14 BOLL WEEVIL. 



South Carolina, especially in the coastal plain section. Peanuts can 

 be grown on many light soils in this State. Therefore every effort 

 should be made to educate the farmer to begin now to grow in a 

 small way peanuts, and jDarticularly soy beans. Such a beginning 

 could be greatly stimulated if the cotton-oil mills would offer prizes 

 for the best acres of soy beans. These premiums should be large 

 enough to create considerable interest in the State. A liberal buying 

 policy should also characterize the beginnings of the really important 

 branch o-f agricultural production. 



So far as flie ginneries are concerned, there must necessarily result 

 considerable loss, inasmuch as substitute raw materials can not be 

 supplied, as in the case of oil mills. While it w-ill be many years 

 before South Carolina makes sufficient corn to .supply its own needs, 

 there are many individual farmers who make a surplus of corn. 

 Machinery for husking, shelling, and sacking corn, oats, and other 

 grains could be added to the equipment for ginneries. In this way 

 at least a part of the machinery could be utilized to some advantage. 



EFFECT ON BANKS AND ADVANCE MERCHANTS. 



In States invaded by the boll weevil the banks and advance mer- 

 chants were among the first to realize the economic danger and 

 among the first to suffer. The diminished value of the cotton crop 

 as a collateral and the serious depreciation in land values, the basis 

 of a large a.mount of credit, caused considerable financial demoraliza- 

 tion, and in some cases the added disaster, of credit withdrawal 

 ensued. 



In the main, however, bankers have shown themselves thoroughly 

 posted and able both to protect and assist their customers. By 

 limiting credit, insisting on diversification, and recognizing farm 

 products other than cotton as satisfactory collateral, the situation 

 during the first few years of boU-Aveevil infestation has been con- 

 siderably relieved. 



In some cases banks suffered severe losses, but bank failures were 

 remarkably few. Banks and other creditors who refrained from a 

 policy of foreclosure and continued to furnish restricted credit to 

 their customers fared best. Some who adopted the policy of fore- 

 closure found themselves with a large amount of depreciated prop- 

 erty, difficult to dispose of, on their hands. 



During the second year of boll-weevil infestation bank deposits 

 were but slightly affected, but for the following two or three years 

 deposits were greatly reduced. It usually took banks from five to 

 SIX j'ears after the arrival of the weevil to gain what had been lost 

 in the way of deposits. 



The first effect of the boll weevil is to increase the bankers' re- 

 sponsibility to the public. The entire withdrawal of credit would 

 be much more disastrous than the effect of the weevil itself At the 

 same time, extravagant use of credit would be bad business for the 

 banks and a mistaken kindness to the farmers. ^ ' 



The general experience of advance merchants was that they con- 

 tinued making advances on the cotton crop one vear too lone with 

 disastrous effects The general testimony was that the second year 

 ot boll-weevil infestation was a very lean year, with practically no 

 advance business and only a small cash trade. In the course of two 



