The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1916-08-02
WeeviI Brings Diversification
Wherever He Makes a Strike
From Alabama Farm and immigration.

cover crops, diversifcation and soil
building.
The spread of the boil weevil and
its destructive powers means deeper
blowing in the fall, the use of winter
legumes to keep the land clean of
weevils and to restore lost nitrogen
and vegetable matter to the soil; the
better selection of seed, more in
tense cultivation, and, best of all,
the raising of more foods and feed
stuffs and getting more livestock on
the land. The boil weevil brings
more or less diversifcation whether
we want it or not, and Investigation
is soil building.
The boil weevil breaks the shift
less or Indifferent planter. But to
the man who follows Natures plan
and begins to put fertility back into
the soil and to work harder than ever
on his crop the boil weevil brings a
better farm and better farming
methods. This is a fact whether it
sounds good to you or not.
The boil weevil makes people work
harder and think more than anything
that has ever visited the Central
South. And we as people have got
to work harder and do more thinking
and quit bothering so much about
politics and the fortunes of various
politicians if we are to progress very
far.
The good Lord knows that Ala
bama, Georgia and Mississippi have
had enough politics. While counties
and communities have been torn up
about whether Tom, Dick or Harry
wa sto have this office or that the boil
weevil has spread his wings over the
constituents of both Tom and Dick.
People have put thought, energy and
time on these political issues while
they could have been preparing in
advance against the cotton destroyer.
Now they are face to face with the
weevil and it is all matter of indi-
vidual effort. No Office holder or no
law can help-it is what the man
himself does that counts.
If he keeps on trying to make cot
ton without the use of winter cover
crops; if he keeps on hoping that the
boil weevil will not hit him too hard;
if he does not turn to the raising Of
foodstuffs and canning the surplus,
and providing more pasture land the
weevil will beat him.
The people as a whole will go on
making a cotton crop despite the
weevil Those who lose out will drop
out and their land will be taken over
by others who have a will to work
and who will be successful under
weevil conditions. Plantation by
plantation absentee landlordism will
fail and owners of big farms will be
found out on their farms directing
their employees and their tenants and
establishing some permanent pasture
and raising more hogs, more cattle,
more chickens, more sheep, building
more fences, and building up the soil
from season to season.
1t took the hessian fly and chinch
bug in wheat to drive lot of people
of the Northwest away from the one
crop system, and it is taking the boil
weevil to drive us away from the
same system with cotton.
Grown as the surplus money crop
cotton is the best paying staple crop
known to man. There is not one that
equals it-neither corn nor wheat
nor coffee nor tobacco. But grown
to the exclusion of other crops and
the raising of livestock it is a dan
gerous crop and poor payer. In 1914
cotton was the exclusive crop in
many section of the belt, and, as you
we'll know. the people of those sec
tons found themselves without any
money from their cotton and with
out very much to eat at the same
time.
Individuals may again be caught
in the same way. but we don't believe
large part of the belt ever will. But
as our wise forefathers said. "Eter-
nal vigilance is the price of liberty"
And that is true of economic liberty
as we'll as political liberty. Eternal
vigilance" for economic liberty
means a constant increase in past
ures; a gradual and constant increase !
in the livestock business; the plant
ing of legumes from summer to sum-
mer and winter to winter: the build |
ing up of more dairy herds to supply
our own selves with milk, cream and !
butter, and the building of more silos (
to make the dairy herds more profita- /
BILE: more people having gardens in /
country and town; more people can
ming the surplus. and the realization /
that as an agricultural people. we
must put agriculture at the front /
rank of al professions and educate
for farming just as we educate for
the law or the ministry.
And so the boil weevil, which we
must fight and keep on fighting, is a
blessing and not one gin disguise"