The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1916-10-18
PBEPAHE FOR PEST
URGES GOVERNOR MANNING
SOath Carolina Executive Warns
Farmers and Business Men OF the
State. Back from Weeyil Trim.

''>'''' w. ~ lidL inc SHADOW
OF the approaching hQ.l wccvil has al
ready been cast over South Carolina
ana the dread pest will arrive within
another year, and within tnrce years
Will oVerrun the state, was the prcdic
tlon made this mornin@ By Governor
hichard |. Mhnnirg on his return from
tour of the boil wccyil stricken tor
rltory OF Louisiana, Mississippi and
Alabama. TIE governor says the farm
ers and bU ness men Of South Caro-
INA must repa"c for the wecvil or
else dire In ana disaster may result
Those who shut their ears to the
warming voice brought from the farm
ers OF the Mississippi Valley may reap
the whirlwind. and where today they
are living in ease and plenty with
good lands and good cotton crops
they may find themselves with no cot
ton. their lands worth less than moth
ing their labor gone, and ruin staring
them in the face If they do not pre-
pare.
Prepare! Prepare!" declares the
governor Of South Carolina, fresh
from pcsonal trip through those sec
tions OF the cotton belt which have
been ravagcd by the boil wccvil. Here
is an instance Of what the boil wcevil
means
Eject oi WcGyil.
In the parish Of West Fclicana
Louisiana "A parish being a county
in 9oi there were produced 22,i97
bales of Gotten. Three years after
the boil wecvil invaded that county
in 1910 only i3l bales Of cotton were
raised in the whole county. Governor
Manning visited that stricken spot and
saw the conditions himself.
In the parish Of East I'cliciana
Louisiana in 1901 $4,000 bales Of cot
ton we're grown. This same county
last year after the coming Of the wee
vii raised only 2,S36 bales Of cotton.
Governor Manning and the commits
sion to inspect the boil wecvil terri
tory first stopped at New Orleans,
where they we're met and entertained
by the business men. There they
studied the credit side Of the condi-
tions brought about by the ravages
Of the boil weevil in the cotton dis
tricts The Governor talked with John
NJ. Parker, the Vice Presidential NOM
inee on the Bull Moose ticket and a
prominent business man Of that city.
From New Orleans the Governor and
his party went to Baton Rouge, where
they met the farmers and business
men and talked with them of the boil
weevil conditions. The Governor and
his commission visited the territory
where the wccvil has wrought its
worst and interviewed the farmers
and their wives, the merchants and
bankers and gathered iirst-hand in7
formation about how to meet the con
ditions whch arise with the coming of
the wceyl.
Solved by Cooperation.
The Governor found that coopcra-
tion between farmers, merchants and
bankers enabled the people to adjust
themselves TO tho new conditions and
save the country from rum. j he HcF-
chants there, as here, had made adj
vances on cotton, but the wccvils
ruined cotton. They called in the
farmers and told them they would CO.
operate and either sink or swim to-
gethcr. They made advances and tho
farmers bought hogs. cattle, put in
food crops. such as potatoes, beans,
etc. increased their grain crops, and
made the cattle business their princi-
pal industry. By patronizing the
crcamcrics they soon got a good,
steady income from milk. AS a result
while the volume OF business Is small
er 1t all cash. the credit system Is
thing Of the past. Land which de-
creased in value when the wceyil first
came under the new conditions are
climbing back to their original prices
and the people are thriving on diver
sifod and intensive farming.
Present Cotton Production.
Louisiana, which has grown 1,03l.OOO
bales Of cotton. dropped down as low
as 245,00O bales in one year. but this
year will probably raise 100000 bales.
The wcevils ravagcs are the worst In
three years, and after that they do
not seem to do as much damage. but
they are always present once they ar
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