New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1913-03-22
THE BOIL WEEVIL ON THE
RAMPAGE.

| lUlS DOll NttNH, tiC - S"o
known enemy of agriculture, first
entered the United States from
Mexico in the year 1892, coming
by way of Brownsville, Texas.
Since that time the pest has moved
steadily northwestward at a rate
Of about forty miles a year. EV-
ervwhere he found the same con
! dition: everybody was raising cot
ton and nothing else Plantations
produced absolutely nothing but
cotton, out of the proceeds OF
which everything else must be
bought. even to the livestock and
their feed. This upside-down con
dition was caused by the crop-and-
credit system which attained such
colossal proportions after the war.
| The planter must always pledge
his crop in order to secure adVan-
ces; cotton was the only commod-
itv upon which the merchant
would risk his money, The boil
weeviI eats nothing except that
particular part of the cotton that
sells for cash. Through the
country over which he passed he
destroyed the paWn-shop value
of the crop by making 1t a mat
ter of chance whether the farm
er could raise cotton. The mer-
chant refused further advances.
The farmer could not supply his
tenants. The crGp-and-credlt syS-
TEN burst like a punctured bal
loon. This caused such a pane
as was never known in the South,
not even during the war. 1t also |
turned a pitiless spotlight on the
fundamental weakness OF It's
planting system. Planters were
dependent upon the outside world
for every human necessity. They |
were buying on credit the very |
things that they ought to have |
been producing in plenty for
themselves. and selling the ex-
cess for cash. !
This condition had to 90. When
he could no longer get credit the
planter must produce what he
ate and what his negroes ate, or
they must ell quit eating until
after the.:,' had ginned their cot
ton.
Through the country over which
the boil weevil Travelled planters
were badly hurt and worse scared.
They went to work. worked hard
er and more intelIigently. In
some portions of Texas the lands |
under boll-weevil conditions IN
1903 sold as low as Twenty-Five
dollars an acre. In 1907. after
the planters had learned a few
things, these same lands were
selling at one hundred and TWEEN
ty-fva dollars an acre. The net
result of the boil weevil scare Ill
the Delta has been to make cot
ton planting more Oh colu-
blooded proposition.
In no particular has the devel-
opment of the Delta been more
strongly marked than in better
enforcement Of its laws. This
has come about, not by revolu-
tionary statutes but by an en-
lightened evolution in the
thoughts and habits of its people.
The. people realize that planta-(
tons cannot DE managed, homes
built and substantial government
maintained except upon the sta
bility of law. Business methods
have become steadier. credit more
prudent and commercial integrity
more valuable. The managers
are not drinking, gambling and
carousing men; employers realize
that such men cannot get the !
best results.
There are few portions of the
United States that can boast as
many well-governed and orderly |
towns, or a higher class of re-
fined. intelligent and progressive
people. The history of achieve
ment in the Nile Delta lies in the |
past; the history of the YazoO-
Mississippi Delta-Our Kingdom
Of Alluvia-is yet to come.-Sat-
urdav Eyeninp Post.