Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-13
HOOVER To LEAVE
FOR D. c. TONIGHT
Receives Reports on Missis-
Sippi PIight-Cotton Crop
Is Hard Hit.
BY REX COLLIER,
staff Correspondent of The Star.

JACKSON. Miss, June 13.--Dowr
there in drowsy Mississippi the peo-
pie along the big river" are awaken
ing TO one compelling fac: There will
he few waving fields of cotton this
Fall where in the past some Of
Americas finest cotton was pro-
duced.
From the smallest farm TO the
worlds largest cotton plantation, To-
Gated in Washington County, the
States richest cotton fields are going
under their second water since the
big flood Of April and with the new
rise has come corresponding decline
in what hopes remained for this
years crop.
A yellow torrent, pouring with
seemingly increasing fury through
the crevasse at Mounds, also known
as Stops Landing. in the north end
Of the State. has continued to feed
the vast artificial lake spread over 10
counties, Secretary Hoover was in
formed on arrival here today for
Statewide survey.
Crushed All Prospects.
This steady flood. caused by June
rises further up the river, has recov-
cred thousands of acres of land from
which the April waters had receded
and crushed all prospects of a late
cotton crop in the area affected, rep
resentatlveS from the counties re-
ported.
"A new agricultural program must
he worked out for this territory" Mr.
Hoover announced after hearing pre-
liminary statements of relief workers,
gathered for n general conference
here this afternoon.
From what ] hear, the land will not
be out of the water until long after
the cotton planting season closes on
June Is, and so we must turn our
attention 10 other crops that may he
planted late in July or early in
August. In some sections of the state
it may develop that no crops at all
will be possible this year"
The new flood, combined with what
remains Of the old, has inundated
nearly three-fourths of n million
acres of cotton land to date and has
made it necessary for the Red Cross
TO continue support of $4,000 refugees.
Vice Chairman Fieser of the Red Cross
learned. More than 10000 persons
have returned to their homes ami arc
starting life anew with the aid OF
relief agencies, it was stated. The
remainder are still in refugee camps.
Counties Hardest Hit.
The. counties hardest hit are Wash
ington, in which stricken Greenville
is located. Sharkey and lssaquena.
These counties are almost wholly I'M
der water and are likely to remain so
for some time to come. Twenty
thousand acres of cotton planted after
the first drop in the waters have been
overlooked again in Washington
County alone.
Because of the great depth and
extent of the mounds crevasse it will
be impossible to stop the escape of
new flood water at the present time,
it was declared by Capt. l.. Q. Pick
of the Army Engineers.
Most of the water in Mississippi is
from this break although there has
been some overflow lately in the
Yazoo and Sunf1ower Rivers.
Swing" Nearly Completed.
An exact picture of conditions in
this State will be drawn at the con-
ference today. Mr.. Hoover believes
1t may be possible to Graduate" sew
sral of the outlying counties from their
present flood status to one of Self-sup-
port. The next step fter this Grad
uatiOn" process, he says. is iehab bill
tation. including distribution of seed,
feed, and food. rs a rule. however,
the subsequent processes will have TO
be delayed for several weeks, when
the fields emerge from the water.
Mr.. Hoover and his party will leave
for Washington this evening, having
completed their Swing" through the
entire food area. They already have
surveyed the situation in Missouri,
Arkansas and Louisiana.
The secretary has found it advis-
able to postpone active work on the
reconstruction program until the new
flood subsidies. and he will therefore
return for that work in a week or
10 days.