The Tupelo journal., 1904-06-10
FARMERAND PLANTER.
WAR AGAINST BOIL wEEvIL.
The Campaign Of 1901 Against the
Pest, Conducted by Prof. MaIiy,
of Texas, Recalled.

COHuuCteu d upulDeT u pOIoOu liidio Va
cotton and announced the results,
telling just how to kill the weevil in
| spring with arsenate of lead. Commit
tees of business men rode through the
back districts in many south Texas
counties to induce farmers to spray.
Hundreds of expensive spraying out
fits were bought and carloads of poi
son-both of which can now be found
in many places by the traveller in south
Texas. Poisoning for that season was
| generally a failure. The disappoint-
ment felt by hundreds who made
earnest efforts to carry out instructions
| given changed slowly to disgust n
then a feeling of soreness, which is
still found among the cotton growers
of the old weevil district.
Poison did not work in 1901, but in
| 1902 the red oxide earth was ingeni-
ously advertised and sold by car lots to
hopeful cotton growers in the weevil
district. This material contained no
poison, was not hurtful to weevil and
passed quietly away.
Many farmers used poisOns success
fully OF very young cotton in 1901 at
the same time that Prof. Mally was
| earnestly and enthusiastically push
ing his tests preliminary to the an
nouncment of results in May, as we
recall the dates. Despite the general
failure, some of these farmers ave
| continued to poison their cotton and
protect same from weevil.
Why were thousands disappointed by
poisons used in 1901? Would good re-
suits have followed the use of poisons
in April and May-instead of late June
and July? A study of the situation
| clearly shows that it would. Unlike
| Capt. Marston's recommendations, the
a~rsenate of lead campaign was expect
| ed to kill the weevil by inducing the
pest to partake of poisoned sweets
sprayed upon the foliage. Prof. Mally
said in his report (p. "a, Farmers Bull
letin 100, U. S. d. AZ: at should be
remembered that weevils do not eat ex-
posed surfaces of the plant, their al
most in%variable place of feeding being
in the squares, safely sheltered by the
involucre or shuck. Even here they do
not feed upon exposed surfaces, but eat
a small hole to the inside and feed on
the inner portions"
The next statement of his observa-
| lions has caused many to stumble, viz:
"In the spring, before squares are
formed, they feed, when driven by ne
cessity, upon almost n portion Of
49, ,Ia-t Iu+ o1yn0ct invariably tho
outer bark is rasped and peeled off be-
fore feeding underneath. On account
Of this peculiar habit it is at once evil
lent that poisons and powders sprayed
or busted upon the plants can be OF
little or no service, because the sur
face on which they are found is taken
off and thrown aside"
This ingenious description settled
the matter" with thousands of farmers
and amateur ~experimenters. But nu-
merous dead weevils found upon and
under poisoned stalks of cotton busted
with Paris green in the open field by
Capt. Marston disprove the accuracy
of these observations as applied to
hungry weevils emerging from winter
quarters. Just how long these weevils
will continue to feed upon the outer
surfaces of the leaves and stems OF
cotton there seems 10 doubt existing
in the minds of the farmers who have
poisoned the weeviis for three years
past. They assure us that the pests
eat the poisoned surfaces until the
squares begin to form. After this time
| ell agree that poison5 are useless.
1t is to be regretted that early appli-
cations of poisons were not largely
tested during the spring OF 1907 n
1903. How important such work is may
be seen by the following extracts talk
en- from F. w. Mally's report as pro-
| fessor Of entomology, page 81: 1t
should be conceded that spraying as
practiced by cotton planters, the sea-
son of 1901 was in numerous instances
a failure. 3 # = Having failed to
avail themselves Of cultural methods
earlier in the season, and suddenly
realizing hat they were threatened
with the loss of the crop, their only
hope then lay in successful spraying.
This they seemed willing enough to do;
but having waited until the last mo-
ment about a hundred thousand farm
ers wanted proper spraying apparatus
and proper poisons at once and all the
same day. = The Weakening of
the farmers occurred about May 10, In
plenty of time to have sprayed sue
| cessfully for the alternating brood,
y the first car load of sprayers
was distributed no earlier than the
| first week in June, o. just about the
| time the alternating brood had COM
| pleted it's spring operations"
Had this poisoning been done in
| early May before squares began to
form freely, there is no doubt that
many weevils, feeding at that time on
| the "bud' and tender leaf stems would
have been killed. The formula recon-
| mended at that time Is effective for all
biting insects and consists of the fol
lowing: zone ounce white arsenic, one
pound arsenate of lead, and n gal
| lon of molasses to rs gallons of water.
| Dissolve the arsenic by boiling in a
| gallon of water until dissolved. Put
! the ~arsenate of lead in suspension in a
| small quantity of water. Then pour
the arsenic water, arsenate of lead
water and molasses together and mix
| thoroughly. Then add water to make
twenty-five gallons"
There are large quantities or arse
| nate of lead now on hand in Texas.