The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1921-12-08

EVEN the molasses mixture will not
prove effective in wet weather. The
rain washes it off as fast as You put
it on. 1t is impossible TO tell what
kind of seasons you will have and the
safest plan is to plant only few
acres to the plow. use a quicll-acting
fertilizer, work the crop fast and
even if the season is unfavorable and
your crop is failure you have not
lost much" Mr.. Brabham owns both
stiff and light lands. He owns place
III the lower part of the cou unty and
4 place in the upper end. VIII len gath
ering time came the results were the
same. l did not put the figu1es down
at the time. but my recollection is
that he told me he gathered about
40 bales from $50 acres. That was
the experience of one of the best far
mers in the lower part of the state.
The general opinion seemed to be
that even though the county was
passing through its worst year with
the weevil-the third year. = that a
fairly good crop would hal We been
made with the calcium-arse enate-mo-
lasses treatment if the sea sons had
been favorable. but one veteran far
mer told me it had been the worst
season he ever saw. The rop was do
ing fairly we'll until the July and
August rains came. 1t rai1ed in tor
rents day after day and for weeks it
was impossible to work in stiff land.
1t was during this wet spell that the
weevil got in it's most destructive
work.
G.. Frank Bamberg livestock deal
er and large land owner, had ten
acres of cotton near his residence. 1t
was a pet field. He ignored the heavy
rains and right after each rain he
put his hands in the field and applied
the calcium arsenate-molasses treat
ment. AS fast as the rain washed it off
he applied it again and again. He
does not know how many Applications
he made, but all during the long wet
spell ne kept up the treatment. He
made : bales on 10 acrbs, which I
think. was the record for the county.
did not find out how lhuch it cost,
but the treatments uypss have been
expensive.
II cannot account for it," said II.
F. Bamberg. another large planter,
"but the weevil seemed to work in
spots. saw fields in which the work
had been intelligentlv directed. The
squares were either picked up or
plowed under as fast as they fell, the
calcium-arsenate-m -mOlasSes treatment
was used literally, but still the crop
was failure, while just across the
road where these methods of fighting
the weevil had not beeh used. where
the crop you might say had been neg
lected, l saw fairly good crops made"
Mr.. Bamberg said it was IS per cent
season and 25 per cent man.
l could tell of dozens of other
cases, but it would be- to repeat the
story over and over. There was some
little difference in the methods en-
ployed in fighting the progress of the
weevil, but in nearly levery case the
results were the same. Light land
with good drainage. intelligent culti-
vation and quick-acting fertilizers
made from 80 TO 40 per cent of
crop, but this was in spots, stiff lands
with good drainage made from 10
to 90 per cent of crop while stiff
lands with poor drai mage and indif-
ferent cultivation made practically
nothing.
The merchants and bankers take
hopeful view OF the situation. All
the stores are carrying average
stocks and the bank statements ana
I'VE fairly we'll The banks have been
liberal with their e ctstomers. They
have not found it NECESSARY to press
them. They too have received liberal
treatment from their correspondent
banks. Old debts ard being gradually
liquidated. Here and there where a
landowners line at the local bank is
too heavy and his prop has been a
failure he is goind into the land
bank. This has relieved the situation
to a considerable extent New money
is net available. but as one business
man told me, if Fellow gets to the
pc int where he is compelled 60 get a
loan to save hi mself he usual
ly gets it. a banker told me
Saturday night t hat he had made
q new loan that day some
thing unusual for this time Of the
year. Good farming lands have not
deprecated in value; they are not on
the market, and IL man is looking
for bargains in real estate he will
have to go somewhere else. Taken as
"a whole the situaIt Ition was agreeably
surprising. The C bunty is not broke
not by long shot-and in the next