The Forrest City times., 1912-07-26
BOIL WEEyILS AT
 5Oe PER HUNDRED.

. Mississippi, where the boil weevil, for the past few years, has been ravaging the cotton crops to such an extent as to make that branch of agriculture almost lost art, the merchants, oil mill men and business men generally, decided that 1t would be a good scheme to eradicate the pest by exterminating the early ar rivals of his bugships' hordes, and ac- eordingly subscribed 10 a fund and announced that they would pay half d cent apiece for specimens brought 10 the Natchez Oil mill The first answer appeared when two negroes brought in 10000 of the supposed weeyils. and by the time the fund was exausted over 5c0o0 had been delivered and paid for Later developments brought to light the fact that many of the supposed boil weevils had been captured of of cockleburs. and were not the genu- inc boil weevis, though closely re- sem bling them. AS consequence the cocklebur crop in Adams county is in a fourishing, healthy condition, while cotton is hardly worth men, tioning.
 As an evidence of what this pest can do. and to prove that his visita- tion is no joke 10 the communities wherein his rayages are felt, we will state that at Natchez, where there are located two large congresses, two large oil mills and two cotton mills, with an additional two oil mills at Vidalia, directly opposite, in Louisiana, the annual receipt of cot ton before the boil weevil began il $ gisitations, amounted to from .0o0 to l25,0o0 bales. Since the visitations began the receipts have dropped oil 10 less than l0,00o Pre-. vious to his visitations one could stand on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi at this point and as far as the eye could reach there stretched the leyel Louisiana fields, clothed with the green of thousands of acres of cotton and seeming 10 stretch in endless prospective far into the land of the setting sun Today this is al changed and the same view shows tie same fertile acres, but clothed with other erops-~ith rice. corn, etc Of course. this meant complete change Of conditions. throwing af of the old order and taking up of the new the throwing cut of mii- lions of dollars worth of costly mach inery and the transition made period of hard times and hardship that was almost hcartreudiue for what lad been a Tich. proud and prosperous section
 But, here, they are beginning 10 believe that probably the weeyil ~aS blessing in disguise. II has taught the farmers of that section that cot ton is not the only money crop, and they have learned that their fertile acres can grow rice. corn. sugar and other crops with equally as much profit as formerly the fieecy staple was grown. IL was hard to accus- tom themselves 10 the change, but the same spirit that held them up ' h | 1ari l1D13tr days of the reconstruction period triumphed and that section of the fertile southland is emerging from it's perod of depression into new era oi better things.
 The above is printed as foreWarning, or rather as word of advice. So far, the boil weeyil has not invaded this section of Arkansas. Perhaps lie never will. IL is 10 be hoped he will not. But the boil weeyii IS no joke His appearance means practically the eradication If the cotton crop Though millions of dollars have be en expended, and al the mighty forces of science have been brought To bear in an effort to exterminate him he continues t0 thrive, and where he thrives the cotton crop dies, and the people suffer and want and famine stalks about through the land
 Forewarned should be forearmed. and it behooves our farmers 10 be thinking of other crops that their land could be planted in. in case Of a visitation of the pest.
 But let us hope MT. Weeyil stays away, though perhaps, fl lie would come this year the farmers could try the starvation plan on him and thus eradicate him, and also some of the other insect pests which reports say are banQueting on the young crops of this section would put Mr Weevil 10 rQut.