Boll Weevil Is In
Union County, Say Novus Homo. . . Several of the Pests Were Found in Jackson
Township, and Pronounced by Ex-Texan to be Weevils
Boll weevils, according to Novus Home, who writes about them
on another page, were found on the farm of Mrs. C.W. Guin in Jackson township
last August. Here is what he says about the discovery of the pest:
“Why bless your life, Mr. Editor, the weevil is in Union
County now or was last summer. A number were discovered in Mr. G.C. Broom’s fields,
I think it was in August. This farm is in Jackson Township and belongs to Mr.
C.W. Guins. Mr. A.J. Therrell, who has spent several years in the west and, I
think just got run back home by Mr. Weevil, inspected these specimens on Mr.
Brooms’ cotton and pronounced them ‘sure-nuff boll weevils.’”
This is the first intimation received in Monroe of the
appearance of the boll weevil in Union County, and there is general surprise
that the news has not been circulated heretofore. Some believe the discovery of
the weevil should at least have been reported to the Department of Agriculture
in order that precautionary measures might have been taken against its spread.
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From The Monroe Journal, Tuesday, December 2,
1919
Boll Weevil in
Chesterfield. . . Our Neighboring County’s Seed Has Now Been Quarantined
The long heralded and much announced boll weevil has finally
appeared in Chesterfield county, says The Chesterfield Advertiser.
This time there is no uncertainty. The report is authentic
and the proof is indisputable.
Last week the Government sent its expert, Mr. Tucker, from
Washington to this locality to investigate reports that had been received
stating that Chesterfield county had been invaded by the weevil.
Mr. Tucker and County Agent W.J. Tiller immediately began a
thorough investigation. As a result Mr. Tucker has many specimens of the pest
in his possession and Mr. Tiller also carries a sample, all of which were taken
from cotton plants in that county. In and around Cheraw every field of cotton
that has been visited yielded a few weevils. About Chesterfield no actual
weevils were found, but plenty of evidences were to be seen indicating that
they had been at work. The recent frosts have probably caused them to hibernate
for the winter. The quarantine line now will include the town of Chesterfield.
This means that cotton hulls may not be shipped from here to points to the north
not yet infested by the weevil.
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From the editorial
page of The Monroe Journal, Tuesday,
December 2, 1919, John Beasley, Editor.
With the boll weevil in Jackson township, in Lancaster and
Chesterfield counties, this county may soon find itself in a predicament of old
Isaac Wingate, a darkey of the Meadow Branch community, who was so beset with
trouble that he uttered this prayer: “Oh, Lord, there is trouble on the left,
trouble on the right, trouble behind us, and trouble everywhere.”
There are some who do not think this fear of the boll weevil
is justifiable, for they thoroughly believe our occasional cold spells present
a barrier to the pest. For a time The Journal was inclined to this view, but
recent testimony on the subject, particularly that of Col. Fred Olds of
Raleigh, which was printed in these columns week before last, proves to us that
the argument is fallacious. The department of agriculture is also quoted as
saying that “the boll weevil is a hardy pest, and acclimates itself to any
section, no matter how severe the weather.” The weevils found in Jackson
township, as reported by Novus Homo, may be few in number, but when we remember
that a weevil can breed 12 million of its kind in the course of a few years,
the peril to the county that a small number may cause is not to be brushed idly
aside with a believe that our climate in sufficiently cold to obliterate them.
Only one method is known that will successfully combat the weevil, and that is the production of cattle, hogs, grain and corn—things it cannot thrive upon. Those who commence an attack at once of this kind will have nothing to fear from the invasion of the weevil. It is the farmer wedded in cotton, who refuses to heed good advice, who will suffer.
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