BOLL WEEVIL. 15 



or three years the volume of business increassd, and although smaller 

 than when conducted on an advance basis was more satisfactory, 

 both as to collections and profits. The condition of the small farmer 

 in those States where the advance system has practically disap- 

 peared is much better than it was before. The coming of the boll 

 weevil will put an end to the present advance system of the cotton 

 crop now so generally practiced in South Carolina. 



It would be well if every merchant and banker would require as a 

 fundamental condition to extending credit that the farmer raise, first 

 of all, his living on the farm. 



ErPECT ON LABOR. 



In Louisiana and Mississippi a large number of the young and 

 able-bodied Negroes left the State to seek employment elsewhere. 

 This emigration was chiefly due to inability to get credit, and there- 

 fore inability to make a living imder the tenant system of farming. 

 There seemed to be a general lack of appreciation on the part of 

 the white people of the importance of retaining their Negro labor. 

 With no capital and no credit on which to make another crop nothing 

 remained for many Negro farmers but to move away and seek em- 

 ployment in other agricultural sections, or in other lines of busi- 

 ness. Many went to Oklahoma and western Texas, and carloads of 

 them were moved north to supply the deficit in Italian laborers due 

 to the European war. Throughout Louisiana and Mississippi labor 

 agents, sometimes cleverly disguised, planned these movements of 

 the Negroes and furnished the necessary money to transport them. 



The white people of the State should make the situation clear to 

 the Negroes and by helpfulness and consideration seek to retain them 

 against the entifements which will undoubtedly be offered in this 

 State, as it has been in other States. 



EFFECT ON LAND VALUES. 



In every section where the boll weevil has become active the values 

 of farm lands have been greatly depressed. In many of the richest 

 cotton sections of Louisiana the land has been sold at a low price 

 for raising live stock. Usually the lowest level in land values is 

 reached during the second and third years of infestation, after which 

 there is a gradual recovery. The greatest danger is that farmers will 

 become discouraged Avhen unable to raise cotton successfully and 

 dispose of their holdings. This is especially to be feared in those 

 sections of the State where cotton mills offer remunerative work for 

 all grown members of the family. Often after lands have changed 

 hands a nevv' system of agriculture, v/ith diversification as its key- 

 note, has restored their value. It is a sad fact that in the boll-weevil 

 sections much of the land is no longer in possession of the original 

 owners. • - 



Our people should realize that land is the ultimate basis of value, 

 and that it is only necessary to handle it properly to make it valuable, 

 regardless of the type of agriculture practiced. It is too often the 

 case that in the transition from cotton planting to a diversified system 

 a new owner appears to reap the benefits of the change. 



