The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1922-09-11
THE WAY OUT.

You will find here and there sensi-
BILE men who say there is no good to
be had from the use of calcium ar
senate in the fight against the boil
weevil. But they are the men who
have not given the poison a trial, or
those who have not given it a proper
trial. In some cases people will be
found who think they have poisoned
the weevil when in fact they have
not.
Clemson College authorities advis-
ed the farmers in the beginning of
the year to buy their poison from
DESIGNATED dealers and manufacture
ers. It is a fact that a great many PEG
ple did not do this. When they found
thew needed the poison they bought
from Dick, Tom and Harry. In some
cases they bought poison and in 9TH
er cases they did not. In some cases
the poison was properly prepared
for use in busting, while in other
cases it was not. For that reason
some people undertook to poison the
weevil, but the substance used either
was not mixed with the poison at
all, or improperly ground and mixed.
Hence these people, as above stated,
thought they were poisoning the
weevil when in fact they were not.
Aside from people to whom the
above applies you will not find n
man in a hundred who has made an
intelligent application of the poison
to his cotton who will tell you That
it has rot paid to use the poison.
Acres and acres of lands this year
which made practically M cotton
last year will yield a half bale to the
acre. The men who have made a
proper fight against the weevil are
more and more convinced each day
that the program must be followed
if cotton is to be grown here, and
that if properly followed up, poison
ing will make the raising of cotton
profitable.
For this reason the time is coming
when a man who does not poison his
cotton will not be allowed to plant
cotton. There is no more reason why
people should be compelled to vacci-
nate against smallpox, or why hous-
es should be quarantined against
diphtheria, than that men should be
required to destroy an enemy on
their premises which threatens the
prosperity of their neighbors. There
are people still who do not believe in
vaccination, and who are against the
quarantine, but they are forced to
yield to public judgment in these
matters. The public is protected by
virtue of police restrictions, which
are intended to guard not only the
public health but the public good as
well.
1t is to be hoped that the people
in this section will not undertake to
stand in the way of progress by con-
tinuing to try to make cotton with
out doing what is necessary to make
it. If so, they will to that extent pro-
long the days when the farms will
prove improbable. The people of
Abbeville County with a years in
telligent labor may come out of the
slough of debt in which they are
now all but submerged, because
when once a man is enabled to take
a step forward, his recovery is as
sured. If the pepole be wise they
will prepare now to make the good
fight. Plant cotton, prepare we'll, use
early maturing seed, fertilize well,
work we'll and often, keep the wee
vii poisoned and success awaits. In
telligence and industry are going to
tell in the next year or two as they
have never told before.