The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1920-05-27

effectiveness of certain chemical and
mechanical appliances that are war
ranted to destroy in part the boil wee
vii and perhaps it might be we'll to
again direct attention to few of the
basic principles that underly the sue
cessful campaigns of eradication that
have been Waged in other sections
against this enemy of the cotton
farmer.
The following information was
given us by D. F. Hooton, vice presi-
dent of the Bamberg Banking Co.,
and we have his permission to give
this to our readers with the hope that
it may draw attention to important
details of the successful raising of
cotton under boil weevil conditions.
Mr. Hooton, on a visit to Alabama,
in sarch of first hand information,
was so fortunate as to secure the
views and the expressions Of Com
missioner of Agriculture James A.
Wade Mr.. Wade has been in init
mate association with the United
States government and the state gov
ernment of Alabama more or less con-
tinually for the past fifteen years.
Some years ago he was teaching
school in Texas and DR.. Seaman A
Knapp, late United States commits
sioner of agriculture, requested Mr..
Wade to devote his time and ener-
gies to the study of methods to COM
bat the boil weevil in Texas. DR..
Knapp informed Mr.. Wade that there
was no set programme to be followed
but that his work would be to in
vestigate the habit of the boil weevil
and to experiment with methods to
curtail the damage being done to cot
ton in that state.
Mr.. Wade obtained very little en-
couragement and scarcely any CO.
operative effort from the farmers in
the boil weevil section of Texas at
that time, and succeeded in inducing
only one farmer to plant and culti-
vate his cotton crop and to carry out
the suggestions of Mr.. Wade. This
farmer was a white man having a
large family and he was not depend
ent upon outside labor to work his
crop.
Mr.. Wade instructed him to plant
his crop early and to plow his cotton
and chop it out as he had always
been doing. This cotton farmer did
not depart from his usual practices
in the preliminary work on his cot
ton and was rather disappointed that
Mr.. Wade did not instruct him to
carry out radical changes in methods
of planting and working the cotton.
When Mr.. Wade thought that the
cotton plants would begin to put on
forms within a week Or ten days he
instructed this farmer to bring all of
his children down into the cotton
field, each to be supplied with a tin
can having a little kerosene in it.
There in the field Mr.. Wade collected
these children around him and COM
iroo nf
plants onr by one. The boil wee
vii was found in the bud of the plant
and the hildren were shown that they
must catch these weevils and drop
them into the can. It was remark
able, said .Mr. Wade, how easily and
rapidly these children covered the
seven or eight acres of cotton that
this farmer had planted.
Within a short time the forms be-
gan to appear on the plants and Mr..
Wade again collected the children
and, carrying them to the cotton field
carefully instructed them as to the
picking up Of such forms as had fall
en- to the ground. Each week there
after Mr.. Wade had the children go
over this cotton field and pick up the
forms, place them in bags and burn
the forms as sufficient quantities
were gathered.
This probably was the first effort
ever made to grow cotton under heavy
infestation of the boil Weevil.
This farmer made a good crop OF
cotton and his neighbors made utter
failures. Thereafter in Texas Mr..
Wade had very little trouble in per-
suading the farmers to follow out his
instructions, for it was clearly dem
onstrated time and again, year after
year, that the farmer who paid atten-
tion to the details above mentioned
made cotton in spite of the boil wee
vii.
Mr.. Wade attributes the success OF
this plan of combating the boil wee