Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1922-02-09
Field Crops Balanced With Stock
Raising in Besting Boil Weevii

Successful Dirt Farmers
Relate Their Methods
Perhaps the largest cotton planter
in this country are Spann Brothers
T formerly South Carolinans. and sub
scquently turpentinc operators ii
Florida. These men, both OF whom
have been practical dirt farmers fo
a score or more Of years. are hare
workers, personally overseeing every
acre OF their vast farming interest,
They know how to manage labor, anC
on the farms operated by tenants thu
latter are given leases only on the con
dition that they shall follow to The
letter the cultural methods that are
to be given them. Farming is made
just as much of business. with sys
tcmatic method as is the hardware
business Of these men in the city o.
DOthan--sO as is their banking in.
tcrests.
Spann Brothers had Approximately
$50 acres in cotton in lola small
acreage as compared to their gross
acreage under the cultivation OF va.
rious field crops
They reduced the old-tmc acreage
to approximately ten acres to a pillow
They assigned the labor on basis
OF intense cultivation. They rode the
cotton fields just as they did their
"crops Of boxes" when turpcntining in
the yellow pine forests of Florida
They saw that every detail of their
program for winning the race with
the weeviI was carried out They won
Said M. s. Spann, the senior Of
the firm TO me:
eve begin in the early fall to turn
ing under the stalks. That feeds pot
ash and helps reduce wcevil hibcrna-
ton in the fields 1t pays from ferti-
lizing standpoint
"As quickly as practicable after
Christmas we begin breaking the cot.
ton land, usually lands recently plant.
ed to velvet beans, always selecting
those lands that are free from hber.
/ nation environments. We cut it thor.
oughly and harrow it so that the lane
is practically pulverized. We prepare
the seed beds with every care, and
fertilize WE'LL but not extravapantly
We usually compost sufficiently tc
broadcast 200 acres at least. We use
nitrate in the drill, also feed nitrate
of soda and phosphoric acid as thu
plants grow and cultivation progresse.
3 The amount depends upon the sol
conditions. We mix our own ferti
lizers.
We get the seed in as early al
is safe-early bearing varieties, usual
ly selecting the prolific big boil varie
ties We make every effort TO &c
a stand at the first planting. We chov
hoe-width. leaving one and two plant
to the hill. We then begin a systen
of intense cultivation, wet or dry. an,
continue 1t until the cotton is read,
to BEGIN picking. In the meantime w
pick the adult weeviS from the buds
and later, when the infestation get
he; Wy, we pix the nf,.stcd and fai
len squares and burn them. We cult
vate light, of course. in the last few
weeks when the staple is forming, bu
il anything we make the operation
faster.
/ we make a bale an acre easily OF
a great deal of our land; and aver
aged last year around 800 to 35
pounds of lint throughout our entir
cotton lands tenantcd and all.
"Of course, some tenants will no
/ he as aggressive as others. work witt
them as best one may, and it is thi
class that brings the general averag
on large operations down. Where tn
program | have outlined. however, wa
industriously followed in 1921 w
made from three-Quarters to full bal
an acre right along.
Summary of The Rules For
Success.
1t is unnecessary to quote any 9th
er dirt farmers in this county, thougl
talked with several who grow cot
ton just as successfully as do tn
Spann brothers, but on smalle
scale.
Small acreage: intense cultivation
liberal fertilization; control of tn
winter weevil by clean farms an
fields segregated from woodland an
from stumps and dead trees; rotatio
drainage fast race from the brea
ing Of the ground to the picking of tn
staple, plus a we'll planned campaig
for direct weevil control in the even
Iof wet summer, these are the meth
DDS and the only methods that max
cotton growing under boil weevil con
dit;ons profitable
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