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Os Interest to the Wealth Creators
WHAT UNION HAS DONE.
When the agricultural interests of
Texas are united they are invincible.
These interests have stood together
and won great victoiies within the
past eight months. The issues on
which the Farmers’ Congress with its
allied associations, the Farmers’ Un
ion. with its aggressive.membership
and the staid and reliable Texas
Grange have presented a solid front
in demands made on the legislature
are:
1. A vigorous State Department
of Agriculture, which shall be sepa
rate from and independent of all
related depaitments. This has been
secured and SIO,OOO provided for its
support. Farmers’ Institutes will be
conducted by this department.
2. A Scalp Bounty Law that will
encourage the destruction of wild an
imals preying on our live stock and
poultry interests and dangerous to
human life. This bill passed both the
house and senate with an .appropria
tion of SIOO,OOO.
3. To make Agriculture a Requir
ed Subject in the Public Schools.
This law applies to all public schools
in Texas except independent school
districts having more than three hun
dred scholars.
4. An Act Validating the Diplo
mas of the Girls’ Industrial College
at Denton, for public school teachers.
The same action was sought for A.
& M. graduates, but was nut accom
plished.
5. The Anti-Bucket Shop Law for
the protection of the cotton market
and in the interest of good morals.
This passed and is a death blow to
the cotton gambling interests in
Texas.
6. Appi opriation of $15,000 for
Live Stock Department at A. & M.
College.
7. Enactment of Game Warden
Law. This bill passed just at the
close of the session after being
amended materially.
The fruits of this farmers’ cam
paign are plainly in evidence. Things
of great moment have been accom
plished. The thanks of Texas farmers
are due the earnest men who have
given their time, money and influence
to advance these issues and to change
resolutions into laws.
All honor to Judge Lee Young and
his associates on the Farmers’ Con
gress Committee on Legislation. A
full measure of praise is due Judge
V. W. Grubbs, of the Farmers’ Un
ion Committee on education, and to
E. A. Calvin and Mr. Davis of the
Union, who stood shoulder to shoul
der with the other committees in the
bitter fighting and returned blow
for blow on the enemy. C. B.
Metcalf, Vice-president for Texas, of
the Cotton Association, with Secre
tary Thornhill, spent days in the
“trenches” and never faltered when
the fight was thickest.
These were the generals, and fol
lowing them was a trained army
whose delight it was to obey the com
mand to “charge. ” All have united
“tv 5 nvrnrKri-T -prrTTrnvsCTr ixnt
and gained great and peaceful vic
tones. Let not these victories go
without renown. Crown the victors.
Applaud the worthy men who have
served Texas thus well. —Farm and
Ranch.
FIFTEEN-CENT COTTON THIS
YEAR.
The cotton producers of Texas have
their sights considerably elevated this
year, and it is a result that could
but naturally be expected from the
success attendant upon the improved
methods adopted for the marketing
of the crop last year. It is only a
jump of four cents from 11-cent cot
ton to 15-cent cotton, and 15 cents is
the figure aimed at for the coming
season according to Colonel E. S.
Peters, of Calvert, secretary and the
head of the transportation and
fre : ght committee of the National
Farmers’ Union, who says the farm
ers will be certain to obtain 15 cents
per pound for their cotton this sea
son. He gives the following reasons
for the faith within him:
“Many reasons may be assigned
for cotton reaching this point. First,
the crop is bad, very bad. Conditions
are worse this year than they have
been for years. The boll weevil, the
pest which has done countless dam
age to the cotton crop, is decidedly
more numerous than it has ever
been at this season of the year. The
stand of cotton is bad, and so much
was replanted and at so late a period,
that there will be a great loss. Weath
er conditions are responsible for this
state of affairs.
“Among the spinners of the world
is an increased demand for cotton,
and the mills are running to their
greatest capacity to supply the de
mand for cotton goods. Prosperity
abounds, and with the wdiole world
at peace, business conditions could be
no better. Thp cost of producing
cotton is greater, and other condi
tions make' it imperative that the
man who raises the staple should re
ceive a higher price in order to make
a fairer profit. Fifteen cents a
pound is not too much. Labor is
scarce and high. Land, mules' and
plows and everything else is going
up. Why not cotion? I think the
mills will be perfectly willing to pay
15 cents, as the advance is only a
small fi-action per yard on the cost
of the production of the manufac
tured cotton goods.
“The union has been very busy
preparing to take care of the crop.
Through its efforts the farmers will
be in a position to store their cot
ton until they can secure a satisfac
tory price. West of the Mississippi
river warehouses have b en built with
a storage capacity of
bales.” —Fort Worth Telegram.
(From the Dodson Times.)
WARNING TO COTTON FARM
ERS.
Reports are now beginning Io reach
us from planters in various parts
of the boll weevil section to the es-
feet that the “boll weevils are dis
appearing.”
The planters of Texas, during the
first fevV years of weeyil infestation,
experi°nced this same pleasurable
sensation each summer, until a few
years of sad experience taught them
that appearances were deceitful.
The reports received from Ento
mologists of the U. S. Department of
Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology 7 ,
now at work in western Louisiana,
show that adult weevils are getting
scarce in many of the fields.
This apparent “disappearance” of
adult boll weevils is accounted for
by the fact that the hibernated wee
vils which survived the winter, and
most of which now emerged from
their winter quarters, are now dying
off very rapidly, but another bro d
—the first brood for the summer —
is now developing in the squares and
when this brood has matured and
starts to depositing eggs in the
squares in July, the farmer will quick
ly realize that there has been no
real disappearance at all.
This article is sent out as a warn
ing to the farmer, to caution him
against letting this coming temporary
absence of adult weevils lull him in
to a false security. This same thing
has taken place in the boll weevil
section each year, and will take place
in every year to come; therefore do
not neglect tffbse measures which will
protect the crop. Give frequent shal
low cultivations and pick up and cage
the fallen squares as directed in Cir
cular No. 15 of the Crop Pest Com
mission. (Any farmer who has not
received this circular should write at
once to the Commission at Baton
Rouge for a copy.)
The farmers who have been experi
menting with Paris green on the cot
ton now behold this seemingly mir
aculous disappearance of adult wee
vils and naturally jump to the con
clusion that the poison has done it.
Circumstances could not conspire
more perfectly to create false results
in these experiments.
Whether he has “banked” on
Paris green or not, our advice to ev
ery farmer in the weevil territory is
to protect his crop by giving frequent
cultivation and taking care of the
fallen squares, for in most of the in
fested area these are the only means
by which cotton can be made now.
WILMON NEWELL, Entomologist.
Baton Rouge, La.
THE COTTON SEED OIL TRUST.
We want to call attention of the
Farmers’ Union of Arkansas to the
practice of one of the most heart
less combinations that has ever exist
ed in Arkansas, and that is the Cot
ton Seed Oil Combine. This combi
nation has so effectively done its
work that it takes the* shrewdest
kind of efforts to detect their meth
ods of speculation, and we found on
last season that the Farmers’ Union
membership, the ginners, many who
belong to the Farmers’ Union, no,
we won’t say many, but a few who
belong to the Farmers’ Union, and
a nhmber of ginners in the country
who do not belong to the Union, aid
ed and abetted this heartless combi
nation in robbing the farmer from
three to five dollars per ton on the
seed. To illustrate how slick this was
done, they put a piece of eleven
dollars (the mills did on seed de
livered), they then would go to the
ginner and hire him to buy seed for
them at the gin, giving eleven dollars
for the seed at the gin. Then said
ginner would get from $2.50 to $3
per ton for delivering the seed at
the railroad station. This little han
dy scheme of bribing the ginner rob
bed the man who hauled his seed di
rectly to town, who could get but
eleven dollars to save his life, of
from $2.50 to $3 per ton.
It does look strange to think that
the ginner who derives his support
like all other classes from the farm
er would thus enter into a combina
tion that takes the advantage of his
unsoffisticated brother and allow this
oil trust combination to use him as
a tool in controlling the price of Cot
ton seed throughout the state. Farm
ers awake to your duty, and if it can
be proven- on your ginner that he
will do such a trick as this, we are
not in favor of the boycott propo
sition, but we do say that it is your
duty to let him and his gin sell out
to the oil trust and carry your cot
ton to those who will help to pro
tect your inteiest.
This combination known as the
cotton oil trust of Arkansas
must be “busied,” and the way that
we can do it is to understand and
co-operate with each other with the
full and avowed purpose of not sell
ing a ton of seed except that the
pice agreed upon by the organiza
tion in Arkansas.
We call the attention to this evil
for the reason that a personal in
vestigation of matters last fall dis
closed the above conditions to be in
practice in immediate vicinity,
and we, therefore, warn our peop’e
not to repeat the “slip-shod” meth
od of handling seed that was prac
ticed last year. The farmer should
control the price of his cotton seed
as well as his cotton. Therefore,
see to it that your ginners do not
enter a combination that gives him
a bounty on every ton of seed that
he buys of you, and thereby enable
an oil trust to control the entire
seed market. Get busy, boys.—Ar
kansas Union Tribune.
FARMERS’ UNION WARE
HOUSES.
As stated in your paper recently,
the Farmers’ Union has rented a
cotton warehouse at Cedartown and
one at Rockmart. This step gives
them entire control of the handling
of our cotton for the next crop, for
no one should wish to, nor could
they afford to, antagonize ns in this
legitimate, business-like effort to get
the worth of our cotton.
A large majority of the Farmers’