When traveling in weevil territory, we meet farmers almost daily who are
anxious to sell their farms at from one-third to one-fifth of their real
value. The farmers tell us that they are in debt and will never be able to
pay out. They say that the boll weevil has come to destroy their
cotton--their sole cash crop.
Now these farmers are mistaken on two counts. First, cotton is not the
only surplus money crop; second, the boll weevil does not prevent the
growing of profitable crops of cotton in normal seasons. The cotton money
is now used to pay for corn, bacon, lard, mules and hay. When the tenants
and farmers all live at home and practice the most rigid economy, the
cotton money will soon pay all debts.
Life on the farm is robbed of practically all of its pleasures as long as
we pay fifty per cent credit profits and the creditor constantly knocks at
the door. The only people who really suffer in periods of hard times are
the men who are in debt; men who owe money and are often compelled to
sacrifice their property to meet the imperative demands of their
creditors. The farmer who is out of debt when the boll weevil comes and
has an abundance of high class food supplies on his farm is not materially
affected. Many of the cotton farmers who are in debt when the boll weevil
comes lose their homes.