The log cabin Democrat., 1916-12-11
TO WAGE FIGHT
ON BOIL WEEYIL
EARLY MATURING SEED
viii Be Brought Here in Effort to
Keep Down Loss-Intense Gull
tivation Urged.

! HfSI really serious INVASION OF the Doll
Weevil in this section IS causing farm
ers and merchants of Faulkner county
to look with apprehension upon the
cotton prospects for 1917 and a unit
ed effort to forestall damage by these
insects will doubtless be made. Al
ready long step in this direction
has been taken by the employment of
two farm demonstrators instead of
one in this county, and these demon
strators will have as their slogan
next year the quick maturity of the
cotton crop. By fastening the matur-
ity of the crop only two weeks it is
! figured that the final and by far the
most numerous generation of the
weevils can be headed off, as each
generation usually outnumbers about
/ 100 times the. preceding generation.
Early preparation of the soil, early
planting, the use of approved fertiliz-
ers and rapid cultivation will be sys-
tematically urged to bring the cotton
to the grown boil stage as quickly
as possible. Another means will be
the introduction of early -maturing
seed Farmers are planning to plant
and merchants are urging them to
procure the earliest possible varieties
of cotton. S. G. Smith today placed
an order for 10 tons of Express, an
early long-staple cotton which has
made splendid results on the river and
creek bottom soils in Faulkner county
this year
The bureau of plant industry, Unit
ed States department of agriculture
has issued the following statement
advising cotton growers to make GER
tain of their supply of seed for plant
ing:
All kinds of cottonseed are likely
to be scarce at planting time next
spring. The unprecedented prices
now being paid at the oil-mills may
tempt many farmers to cut down
their reserves of planting seed or to
sell all of it, perhaps with the idea
of being able to buy seed of a better
variety for only little more than
the mills are now paying for ordi-
nary gin-run seed. While it is al
ways desirable to replace an inferior
stock with better one, it would be
well to make sure of the good plant
ing seed as soon as possible.
Another danger to the seed supply
lies in the possibility that growers
who have good seed of superior va
rieties may think it easier to sell it
at once to the oil mill instead of
holding it to sell for planting. This
is special danger in connection with
the new early-maturing long-staple
varieties. AS only limited supplies
of good seed of these varieties are in
existence, it may be urged that all
of this should be saved for planting
purposes. There is an active and
rapidly increasing demand for the
longer staples, with no immediate
prospect of production. The
present demand is likely to increase
as fast as the supply, if the produc-
ton of such cotton can be established
on an adequate scale, SO that manu-
facturers can have the same conf
dence in being able to secure stocks
of long staple cotton that they have
with short staples.
At the present time the supply of
long staple cotton, especially that
from ! 3-16 to l l-2 inch in length,
is much below the demand, This fact
is reflected in the large premiums
now being paid for these extra
staples. Prices are now higher than
at any time in the history of cotton
production.
The new, eariy-maturlng long
staple varieties which are proving
successful in meeting the boil weevil
conditions in the delta region of Mis-
sissippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, are
coming into cultivation outside this
former center of long staple produc-
ton. Three other areas now offer
especially promising prospects OF an
increased planting of these cottons-
southeastern Virginia and adjacent
regions of North Carolina, northern
Mississippi and western Tennessee,
I and the Red River Valley of north
eastern Texas. While equally favor
able conditions are probably to be
found in other states, the experiments
that have been carried on for several
years in the districts mentioned have
shown the practical possibilities OF
producing satisfactory crops of long
staple cotton in ordinary seasons. In
each of these areas yields of more
than bale per acre have been obtain
ed for several of the early long-staple
varieties now being grown-Colum
bia, Foster, Express and Durango.
The development by the department
of agriculture of these early-matur
ing varieties has entirely changed the
prospects of production Of long-staple
fiber in the American cotton belt,
both inside and outside the areas in