The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-10-07
SHALL We GROW CR ON COTTON IN.
1A1@ AAAas t ~ s>eAAS ~ - " = . SH -
SUMTER COUNTY NEXT YEAR e AlRIl 2
By j. FRANK WILLIAMS,
County Denonstr ration Agent
By J.. FRANK WILLIAMS,
County Demonstration Agent

- 49,
This has been the most tsdisastrous
year. for farmers. Of Sumter coun-
ty in growing. cotton sssits history.
It looks. now that we shall make
from "a fourth toSa third less cot
ton than We did last rear. The.
price is good enoughssif we were
making anything ike:a aGroD.
In the past it has sbssns a COM
mon saying that ANYBODY could
grow cotton, buV .thatsit took a
good farmer to growscorr. That:
has been changed now. Growing
cotton. under boil weeviI- conditions
is and always will be a highly spe-
ciaIized art Cotton can be grown
prefitably under present condi-'
tons L have seen a number of
fields where a good profit has been
made. this year, but this is the ex-.
ception rather than the rule. It
will no longer pay US to plant our;
poor soil in cotton. The soil build9
ing problem is the. biggest problem;
in Sumter county Any farmer
who. is not planning to grow crops
to%build up his. soil. unless he al:
ready has a highly fertile soil, or.
unless he expects. to apply large
amounts of commercial fertilizers
will lose @out-s
The future outlook for Sumter.
county farming looks "a little. dark
but there are some bright spots. Il
talked with Mr.. j. F.5 Bland, oss
MayesvilIe, and he was smiling; as;
usuals He told me that's aspet;
patch of his including eighty-two!
acres that he had produced a hun
dred bales of cotton weighing. five
hundred pounds each 4 came from
a county where there is scarcely a
field. containing eighty-two9 acres,
and it's hard for. me to reconcile.
the fact that around Mayesville..
eighty-two acres is only a patch of
cotton. Now what can be done on
a patch Of cotton, can be done on
a large field, if the same conditions.
are put into practice over the field
as is used on the patch. Mr.. Bland
told me that nearly all of his ten
ants were paying their debts and
were getting in money over a thou
sand !. dollars j to their part. 1t is
needless to say that his tenants
are well satisfied. I should like to
say that Mr. Bland did this with
out poisoning his. cotton, but he
used. all f1the other control meas
ures Here is one thing that Mr.;
Bland is doing that every farmer
should try. to emulate his example.
He has already cut a great mapy
of his stalks. I believe that if
every stalk aof cotton in Sumter
county. were cut. this weeksand
next, that we could grow three
fourths of a normal crop OF cotton
another year This destroying the
stalks early prevents any weevils
Matching out late and most of the
old weevils that go into winter
quarters. will die out before any
forms appear for them to pune.
1turee and reproduce.
Unless land owners are merciful
to their tenants and permit them to
retain q part Of their crop where
they haEe made a failure, we: are
going to. see such lands lying idle,
without any income to the landlord
to pay taxes. I know of instances
where the landlord is eXacting
nearly everything that the tenants
ehave produced, for rent. True,
then. they are not getting any.
thing like a normal rent. but what
are the chances <of collecting any
rent without a tenant. The labor
is leaving Sumter county and We
cannot expect them to stay unless
we. provide a living for them. [
think that the ownership of land
carries with it. the duty of looking
Gut and providing for the tenants
who till the land We have num-
bers of. farms in Sumter county
that will carry their tenants and
laborers through this crisis, but
there are others who are doing
nothing to keep them, and after
they arc gone, they viii wake up
too late. and try to get tenants
from those who kept them. Then
the competitor will begin.
"A number of farmers have doub-
led their yields of cotton this year
by the use of calcium arsenate, but
/; this adds. to the cost Of producing
cotton and is not at all; an easy
certain method of increasing the
yield The poisoning has to, be
done either at night or late in the
afternoon, or early in the morning
while the dew is on it. Also it
will not pay to poison cotton that