The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette., June 11, 1910, Page 417, Image 5

About The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1910-1920

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(iwm COTTON CROPS IN SPITE OF
THE ROLL WEEVIL.
Frequent Shallow Cultivation, Agi
tation of the Plants and Destruc
tion of Punctured Squares Arc
Essential.
The cultural methods to bo follow
ed in producing a profitable crop of
cotton in the presence of the weevil
must consist largely In rapid, shal
low cultivation, coupled with the
destruction of fallen squares where
feasible, and the frequent agitation
of the stalk so as to hinder as much
as possible the activities of the pest.
As soon as the young cotton shows
above the ground cultivation with a
harrow or weeder should begin, run
ning the Implement straight acros
the rows. Ily this means any crust
that may have formed Is broken, thus
allowing the struggling young plants
to come through; a dust mulch is
formed to conserve moisture; and a
great deal of grass that Is lust emerg
Ing Is killed. Remember that the
best time to kill grass Is before It
comes up. Future cultivation should
continue as late ns possible and
should be shnllow nnd frequent, the
main object being never to let a
crust form over the surface. A dust
mulch conserves moisture and its
heat is highly fatal to the young
weevils In the fallen squares. See
that It is kept In your cotton fields.
In Ixnilslana nnd Texns good re
sults have been gotten from so at
taching a brush to the single-tree
that each row of cotton Is brushed
over in passing. By this means the
adult weevils are hindered in their
reproductive activities and the punc
tured squares are knocked off into
the hot dust mulch where the heat
quickly kills them. This costs you
nothing to try. nnd experience has
shown that it pays well.
It undoubtedly pays also to pick up
and destroy the first squares that
usually begin to fall along In June.
Two weevils In June mean millions
before frost, and this Is why It pays
to destroy as many as possible early
In the season. There are usually un
employ eo rnuuren uiai ran ne usea
In this work, and by paying them ho
much per hundred squares or hy of
fering a prise to the one bringing in
the largest number of fallen squares,
this work ran be done at a very slight
coat.
Experience has shown, time and
time again, that a go«»d crop of cot
ton ran he raised despite the boll
weevil, and this often under the very
worst conditions of Infestation Keep
the crop clean and growing, and de
stroy nil punctured square*. H. L.
Moss.
ntT.TIVATING TO KIM. THE WEE
VIL.
keep the <?ulUvatnr« (ioing—Make
Trap Furrows, knock the Weevils
off nml lturjr Them.
Messrs Kdltors: From present In
dlrstlons. the cotton crop for 1910
will he later than for several years.
The boll weevil and the drouth are
both great enemies to late cotton, and
In View- of this fad It will pay the
farmer to commence In time to work
against the weevil, and then if the
weevil does not come he will only
make the more cotton, for the meth
ods that I advocate will make more
cotjon If there are no weevils than
the old methods that we practiced be
fore the weevil came. For the farm
er to become despondent and give up,
Just because the weevil Is In hlB cot
ton, la foolishness In the extreme.
I prepare my land In a way so ns
to conserve the moisture, and then
1 cultivate shallow and Intensively,
and to some extent fortify myself
against drouth. Deep cultivation Is
the worst thing that the farmer can
do for hls cotton, when thore are
0
weevils or when there are no weevils,
but more especially when we have
the weevil. As the preparation of
the soil is, so will the harvest be, and
land broken early and deep and culti
vated Intensively and shallow, is
Mighty good medicine for the cotton,
especially when we have the boll
w eevil.
When my cotton is 12 inches high
I commence agitating the stalks by
using a long stick placed lengthwise
on the singletree and long enough to
strike the stalks on each row. This
is bound firmly to the singletree, with
the ends bent back just a little so
that when the stick strikes the stalk
it will slip by easily. I keen this nn
until the middle of June threshing
them off and covering them up in
the hot dirt shallow.
About the middle of June I take a
small shovel plow and commence ear
ly In the morning while the dirt is
cool and damp and run round the
cotton shallow, and make a trap fur
row. The dirt being stirred early,
the attraction will he greater, and
the furrows will get hotter than the
other dirt that Is not stirred. At
10:30 a. m. I quit this trap furrowing
and let it lay until 1 p. m. and get
Rood and hot. I then get a 24-inch
heel sweep with the corners twisted
and a hull-tongue plow on a Georgia
stock and take a fast mule and get
in the middles, with the stick on my
single tree and thrash the weevils off
and cover them up shallow in the
hot dirt. The heel sweep is so set
that it takes the top dirt and turns
it down on the hot dirt in the bot
tom of the furrow, and being covered
shallow and in the hot dirt, all of the
young weevils and a good per cent of
the old ones die.
Now if you cover them deep where
the soil is cool and moist they may
not die, but covered shallow in the
hot dirt they will die. The weevil in
the larval state can’t stand the hot
dirt, and besides there Is a little
black ant that eats them when knock
ed off the stalk in the larval state,
whether they are covered up or not.
About the first of July I quit culti
vating the rows and go through the
middles every six days, shallow with
2 4-inch heel sweep with bull-tongue
plows in front, until picking time;
and I have not failed since we have
had the weevil to make a fair crop
of cotton. JNO. O. ALLEN.
Gilmer, Texas.
Our Progressive Farmer Boys
LIKES To SEE LIVE STOCK OX
THE FA KM.
A Hoy Who Hoe* Xot Believe in Col
ton nnii Who Delight* in Black
smith and CarjM'iiter Work.
Messrs. Editors: i live on a farm,
but I delight in hlacksmithing or
carpenter work, though 1 like to see
beautiful fields of corn and wheat.
I don't like cotton. 1 want aouie
thlng that helps the country to pros
per. If all the people would agret
with me, I think they would gel
along better.
1 like to see at every farmer’s
home hogs and stock of all kind—
something we can live upon. That
is what I like, don’t you?
My corn is doing fine. 1 have work
ed it out the first time and hoed it.
It has been so wet I couldn’t work it
as I wanted to, but it is all right
now. OVAL WALKER.
Gravelly, Ark.
Kditorinl Answer: Our young
friend is right in thinking that the
country would be better off if the
farmers grew more hogs, live stock
and things to eat Instead of buying
so much, but we think he is mis
taken about cotton. It is a great
crop when properly grown. In a
suitable rotation where, say one
third of the land 1b In cotton, or cot
ton is on the land only once in three
years, the land soon produces cotton
so well that It becomes a paying crop.
A bale of cotton to the acre and
half a ton of seed have lately been
worth pretty close to >90 an acre
and that is a good revenue from an
acre. But to do this the land must
not be put in cotton each year, and
the farmer should not have to buy
foodstuffs or food for his family with
tills money or he loses all the ad
vantage of the high price of cotton
and seed; for other things are equal
ly high.
Fine Farm For Sale
j 475 ACRES
Good all-round farm, rart of It fine
land, ami an line a place <or atock. dairy or
poultry farm aa thera la in thin (Noxubee)
county. Twenty or more mulberry treee.
I>earintr. No hill land. So near Macon
(count v aoat of Nox. county) that it'a al
moat like llvlnic In town. Good road. Good
portion of pla<-e under wire, part under
licit wire. Plenty of irood earn land. Water
for .stock. If intereated. address
ED. M MURPHEY, Macos, Miss.
If our young friend stays on the
farm he will find his talent for
. blarksmithing and carpentering of
great benefit to him. We believe
the farm aided by these will be bet
ter than depending on either of these
for an occupation without the farm.
From an Alalmma Boy.
Messrs. Editors: I will write tc
let you know that I am still in th<
race for one of your prizes. I havi
planted my acre and it is in good fix
My father’s farm lies on Okatuppt
Creek, and we have our own wash
pool. You ought to be over here tc
go in with me.
Papa owns about 300 acres of
land, about 50 in cultivation. We
have been planting some soy beans
this evening on a poor patch in our
field, and breaking some for peas,
all to cut for hay.
The most of the people over here
sen uieir couonseeo ior rrom iz to
50 cents a bushel and buy them back
In corn-grown lard at 15 to 20 cents
a pound. That’s farming!
We raise our meat and lard, and
it pays, you bet.
ROZIER I. BELL.
Okatuppa, Ala.
Dr. C. W. Burkett, Editor the
American Agriculturist, says of “A
Southerner in Europe,” by Clarence
Poe: “I took up ‘A Southerner in
Europe’ the other night and read it
through again. I suppose I shall
continue to read this book from time
to time. It is the most wholesome,
most stimulating and yet the most
practical book on foreign travel that
I have read in my life.” The Pro
gressive Farmer and Gazette and a
paper bound copy, both for $1.30.
TEXAS LAN-1
For Sale in Large or Small Quantities
The present year p omises to be one of the most prosperous
that Texas has ever known. Whether you are a home seeker or an
investor, you will make money by buying land in Texas this sum
mer. Write us for information and free literature. All inquiries
promply answered.
KNOX REALTY COMPANY, : Weatherford, Tex.
(5) 417
Two-Minute Health Talks.
HOW ABOUT THE WATER
SUPPLY?
Protect the Springs and Wells From
Contamination.
The principal diseases supposed to
be communicable through the drink
ing water are typhoid fever, cholera,
dysentery and other diarrheal affec
tions, cholera infantum, animal par
asitic diseases, enteric fevers and
scarlet fever. In order that the wa
ter may carry these diseases, it is
first necessary for it to become in
fected with the specific infection
which communicates the disease.
This infection is derived from the
ejecta of a patient suffering from
the disease.
It is a fact proven by statistics that
the water-borne diseases begin to in
crease in July and are at their maxi
mum during August and September,
decreasing in October.
The ideal conditions for the spring
are that its watershed is uninhabited
and does not contain stables, barn
yards, pig pens, privies, cesspools or
cemeteries; and it should not be tra
versed by railroads nor highways, for
all of these make infection possible.
The freedom from all these objec
tions is not always obtainable. The
spring should be ditched around in
such a way as to carry off all of the
surface water, and never allow It to
be overflowed and filled with flltl| or
trash of any kind. The surroundings
must be scrupulously clean. The
spring itself should be walled with
rock and covered to prevent trash
from falling into it.
Too many of our wells are located
in the barnyard. The well should be
, located on a well drained area, re
, mote from barns, pig pens, privies,
j cesspools, cemeteries or drains, and
should be cemented from the edge
[ outward to the distance of several
. feet. Above the surface of this ce
, ment, a tight box should be built and
a tight-fitting cover provided, If
buckets are used. The pump is much
to be preferred to the bucket because
it lessens the danger of trash falling
into the well. All waste water
should be drained off and no water
allowed to stand near-by in which
hogs might wallow. The hog is a
great gatherer of filth, and by wal
lowing in a puddle which drains into
a wen, mere is great aanger or in
fection.
Deep wells, properly protected to
prevent an inflow of surface water at
the top, are to be preferred to either
shallow wells or springs.—T. E.
Keitt, in Clemson College Press Bul
letin.
We fail to understand how any
mother can welcome Into the home
for her boys to read, a newspaper
that carries several large advertise
ments advising those boys where
they can buy liquors and soliciting
their orders for the stuff that can
not be legally sold In the 8tate.—
Index.
Our advertisers are guaranteed.