89 



go unsold. When he raises his own feed stuffs the upper Mississippi Valley 

 and the West will feel the depressing effect in tlie markets for hay, corn, and 

 oats, which are so largely consumed by the cotton planter. 



Will it be the best thing for the country at large for the cotton farmer to 

 be<'oine a diversified i)roducerV This lu'comes a very important que.stion to the 

 northern and western farmer. Take the census of the United States and tabu- 

 late the names of 11 States producing the largest tonnage of hay. and you find 

 9 of the 11 are southern States, and you farther find that the first .'i standing 

 highest in the list are all southern States. With her long seasons for pasture 

 and tiie possibility of growing alfalfa over a large portion of her territory, the 

 mild winters, and other conditions favorable to pi'oduction of green feed stuffs at 

 small cost, with the proper training and the stinudant backed by necessity 

 should it come to a struggle of survival, the South coidd surmount the difficul- 

 ties at present in the way and drive the North and the West out of business in 

 dairy and live-stock production. But I do not believe it will ever come to that. 

 I believe the cotton States will always produce cotton, boll weevil or no boll 

 weevil. We have never struck an obstacle yet that permanently barred our 

 advancement and progress, and I don't believe we ever will. The negro is witi; 

 us to stay. He may locally migrate, but he will never leave the South. How 

 the question will be solved I don't know, but I believe a solution will come, and 

 it will need consecrated thought arid concentrated effort. 



The negro can not be reached through the press, but he can be to some extent 

 by example, as he is an imitator. This is probably the only method of great 

 importance that we can adopt. Some negroes attend nearly all of our institutes, 

 but instruction to them nuist be line upon line, and we hope to be able to keep 

 our heads above water till rescue comes in some form or another, and the negro, 

 the nuile, and the cotton crop may remain as characteristics of Dixie Land. 



How we are to adjust our agriculture to the boll weevil is yet to be 

 solved, and we need and have a claim on the sympathy and assistance of 

 almost every section of this great country, because, as I have said before, its 

 influence radiates to almost every State in the Union and to other nations. The 

 National Department of Agricultui'e appreciates the seriousness of the situation 

 and is, I believe, devoting more attention and more money to it than to any 

 other one subject at present engaging the attention of that great army of scien- 

 tific workers. 



Much scientific and practical information has been obtained regarding the boll 

 weevil, and the institutes will be able to largely influence adoption of the methods 

 that may prove best suited to the demands. 



