The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-09
PLENTY OF ROOM ON ALFALFA ROUTE Boil Weevil Now on Edge of
 Pickens County REIMBURSEMENT WORK Owners Are Now Willing to Cut Up Big Plantations and Will Well
 come Small Farmers
 With Energy
Nv WALTER HARPER

| sumter county, I0eH dCIOSS u 1diiiSNf NfAt~
 and out into the light again at Epes.
 All the way from Cochrane, in the
 southern part of Pickens, to Epes l passed
 over some of the finest lands east or west
 of the Nile But the waste and desola- ton. Lands that should produce rom
 black belt section of Alabama the lands | are being sapped and robbed of their very
 virtue except that of the power of redemp-
 ton. Land sthat should produce from
 one to two bales of cotton to the acre
 and do produce 100 bushels of corn when
 given the opportunity are producing less
 than half a bale and are growing less productive every year. l saw lands thal
 have been burdened with the growing Of cotton for 40 and 50 years with never
 rest The wonder is that these acres
 will grow any cotton. That they do IS
 proof positive of the superior quality of the land.
 l And the boil weevil will arrive in north | Sumter during the latter part of this year. He will not arrive early enough | to damage this years crop, but Will De good and ready for next year. He is es- | abolished 27 miles southwest of Gaines | vile for business this year. The farmers of Sumter are now prepar- l ing their lands for the last crop they will | probably grow without the weevil | What will happen next year no one seems to be able to forecast. Now, l am | an optimist, but l must confess that the
 situation is gloomy in that particular belt of Alabama, where large plantations | and the tenant system prevails. There are exceptional instances where | the planter has personal supervision of 1 his plantation, where the impending crisis
 will not fall so heavily but the majority 1 of the plantations are operated on the tenant system. That Is, the landlord rents his lands out right to negro ten ants. The tenants make independent ar engagements with the advancing mer- chants for his provisions. Now, here Is the impending situation
 The boil weevil will settle down in the
 cotton fields of this section next fall and establish his winter headquarters. He
 will be ready for business next spring The advancing merchant does mol
 know what the results of next year s
 crop under the management of the tenant alone will be. He cannot advance sup plies on such an uncertainty. If the ten ant cannot get supplies he cannot and will not rent the land. The landlord cannot 1 advance the supplies, neither can he stand for the advancement. He is in al-
 most as serious a predicament as the merchant.
 What is the result?
 | I am too much of an optimist to at | tempt to draw the picture. 1 have talked with the advancing mer- l chants, the landlords and the tenants. | They are waiting to see what will hap pen.
 The lands have been run down and are | in poor condition for any crop. There is | 1aIr nf hnr this
 section. It has been on for several years. I The last census shows this. Vacant lands and vacant cabins are another | proof.
 1 The exceptional planter who supervises | his plantation through efficient superin- | tendents Is in fairly good shape to meet | the pest. He is dversifyng his crops. fn- l troducing new and improved methods of cotton culture and will be able to stem | the first shock without serious damage.
 This man will not only be able to hold the laber he has but can draw from other plantation tenants that will be un-
 able to continue under the old system. This is called the alfalfa section. l saw a number of alfalfa fields of from tJ to 100 acres, but there are many more plantations consisting of thousands of acres each that have not an acre of all falfa.
 The plantations that are operated un- | der the tenant system have no alfalfa and the tenants are fighting the Johnson grass that has spread to their fields with l all their weak energy.
 l 1 rode with a white planter over a plan 1 tation in north Sumter. l was admiring | broad field of waving alfalfa now six and eight inches high.
 This alfalfa and Johnson grass will prove the salvation of this country against the ravages of the boil weevil,' declared the planter.
 An old-time negro drove me from | Gainesville to Epes through one of the prettiest farming sections of west Ala | bama.
 Boss, you see dot Johsin grass dar ? | Dat is the ruination of this country Some white folks got to sperimentin' wid de seed and before dey knows it hit got spread all over this country. You jest | can't git rid of it,"
 How about this alfalfa?' I asked Why, you can blow dat stuff up.' | said the darky, grinning with satisfac- | tion.
 But doesn't it pay as well to grow all l falfa and Johnson grass as cotton?" "Whar you come from, boss? You can't | eat grass and weeds, and there is more people dan cattle to feed in this coun- | try"
 | There are your points of view. For the same reason the average negro tenant will not grow corn or raise hogs. He will not so much as grow the vegetables | he needs for his own table. l have said that the coming of the boil weevil will be blessing to this coun- l try. I have not changed my opinion. | The tenant landlord, facing his most serious problem since the freeing of his slaves, will and does admit that beyond | the first shock of disaster he can see possibilities of a general readjustment l that will be greatly beneficial to all con- cerned.
 He has been reluctant to give up his landed holdings. but now there are thou
 sands of acres for sale.
 l Not because these landowners are panic
 stricken. They are ready to yield to the | inevitable. The small farm personally | conducted along improved lines is admit tedly the only salvation. They will re- 1 tain the lands they can manage them | selves but the plantation owners are now
 ready to welcome the influx of intelligent l small farmers.
 l The negro tenant who is to suffer tenn porarily must and will be taken care of I The readjustment will benefit him as much as it will any other man interested In the shuttle he will learn to be less | dependent upon others. He will find em- ployment at day or monthly wages with l tho practical farmer who must take charge of the actual work. He will be paid cash for his labor and will pay cash for his supplies. Many of the more thrifty will buy few acres of their own. Some of them are already doing