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GRADY COUNTY PROGRESS, CAIRO, GEORGIA.
FARM
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Conducted by P. H. Ward, Farm Demonstration Agent
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The Cotton Boll Weevil
Despite the unbelief on the part
of some of ouj' Grady county fann
ers that there is really an insect
pest known ns the Mexicali boll
weevil, we have this little bug in
quite latgo numbers in some of the
cotton fields of our county. The
rainy season is on and those in
sects multiply rapidly during rainy
weather. If the rains continue 30
days the damage will be far greater
than any one expected. The most
effective way of fighting the weevil
at this season of the year is to*pick
up and destroy the punctured
squares. This method of control
might seem to the man who had
no experience with weevils to be
one of the most expensive ways yf
combatting the pest.
If we begin in time it is a very
light task. When the weevil iiu-
merges front winter quarters and
takes up his abode in your cotton
field, he does not roam all the cot
ton field, but proceeds to puncture
squares and deposit eggs in a very
small area, possibly one to two
hundred feet square. The weevil
proceeds to puncture squares until
her egg laying period is over und
then dies. All the squares you
pick up and destroy, prevents that
many weevils from hatching to
puncture now squares.
If it were possible, and it soiric-
■ times is, to destroy the. first crop
of punctured squares you would
• not have any more weevils until
August the first, when the weevil
begins to migrate and scatter all
over the county. One man can go
over 3 to 0 acres of cotton in a day
and pick up the squares. There
are a good many insects that punc-
turc and destroy cotton squares
but the damage done by them it
small compared to the damage done
by the weevil.
It is a very easy matter to tell a
square punctured by a boll weevil
You will find a small black spot
on the square which has the ap
pearance of a small wart or bump,
and can be detected very easily by
placing the finger tip on the spot
you can feel the raised place on the
square. The weevil always seals
up the puncture tightly with a
gummy substance. On tearing
open the square with the puncture
you will usually find a small white
worm which is the larval stage.
'After about 8 to 10 days the larval
changes into the pupae stage, and
the bill edit very easily be sden up
on opening the square. In a very
few days then the weevil has de
veloped and cut out of the dead
square, ready to destroy, possibly
.one to two hundred squares each.
, So it can readily be seen how
important it ie to prevent ,the first
crop of eggs from hatching. If,
. Xour neighbor has weevils and
does not destroy the squares is no
reason why you shouldn’t do it,
The farmer'that does this will
grow cotton in spite of the weevii.
The man who sits down and .does
nothing to prevent its ruvages will
be the loser. We Have had 20
years’ experience of those Who
have been appointed, to work with
tjre farmers in Texas, Louisianna,
Mississippi and Alabama—to work
and plan a system whereby the
South could still grow cottom
• 'Every week some one comes from
Alabama where the ravages of this
pest has become alarming. The
. same story is told by all those'who
have seen the destruction of this
mighty little insect. Yet, there
; are some men, so foolish, as to
stand up in the face of reputable
, men and say, “there is no such
' thing as the boll weevil.” Cer
tainly, no man of reasonable intel
ligence would dispute what s o
many people of repute has told.
I The wise man profits by the
, other fellow's mistakes. There are
' others that randy ever profit by
their own. We don’t expect this
class to do much thinking or plan-
. n in S..
•Some years ago, a great dam,
holding millions of gallons of water
broke, A man on horse-back ran
down the valley through the little
town of .Johnstown shouting at the
top of his voice; "flee, flee, for
your lives, the dam is broken.”
Some heeded the warning; others
said, “he is crazy.” Those that
fled many of them reached a place
of safety; those that heeded not
the warning were swallowed up in
the mighty rushing waters. Wo
have had the warning for the past
15 years, telling us the boll weevil
is coming, prepare to meet his ad
vent by diversifying, raising live
stock and planning a systematic
crop rotation. Some farmers have
heeded the call; those that lrnve
will still mnke cotton at a profit.
Thosb that have not will have to
undergo a complete agricultural
reconstruction.
I am writing this on the Fourth
of July, the day wherein every
American heart should swell with
patriotic pride.
—P.H.W.
Just As I See It
Dear Editor:—If you will allow
me a little space I will write some
of my thoughts, as it is an old say
ing that “all > fools know someth
ing-” , »
The boll Weevil is here and he
is here to stay. He is in my opin
ion the most serious pest known to
the cotton industry.
Some are inclined to think' it a
blessing, but if so, it is well dis
guised.
Nature has been exceedingly
kind to Georgia and especially to
Grady county. We enn grow al
most every kjnd of crop that can
be grown in any part of the United
States. Now this is true boys and
it is up to us to do the work and a
little thinking.
The South, in my opinion, will
continue to produce cotton, both
long and short, in spite of the boll
weevil; but it may be at consider
able cost. It will be much more
difficult for the average farmer to
succeed under boll weevil condi
tions. This insect will bring about
a complete revolution of agricul
tural methods in the ‘south,'and
the man who, will succeed best, is
the man who adapts himself more
quickly to this condition.
I think an important way to
fight the weevil is diversification in
farming, and select' those - crops
that have been tried and best
adapted to our particular section
and those for which a market is
assured. Some, of our farmers
have deserted cotton and put all in
corn, hay, potatoes, etc., .
I don’t think it a good thing to
quit cotton as it .is one crop 'for
which a market is, always ready.
Reduce your acreage in cotton and
plant the very best peed; youAcan
get Get seed that is adapted,,to
our soil and be very careful i:
them for us if we >vill only spend n
few dollars in getting some good
blooded cows, Then work some,
nnd think some all down the line.
We can do it boys.
Get some good hogs and look
after them; raise all the feed for
them possible; und if we don’t
know just when to plant or what
to plant or how to fertilize and so
on, go to some man who does
know und ask him; he will be glad
to tell you.
Get the hog that is best adapted
to'our climate aad one ’ that can
stand hardships. This is very im
portant. The hog cholera and the
boll Weevil are both destructive,
but we have got some more ad-
vantanges over cholera than oyer
the boll weevil. We should not
depend entirely on scrum as it
costs too much. However, it be
comes necessary sometime.
Some good rules of prevention:—
If your neighbor’s hog is sick do
all you can to ' have . them treated
or inoculated, and don’t go around
where his sick hogs are and then
go'in to yqur 'herd' without wash-:
ing your shoes good with a good
disinfectant. Keep your hogs free
from lice and worms. Keep pig
eons, buzzards and stray dogs from
your hog lot. Do not borrow or
lend breeding {stock. Use plenty
of lime, whitewash and disinfect
ants in and around your hog pens
and lots. Report all outbreaks of
cholera to'your county demonstra
tion agent or a veterinarian, and
he. will look nfter it an once.
Now boys, if we . will ortly get
busy and get right down to busi
ness we will, in the near future,
have one of the most independent
counties in the South.
Will you do it?
Georgia Cracker.
Tick Free Live Stock
Farmers Are Beginning to
Realize the Full Benefits
From Campaign of Tick
Eradication.
In the ever-growing area from
which the' cattle tick', lips been elim
inated, demonstration" agents arc
now showing the people how they
can realize the full benefits of their
success in the campaign of eradica
tion. _ . ,
Pure bred stock is being brought
in to improve the quality of the
native battle.’ Farmers who have
never paid any attention to live
stock arc being instructed in the
fundamental principles of econom
ical and efficient feeding and cream
routes and creameries . are being
cWmmony, had fivo patrons ‘whoso
,25 cows furnisned 508 pounds of
butter fat that month. In Octo
ber a cream route was established
and the number increased to 17.
More routes were started from
time, each route bringing in more
patrons,.untjl in August 1915, after
a years’ work, 227 farmers were
sending the cream from 833 cows.'
The' total amount of butter fat 'de
livered to the creamery that month
was 14,815 pounds. For it the
farmers received $3;851.88, an av
erage of Approximately 817.00
each.
The importation of good ■ bulls,
both for beef hnd dairy herds, is of
special significagqe, since this was
out of the question in .the tick
days, because of the danger • of
death from Texas fever. In con
sequence, the grading up of herds
was impossible,'and there was too
little money in feeding of ticky
scrubs to make it an attractive
undertaking. This was also true
of dairying with the same kind of
stock, for 'the milk production,
pbor at best, was 'reduced by the
tick in case of heavy infestation by
much as 49 per- cent. On the
other hand, the possibilities of
profit in grading up herds are very
great. The, history of a lnrge
plantation in Tennessee is an ex
ample of this.
! * The place was an old cotton
plantation which was so run 'down
that much of it had been abanded
altogether and was over run with
sedge grass and brinrs when ’ the
owner determined to make it into
a stock farm. At that time ' Ten
nessee was not yet free from ticks,
so that he had to do his own dip
ping. In the course of a year he
had succeeded in getting rid of the
scourge and pure'bred Shorthorn
bulls were then brought it... These,
were used .with ' the native cows
which ranged in value from $12 to
820 a head and weighed from. .500
to 700 pounds. Tho calves which
resulted weighed an average of 800
pounds when they reached the
Chicago market, and sold for 8c,
pound or 864.00 a head. They
were then from 15 to, 18 months
old. This farm is now shippjhg
much of its breeding stock into the
tick free counties of Mississippi
and Alabama.
I .will be very glad if everybody
in Grady county will dip their cat
tle regularly this year, for I can see
the great benefits which can be
derived from the work. I ask all
who are afraid that ’ dipping will
hurt their cows to go nnd see cows
dipped, and when seeing no danger
dip theirs’:the next time, as it is
getting near the middle of the year
now, and if everybody in Grady
county will dip. their cows it will
be worth thousands of d ollars this
C. C. Belcher.
year.
When you feel lazy, out of sorts
and yawn a good deal in the day
time, you ean charge it to torpid
established where they wore un-j ljy C r which'has allowed the system
heard of in the days of the tick. to'get. full of impurities. HER-
An interesting mstance of what ' BINE cures all disorders produced
a creamery can do for'a commun- |,y an inactive' liver. It. streng-
lty is afforded by the history of the thens that organ, cleanses the
y v , rv . ... ° f . the oiierestablished in cbopera- bowels and puts'the system in
fleeting your seed from the Afield *‘ on with Clemson College-iu South good healthy'condition. ' Price 50c
- ' ' Carolina. In September 1914, the Sold by Wight & Browne.
every year. It is just as import
ant to have a good'variety of cot
ton, corn, peas, or in fact anything
we plant, ns it is to have pedigreed
hogs or ccfws pr horses. Ai
sure to grow all the meat you
all- the food crops that you
need for your farm, and'-brin
smoke-house arid corn crib-
the West to Grudy county.
Do not waste your time in ex-.,
perimeriting; tho government, is
doing that for us. It costs 'time
and money when'we go nt. it -. to
learn anything. So there is. a lot
for us to do and think if We” will
only do it. '• i i.
Now boys, we hgye -started .in
the right direction in one instance
—stock raising. We can raise; our
own mules nt a much less costiihan,
to let other states raise thera'f ifor
us. Now this 'vc all know arid the.,
thing to do in to get- busy arid d<fc.
it.
We can raise beef cattle cheaper j
than, the other fellow will raise !
llPil
1
I’OH GIRLS AMD YOUNG WOMEN
■nd Worke" Ar * “ ml Ext ’ r, “ ion ' The “•» lnin S of Teacher., Homemaker.
Three mo
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u,r^.l!ri; rn buildings with gymnasium aiuTUboratory for eclence. A real college home;;
Chirgi re^bie!"^^ Infor'SSbn'idd^ '' ‘ nd " PiritU ° 1
ANDREW COLLEGE, Cuthbert, Georgia
Dr. J. W. MALONE, President, Established 1004
SELF-RISING AND READY PREPARED.
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Made of choicest Soft Winter Wheat'I y
Flour and prepared by'
Red Mill Methods |
S
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grocer. You’ll be pleased. I
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Loans on improved farms in South Georgia
promptly made at lowest rates and best terms
Call on us or wright us stating your needs.
We can save you money.
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“The biggest farm loan concern in South Georgia*
. Pelham , - - Georgia
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The finest piece of goods when soiled presents p shoddy appearance,
while a- poor piece of goods will present a good appearance after being .
cleaned and pressed, ,
We clean, press anil repair all kinds of clothing—everything Chat you
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Dean Williams.
PHONE 81
Claude Nicholson.
!- ■ :.!!■
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W. M. BRYAN,
Office Ovcr Post Office Thomasville, Georgia
MOTOR. CAR
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Fowler Auto Company,
Agents
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