The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-01-25
Shall We Plant
Cotton This
Year, 1922?

oo on as we have in the past ana
begin blowing about the firSt Oh
! February and make a.crop Oh COY
ron. The best crop Of cotton III
Sumter county last year waE mace
in and around Mayesville. ana
from the preparation that is beins
made. they are going to make the
I best cotton in the county TINS year
They are making the best prepara-
ton. If YOU listen to all OF the
] advice that will be given you on
how to grow cotton in spite OIL the
boil weevil and try to follow up
the advice YOU Will not get any
where. The nitrate OF soda pcople
arc getting out propaganda tha1
YOU should use two hundred pounds
of nitrate Of soda 10 make cotton
under boil weevil conditions. The
phosphate people will tell you that
you must under all circumstances
use an excess Of phosphoric acid.
The potash handlers will tell you
that your soil is badly in need OF
potash 70 keep the plant green
until frost so that the weevils VIII
continue 90 have forms to eat SO
he will not turn back and eat your
mature boIls.
There lis only one way to grow
cotton under boil, weevil conditions
and that is to grow it so that If
YOU do not make any you still Will
be able to have plenty to cat for
both man and beast, and a small
surplus of all the common crops
that we have been growing iE the
past. Yes, the edges. ditch banks,
hedgerows, and all Of the hiber-
mating places OF the weevil wiz
have to be cleaned up. The cotton
land should be thoroughly prepar-
ed by the first Of March SO that
We may be able to get q rain on
the cotton beds before planting.
All of the experiment stations say
leave the cotton thick in the drill
and lay off the rows wide apart,
that is wide enough until you can
work the cotton late and so the
sun can shine in between the rows.
/ With all of the rain we had last
year it did not seem to me that
thick spacing was best for us in
Sumter county, last year. but there
is such a preponderance Of evil
dence in favor of the thick spacing
that l suppose that it is, best under
normal seasons.
What seed Will you plant? Here
comes in q fellow and tells you
that you should plant some costly
variety that he has for sale. All
of the evidence or the vast ma
jority of evidence is in favor Of the
! Cleveland Big Boil for short cot
ton and the Dixie Triumph for
wilt>iffested land. We have plenty
of these seed in the county and
they should be obtainable at not
more than a dollar and a quarter
a. bushel, considering the price of
seed for oil mill purposes. The
Webber 49 and the Deitatype Web
her are two good staple cottons.
The Lightning Express is claimed
to ke an extra early and good
staple cotton, but the seed are very
scarce and very high. SO that I
think we had better stick to the re-
liable brands that are reasonable
in price.
Some farmers tell me that they
! will grow cotton tllis>year without
fertilizer. I think that this would
BE a mistake, for fertilizers hasten
the maturity Of the cotton and we
should not attempt to grow cotton
entirely without fertilizers. On
the other hand we should not listen
to those who are selling fertilizers
or whose salaries are paid by the
fertilizer companies, when they ad-
wise us to use large amounts of
costly fertilizer There is a happy
medium. and about five hundred
pounds OF good variety is snough
to risk. l believe that five hun
drde pounds of fertilizer last year
gave better results than thousand
pounds and where there is a good
chance CT losing, I think that 1t Is
time to be conservative.
Shall we use poison? Yes, those
who can afford to experiment.
am still convinced that the use OF
poison for boil wcevils is still in the
experimental stage. Those who sell
the poison tell us that if We have a
long wet spell just when the cot
ton is maturing as we had last year
that We cannot get good results
from the use Of poison and they
tell us that if we have dry wealth
err we can make cotton in spite OF
the boil weevils. AS a general
proposition I think that we shall
have to depend upon rapid cult
vation after thorough preparation,
picking weevils and forms when
it does not cost too much.
The dairy COW has always done
her part in pulling the farmers
through in lighting the boil weevil
The sumter Creamery offers 4
good opportunity for the farmers
Of thi:, county 20 begin to convert
their rough feeds and corn into
butterfat and to use their skim milk
in feeding calves, pigs. and poultry
hear q great many farmers COLI
planning that they cannot sell thcil
corn and hay at living price. Since
these feeds are cheap. they should
be fed into cattle and hogs. There
is already a number of large herd:
Of hogs in Sumter county. In the
past three weeks l have helped
double treat as many as twelve