 bales,
was worth about s3,O00,0OO Then
the boil weevil came. and in 1909 the
crop fell to $500 bales or to some
thing like 100000. These figures
give you some idea Of what this dead
~ bug means under the old cotton
ra Using conditions
There is another feature Of the sit
uation, however, which must be men
toned. In most parts Of the cotton
belt cotton was the only crop. The
planter relied upon it for the money
With which he bought everything else.
He imported his corn from the north
and his pork came from the store He
sent abroad for his mules, and, with
the exception perhaps of few vegeta-
bles raised nothing but cotton More
over. he did the most of his farming
on credit. getting the store keeper or
planter for whom he worked to fur
nish him his supplies for the winter.
the same to be paid out Of the cottot
when it was picked. When the Wee
vii wiped out the cotton he had moth