Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1911-12-15
POSSIBILITIES OF THE DELTA
ADVICE TO FARMERS BY ONE WHO
KNOWS WHEREOF HE SPEAKS.
Address Delivered at a Meeting Of the
Delta Publicity and Improvement
Association by c. H. Afford.

We are all sorry that hon. Bradford
Knapp, special agent in charge of the
Farmers Cooperative Demonstration
Work, could not be here and address
us today. l was asked to take his place
on the programme just ~forty-eight hours
ago.
am glad of this opportunity to talk
to the intelligent owners of lands that
are among the richest in the whole
world. | I'm pleased to stand before the
citizens of the V-shaped piece OF fer
tile soil that occupies one-sixth of the
area Of the state and contains $500, 900
acres. | believe that cottoL. is the great
est cash crop in the world and | am
happy to greet the cotton growers of a
district that produces more cotton than
any other district in the world, though
less than one-fourth of its area is given
TO that crop.
Wonderful progress has been made
throughout this great delta country in
agriculture during the last ten years.
The drainage of large areas, the many
a~rtesian wells, the use of screens to pre-
vent the entry Of malarial mosquitoes
into your homes ma, it one of the most
healthy districts in the country. Your
own people have remained here and
many immigrants from the hills of this
state and from other states have become
permanent citizens and are helping to
develop the great delta country.
A single dark spot is crossing the sky.
The Mexican cotton boil weevil has in
vaded your cotton plantations. Now
let us discuss the problem of continued
prosperity, i'll spite Of the most ener-
getic and destructive insect the world
has ever known.
You must keep the large majority of
your laborers. You cannot grow cotton,
corn, peas, alfalfa, oats, rice, or any
other crop without labor. You cannot
nave good pastures nor can you grow
live stock without labor. Without la
Dor, your plantations will grow up, your
houses and fences tumble down and
many Of your stores close doors. This
means that the plantation owners, the
merchants, and the bankers must fur
nish the laborers the necessities of life
until they fill their corn cribs, smoke
houses, potato banks, and molasses bar
rels. The credit system is the curse of
this section, but such a chronic disease
cannot be cured in one year.
Time was when cotton measured the
limits of the delta's agricultural in
dustries. That time is gone now, and
although this great crop will continue to
be the main cash crop grown in this Sec
ton, the time is at hand when the delta
country must cease sending the larger
part of the money obtained for cotton
to the North and East for mules, horses,
bacon, lard, corn, hay and other farm
products. Every plantation owner and
plantation manager should raise all the
corn, hay, peas, potatoes, molasses, veg
etables, hogs, mules, horses, cattle poul-
try and other farm products necessary
for his farm animals and farm laborers.
There should be thoroughly good perma-
nent pastures on every plantation for
mules, horses, pure-bred beef cattle,
hogs, sheep, goats and other live stock to
Craze in. Fill the large corn fields full
of COW peas and plant fields of red clover
and rape, oats to be followed by peas,
soy beans, peanuts or lespedeza and large
meadows for hay. You can turn your
hogs, cattle, horses and mules into the
fields in the fall and be sure that all
will be rolling fat by winter.
The boil weevil does not prevent the
growing of profitable crops of ten cent
cotton in normal seasons. l know where
of l speak when 1 state that profitable
crops of ten cent cotton can be grown
in this delta district in normal seasons.
There are just two things to be done
in order to grow good crops of cotton
in The worst infested boil weevil dis
tricts. First, reduce the number of wee
wills to the minimum; second, grow an
early crop of cotton.
The destruction of weevils is accom-
plished as follows:
Nrst-Completely denude the cotton
stalks of squares, small bolls and foliage,
the weevils' sole food supply; pillow the
stalks under good and deep; or burn the
stalks on or before November list.
~Second-Deep winter breaking and the
turning under of trash, cornstalks and so
on means death to many thousands of
weeYils, The thousand or more weevils
usually found in the cracks and holes in
the ground and under the grass, weeds
and trash on every acre of land can prac-
tically all be killed by deep winter
breaking of the land.
Third-At some time during the win
ter, destroy all the rubbish on the turn
rows, ditch banks, and about the fields
which might serve as alternating quar-
tiers for the weevils.
Fourth-When the weevils appear on
the little cotton early in the spring, pick
them off and destroy them until the
squares begin to form.
Fifth-Piek up the punctured squares
and destroy them for about one month