The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1921-11-05

AAN
winter destroy all cover in which
weevils may be hiding, burning
ditch banks and margins Of woods
and cleaning up around stumps.
Fodder and hay stacks should not
be allowed to remain near cotton
fields.
Third: Cotton should be liber-
ally fertilized with a quick acting
fertilizer containing about so
pounds of available phosphoric
acid per acre, ammonia and pot
ash to be used according to the
character and relative fertility of
the soil All applications of am
monia should be put down before
the middle of June. Overdoses of
potash have a tendency to delay
maturity. Where the weed grows
tall only a small amount of am
monia should be used as it always
delays maturity and encourages
overgrowth of stalk.
Fourth: Early planting Of ap-
proved varieties Of cotton with
plenty of seed. The farmer should
save at least bushels of good
seed for each acre he is going to
plant. He should plant at least two
bushels before April i'll the lower
half Of the state and before April
10 in tie upper half Of the state re-
serving. a bushel per acre. If a
stand is not secured by the first
planting he should plant ever not
later than April 10 in the lower
half Or April 20 in the upper half.
II large quantities Of seed are used
good stands are usually secured
from extra carly pian,inss and
the experience is hat under boil
weevi1 conditions the greatest crops
are always made from the earliest
paintings. If stands are not Sc
cured at q comparatively early
sage tie land intended for cotton
shouIl be put into other crops.
Fifth: Cotton should be left
thick in the drill. This distance
should vary with the height of the
natural growth Of the plant, 3 inch
or inch not being too close as a
minimum and inch or 10 inch as
{, maximum.
Sixth: The question Of poisoning
for boil weeyil is still in the ex-
perimcntal state but your commit
tee believes that poisoning with
calcium arsenate is valuable, es-
pecially if done at the proper time
and under favorable conditions.
Heavy damage from plant lice fol-
lowing busting with calcium arse
nate early last August makes us
doubtful as to this treatment when
applied at that time. The weevils
should also be picked from the
plant in the early stages and as
soon as punctured squares are no
ticed they should be picked up
twice per week until midsummer.
Rapid and thorough cultivation at
all times should he employed and
the crop should be gathered as fast
as open to insure a high grade. In
no case should more cotton be
planted than can be properly
handled at all stages and prompt
iy picked by the labor on the farm,
for il is the height of folly to plant
crop and let the boil weevil eat
it up for lack Of attention Or al
low it to become blue in the fields
Tor lack of picking force.
The experience of many of our
best farmers and numerous ex-
periments conducted under the
auspices Of the experiment sta
tions prove that it is absolutely es-
sential in almost all sections to use
around 500 pounds per acre Of acid
phosphate under cotton. In most
cases if the amounts applied varied
much, either above or below this
standard, the crops were less prof.
table.
Everywhere it must be insisted
on that the individual farmer and
tenant raise an abundant supply Of
food and feed and that this food
and feed be properly. conserved.
The man with a crib full Of corn
and hay, smokehouse full of meat
and molasses, a hundred bushels
of sweet potatoes in a storage
house, and a garden full of vege-
tables cannot be put out of bust
ness by the boil weevil or any other
pest.
Storage houses ior keeping sweet
potatoes should be everywhere con-
structed as this islone Of the great
est crops we have and one which
every farmer can raise.
Special Suggestions.
/. For Lower Coastal PLAIN:
Within SO miles of the coast it is
doubtful whether cotton can be
profitably raised under boil weevil
conditions except during very dry
summers following unusually cold
winters If planted at all the
acreage should be small. planting
should be done extra early with ex-
ira early approved varieties and
only the quickest acting fertilizer
used. In this section the main re-
lance Of the farmers must be live
stock to Craze the large cut-over
areas and a large area should be
planted to corn and velvet beans
for winter food Peanuts, winter
and pring growing truck crops,
sweet potatoes and in some sec
tons melons must, besides live
sock, be the main reliance Of the
farrners of the lower coastal plain
Pork and beef can be as cheaply
raised IN this area as in any sec
; ton of the country as the hogs