The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1918-02-28


Farmers Cautioned to Raise Less
Cotton
1t is extremely unwise for cotton
farmers to assume that the freezes of
the last few weeks have exterminat-
ed the cotton boil weevil, says the de-
partment Of agriculture, in answer
to many inquiries from the south.
During the past winter the tenn
peratures have been lower than at
any time since 1899, and there can
hardly be any doubt that this extreme
cold has reduced the number Of wee
wills in many sections of. the south.
The impression has been gained by
many planters that the weevil has
been reduced to negligible numebrs, if
not altogether exterminated. It is
too much to expect that the temper
atures have been uniformly cold
enough to absolutely exterminate the
weevils from large areas. The rec
ords Of the department Of agricul-
ture indicate that there is at least
from / to 5 per cent survival Of the
weevil in those sections which have
been thoroughly studied as against
normal of 7.6 per cent survival.
This percentage of surviving weevlls
is sufficient to re-stock the cotton
fields Of the south before the end Of
the growing season.
There is always possibility that
there may be some specially shell
tered spots, even in the more north
erly infected regions, where some
weeVils will be able to survive. The
instinct Of the weevil leads it to seek
the warmest shelter available in the
vicinity of its breeding place. 1t will
shelter itself under the bark Of trees,
or in thick hanging moss upon trees,
under the thatch of roofs, and in
straw stacks, in seed storehouses and
gins, and in other buildings. 1t is
therefore quite easy to see that no
matter how cold the external tenn
peratures are there is always prob
ability that there will be weevils sur
viving in each field, sheltered secure
ly enough to carry them through the
winter.
The experience Of rs years with
the boil weevil in this country has
shown that one or two weevils sur
yiving in field can easily produce
enough offspring to destroy all but
the earliest portions of the crop.
No reliable prediction can be made
on the basis of what happened during
the winter. Frequently seasons in
which very few weevils pass the win
ter have been followed by great in
jury to the crop by the weevil. This
has been due to favorable conditions
brought about by heavy rains during
the early part of the growing sea-
son. which permitted the weevils to
overcome their losses during the win
ter, or to early dispersion of the wee
wills from the warmer sections OF the
cotton belt, and sometimes to severe
tropical storms which frequently
sweep over the Gulf States. It is
therefore apparent that the conditions
Of the spring and summer will large
ly determine the extent Of the damage
due to the boil weevil, rather than
the number of weevils which survive
in a given locality.
In the opinion of the department
of agriculture, it would be very un-
fortunate if the prevailing impress
sion concerning the boil weevil should
increase the acreage Of cotton at the
expense of food crops. At the pres
emit time. what is most urgently need
ed throughout the south is an in
creased production Of food and feed
crops. There is every indication
that the normal acreage of cotton,
with proper cultivation, will give
supply of the staple sufficient for all
purposes. 1t is clearly a matter OF
patriotism as we'll as sound judg-
ment for the planters to increase the
acreage in food crops. The planter
who increases his cotton acreage can
not be assured that his crop will not
suffer greatly from the boil weevil
attack, and will be utilizing his land
in way which does not best serve
the necessities Of the country.
Director General McAdoo has al
1CUOy loouNQ q WdlnulS tildt OAdHopO IL
tation difficulties in 1918 may make
it difficult, if not impossible, to sup
ply food and feed promptly to COM
munities that neglect to provide |
their own necessities. To say the |
least, the drain on transportation is
50 heavy that any exceptional re-
quirements for hauling food and feed
to the south will be an actual EN-
barrassment to the government in the |
of the war.
The department of agriculture is
not asking the south to contribute
to the nations food and
feed supply. but is asking the south
only to feed itself SO that il may not
be a burden upon the food-producing |
sections of the country which must /
strain their energies to the utmost
in order to feed the armies and main I