The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-11-29
GOVERNMENTS
POLICY ON THE
COTTON CROP
College Men
and Others Interest
ed Attending Meet
ing at Capital Boil
Weevil is Chief Sub
ject

WeeVll is JnleI SUD
! ject
washington, Nov. .2a.-The gov
erEment's policy with regard to all
phases of the cotton industry was
| outlined tonight by members Of
, the Department of Agriculture
cotton council to the cotton confer
ence held in Connection with the
annual convention Of the Associa-
. ton of Land Grant Colleges.
Presirents. extension directors,
and deans of colleges of the vari-
] Gus cotton growing states, and ex-
perts in every line cf cotten grow
ing and cotton marketing were
brought together to discuss def
mite policy with regard to every
phase of the industry. The con-
terence was preliminary to the cot
! ton States conference to be held
in Memphis early IN December and
which Secretary Wallace, Of the
Department of agriculture, will
attend with several government cot
ton experts. \
| Recommendation made. by the
cotton council of the Department
of Agriculture, after many confer
ences in which experts in every
! branch Of cotton growing or mar
i keting participated, were laid be-
/ fore tonight's conference, which
| was developed from the ideas OF
/ DR.. II. A. Morgan, president Of the
! University of Tennessee. who has
made several tours Of the -cottop
belt on investigation for the De-
partment of Agriculture.
Fight Against Weeyl.
One of the principal subjects
covered in the recommendations is
! the fight against the boil weeyil
To overcome its raxages it was
said to be of first necessity TO ma.
ture the largest possible crop in the
shortest possible time. To accom-
tplish the end the cotton councils
Recommendations include:
! Selection of well-draiped Soils; II
possible, only land capable of pro
! ducing, with reasonable fertiliza-
{ ton, at least half a bale. per acre.
Preparation Of a good seed bed
ii;bers,Ir fe,-ti1iZed.
Planting Of good seed of I'M
/ proved, early maturing variety, rec
ommended by the State experiment
station and the Department OF. Ag-
riculture.
Planting of seed of single va
! vie.y BY entire communities and
counties.
Securing and maintaining full
stand through proper planting and
/ liberal use of seed and early and
| frequent thorough cultivation.
Destruction of all possible adult
weevi.s, either By hand picking OF
! poisoning. if wcevils are numerous
at the time cotton is just beginning
sto square. :,
! Picking and destruction of all
puncturcd squares every week or
ten DAYS for a month. If not
equipped to poison by busting.
Then, if weevils arc still numer-
Gus. apply calcium arsenate dry
dust poison, following directions OF
| the Department of Agriculture
State College of Agriculture.
Picking OF cotton in the fall as
rapidly as possible and immediate
| ly killing all cotton stalks. thereby
/; destroying the food supply and
breeding places Of the weev1l be
fore the Information period.
Burning over, or cleaning up,
during winter of woodland, trash
i or rubbish in which weevils sue
cessiully hibernate. especially IN
/ terraces. fence rows. ditch banks
and ravines.
Recommendation for controlling
the boil weevil were formulated be-
fore the announcement of the Flor
! ida State plant board Of Its new
method for reducing boil weevil In
jury to short staple cotton, and in
view of the promising results ex-
pected for Florida conditions the
cotton council says it was as clear
ily desirable that experimental ap-
p,ication of the Florida plan should
be made in each of the different
| States.
Improvement of the quality OF
cotton, the cotton council declares,
becomes more essential as the
standard of living of cotton pro-
ducers rise and as the competition
OF foreign cotton producing regions
| increases. Recommendations are
made for the encouragement OF
/ production of cotton above f-8 and
up to 1 Is inches, there being
no economic justification for grow
ing fibre less than 7-S of an inch
! in length. 1t finds the quality OF
!, the crop has deteriorated in many
localities in recent years. The most