The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-12-11
a)INll
Tn Invasion sof tho Boil sV Vss9it 90 ii
30 THE oTTONs Of THE az SOUTH,

iis
i lSWhasss ssoSetaryHof ARsric cultnros VIII.
sS soiil soiil says q bout the 8 est "a IS 3| s.
as His5 Annual Report 10 sss;ss is:s
Congre sysS
SsS$ IN; bis: seventh annual report to; Con.
& Rress Secretary OF Agriculture Wilson
: deals at some length with aIsnbjeet Of
]. .consld lderable interest to the cotton
gplantels q the South Here is what
I he says
THE cOTTON BQLLsYE YEEyIL.$ ~ 3ss
81 The continued spread OF the cotton
Z boil weeyll, and the danger@Ghreaten-
Sing the most i'm portant industry OF
I the south by the. direct prospect that
& attWill soon reach all portions OF the
!; COTTON. belt, resulted In the approprla-
: Stion by congress Of 800, 600 for "a con-
3 Stinuation and enlargement OF the
D work OF the division With Sthat pest.
This work was under the direct
8 charge in Texas Of Mr. w: D. Hunter,
who was aided by q number Of assist:
3 ants. .ss s. ;.i. s ~ Z 3.43s
5 The FUNDS at the disposal OF the d.
1 vision enabled it for 81 the first time to
u conduct periments with the cultu
i ral Methods OF controlling Che pest on
"a large scale. This was accomplished
by entering into contract with two
! representative large planters in typi-
5cal situations in Texas. BY the
terms OF these contracts. the planters
y agreed to, cultivate, care for, and in
every way manage the crop exactly in
accordance with the directions Of the
i agent in charge. III this manner the
diSision was given practically " COM
plete charge, of 1926 acres, but without
/ the trouble and Iexpense OF renting
8 the land and working the crop. These
4 experiments were located at Calvert,
4 In the Brazos valley, the most seri-
ously infested portion OF the territory
4 at present, and at Victoria, in the ex-
I treme southern portion of the State,
4 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
lsthat does not occur elsewhere.
Az Y Viotofia field laboratory was Ht-
ted UP, where thorough study was
made Of every feature Of the life his
! tory of the weevll The matter of
parasites and the possibility Of con-
4. trolling the pest by their artificial
propagation, which has always ian.
4 pealed strongly to many planters. re-
4 ceived especial attention. IN pur-
seance OF this feature Of the investi3
CATION the agent In charge made a
trip to Mexico, where the government
al commission that had been created
for the study Of the weevil problem
has especially concerned itself with
the propagation Of q mite (Pedicu-
loides ventricosus), which, at least
"a under certain conditions, has been
* found to destroy the larvae of the
pest. The agent made a study of the
L methods pursued in the laboratory of
the commission at Cuernavaca, and
through the courtesy OF Prof. a. L.
Herrera, the head Of the commission,
he was enabled to bring back to Texas
large, number of cultures. These
y parasites were distributed from tine
laboratory atsVictoria. The work is
. being continued this season, but the
ndicatious .re that climatic condi.
tions will al tys rendar - So tt;cinable
Z; in Iexas :tevul-us.. :. !. =, may
have been obtained in Mexico 57
sa The concluding portion ct Secretary
II Wilson's report deals with the
CRISIS IN COTTON PRODUCTION. n,
The invasion of the cotton boil
L weevil} has been special menace 30
our cotton crop, and has done more
than'anything else to awaken wide.
spread apprehension as to the future
OF this most important crop. The
a boil weeyil first appeared in the State
= Of Texas in 1894, and from that time
|. on has been under observation and in
vestigation by the department.
through It's division Of entomology.
1t was not until 1902, however, that
this branch Of the department was
able to undertake anything like thor
ough and systematic work in the mat
ter OF studying this very destructive
enemy Of cotton. In 1903 the scope
of the work was further enlarged an
appropriation of $40, 900 being made in
the division Of entomology for the in
yestigations. Aside from the work
the bureau Of plant industry has,
during the past year, been carving
Z oA SOAAoAASioOiC VOlh UlUu View 10
securing, II possible, early and resist.
ant varieties by breeding and selec-
tton; and has been conducting some
more or less general experiments in
the matter Of crop diversification at
special points in Texas. 1t has also
been engaged in distributing consid-
cradle 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 weevll-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
stration work along these lines, which
the division carried on the past year,
I 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
withstanding what has been accom-
pllshed by tile department., however,
the fact remains that the boil weeyil
is constantly spreading north and
east, and it is probably only ques-
tion of time when it will reach all the
/. cotton growing States. Thus the
country is confronted with a very