By H. Guy Hathorn, Planter, Woodville, Miss.
For many years the one crop system has been the bane of the cotton belt.
When land was virgin, cheap and plentiful, the evil was not so apparent,
and the necessity for a saner system was not so pressing. A depleted soil,
unreliable labor and various other factors caused certain individuals to
see the error of their way, and induced them to adopt a diversified system
and the use of labor-saving implements. It was necessary for the great
majority to receive a paralyzing shock before they would make any material
change; that shock came in the shape of the boll weevil. As certain
alternative medicines create great debility and languor of the body before
the curative power can become operative, so has all business in any way
connected with the growing of cotton suffered depression as a preliminary
to the greater financial vigor and strength that comes after a few years'
experience with stock raising and diversification as the rule, and with
cotton occupying a secondary place in the farm operation.