The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-12-27


tilizer to produce cotton under boil
weevil conditions. There is no possi-
biiity Of producing cotton except at
d greatly increased cost 1.-The $prep-
aration Of the land, the cultivation
and fertilizer and poisons, all greatly
adding to the expense.
Mr.. Hill informed me that after
the expenditure of $4,000 and years
OF hard work he has produced the
liquid poison which he himself has
been using for several years and
which was used On the cotton referred
to above during the present year., One
matter of complete difference Of tudkI
ment between Mr.. Hill and tho ex4
perts concerning tho hasards Of the
boil weevils is this: he insists that the
boil weevil feeds, not upon the
squares, forms and bolls, but that tlse
puncturing of these is dons for the
purpose Of egg-laying; that both the
female and male puncture tho
squares, forms and bolls for the spurI
pose of furnishing nest for the eggs,
and that the boil weevil absolutely
feeds upon the bloom of the cotton.
Until the weevil can get food from the
bloom, he sucks his food from the ten.
der leaves Of the cotton found In tie
heart Of the stalk. Mr.. Hill stated
that he knew it was necessary to se-
cure food that the boil weevil would
eat to enable him to poison the vice.
vii; that his poison has the odor Of
the cotton bloom, and that by apply
ing it in the heart Of the cotton stalk,
the boil weevil is attracted to it, eats
it and is annihilated. The amazing
part is the cost of the poison. Under
Mr.. Hills method, it costs from; 80
to So per acre at the outside, ,this
being one-quarter to onesixth the cost
of the most popular methods.
interviewed both white planters
and negro planters and found them
strong advocates Of the poison, and
the widow informed me that she had
given up cotton planting and was In
despair for a way to get an exist
ence for herself and children, until she
was convinced that had she not used
:Ais poison she would never have pro-
duced over two to three bales on the
Is acres, instead of II bales as shown
above.
Mr.. Hill claims that the land should
lie broken up in the fall of the year
and thoroughly prepared; that the
crop should be we'll ,fertilized, and
that the poison should be applied just
as soon as the cptton is cropped out,
and that appfox1mateiy SIX tappricsi
tons Of the poison are suficient; that
by applying poison very early all of
the migratory weevils are destroyed
and thus they cannot reproduee, and
that If all farmers would use Tie POD.
son, poisoning would cease after kill
ing the weevils from Information, but
where other farms are infested, it Ia
necessary to Keep up the application
Of poison until around the 1st to the
18th Of August.
Rains play an important part In
boil weevil damage. The damage In
creases in proportion 10 the. rainfall.
In our adjoining county, 0sGhgeburs,
one of the largest cottoh-producing
counties Of the belt, cotton production
dropped from lie, 900 bales two ysars
ago to 10000 Eales during the present
year. My county Of Calhoun, one Of
the most fertile counties In the South,
where cotton production and farming
are carried on in the most scientifip
manner: still with the very latest
methods Of boil weevil control our
production dropped from $4,000 bales
two years ago to approximately S,008
tales during the present year.
If Mr.. Hills preparation will bring
to other sections the benefit that It
has brought to his, 1t will indeed
prove blessing. In 1918 and 1919
1 made practically the same trip over
the same territory that I made at this
trip. The difference was indeed start
ling. On my former trips, the ear
marks Of prosperity were plainly dis
cernible. On this trip just the oppo-
site was the case. In IL counties the
sheriffs' offices were loaded with tax
executions, thousands Of negroes have
left, hundreds Of farms have been
abandoned, lands that on my former
trip were not for sale could not be
sold today at all, mules that on my
former trip were selling for from 3406
to $500, today were practically un.
saleable; cattle were a liability in,
stead Of an asset. In fact, one farmet
told me after a desperate effort that
he finally succeeded In selling his COW
to butcher and that'he brought bach
one quarter, and the difference bes
tween the amount due him by the
butcher for the entire steer and the
price he paid for the one-quarter was
81. In other words, he had to give
the butcher the cow and pay the 81 ID
addition for, the, privilege. 3, Tho ex.
perience Of the farmers In their ef.
;; forts to produce truck crops Of vari,
ous kinds was indeed distressing. II
is an exception to pass through q sec.
tio,l where, truck has been planted fol
In L. -. a /. q 81,