Louisiana. — Circular No. 16. 



€annot be said of any other exported product of the soil. The 

 sending abroad of our surplus cotton is therefore all gain. The 

 energy of our agriculturists ought, therefore, to be persistently 

 directed to the growing of cotton as their main crop. This 

 should be the policy of our government. We should never 

 I'ermit our supremacy in this field to be put under a cloud for 

 a moment. The fear occasioned recently by the advent of th's 

 boll weevil in our country, that the United States would in the 

 near future, or sooner or later, be incapable of furnishing what 

 •cotton the foreign spinners need, has caused greater activity 

 in foreign lands in growing the crop which is America's great- 

 est export, and to which is due our country's healthy bank 

 a,ccount in those foreign countries. This fear should be dispelled 

 once and for all, to hold what we have for all times. How can 

 -we do this? I say: " Eradicate the cattle tick." 



The boll weevil is here to stay, as far as we can see at pres- 

 ent. By research and experiment it has been demonstrated that 

 under certain conditions the boll weevil need not interfere with 

 the successful growing of cotton. On the CLfntrary, we have 

 lately frequently seen greater yields of cotton in boll weevil 

 infested territory than ever before. This was in many instances 

 not accidental or due to natural causes, but to the artificiai 

 ■ecnditions created by man, in this instance by the farmer. What 

 are these conditions 1 I will enumerate themnn the order of their 

 importance, as was shown by my own experiments, as well as 

 those of others, to-wit: 



First, the preparation and the mechanical condition of the 

 «oil, before planting. 



Second, the proper fertility of the soil. 



Third, proper, rapid cultivation after planting. 



Fourth, the proper variety of seed. 



As will be seen, the preparation of the soil — the seed bed — 

 before planting, is the most important factor in the successful 

 raising of cotton. The proper preparation of the soil, its physi- 

 cal condition, for the reception of the seed, and thereafter the 

 growing of the cotton plant, ia very largely dependent on the 

 humus contained in the soil. If the soil has been deprived of 

 this vegetable substance it is v^ry nearly sterile and valueless 



