The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1920-01-02

"From whatever sources add. oional
funds are secured, it should be with
the understanding that this fund will
be continued for not only next year
but for several years to come. In
order to accomplish anything, the ad-
ditional men proposed must be left in
the field for some years. You must
; understand that little can be accom-
plished in one year, and the amount
| of money you hope to raise will only
! employ FIVE or six men and the work
naturally will be of a propaganda
/. character rather than that of close or
ganization, which to my mind is alb
solutely necessary if real results are
| to be accomplished.
Speaks Of New Plan.
, "After comforting with DR.. Riggs,
it seemed to Mr.. Watkins and myself
that the wise thing to do will be to
group the counties where the infes
tation is present-say, three counties
to group-and let the, legislative
representatives provide the funds in
county supply bills for employing the
necessary number of men for each
group. In this way you can secure
close organization that necessarily
will mean more effective work to
meet the situation. Under this
! method all the people will bear their
proportionate part of the expense.
To secure these appropriations we
must have your great influence.
"There are two other features to
connection with this boil weevil situ-
alton that / think it well to call to
your attention: First, / am not one of
those who subscribe to the doctrine
that the boil weevil is blessing in
disguise. / hold that his presence, is
calamity undisguised The South
is naturally cotton producing sec
ton; it's most profitable crop is cot
ton. Would you call pest that de-
stroyed the corn crop of Iowa or the
wheat crop Of Kansas or hog cholera
in the pork producing states q bless
{ ing in disguise? Do you believe that
the people in those sections, where
they have had the boil weevil for sevS
eral years, are as prosperous as the
people in our own state, where the
weevil has done. as yet, but little
damage? Their bank accounts and
land values compared with ours will
show that they are not. Don't you
believe if they had never been in
ficted with this pest they would be
just as prosperous as we are today!
If this is true, then why all this talk
about the boil weevil being bless
ing in disguise? We do not need the
boil weevil to help US establish a safe
and sane agriculture in South Caro-
lima. Our people are gradually grow
ing into system of diversificatlon, as
is proven by the fact that there are
more hogs and other live stock in the
state than at any time in the last 81
wears, and here are a greater num-
ber of farmers each year producing
the necessary supplies to run their
farms.
"The second feature is that it will
be the policy of the extension SER
vice to advise against the reduction
of cotton production for next year.
Do not understand that We are advo-
eating in the heavily infested coun-
ties the same acreage to the plow.
We believe that the farmers, after
producing the food necessary tor
, man and beast on the farm, should
lproduce every bale of cotton that they
i possibly can. We do not believe it
wise policy to reduce production
! when the prices are higher than they
have been in great many years and
the world is demanding greater pro-
duction. If there is any good rea-
son for advising the farmers Of the
South to reduce the production of
cotton in the face of the high prices
that we may expect and the great