Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 97, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 April 1911 — FIGHT BOLL WEEVIL [ARTICLE]

FIGHT BOLL WEEVIL

Southerners Turn to Other Crops in War on Pest. Cotton Acreage Reduced as Much as Possible While Corn Is Gaining in Favor—Truck Gardens = «id Alfalfa Profitable. Birmingham, Ala. —Crop diversification is the weapon farmers of Alabama have chosen with which to combat the inroads expected this year from the boll weevil. - Already the cotton pest has been reported in the southwestern corner of the state, and It Is expected Its march Across the commonwealth will proceed this summer at the usual rate of speed. ' While every precaution has been taken and while the legislature has passed a bill donating $20,000 to the entomologists to assist in the war on the weevil, Alabama farmers are aware that the damage to the cotton crop by the little insect necessarily will be large, and in order to lessen its effects as much as possible the acreage of cotton will be reduced and land hitherto devoted exclusively to the southern staple this year will yield other products. Along the Florida line extensive truck gardens are being planted, and it is the belief of the landowners that the profits therefrom will be greater than if the soil were turned over to cotton, as has been the case in the past. Ready markets are afforded at Mobile, Montgomery and Birmingham for Alabama-raised truck, and it is believed that the Florida product will meet with serious competition. For many years strawberry culture has been a most profitable enterprise In the sections around Cullman, in north Alabama, and Castleberry, in south Alabama. These berries are nearly perfect specimens of their kind, and top prices are paid for them in Baltimore, Philadelphia and other cities of the east. It is thought the strawberry- crop this year will be by far the largest ever raised in Alabama, and that the profit will be correspondingly greater. Recently the Birmingham chamber of commerce • Inaugurated a farm movement that promises to result most beneficially to Jefferson and surrounding counties. Steel, iron and coal corporations of this district own many thousands of acres of land which at the present time lie absolutely idle, and these ’corporations have agreed to rent them to settlers at a price virtually gratis. It Is the intention of the promoters of the scheme to obtain settlers who are familiar with the raising of truck to take advantage of these liberal offers. In the last five years extra attention has been paid to the culture of corn In Alabama, and as a result there has been an appreciable increase in the net yield per acre. With the increase In the production of com has come more attention to the raising of cattle and hogs. In each of the congressional districts of Alabama there is a school devoted to Inculcating the principles of scientific agriculture. These institutions have been liberally supported by the state, despite the protests of backwoods legislators, who Inveighed weightily against “newfangled” methods. The wisdom of this policy of liberality Is now being demonstrated. A yearly feature of the work of these agricultural schools has been the formation of “boys’ com clubs,” prizes being offered to the boys who succeed in obtaining the greatest yield from an acre planted in com, and preparing a statement setting forth the method employed, the time and number of plowlngs; the amount of fertilizers used and when applied; the kind of seed planted and the method of its selection, etc. Although in its infancy in this Btate, the growing of alfalfa has become one of the staple industries of Alabama. In the counties of the central western division alfalfa has almost driven cotton from the field. The Alabama product compares favorably with that of the western states.