The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1922-02-16

Tallulah, La, Jan.31-The United
States government maintains at this
place, in the heart of the delta, an ex-
perimenting and testing station de-
voted exclusively tot he study Of the
boil weevil problems. 1t is in charge
of staff of competent experts, many
| of whom are not only scientists,
whose specially of entomology has
made them especially valuable in this
work, but are in fact and in truth
dirt farmers" themselves-men rails
ed on the farm, and whose better
years of their lives have been given to
the commercial production of cotton.
The station is charge of DIR. b.
K. Coad, assistant United States en-
tomologist, of the department of agri-
culture, and for the past few years
this one man has devoted his entire
time to the study in endeavoring to
find economic, practical methods of
weevil control, both direct and indi-
rect. He is the man who finally
worked out the powdered calcium ar
senate formula, which is now econom-
| ical and simple to apply, after years
| of unsuccessful attempts to get at a
successful poisoning method of con-
troll had utterly failed-and after
thousands of farmers had lost in the
aggregate millions of dollars fooling
with such experiments.
DR.. Coad is assisted by DR.. George
Maloney, known by farmers through
out the Southeastern states, and
successful "dirt farmer" himself; by
DR. Hunter of Houston, Texas, and
others.
The experiments and demonstra-
tionS made here are not confined to
the laboratory, though this feature is
important, and this delta station
has one of the best equipped labora-
tories for scientific study in the coun-
try; but it is confined to work on
.argc cotton plats; on big delta plan
tations, indeed, SO that it's lahors
have been just as practical, as we un-
derstand ard apply that term, as sci
cntihc.
As | have said before, thousands
of tons of literature have been writ
zen about the Dol! wevil and his hab-
its, and his ravagcs, and his cxtermi-
nation and his control, and so on and
so on.
Many farmers who have earnestly
tried to follow all of this stuff have
been run almost crazy on account of
1t. One authority" would contradic.
another; and by the time the farmer
followed all Of the rules" that some
of the theorists required, and all of
the "don'ts" that other theorists de-
manded, there would be nothing left
but crazy old man, an invalid wife,
house full of half starved children
and mortgage.
What | have been trying to DO in
these Investigations is to get at the
practical side of the thing-thc side
that Is being practiced by dirt farm
ers with success and with profit. I
have been trying to find what the one
horse farmer, or the two-hcrse or
three-horse farmer can do to raise
cotton successfully under boil weevil
conditions, as well as the large, well
organized producing corporation, or
the big planter who runs his hundred
plows, and has the capital to plan
his campaigns for direct weevil con-
troll.
Certainly it will not profit a farmer
to spend $50 an acre on fertilizers,
labor, calcium arsenate, etc.-and
then skimp bare half bale off his
acre of land; and that is pretty good
farming too, all things considered.
That's sending good money after
bad. That's like the cat in the well
crawling up three feet in the day and
falling back four at night That
means mortgage foreclosure-and a |
homeless family. 1t is cnevitable.
How to raise cotton successfully"
under boil wccvi conditions means |
economically" y"-how to raise cotton
at profit in spite of the boil weevil, |
! have heretofore outlined in nv
Investigations that
Intense cultivation, following "A
proper preparation Of the seed bed |
and the early planting of tested
early fruiting variety; rotation, keep
ing the farm clcan-a and a resort TO
the proper dusting if neccssary-isl
dong the work in Texas, Louisiana,
Arkansas and indeed throughout the
southwestern belt.
Dusting is not so expensive now. 1t
can be done, say three applications,
lnl92Z at around So an acre, includ-
ing labor, and not more than one
third Of the acreage planted to cotton