How to Prosper in Boll Weevil Territory   By: George Howard Alford (1875-1958)

How to prosper in Boll Weevil Territory

[Illustration: Prof. P. G. HOLDEN

Director I H C Agricultural Extension Department]

"A one crop system will impoverish any country, and in turn it will impoverish the people that are on its farms. It is only through diversification of crops and the using of our energies every day of the year, as well as our hands, that we can make a great rich country and a great, strong, vigorous people." Prof. P. G. Holden.

[Illustration: G. H. ALFORD

Of I H C Agricultural Extension Department]

HOW TO PROSPER IN BOLL WEEVIL TERRITORY

By G. H. ALFORD

PUBLISHED AND COPYRIGHTED BY THE AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION DEPARTMENT INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY OF NEW JERSEY

PROF. P. G. HOLDEN, Director CHICAGO, USA

[Illustration: A good stalk of cotton]

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.

[Illustration: 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 grassy.

=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.