The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1892-08-11

communications for this column should be ud
dressed.
WEEVIL KILLERS.
A com gathering time is close al
hand il is time for farmers to begin
preparations for the protection of theil
crops. The corn growers of Texas
will this year have more bushels than
old cribs will contain and therefore
increased accommodations must be
provided, if the crop is to be saved.
do not propose saying anything
about the proper construction of q
corn crib beyond this, that its fool
should be well above ground to admit
of the free circulation of air and avoid
the formation of q vermine settlement;
that it should be rain tight and as
near as possible air tight, 1t would
also be well 20 consider facilities for
loading and unloading; and provide
a convenient means of entering, in
stead of the usual vat hole commonly
made to serve that purpose.
My object is to again draw attention
to the possibility of protecting corn
against the ravages of the weevil.
That diminutive pestiferous insect is
one of the most troublesome of all the
plaques that atfiict the farmer. Had
it ext ted in Egypt at the time OF the
time of the Pharos, the years of plenty
would have done little to allie
viato suffering in the years
of famine Oar corn yleld
next year may be as much failure as
the present one Is a success, but UNI
less we can do something to preserve
the grain against weevils our year of
plenty will be of no avail in the year
of scarcity. The weevil has much to
do with the over production of cotton
in Texas and other states. Our ina.
bility to keep corn from one season to
the next has prevented its cultivation
and caused an excessive production of
cotton, which may be kept indefinitely
or sold at any time for cash. If corn
cou d be as securely handled as cotton
the problem of reducing the supply
and enhancing the value of the latter
would soon be solved.
Whoever succeeds in discovering or
inventing cure for the weevil pest
will deserve the thanks and gratitude
of the people for all time.
Many plans aud concOctions have
been devised to circumvent his weevil-
ship, but few of them are of any prac-
tical value.
am in receipt of list of testimn.
mails as to the efficacy OF the Carter
Weevil Destroyer. and they all pro-
claim it as a perfect cure. The de-
stroyer is described as q harmless
powder which, when scattered over
corn in crib, still retaining consider
able natural moisture, generates gas
which is fatal to all insect life, but
not hurtful to stock or human beings.
1t is further claimed that its use rem
ders the shucks softer and more pal
atahle to stock, the compound acting
as q condition powder. AS the treat
ment only costs 1.2 cents per bushel,
it is certainly worth trying. 1t is in
dorsed by many of our best farmers
and though have no personal expire
fence with it yet, mean to give it q,
trial, as well as the remedy proposed
by DR.. Hachenberg.
The doctor does not seek pecuniary
advantage from his study, but has
given it to the world "without money
and without price" In order that the
benefit of his carbon cure might be-
come widespread, he put himself in
communication with the agricultural
, department at Washington, and has
received an approving reply. in which
it said: ave have no doubt the
nf lAf lab I Il Af n,INr nc
fectually protect the crib as long as
the supply of it is kept up, but it va
porizes so rapidly that we do not I'M
derstand how it can be effective for
more than few days at time, unless
the crib is practically air tight"
Replying to this objection, DR.. Hach-
enberg writes;
"My experiments on the
evaporation of the bi-sulphide of car
bon at temperature of 80 to 100 de-
grees are as follows:
filled five one ounce walls full of
the carbon and placed them in a row
on shelf in Il warm room
No. without any covering. The
fluid evaporated in three days.
No. 3 covered with two layers of
fine muslin. 1t evaporated in six
days.
No. 3 covered with four layers Of
muslin. 1t evaporated in five and
three.fourths days. MAY have been
tied defectively.)
No. tightly corked, with pipe
stem through the cork running al
most to the bottom of the vial. In
half an hour the gas forced the fluid
to the top of the tube, but never ran
over l. evaporated in three days.
No covered the vial with thin
sheet of gumelastic and perforated it
but once with very fine needle. 1t
evaporated in ten days.
In these experiments the evaporat-
ing each vial was about three-fourths
of an inch. OF course as the size
of the surface is increased
there would be an increase of evapora-
ton, matter to be observed for prac.
tical purposes.
For weevil our remedy is fully re-
liable, but for the exclusion of mice
and rats, the vapor should be kept
up, if not continuously, at short inter.
walls.
have concluded to treat this yeal