37 



Monlgoinory, having aboul 11 inches, wc would advise 

 not more than 6 or 7 acres per plow where the weevil 

 has been present for more than one year. From Mont- 

 gomery nortliward the acreage may l)e increased at the 

 rate ol" about one (1) acre per plow lor each 35 miles 

 northward, thus allowing about 10 acres per plow in 

 the latitude of Birmingham and 12 acres per plow in 

 the Tennessee Valley- 

 Only where a man has cleaned up his cotton stalks 

 early the i)receding I'all or has available an unusually 

 large nundier of children to help with the summer 

 weevil fight should the foregoing estimates as to safe 

 acreage be matei'ially increased. 



Rciise a Variety of Crops: Divcrsifij. — The weevils 

 can live only on cotton, but neither the farmer nor his 

 livestock can do this. Our monopoly of cotton raising 

 and the assurance of some crop even with the most 

 shiftless of methods, have been among the greatest 

 curses of our southern agriculture. The effect has been 

 particularly bad during the past fifty years. We can- 

 not continue a "one crop" (cotton) system with the 

 boll weevil present. We can and must raise a variety 

 of crops. This is diversification. Plant especially such 

 crops as can provide food supplies for man and beast 

 on the farm. Stop having to buy and pay big profits to 

 others for the food that you can as well raise at home. 

 Diversification makes it more possible also to use cover 

 crops to build up the soil and make it more productive 

 without depending solely on expensive commercial fer- 

 tilizers. In no section of the United States can a greater 

 variety of crops be grown than here in Alabama, and 

 we have the added advantage over most of the country 

 of being able to secure from two to four crops each 

 year on the same field. 



Plan Your Diversification. — Under these conditions 

 the thoughtful farmer is certain to plan to raise a va- 

 riety of crops. First, he will plan to raise at home as 

 much as possible of the food supply that may be need- 

 ed by the family and livestock during the year. Second, 

 he will plan to have some surplus in crops and live- 

 stock thai can be marketed and. wher(> possible, 

 bring in some cash at intervals durini* the 

 season so that there will be no need to go 

 into (le])t. Third, he will ])lan for such a variety and 

 secfuence of crops as will most nearly keep all of 

 his cultivated land occupied and growing something 



