The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-12-11
q llINt ! C|Rjl||I.sIs.
IasI Invasion ofs the Boil sWssyil ia
b Real Msnase sIs.
no THRS oNss sOF THE SOUTH.

~ ~ III y ~ pUy III:
swhatss sFstary Sofs q rIepltnre Syyil.
IS s;ss ]; ss son sayssA bout The Pest Al Isss
IIisS Annual sR Report & sssss, Ssh
Gong Il
In ihis nth annual report TO. Con:
& Rress Secretary Of agriculture Wilson
ls lenR with asubjeet OF
s SconsId dsrable nterest to the cotton
planters. of the South. Here is what
! ssf as THE COTTON BoLLgWEEYIL.S,s
The continued spread Of the cotton
IS boil weeyil, and the danger Threatens
Aing the most Important industry OF
Y the south by the direct prospect that
ssgit will soon reach all portions of the
ttOn belt, result ted In the approprla-
4 ton BY cong gress of $40, 600 for u cons
SstinuatioR and enlargement of the
work OF the division with sthat pest.
This work was under the direct
s charge In Texas of Mr. sW.D. Hunter,
who was attled by q number Of assist
{; ants. 4; s;fs ,.5 s s. 20 I. z Ia T
The fumes at the, disposal of the di.
4 vision; enabled it fors: the first time to
Z conduct experiments with tho cultu,
raj met ethods Of controlling The pest on
& q large scale. This was accomplished
by entering into contract with two
i representative large planters In typi-
cal situations In Texas. by the
! terms OF these contracss the planters
.3 agreed to cultivate, care for, and In
{; every way manage the crop exactly in
& accordance with the directions of the
N agent In charge. In this manner the
division was given practically COM
i plete charge of 1876 acres, but without
y the trouble sand expense Of renting
the land and working the crop These
! experiments were located at Calvert,
( In the Brazos valley, the most seri-
ously infested portion of the territory
at present, and at Victoria, in the ex-
treme southern portion of the State,
where the existence Of volunteer cot
ton furnishes the weevils with food
very early In the season, thus adding
an important feature to the problem
3 that does not occur elsewhere.
At Victoria field laboratory was ft-
ted up, where thorough study was
made Of every feature or the life his
tory of the weevil. The matter Of
: parasites and the possibility Of con-
trolling the pest by their artificial
propagation, which has always ap-
pealed strongly to many planters, re-
cetved especial attention. In pur-
s..:e..se Of this feature OF the inyest:-
S CATION the agent in charge made u
trip to Mexico, where the government
+ al commission that had been created
for the study Of the weevii problem
has especially concerned itself with
the propagation of a mite (Pedicu-
loides ventricOsus), which, at least
under certain conditions, has been
y. found to destroy the larvae of the
s pest. The agent made study Of the
methods pursued in the laboratory OF
the commission at Cuernavaca, and
through the courtesy Of Prof. A. L.
s Herrera the head Of the commission,
4 he was enabled to bring back to Texas
a. large number Of cultures. These
81 parasites were distributed from the
s2la sSratory at9Victuria. The work is
s being continued this season, but the
Ind dicati ons sre that climatic condi-
tions Will al tys renda -. .,.-,' Unable
= .teygi u.s.. ...,, nav
have been obtained in Mexico.
lSSllss The concluding portion Of Secretary
Wilson's report deals with the ~.
CRISIS I'M COTTON PRODUCTION.
The invasion of the cotton boil
i weevtl has been special menace 10
our cotton crop, and has done more
than nianything else to awaken wide
spread apprehension as to the future
u Of this most important crop. The
{ boil weevil first appeared in the State
I8ofs Texas In 1894, and from that time
Il on has been under observation and in
I. vest1gation by the department.
throngh7its division of entomology.
1t was not until 1902, however, that
1 this branch Of the department. was
able to undertake anything like thor
+ Ough and systematic work In the mat
4 ter Of studying this very destructive
enemy OF cotton. In 1903 the scope
or the work was further enlarged an
appropriation Of $50, 900 being made in
the division Of entomology for the in
vestigations. Aside from the work
the bureau OF plant Industry has,
during the past year, been carving
on considerable work with a view to
securing, If possible, early and resist.
ant varieties by breeding and selec-
tiOn; and has been conducting some
more or less general experiments in
the matter OF crop diversitication at
special points in Texas. 1t has also
been engaged in distributing consld-
erlble quantity Of cotton seed of early
maturing and promising sorts.
The work of the division Of ento.
mology has shown conclusively the
value Of good cultural methods, the
planting of early-maturipg varieties,
and the destruction of wee vii infested
material, this conclusion having been
reached only through the careful and
detailed studies of the life history
and habits of the insect. The demon
Btration work along these lines, which
the division carried on the past year,
has been exceedingly promising, as it
has been shown that cotton can be
grown In remunerative quantity, des-
pite the presence of the weevil Not
4 withstanding what has been accom-
y plished bs' the department., however,
the fact remains that the boil weeyil
is constantly spreading north and
8 east, and 1t ~ probably only ques-
tion of time wien 1t will reach all the
: cotton growing States. Thus the
country Is confronted with very