The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-10-23
RAVAGES OF BOIL WEVIL
GIVES ALARM IN TEXAS.

Mr.. Reed Flanders Says He Doesn't
Think They Have Reached Louis
lana.
Mr.. Reed Flanders. of the firm of Nc
Minnis- Flanders Company of New Or
leans, was a guest in the city yester-
day. en- route to New York, coming by
way of Savannah to arrange some bust
ness affairs with several firms with
which his house does business.
Mr.. Flanders said that he had just
| returned from a trip through Texas,
and that the situation there in the cot
| ton belt is alarming, on account of the
| disastrous raids of the boil weevil that
has devastated the crops.
Thousands of acres of the most
| promising cotton that 1 have ever
SEEM" said Mr.. Flanders. have been
entirely deserted, and not bale of
cotton to ten acres could be gathered
| from it. This particular kind of in
sect is a beetle with a huge proboscis.
He came originally from Mexico. We
heard nothing OF him on this side until
the extension of cotton growing in the
southern counties of Texas made a
bridge for him to cross the Rio Grande
and he was first noticed in Bee county,
Texas, in 1894. The agricultural de-
partment experts proposed to the Texas
Legislature to stop growing cotton
along the river for two years, and
starve the assassin out. Who is 60
ing to pay the planters for this sacri-
| f1ce?' asked the legislators.
Since then the beetles have travelled
at the RATE nf CoUanfV-6Hya y,oilae m 40
northward and twenty-five miles to the
eastward every year. On Texas soil
the weevil has thriven like the rabbit
in Australia. for the female lays from
three hundred to seven hundred eggs a
year. They develope with the boil it.
self, and eventually blight it so that it
does not open. have heard that the
| pest has been seen in many places in
Louisiana and Georgia, but 1 believe
| that this is a mistake. I have seen no
| indications of its existence anywhere
that have been, and / have in the
past few months travelled almost over
the entire state of Louisiana.
To show you what deadly effect the
insect has it has actually become
| factor in the stock markets; the bears
try to suppress it. Louisiana opinion
is that the soil and the climate of the
state VIII prevent any spread there.
| understand that Mississippi and Geor-
gla hope the same.
| i'Insecticide does no good Going
over the fields with revolving brushes
| that sweep off the affected plant is too
costly. The hope that a certain green
bug that was the natural enemy of the
weevil was soon dashed The damage
TO the crop is 10000, 600 year in Texas.
Last year large number of represen-
tative cotton men, with government
experts and entomologists to advise,
met in Dallas to begin a systematic
| night against the enemy At their be-
hest the state government offered $50
600 to any one who would find remedy
for the evil. Everybody then thought
that surely remedy would be found
but thousand methods were exploit,
ed without the shadow of success.
Despite the efforts of the exports
there has been no. abatement to the
ravages this year. Texas to-day would
doubtless give $40, 900, 900 as quickly as
| 1t would have given $4,000 a year ago
for remedy. The boil weevil is prin-
| cipally responsible for the short crop
in the Lone Star state this year.