Editor Progressive Farmer, Birmingham, Alabama.
A man's personal attitude and convictions play a large part in his
successes and failures in all walks of life, and nowhere is the truth more
apparent than in a farmer's attitude toward the boll weevil problem.
Before the coming of the weevil, it is looked upon by nine farmers out of
ten as a remote danger, doubtful in time of arrival and greatly
exaggerated in its possibilities for damage. No preparations for it are
made, the farm mortgage is left hanging like a cloud over the family
homestead, and the old methods so long in vogue are left unchanged.
Then the crash comes! The obsolete methods of the past are worthless
against the weevil; the cotton crop is swept away, interest on the
mortgage is unpaid, and its foreclosure is certain. This picture is the
rule and not the exception.
Such a situation calls forth the real qualities of the man. Many a farmer,
for the first few years of the weevil invasion, has proven a quitter. He
has failed because he did not think he could succeed. Usually he has been
the identical man who failed to believe in and prepare for the coming of
the weevil.
The exceptional man has believed in and prepared for the weevil's coming,
and he has succeeded. Incidentally, his success has shown out as a beacon
light to his doubting neighbors and has ultimately pointed the way for
them.
Five years' experience tells me that you can raise cotton profitably in
the presence of the boll weevil. The HOW of the matter is given by others
in this booklet, but you, YOU, must take it up with the spirit of FIGHT.
Believe that you can, swear that you will, and success is yours.
[Illustration: Lespedeza a great hay crop for the lower South]