6 BOLL, WEEVIL. 



The itinerary of the commission included visits to typical boll- 

 weevil, sections, in some of which the raising of cotton has been prac- 

 tically abandoned and others in which fair crops of cotton are still 

 being produced. An inspection of the experimental laboratories of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture at Tululah, La., and 

 the accompanying field experiments near the same place was included 

 in the commission's investigations. Most of the commission's time 

 was spent in the open country, and many individuals of all classes and 

 pursuits were interviewed. The commission sought by industry and 

 the use of every available source of information in the territory vis- 

 ited to arrive at conclusions at once conservative and accurate. 



The BR00KHA^^i;^r Report. 



On October 7, the commission held a meeting at Brookhaven, Miss. 

 After careful consideration of every word the following preliminary 

 report was adopted : 



1. That the invasion of the State of South Carolina by the boll weevil within 

 a year, and the general infestation of the State probably within three years, is 

 a certainty. No means have yet been discovered that promise to check or pre- 

 vent the advafiCelrfTErs insect pest. When it arrives it must be j;egarded aS-a_ 

 permanent factor inj>ur_agriculture, to_be;4eftlfcwttb-«ccntStirgly'- 



2. -Thttt -Wherever the boll weevil has -become established the result has been 

 agricultural and economic panic and resulting demoralization. Advances to 

 farmers by banks and merchants on the cotton crop have been greatly curtailed 

 and values have been greatly depressed ; the Negro labor has largely left the 

 country, and the cotton crop, the basis of credit and profit, lias been, for the first 

 few years at least, almost completely destroyed. The result has been the loss of 

 lands and homesteads by owners, inability by tenants to pay out, and a period 

 of great poverty and distress among all classes of agricultural people. 



3. That it will be impossible to depend entirely as heretofore on the cotton 

 crop, although some cotton of an early maturing variety may be successfully 

 grown on soils especially aUapted to CLUick growth under frequent and intensive 

 cultivation. 



Given ample labor and fertilizers and favorable climatic conditions, a profit- 

 able crop on reduced acreage may be made. With unfavorable season the boll 

 weevil may destroy practically the entire crop. 



4. That to prepare for the coming of the boll weevil, merchants, bankers, and 

 farmers should cooperate. Intelligent community action is necessary to pre- 

 vent the disaster due to the initial panic following the first crop failure. 



Farmers should begin now to live at home, to cut down expenses, to get free 

 of debt, and lay by a small capital to tide over the inevitable period of readjust- 

 ment. Wherever practicable, the small farmer should have or obtain a milk 

 cow .and a brood sow, should plant a- garden for the subsistence of the family, 

 and practice upon a small scale the raising of substitute money crops, and 

 should support and patronize the cooperative creameries and the packing houses 

 at Orangeburg and Greenville, which enterprises are established to furnish the 

 farmers of the State a ready market for dairy and meat products. 



The approaching problem should be explained to the Negro labor, so that 

 designing agents may not succeed in enticing it away. 



Merchants, cotton-oil manufacturers, and other business men should begin now 

 to provide easy markets for these products that must in a large measure substi- 

 tute the raising of cotton. 



5. That with the coming of the weevil, the first consideration should be to 

 retain the labor on the farm and to produce all possible food supplies at home. 

 The people of all classes should be prepared to face with courage and faith a 

 period of readjustment. At least one year must be lived with restricted credit, 

 and this first year will be a very hard one unless provision has been made to 

 meet it on some more substantial basis. 



. In the case of owners, debt may mean a sacrifice of their holdings, for the 

 basis of credit will be temporarily impaired by the depression of farm values. 



