The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-13
PARKER DISCUSSES . WEEV|L QUARANTINE Would Cause Big Loss to the
 Birmingham Mills NOT DONE IN TEXAS States Advance of the Boil Weevil In Alabama Is Same as in Texas
 Where There Is No
 Quarantine
NOT DONE IN TEXAS

pr. John L. Parker. who was appointed chairman of a special communities from the Chamber of Commerce to investigate the boil weevil quarantine. established by the state board of horticulture. which 10 Is contended discriminates against Jeffer-- son county, gave out the following state ment last night:
 "rhe boil weevil quarantine line that has been tentatively established by the state board of horticulture for the pres- 'ent season has as its eastern boundary the border line of Jefferson and Tusca- oosa counties If this line should be maintained the territory open to the cot- ton oil mills of Birmingham will be so limited as to force them to obtain prac- tically their entire seed supply In the counties to the north and east of Jeffer- son county, where the available supply. using as a basis last years record crop. would be insufficient to supply the wants of the mills. owing to the large number of cotton oil mills in the territory cast of us
 Growers Standpoint
 "It is realized that it Is not the provincs of the state board of horticulture to look at the boil weevi quarantine line from ths standpoint of cotton oil mill, but pure- ly from that of the cotton grower but on the principle of the greatest good to the greatest number. it would seem that it would be wise for the board to movs the line. so far as Jefferson county is concerned, about 25 miles eastward so i, oil lie cess to the boil weevH territory. Ths cotton seed oil mills in Selma and Mont gomery dhe last named city being east of us in a north and south line) are per mitted by the board to bring in cotton seed from any point where they may make purchases, and if the Birmingham mills are not allowed to compete for seed with the other mills in the territory south and west of Jefferson county, the natural tendency would be toward lower nrices in that territory, owing to the de- creased competition for the seed
 Annual Output
 Statistics shows thatShere are handled in the state of Alabama about 100000 tons of cotton seed annually, and the elimina- ton of the mills in the Birmingham dis trict from the south and western terri tory would affect about 10Q0O tons of seed. As a logical result, prices would be lowered, which would result in injury to farmers, to the benefit of the mills in the boil weevil territory. and to the great injury of the oil mills in Birmingham. A drop in prices of & per ton has on a previous occasion resulted from the bar ring of the Birmingham mills from cer- tain territory, so that direct loss to the farmers in boil weevil counties is likely 10 be very large if the Birming- ham mills are shut off from competition for their seed.
 ''It Is not the purpose of the directors of the Chamber of Commerce to question the wisdom of a boil weevil quarantine line, but the government has Issued a chart showing the march of the weeviL in previous years, which would indicate that the annual eastward movement has been approximately the same in Louisiana. Mississippi and Alabama. in which q quarantine has been maintained. as 1t was in Texas. which did not quarantine.
 "rhe object of the state board of horti- culture in placing an embargo on bring ing in seed from the boil weevil terri tory into Birmingham. Is, of course, de- signed primarily for the protection of tho cotton growers of Jefferson county. It is only about g miles however from Bir- mingham to the quarantine line as laid down by the board and as the annual average crop of the entire county of Jefferson is only about 7ooo bales. and as most of the territory west of us is min- eral it seems unlikely that more than 25Oo bales are produced between Birming- ham and Tuscaloosa county.
 "It would seem that any loss in the production of cotton in this territory would be infinitely less than the di- rect money loss sustained by the farm CTS in the boil weevil district if the Birmingham oil mills are not allowed to bring in seed from the infected ter rltory, and certainly much less than would be sustained by the mills in Birmingham and by the Birmingham trade None Of the Birmingham mills are located in tho midst of cotton fields and il would seem that the danger of the spread of the pest from bring ing the cotton seed from the so-called infected territory is small.
 Hardships to Industry
 "The maintenance of the quarantin1 line as at present outlined would re- suit in great hardship to this import ant Birmingham industry and would probably entail serious loss to the( farmers in the central and western parts of the state. and 1t Is not bet 1ieved that the moving of the line about p miles eastward would jeopardize tho farmers of Jefferson county for il is thought that even should stray wee vii he brought in that he would perish before he could escape from a seed house of mill in the misunderstanding district. and get to a cotton field sew era miles away. At any rate, it ia to see why the line south of us is moved eastward SO as to in- clude Motgomery and the Birmingham mills remain shut out. The matter is very important one and deGervo0