The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-10-21
Growing Cotton.
{ tIAbheville Press & Banner,.

ID. G., was in Abbevifle this morn
ing to discuss with the farmers Of
the city and county the subject Of
Igrowing cotton under boil weevil
conditions. MIR. Evans has been
connected with the United States
department of agriculture for
humber of years. being one Of the
first demonstration agents ever APP
pointed. In addition to this he
has been engaged in fighting the
| boil weevil for seventeen years and
lis prepared to give sound advice
on the subject.
One of the things Mr.. Evans
isaid. which, by the way, is over
| looked very often, is that the
fight against the weevir cannot be
'waged the same way under al con-
lditions and in all localities. Re-
sferring to the advice sent out last
spring that the poisoning of the
weevil be deferred until ten per
cent. cf the squares were pune
tured, Mr.. Evans stated that he
believed this sound advice in the
4 Delta country, but here, where the
! plants grow only about foot high
and when comparatively few bolls
ever grow on the single plant, he
believed the fight should COM
lmence early. and be made con-
sistently. This has been the ex-
I perience we believe of those who
have undertaken to poison the wee
vii this year. If the old weevils
i can be killed as they come from
] their hiding places in the winter,
and il the SQUARES are kept picked
up in the early season, there is no
reason why cotton cannot be
grown.
(! Mt. Evans, emphasized tthe ad
vantages to be gained from plow-
ling under the cotton stalks. The
weevil does rot eat when he is in
his place OF hibernation. But un-
til that tine he does eat, and his
food at this season Of the. year is
1 the green leaves on the cotton
plant. If these are destroyed,
there is a space Of time between
then and frost when many OF the
weeviis viii starse to death. 1t is
for this reason that. 3 movement
just now is on foct to induce plant
1 ers everywhere 10 destroy their
stlaks as. soon as the cotton is
picked.
Mr.. Evans believes strongly in
the poisoning of the weevil by the
calciun arsena:e method. He be-
Heves with the authorities of his
apartment that dusting is the best
;naeshod, but he IS not prepared to
say anything against methods which
siother people find effective. He.
! however. says that the experiments
fof the department to which he is
attached have shown dustins to
Ebe the best method Of applying
the poison! He thinks the dust
viii be cheaper in a few years and
shat the means cf applying it Will
be made more effective. as will
also the poison itself.
Mr.. Evans holds cut encourage :
1nent TO the man who has deter
{. mined 20 whip the fight. He says
that can lie done without poison
{; ;eyen. We are not prepared to
follow him all the way, because in
/ years like the last two years. we
! do not believe cotton can BE grown
here successfully without it. Ger
.itainly not in these sections where
the infestation has been so great
s! Farmers in Mccormick. county and
lin the lover section Of Abbevilie
county, VIII bear US out in this
;opinicn we believe. However. he
has this to say and there is some
thing in it, that every man will
!; get the benefit Of his own work in
trying to fight the .weevil. Until
the period OF migration comes the
weevil does not move about much.
and does not so from one field to
3 another. During this period the
4 early crop is grown and the farm
.er who is able to keep the weevil
whipped during this period may
! make sure OF crop.
Mr.. Evans advocates the work of
] soil building and of growing feed
land food crops as an effective
means of helping with the fight.
! People here have learned the les
s,son we think that they cannot
produce only cotton and hope to
| get along on the farms. More and
/; more they Will learn to make the
4 farms self-supporting.
/ We have experimental some our
selves with the weeril, and while
we believe with Mr. Evan that
every man gets the benefit Of his
own work in tho early stages of
! the fight against the weevil. it is
undoubtedly true that when the pc
riod OF migration comes. the wee
vii moves from the badly infested
field into the field OF the farmer
who has been making q fight
tagainst the weevil. In one Of the
/ fields of which we have knowledge
! and which We observed closely,
the weevii came in from the field of
a farmer who did not use poison,
and destroyed the cotton in the
poisoned area for hundred yards.
/ Another farmer who poisoned only
{ twice. but Who had cotton adjoin-
ing Il field which was poisoned
told US only Saturday that he made
! his best cotton adjoining the field
where the cotton was poisoned. a