How to Prosper in Boll Weevil Territory.

by G. H. Alford.

Introductory

This book was prepared to furnish information on farming in the boll weevil territory. Special attention has been given to the production of cotton in infested districts and to showing how to adopt a system of farming which has been found profitable by many farmers in boll weevil territories. It was written by a man who has had practical experience all his life in growing cotton in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. He later devoted a number of years to the special study of the boll weevil in the cotton fields of these states as special agent for the Farmers'

Co-operative Demonstration Work. In addition to this, he is acquainted with the financial and economic conditions throughout the cotton belt.

Dedicated to all Cotton Growers

How to Prosper in Boll Weevil Territory

The System of Farming Necessary to Obtain Best Results Under Average Conditions in Boll Weevil Territory

In order to obtain profitable returns from farming in boll weevil territory, we must--First, grow an early crop of cotton; second, use every means possible to destroy the weevil and reduce their number to a minimum; third, follow a system of diversified farming.

=Grow an Early Variety of Cotton:= To secure maximum cotton crops in spite of the boll weevil pest, the cotton grower must use every effort to bring the crop to maturity just as early in the season as possible. An early crop means profit--a late crop goes to the weevil, not to the farmer. If we are to succeed in growing cotton under boll weevil conditions we must--

1. Reduce the cotton acreage so that the most effective cultural methods may be closely followed. It is often advisable to reduce the acreage 50 per cent.

2. Plant only warm, fertile, well-drained land.

3. Thoroughly prepare the seed bed before planting. Young cotton plants do not grow well in cloddy ground.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Boll Weevil; enlarged above; natural size below]

4. Make heavy applications of commercial fertilizer where the soil responds to such treatment, for it will hasten maturity and increase the yield.

5. Plant early, rapid-fruiting, prolific cotton seed.

6. Plant the seed as early as the season will permit, in rows just about as wide apart as the cotton usually grows tall in the average season.

7. Commence to cultivate the young cotton just as soon as possible, and do not permit a crust to form or the field to become gra.s.sy.

=Reduce the Cotton Acreage:= In many sections of the country, intensive farming--smaller farms and more thorough cultivation--is being profitably practiced. In boll weevil territory, we would likewise advocate "intensive" cotton growing--smaller acreage to cotton with more thorough cultivation--as a good step toward securing early and profitable cotton crops. For instance, many farmers in the boll weevil territory are now producing as much cotton on five acres by following proper methods as they formerly produced on ten acres, thus leaving half of their land to produce some other crop.

=Plant on Fertile Soil:= This is one of the necessities in order to produce an early cotton crop. The land must be well-drained so that it will warm up early in the spring and retain the heat. It must contain plenty of humus or vegetable matter to prevent packing. Plenty of vegetable matter also increases the water-holding capacity of the soil, thus reducing the loss due to the droughts that may occur in summer. Where the soil has not enough humus and therefore will not hold a sufficient amount of water, the cotton crop will stop growing and putting on squares during a long drought, and will shed the squares and many of the small bolls already on the stalks.

[Ill.u.s.tration: At left of each pair is a boll weevil. The weevils at the right are weevils often mistaken for boll weevils.]

The soil may be kept in the proper condition of fertility for cotton by practicing a suitable rotation of crops, including legumes, and by turning under the corn stalks, the oat and pea stubble, and the gra.s.s.

=Thoroughly Prepare the Soil:= The soil should be plowed deep for the following reasons: First, to increase the water-holding capacity; second, to let the water escape from the surface without running over the ground and washing it off; third, to permit the air to circulate freely for a considerable depth in the soil; fourth, to secure crops against droughts by enabling the cotton roots to go down to moisture; fifth, to increase the area from which plant roots may obtain food. It is advisable to flat break the land in the fall and winter and then bed it some time before the planting season. The bed should be disked or harrowed just before planting the cotton seed, but it is seldom advisable to re-bed the land just before planting. Cotton comes up quicker, grows off faster and begins bearing sooner on a well settled, firm seed bed. It is not wise to plant the cotton on freshly prepared land.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The late cotton is for weevil--not for the farmer. The boll weevil prevented the above late cotton from making a single boll.]

=Apply Commercial Fertilizers:= Where the soil responds to commercial fertilizer, it is advisable to make heavy applications to hasten maturity and increase the yield. It is best to use fertilizers which will stimulate the fruit rather than stalk growth. High grade, 16 per cent acid phosphate is the basis for increasing fruit and hastening maturity; cotton seed meal is usually the basis for stimulating stalk growth. A mixture of two parts of 16 per cent acid phosphate and one part of 6 per cent cotton seed meal is a good mixture for cotton on soil of average fertility.

It will usually also pay to mix about ten pounds of nitrate of soda with every bushel of seed just before it is put into the planter. The nitrate of soda has a tendency to cause the young cotton to grow vigorously and resist the bad effects of cool nights. It also usually pays to make a side application of nitrate of soda just after the cotton has been thinned the first time.

=Plant Early Varieties:= The production of an early cotton crop requires carefully selected seed of an early, rapid-fruiting, prolific variety.

This seed may be purchased each year, or selected from cotton plants with low fruit limbs and short joints on the main stem and fruit limbs. With the weevil pest to combat, the value of using the earliest and most prolific seed cannot be over-estimated.

It is advisable for the average farmer to buy the best early varieties from some reputable breeder and then use every known method to increase the earliness and productiveness of the cotton. Reports of tests at the Government Experiment Stations name the earliest and most prolific varieties of cotton. It is not good business to buy varieties of seed that have not been shown to be the earliest and most prolific by actual tests in the fields through a sufficient number of years to eliminate weather conditions. Seed should not be purchased because of high-sounding names or exaggerated claims.

=Plant the Seed Early:= Seed should be planted just as early as the season will permit. This is important in the work of hastening the cotton crop to early maturity. The weevils do not multiply until the squares begin to form. They seldom become sufficiently numerous to destroy the squares as fast as they form, before the last of July. While it is important to plant as early as the season will permit, do not forget that cotton is a tropical plant and is badly effected by cold weather.

=Cultivate the Young Cotton:= Cultivation should begin before the cotton comes up. This may be done by running a steel peg tooth harrow over the field either at right angles or diagonally across the rows. This helps to let the young cotton plants through and at the same time kills millions of tiny weeds and much gra.s.s just as they are coming up. The cultivation should be repeated when the little cotton is about five days old. This early cultivation kills the gra.s.s and weeds in the sprout and forms a soil mulch all over the field, which holds the moisture in the ground, thus making the little plants grow more rapidly. Early cultivation with the harrow will reduce the necessary work with the hoe to the minimum.

If for any reason the peg tooth harrow cannot be used, the ordinary one-horse harrows should be used to stir the soil on top of the beds just before the cotton comes up. The harrow or cultivator used will kill the little gra.s.s and weeds and leave a shallow, loose layer of soil on the surface.

All later cultivation should be made with such implements as the one or two-horse cultivators, disk harrows and heel sweeps. A turning plow is out of place in a cotton field unless the soil is devoid of vegetable matter and runs together after heavy rains or unless it rains for two or three weeks and it becomes necessary to plow under the gra.s.s. If the soil packs after heavy rains, it may be advisable to use the turning plow as a necessary evil, especially, when the cotton is young. If it should be necessary to use it to loosen the soil or to clean out the crop, by all means avoid deep cultivation late in the season. Be sure to use the harrow or cultivator a few days after using the turning plow to thoroughly pulverize the stirred soil and make a dust mulch.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The upper ill.u.s.tration shows a cotton field planted late and yielding nothing. The lower ill.u.s.tration shows a field on the opposite side of the turnrow on same plantation, planted early, properly treated, and yielding three-quarters bale per acre. (Houter, Yearbook, U. S. Dept.

of Agriculture, 1906.)]

The essential thing in the cultivation of the cotton is to keep the ground free from gra.s.s and weeds and covered with a soil mulch. Frequent and shallow cultivation should be continued until the cotton begins to open.

Most of the benefits of thorough preparation, early, rapid-fruiting seed, early planting and intensive, shallow cultivation may be lost unless the fields are given the utmost attention until the cotton begins to open.

Frequent and shallow cultivation late in the season will not result in the death of many adult weevils, but it will knock many punctured squares to the hot ground and cause the cotton to remain green and continue to grow and put on squares to furnish food for the boll weevil. The boll weevil prefers squares to bolls and as long as the cotton puts on sufficient squares to furnish it with the necessary food it will not attack many bolls.

Avoid deep cultivation late in the season, especially close to the cotton.

If the plows cut the roots and cause the cotton to cease to put on squares the weevil will at once attack the bolls, which would otherwise not be injured.

[Ill.u.s.tration: More and better corn must be grown in weevil territory.

Above corn grown on I H C farm, Brookhaven, Miss.]

How to Reduce Boll Weevil