Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-03-14
ALRPL ANES.
NOW USED IN
FARM WORK.
SURVEYS BY AIR
Outlaw Cotton Planters in
Southern Texas Discovered
by Pilots From AIoft

The airpIane now has come to
help agriculture.
Not as the tractor undertook to
supersede the horse, for drawing
plows and the like. The airplane
comes into the agricultural field
as scout, and the only duty thus
far assigned it is to spy out hid
den cotton fields.
In southern Texas, where the
devastating pink bollworm OF cot
ton has been trying to invade the
United States from Mexico, there
are cotton-free zones, declared by
law as barriers against the prog
ress of the worm. But few mis-
guided farmers feel that their
rights have been infringed and
have developed a tendency to be-
come outlaw cotton planters.
Much of the country is heavily
timbered. Roads are neither
plentiful nor good in many
places, and it has been possible
for an outlaw planter to tuck
away few acres of cotton in
some nook of the woods beyond
probability of discovery by ordi-
nary means, though the United
States department of agriculture
was making diligent effort to spot
every stalk of cotton in the quar-
antined areas.
Finds Outlaw Fields
Last year the department,
through workers of the federal
horticultural board who were on
the ground, took advantage of an
offer to try out the airplane for
scouting work. In this way In
spector Hensley Of the board dis
covered seven outlaw cotton fields
in the heavily wooded country
along Trinity river and around
Galveston Bay which had escap-
ed discovery by all other means.
Similar exploration and control
work, conducted last fall and this
winter is aided by a detail of
Second Lieutenant Harold Com
pere, of the aviation service of
the signal corps of the army.
Lieutenant Compere is a son of
George Compere, one Of the
worlds great chronological eX-
plorers and for many years con-
nected with the plant quarantine
and inspection service of Cali
fornia and also acting, as a col
laborator in plant inspection
work for this department.
Lieutenant Compere has been
at Ellington Field, Houston, Tex,
in the center of the cotton-grow-
ing district infested with the
pink bollworm, and has become
familiar with the general needs
of the survey work. After dis
GUESSING the possibilities with DR..
W. D. Hunter, a member of the
federal horticultural board in
charge of the field work against
the pink bollworm in Texas,
Lieutenant Compere became con-
WINGED that practical use could he
made of his training as an ayia-
tor in connection with his scien-
tific interest and training in en-
tomology, and that the airplane
would tremendously facilitate the
scouting for the location of cot
ton fields, both within and out
side the quarantined areas. This
territory includes wide stretches
of more or less swampy forested
tracts, in which occasional small
patches of cotton are being
grown, and which in the dearth
of roads and resulting inaccessl-
biIity are very difficult to locate.
Help From War Department
Lieutenant Compere made an
pEcation to the commanding Of
ficer of Ellington Field for per-
mission to engage in such work.
This request was disapproved,
but with the suggestion that the
request should be referred, with
the Endorsement of the depart
ment of agriculture, to the divi-
sion Of military aeronautics, war
department. This was done, with
the result that Lieutenant Com
per" has received from the war
department full authority to I'M
| dertake the work of locating cot
ton fields i'll the observation zone,
and this work was actually begun
January IA, Mr.. Hensley again
accompanying the aviator to
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