The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-02-04
THE BOIL WEEvIL MENACE.

at the opening OF the exposition.
THE BOIL WEEVIL MENACE.
DIR. i. o. Howard, entomologist of
the Department of Agriculture, is not
reassuring when he talks of the cotton
boil weevil. From the present out
look" he writes in the Review of Re
views, "it seems practically certain
that the weevil will spread to all por-
lions of the United States where cot
ton can be grown" That is provided,
of course, the experts of the depart
ment, who are now studying the Wee
vii, fail to discover a means of check
ing it's ravages. Congress has made an
appropriation to fight the insect; Texas
and Louisiana have taken similar &C
ton with respect to it; dozens of sci
entists and thousands of farmers are
studying the habits of the weevil, and
there is reason to hope that science,
aided by an abundance of capital, will
eventually triumph and that the
triumph will not be long delayed. What
the menace of the .weevil means may
be understood when it is stated that in
fields where it has got a foothold from
one-half to quarters of the crop
have been destroyed. In some places
the destruction was practically total
last year. In several localities in
Mexico and Texas the fields were aban-
doned and no crop was gathered. The
cotton crop of the United States is
worth annually from $500, 100000 to $780,
600, 900. Imagine that cut in half, and
it can be seen what the spread of the
weevil over the whole cotton belt
would mean.
The weevil is a native of the tropics.
| 1t had been known in Mexico for a
number of years, but its first appear
ance in the United States was report
ed about 1890 or 1891, when cotton
fields around Brownsville, Tex, were
| attacked by it. From there it spread
with considerable rapidity, say seventy
| ave miles in all directions per year. BY
! 1908 it had reached the northern bor-
der of the state and in at least two in
stances had crossed over into Louisi-
| ana In 1894 the Department of Agri-
| culture began the study of the insect,
since which time experiments have
been going forward. The life history
of it has been pretty thoroughly learn
1 ed, but no means of successfully fight
ing the bug has been discovered. 1t is
a tough, hard-shelled creature and all
attempts to poison it in the field have
proved futile. 1t resists both contact
and internal poisons. Its larva lie hid
den in the bolls of the cotton plant so
| that they cannot be reached. Mechan-
ical means of fighting the weevils, such
as knocking them from the plants and
gathering them from the ground, have
all failed.
The problem of the cotton boil weevll
| is regarded by DIR. Howard as 'one of
the greatest ever known in the field
of economic entomology" yet he is
hopeful, even confident that it will be
successfully solved by the Agricultural
| Department. 1t is certainly to be
hoped that his confidence is well based.
-s>~
A pathetic story comes from Cham
bersburg, Pa. Miss Rosa Middleton,
blind girl of Virginia, had gone to
| Chambersburg to attend school for
the blind and to study music. She
gave promise of becoming an accom-
| plished organist and intended that to
be her lifes work. The other day she
went sleighing. for the first time in
her life. An accident occurred. and
her right arm was crushed so badly
that it had to be amputated. That,
of course put an end to her ambition
to be a musician. But the brave girl
refused to look at the matter as a
calamity. She merely sighed and said,
well 1 have my voice: 1 shall have
to cultivate that and be a singer"
| -s-o-s-
The Newcastle Presbytery has found
Rev. Robert A. Elwood guilty of three
of the six charges brought against
him in connection with his pro-Iynch-
ing sermon. that was followed by the
burning alive of negro at Whining
ton some months ago. And Mr.. Ell
wood was punished by being eau
toned to be more careful in future. ="
The punishment is strongly suggestive
of Marv's fate:
Baby sat on the window ledge.
Mary pushed baby off the edge;
When they swept baby out of the
areV
Mother frowned ana saiA WAY.
MarYt"