We’re getting closer to harvest time in South Louisiana including sugar cane and soy beans.  Farmers in Arkansas and other locales often struggle with a menacing weed that compromises the cotton crop.  In years past the “pig weed” has  dominated the fields and pesticides that originally controlled the weed weren't  effective. It reached a point that experts declared it uncontrollable as it choked more than a million acres of cotton and soybeans.  Some farmers spent more than $500,000 fighting a plant that won’t die.  Pig weed grows three inches a day and is as big as a baseball bat at its base.  It not only kills crops but destroys the blades on combines and cotton pickers. Now an engineered herbicide was released to combat pig weed...In closing, a hoedown is a dance or traditional fiddle tunes. Octobers in high school included the Varsity “R” Hoedown, a fundraiser for the athletic teams that included food, music and cider drinking competitions. One contestant spilled a mug of cider. As my brother Mike cleaned the mess, Bobo Tincani stepped into the cider puddle.  Mike told him to move and Bobo made the mistake of saying, “Make me!”  With Jim Richards as Mike’s top second, Bobo was directed to Locust Grove School to settle the disagreement. On a clear, chilly, October evening Mike, Jim, Bobo and his entourage poured out of their cars.  Before Bobo could get his coat off, Mike landed two rights and a left, knocked him out and settled the cider dispute.