The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-07-24
PLUV|US RENDERS
 B|G AID ID CROPS
1922 Crops Should Bring Good Yields, Is Gist'S Pre-
 diction This Week

Montgomery. July 23.-(Special)- summing up of the crop statement issued today by F. W. Gist, federal and state statistician for agriculture, points to the fact that this state has at present a splendid prospect for good crop yields. A lengthy season of dry hot weather was broken dur ing the past 10 days by good rains at all stations reporting to the weather bureau office at Montgom- cry. These stations are 19 in num- Ter and comprise the cotton region service of the weather bureau. From the 18th to tho 20th. ia- elusive, there was at these stations an average of 2.13 inches of rai1. which was sufficient to put good seasons of water in the soil, accord ing to MT. Gist.
 Good Distribution
 Young corn was materially bene- fitted, and much of the corn acreage this year is young. Some old corn was rather badly off before the rains came and will not probably show sat- isfactory yields Some very young corn will still need more rain later to make good yields, and altogether 
 with the reduced acreage. as might be hoped for. Perhaps. with good luck from now on, enough corn will be made to supply the farms if pro perly distributed; but there will be little or no surplus in any section for market
 Taken altogether, the immediate prospect for cotton Is very good. As heretofore stated, stands were inter- fered with earlier in the season, both by lice and by necessary excessive hoeing to rid fields of grass. The weed is in nearly all sections quite large enough to hold good yields. Blooming is unusually heavy in the south half of the state. and squaring is beginning in the north half in sat- isfactory volume. Some uneasiness IS felt that the weevil may begin at once to get in some dama ging work {: and some reports of actual damage have already come in. Up to 10 days ago, the weevil had been kept down to very low ebb in proportion, and had accomplished an exceedingly small amount of damage. The re- ports of rainfall given above, espe- cially in those sections where 1t covered more than half the days, give ground for uneasiness. More than al days out of the past ten. This is probably sufficient to give the weevils good start toward a period of extreme activity; the past three days. however, have been practically without rain. A continuation of sun shine. heat and dry days will serve to at least retain the fruit already put on. These conclusions regarding the present cotton situation are borne out by reports from county agents as well as by personal observation during the past 10 days.
 Pastures and hay crops are very good. the recent rains having fresh- ended all grass and leguminous plants Early Shipments
 Sweet potatoes are reported good from all sections. The early cron used for shipping began moving th.s year much earlier than last season The high price which usually attend early shipments soon broke under pressure of shipments and only mod crate returns are being received. Peanuts are looking fine. Barring imperfect stands. the outlook Is for excellent yields of both varieties Prices are close to s100 per ton for Spanish to the growers. with none fo offer. If this price keeps up 1t may induce the gathering of practically