Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1921-09-07
WAIIEIAI,Ih, =. g.
WED NESDAY, SEPT. 7, 1927.
THE BOIL WEEVIL AT OUR DOOR


our farmers and others say. with no
little pride and u great deal Of boast
tulnrSS, tina, the bOll wcrYil would |
never damage cotton TO any extent |
in DcOurc county. thai our climate !
in The winter is TOO severe for the
wrrvil ana hat while tho pest might |
lna"r HIS appearance" in he la,r fall |
and do 4 Ntil" damage. he woull
never be permanently ana to an |
alarming degree Il pest 40 our county |
To-day tn" wrrvil is with us not |
a# casual visitor" in certain local
iiirS, nor iS h" confined to the south
wc"vil is everywhere puncturnr
the bollS. laying eggs. hatching grub;
and growing and multiplying, infcst-
ing the crop to degree that even |
he !nMh@St calamity howlrr would |
not have dared to predict Il year ago |
We have the wccvil with us be
yond doubt and he Is no SluEgard
lie is making inr0ads on The present
crop, and by next year We may safely
prchici that the situation vii! be
twice as serious as to-day. for this
year the boll wecvil condition is ten
times worse than last year.
We will do well to tako lesson
while the lesson can be- learned at
Il cost OF only semi disaStcr 1t has
been well said that "Expericnce is Il
dear school. but fools will learn in
no other Let us OF Oconee be at
least wise fools" and learn our les
son at the cost OF only slight expert
Gncc.
And when we say slight experience
we mean experience with the weevil.
who has just now conie into our
midst in alarming numbers. Good
ness knows we have been dull pupils
in other branches OF the school OF
experience. else. years ago. We would
have been we'll rid Of cotton on our
farms AS anything but a side line or
money crop, at a proportion Of not
over onc-f0urth OF the acreage under
cultivation. Tho faci that We have
all been fools for Il long time need
NOT. however. induce us to continue
to wear the high pointed cap that We
have chosen voluntarily TO wear all
these years.
Let MS cut cotton acreage to the
Nuick next year We have made good
cotton crops in OcOnre. but Oconcc
can produce good crops Of anything.
and Of any crop she can produce
larger yields per aero than she can
0i cotton We are above the real
"cotton belt" OF our state. All these
years that we have been dubblinE in
cotton culture. while making Il rea-
sonablc success OF 1t, taking things
straining point. and working with
the odds all against us.
John G. Moss. who owns the old
Joe Neville place. just above town,
about, as he expressed il. The OK
trcmc limit Of tn" cotton growing
territory. showed us Monday some
green hollis that he had picked from
his field Thcy were little hUlls. just
beginning the process OF really grow
inr into holls But they were fun
Of wrcvilS. Several brown spots on
the green showed that the wrrvil
was there and that the little hollis
would never be moro than they are
to-day wccvil incubatrrs. MIR. Moss;
says that he cut his acreage this year
to ten acres. while hn planted twenty
acres in cotton last year. The wccvil
has. he says. cut another nifty per
cent on the remainder Of his normal
crop. and he expects not over - per
,cnt Of his last years total yield.
And 80 1t goes, let us wake up
row to the fact that we have opp0r-
tnnity in our reach to be- benefited
by the advent OF the wccvil into our
midst: that we can better ourselves
by making Of this wonderful section
a truly grain and cattle and stock
producing section Wo feel that we
have too long neglected these things
already
Then, too, wo need not look upon
tho weevil as a fool bug" Anything
bnt that. They have something Of tho