292 HUMAN FACTORS IN COTTON CULTURE 



make enough money to "pay out" at the end of the year. 

 This is the way he has met the shortage of labor. He has 

 about fifteen acres of cotton planted for each mule he feeds. 

 For each "run bill" he furnishes there are thirty acres in 

 cotton. 



Before the advent of the boll weevil Mr. Simpson fertilized 

 his cotton at the rate of four hundred pounds of a low grade 

 fertilizer (8-2-2) per acre. Since 1920 he has used from one 

 thousand to one thousand two hundred pounds of a high grade 

 fertilizer (12-4-4) per acre. He is using much thicker spac- 

 ing than he did before 1920 and has discontinued planting the 

 damp, slower lands to cotton. He is getting yields of from 

 three-quarters of a bale to a bale of cotton per acre. These 

 are the ways he has met the boll weevil problem. 



On the other land Mr. Howell is still using the old one- 

 horse method of cultivating cotton. He now plants about 

 twelve acres of cotton to the plow. His tenants often fail to 

 make enough cotton to "pay out," and he usually has one or 

 two who are badly in debt to him to leave him each year and 

 has a great deal of difficulty in replacing them. He is using 

 some heavier applications of fertilizer than he did, but not 

 more than five hundred pounds of a low grade fertilizer per 

 acre. At first he did not change the spacing of the cotton 

 but in the last few years he is beginning to realize that it 

 is necessary to leave the cotton thicker. He is selecting the 

 better drained lands for cotton, probably because he is now 

 letting part of the farm lie idle. His yields run from one- 

 fifth to one-half bale per acre. 



The other two farmers I shall compare are James Thomas 

 and Alec Johnson. Both of these men were so-called "ab- 

 sentee landlords," living in a town in South Georgia. Both 

 of them were interested in other businesses besides farming. 

 Mr. Johnson died in 1926. He lost heavily in his business as 

 well as in his farming and his farms were foreclosed and 

 sold shortly before his death. In 1919 he was operating forty- 

 five mules, in 1925 he was operating twenty-five. Mr. Johnson 



