The Port Gibson reveille. [volume] (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1890-current, 1911-04-13
LETTER TO DEMONSTRATORS.
DR.. EiathOrn Writes Encourage
lnly Of the Prospects.
FaYette, Miss. April Z, I'd


and thorough survey of all oul
forces if we shall wrest victory
from our common foe-the boil
weevil, We have suffered two
crushing defeats, partly because Of
the power of the enemy, partly be-
cause of our own weakness, and
partly from a combination of ad-
verse weather conditions that made
the enemy's power greater and our
own weakness more apparent.
Peter the Great said his defeats
taught him more than his victories.
If we are intelligent. and if we
shall be factors in the regeneration
of the South that thinking men
know is near at hand, we must
have learned valuable lessons from
our experience of the last two
years.
In making up forecast OF the
probable outcome of the battle we
have Joined, it is necessary that we
consider those factors contributing
to our defeat in former years, and
if possible, eliminate them from
present equation.
Chief among the causes that
made our failure and consequent
decentralization greater than that
experienced in other sections, was
the absence of adequate control
over the labor that made the cot
ton.
/ have found from personal ex-
perience that the labor situation is
very much better than in past
years. There has been no time
since the slavery regime when con-
ditions were so favorable for the
regaining Of that complete control
over labor. so necessary for the in
dividuaI landowner to make farm
ing profitable, as the present.
We were handicapped in the
past by lack Of knowledge of Ger
tain conditions indispensable to
success under boil weevil condi-
tions. We who are fighting not
alone for our own financial inde-
pendence, but also for the rehabil
itation of this naturally favored
part of Mississippi and of the
South, now have all the informa-
ton necessary for success; it only
remains for us to put our knowl-
edge to its best use, and do that
execution in practice that we have
been advising in theory.
We know thar some have failed
because of the late and insufficient
preparation of the soil; some, be-
cause OF ate-planting varieties OF
cotton; some because OF wrong
methods of cultivation; some be-
cause they ignored the boil weevil
entirely, aud would not be per-
suaded that either methods or men
must change; some, because of all
those things combined.
We know that our primary de-
pendence lies in discarding meth
ods proven to be inadequate; we
know those methods can not
achieve success, except in years Of
ideal weather conditions; we know
the blind faith that Providence will
specially favor certain individuals
aud certain localities will not avail;
we know we must correctly guage
the enemy's full strength and con-
centrate our batteries till heis van
quished.
Theories have been advocated
from time to time that gave prom
ise of success, but there was al
ways some weak place that under
certain given conditions gave such
advantage to the weevil as caused
success to be only partial. Ex-
perimentztion is now almost a
thing OF the past, and years OF
study in all parts of the infested
area, shows conclusively that a
strict adherence to the principles
Of Demonstration Methods is the
ONLY way to make cotton success
fully under any and all conditions
Of soil and weather.
The above statement will nc
doubt be disputed, but am pre-.
pared to offer indisputable evi'
dence that these methods brought
wonderful success in the mos