Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-07-02
BURN THE MILLER.
Attestation to the Efficacy of Burning
Lamps in the Cotton Fields OF
the State.
COLLATION. of Facts for the information of the
Cotton Growers of Texas-Wen
Worth Trying.

The Minneola Monitor has collated
some information of the efficacy of burn
ing lamps in the cotton fields of the
state, which are of interest to all grow
ers, and The GAZETTE reproduces the
Monitors collation. for the benefit of its
readers:
ONE NAN S EXPERIENCE.
About the 18th of June I drive up
stake in the ground about one foot higher
than the top of the cotton, and nail
small piece Of board ON 1t, set a small tin
pan or plate on 1t. I'LL half full of water,
pour on one spoonful of coal oil, and
between shutdown and dark | set small
tin or brass lamp, lighted, in the pan.
If I catch eight or ten boil worm flies the
first night, j light 100 lamps the next night
on $50 acres, I have caught as high
as one hundred millers to the lamp each
night for few nights, and while they
are so plentiful / light the lamps every
night. When the number of flies is
reduced so 1 catch only four or five to
the lamp light them only three times a
week. The round wick lamp is used,
and fill it half full of oil. 1t viii burn
all night and save the time of going
around in the morning to eXtlnguish
the light, as it viii usually burn cut by
sunrise, The lamp VIII ehectuallY
destroy all the boil worm flies if
properly attended to, and when the first
flies appear that make the army worm,
the lamp gets them. Now should you
use Paris green 1t will prevent the army
worm from eating the cotton, but what
is the use of doing so if the boil worms
are permitted to destroy the fruit? The
Paris green does not stop the boil worm,
but the lamp destroys both.
My neighbors cotton attains height
of at least one foot greater than mine.
The cause is, they cultivate too deep,
and the boil worm destroys the fruit,
and the stalk continues to grow in size
instead of producing fruit. l make at
least one good bale of cotton to the acre,
on cotton from three to four feet high,
and others get one bale of cotton off
three acres and the stalks five to six
feet high I furnish the oil, lamps,
pans and cans; and the tenants place
in the fields and light the lamps as ]
direct. 1t is best to fill the pan half
full of water, as it will not evaporate
in less than three or four days, so if you
light every night it would only be neces-
sary to carry the water can about twice
a week. I use two to four barrels of
coal oil each season; it costs me about
seven dollars per barrel. The tin lamps
can be bought for 81 per dozen the brass
at ST. so and the tin pans at 81 so per
dozen. My tenants make so much more
than the neighbors it is no trouble to get
them TO attend to the lamps. IL the
army worm threaten the crop it is neees-
sary to keep the lamps burning until
September. 1t is sometimes hard to get
a lazy fellow to continue his lamps
through so long time. l am never
fearful of the loss of crop by the army
worms If / have industrious tenants.
My cotton is loaded with fruit from top
to bottom, not a boil missing from a
joint, and one mile away you see cotton
five feet high and not twenty bolls to the
stalk.
When / have tenant that will not
light up when told, he has to get away
Christmas. My tenants oman and wife)
make fifteen to twenty bales of cotton
and three to four hundred bushels of
corn, Sometimes the wind viii prevent
the burning two or three nights, but |
when it becomes still l light up all the
lamps each night, and all the flies will be
caught. Many of your readers will think |
it great task to attend to the lamps so
long. Not so; any smart boy or girl can |
attend to twenty lamps in half an hour.
l furnish everything to my tenants, !
whether they are working on the third |
and fourth plan or on the half. If l have |
a hand working on the half plan, he is |
able at the end of the year to buy his |
team and feed himself the next year. I |
continue to manure my land and have it |
in high state of fertility. so l have hun
dreds of calls to rent or work on the half |
plan each year u. W. Simmons, Lone !
Oak, Tex. in Texas Farm and Ranch. |
THE BOIL WORM.
Just now, much is being said about the |
miller fly and its offspring, the boil |
worm, and as everything touching this |
subject Is of public interest, we give here |
the experience of Mr.. James Hodge of !
near Miller Grove, as related to us by |
Mr. A. j Helm. Several years ago Mr.. |
Hodge run cane mill which was located |
near his cotton field At night the fire |
was drawn from the furnace and left !
burning, making light around the mill. |
Next morning the evaporation kettles and |
other vessels would be full of miller |
flies. Mr.. Hodge thought nothing of the |
matter at the time, except that he had |
caught large number of flies. When |
cotton picking time came around, he |
gathered one bale per acre from his cot |
ton field, while his neighbors, many of |
them, did not pick their cotton at all, as |
the boil worm had almost totally de- |
stroyed it. He attributes his large yield |
to the fact that he had destroyed all the |
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