Pages

Monday, December 2, 2019

Bad News for Local Cotton Growers, Dec. 2, 1919

From The Monroe Journal, Tuesday, December 2, 1919

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.

-=-

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.

-=-

From the editorial page of The Monroe Journal, Tuesday, December 2, 1919, John Beasley, Editor.

Only One Way to Beat Weevil

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.




No comments:

Post a Comment