The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1917-08-18
Getting Ready for the Boil WccviI.
The party of farmers, merchants,

paper men of SUMTER Clarendon and
Lee counties who have just made n
trip by automobile through the Vice.
vii infested sections of Georgia and
Alabama have returned to their homes
with n report which should prove OF
very great value, especially to the peo-
pie of the three counties named and
of neighbOring counties as we'll The
party Travelled over thirteen hundred
miles by autmOmbile, surveying con-
ditiOns as they went along and maxi
ing frequent stops, both in the rural
districts and in the Georgia and
Alabama towns and cities which lay in
their route, where they conferred with
farmers and business men and gath
cred first hand experiences as to what
the wecvil does for a community and
how the pest can best be com batted
All phases Of the boil weevl in
festatiOn were seen, says Mr.. Hubert
G.. Osteen, of the Sumter Item, from
the stage of apprehension and prep
aration, to that of panic, depression
and abandonment, of recovery and
prosperity" Mr.. OSteen declares that
the members of the party have como
home profoundly convinced that the
Doll weevil is n serious reality; thai
cotton-growing as heretofore practiced
in all sections of the South is n
thing of the past when the boil wee
wills arrive; that cotton can be
grown under weevil conditions by the
intelligent, industrious farmer, but at
the expense of hard work and un-
remitting vigilance; that cotton cannot
be the main crop where the weevil is
present, but side crop; that to make
any money on a cotton farm. the
planter must make living by produc-
ing all that he needs for consumption
on the farm and surplus to sell be-
| sides, in addition to whatever cotton
he can make in spite of the wee
viii"
| What seems to have impressed Mr.
| OSteen especially is the premium
which the weevil puts on individual
| initiative, intelligence and industry
Some years the weevil is worse than
others. owing largely to how cold the
winter happens to be and the amount
Of rainfall during the crop growino
season; but the members Of the sum
ter County Boil Weevl Commission
| found that "some farmers by follow
ing the methods for fighting the wee.
vii, worked out by the experts of the
Agricultural Department, are growing
| from so to 20 per cent Of a crop
while their ncghbors within 4 half
mile would not make per cent. Of
n crop. on better land. In some sec
tiOns the people had prepared for thu
coming of the weevil, and diversified
their crops, had gone into hog anG
cattle raising and dairying and when
the weevil arrived they were ready
tie cotton in comparison with th,
ante-weevil days but they are pros
pering and there is more money in
the conutry than ever before"
1t will thus be noted that, insitent
as is the warning which the Sumtcr
| County Boil Weevil Commission
sounds. they accompany this warning
with n message Of hope and cheer
The ravages wrought by the boz
weevil arc terrific but they are not
necessarily fatal. Any community can
survive the pest where the people
have the right sort of pluck and
| foresight and thrift. If community
cooperation can be obtained, if farm.
ers will cut down their acreage in
cotton to what experience has shown
to be advisable under boil wecvi'
conditions, if they have determined
in advance, by experimentation, what
other crops can be grown most prof
| tably, and if they have taken u
dairying and cattle raising on n scale
commensurate with their opportuni-
ties experience has shown that the
| coming of the boil Weevil can BE-
made an absolute benefit No COM
munity, however, can fail to be Sc
verely crippled by the advent of the
boil weevil unless the people have
prepared in advance for the weevirs
coming
That is the thing of prime impor
tance. The difficulty has always been
to get the farmers and merchants and
bankers to realize this in time. Too