The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1921-06-16

Tor not Qry WeaCner. 1nere IS no SUCH
thing as a top crop of cotton when
weevils are present. One thing, above
all others, is necessary for success.
and that is confidence a determina-
ton to win no matter how great the
odds. Many victories have resulted
from confidence and determination
! the great war for instance. If you
get panicky and plow up your cotton
because it has boil weevils on it now,
you certainly will not go to gin this
fall. No man can predict now what
weevil damage will be this year.
wether twenty-five, fifty. OF seventy
five or more per cent.
Three Things to Do.
There are three important things
YOU can do without much, if any, eX-
pense, and as | said at the beginning
you can easily double your crop by
doing them, and one that You can do
with considerable expense without
certainty OF profit.
First: Pick and destroy as many as
possible of the weevils off the young
cotton. Keep after them every morn
ing until squares appear where the
weevilS become too difficult to find,
They are easily found now while
sucking the buds. Have the women
and children do this work. Pay so
much a weevil Adjust the price ac-
cording to the number of weevils you
have. 1t may be five cents or half
cent may be correct. Do not hire
your "weeviling" done by the day.
Second: When squares begin to fall
on the ground go over your cotton
row by row at least every week for
six or eight weeks, picking up and
burning all the punctured squares
possible, and also get what weevils
can be found without losing too muca
time.
Third: Cultivate oftener than usual.
Plow shallow and 60 over your cotton
through and through at least cnce =
week Also plow later than has been
your custom in the past.
Fourth: Experiment with calcium
arsenate poisoning if you feel willing
to take chances of losing or maybe
breaking even or making small
profit on the possible increase in
yield. Results from busting with
calcium arsenate have not given uni
form results. It's general use cannot
be recommended at this time-no 9TH
er poison it at all effective on weevils-
1t is no more reasonable to plow up
your cotton than it would be to dyna-
mite your house if a spark should
start a small blaze on the roof. The
sensible thing to Go if you want to
save the house is to pour few buck
cts of water on the fire and you might
not even need the fire departments
help.
Picking early weevils and the first
two generations of punctured squares
is absolutely effective in making cot
ton under weevil conditions. l have
made twice as much per acre on my
own place in Alabama by this method
as neighbors who did nothing across
the road.
Pays to Pick Weevils.
Very few if any of your neighbors
weevils will come to your field until
later in the year. Meanwhile you can
have a half or two-thirds of a crcs,
made.
1t pays to pick weevil if you do not
find but two per acre, likewise with
squares if you get Iuly handful per
acre In some progressive communi-
ties I have known the towns and
cities to raise funds with which to
pay for early weevils brought in. This
method of weevil control should ap-
peal to your common sense. Let me
illustrate:
If your wife has twenty-five hens,
for instance, and disposes of twenty
of them, can she possibly raise as
many chickens as she would have with
all twenty-five? And if she gathers the
eggs of the others as laid, can the
hens possibly hatch as many chicks
sthey could have done had all the
eggs been left in the nest? Certainly
not. In other words, raising cotton
under weevil conditions, can be done
proftably and the most foolish thing
you can do is to quit planting cotton.
You will never regret anything as
much in your life. The sickest fellow
I ever saw is a southern farmer with
no cotton to pick and sell in the fall,