Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-12-16

| will not be practicable or desirable
to try to devote the same acreage
to cotton as was devoted to this croI
in the past. Even in the most IA
Vored sections of the state it will be
desirable to cut the area down say
from 20 to 60 per cent. This does
not necessarily mean that the yield
will be so greatly reduced over the
present outturn, because it is GER
tainly possible to increase yields ma
terially by better methods Of cult
walton than those we have followed
in the past. On the average one
horse farm, however, not over eight
to ten acres should be devoted tC
cotton, especially until the farmer
who is unacQuainted with the boil,
Weevil learns how to meet and ham
die this menace to his cotton crop.
He will not acquire all this informa-
ton at once, and by diversifying his
agriculture and cutting down the
area devoted to cotton he is simply
taking out insurance against losses
which will certainly follow if he per-
sists in devoting the major portion Of
his land to cotton alone. After the
farmer becomes acquainted with the
weevil and knows better the nature
and extent of the damage he is likely
to accomplish in various sections OF
| the state, when the area devoted tic
cotton can be considerably enlarged
with safety.
Under the circumstances let US
consider how a farm of SO acres
would have to be modified or
changed where boil weevil infesta-
ton is bad, relatively speaking, in
order to enable the farmer to grow
some cotton and still vary the pro-
ducts of his land so as to enable
him to maintain maximum amount
| of livestock and desirable and read
lily marketable crops available for
| sale. Under such circumstances in
stead of growing 20 acres in cotton
this area should be cut say to s
or 10 acres. The other half Of the
land devoted to cotton could then
be planted to peanuts alone, or the
| 10 acres in question might be di-
vided into different sized areas, 6
acres, say, to be devoted to peanuts.
2 acres to crops which can be
grazed down by hogs, and 2 acres
| say, to sweet potatoes. The other
20 acres of land could then be de-
voted to corn in which velvet beans
are grown, and to oats followed by
cowpeas for hay. ~:
The small sections of the farm
such as the orchard and garden and
| the pasture or COW lot, the alfalfa
area and the sections devoted to
grazing crops for hogs, need not be
materially changed. 1t may be ad-
| visable, however, under some cir
| cumstances, to increase the alfalfa
to three acres and to reduce the
! size of the area devoted to Grim
son clover, cowpeas and soy beans
to one and a half acres. This would
make the section devoted to rape
and vetch one and half acres
Under this arrangement more time
and labor, would be available for
picking ths weevils off the cotton
when they first make their appear
ance in the field, for cultivating it
| better and more rapidly, for pick
ing up the fallens squares, and for
spraying it Systematically. BY this
arrangement a rotation could be cas-
| lily practiced as the cotton could
be moved the second year to an en-
tirely new area of land. 1t might
for instance, follow the peanuts, or
it could come after the. oats or
corn. 49,. ...f ..
Increase Nitrogen.
1t will be observed that by the
| arrangement indicated the cultiya-
i ton of legumes is emphasized with
the idea of increasing the store Of
nitrogen in the soil and adding
somewhat to it's humus content as
we'll. By the variation in crop Gull
| tivation suggested the fertility of
| the land can be maintained better
than is possible where clean culture
is followed and only one crop grown
on the same land year after year.
! If the crops grown on the farm
are modified to meet boil weevil
conditions and make average yields
there would be plenty of roughage
to increase the number of COWS and
cattle kept to considerable extent,
and there would be an abundance of
| grazing available for finishing off a
! considerable number of hogs. There
is no reason why a farm of this
size should not have anywhere from
rs to SO hogs for sale throughout
the year. If the farmer is convent
ent to a small town or city he will
find a ready sale for good milk
| and butter He can ship cream also
If he is convenient to a railroad
If on a milk route he could no doubt
sell the milk to someone who is
| gathering it up and carrying it to
| the city for distribution. This is
a common practice in many sections
of the country, " @:a .t%'.-
The average farmer who has de-
voted all his energies to cotton alone
will be astonished to find what "a
| wealth Of food he can produce by
| organizing his farm on the basis
mentioned. He will be surprised at
what a relatively large income will
| be derived from few cows, or the
sale of calves and yearlings. The
sale of hogs will bring in a con-
| siderable amount of money
considering the fact that they will
| harvest their own food, which will
make them big and fat and fit them
| for slaughter. There is a good de-
mand for truck crops and hay. Ex
cellent hay and forage can be made
from several of the crops which
could be grown, and in order to sell
either sweet or Irish potatoes prof
itably it is only necessary IS handle
them so as to place them on a mar
ket where there is not a glut. Ref
erence has already been made to
| having a sweet potato house. This
can be built from materials avail
able on an average farm and at
| low cost. Plans of these struc
/ lures can now be obtained simply
! for the asking.
Purchasing Cost Legsened.
BY The arrangement suggested
! and the increase in the alfalfa area
the necessity of purchasing grain in
the form of concentrates is greatly
minimized. and this is a wonderful
advantage to the farmer. In other
words, if alfalfa is available to feed
along with corn and oats and vel
vet beans these cropc may be made
to go much further than where al
falfa is missing. Moreover, by COM
bining alfalfa with any of the crops
Tho li1,nstnnlE on the fa r