The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-08-03

The Texas Cotton Planters Object to
the Boil WeeviQs Foe.

The Texas Cotton Planters Object u
the Boil WeeviQ's Foe.
The proposed use of the 'kalep" o
lGuatemalan ant to eXterminate tn
Mexican cotton boil weevil is arousinl
great interest in the south. The cot
ton crop will 800 be ready to pick
and it's size depends on the extent O
the ravages of the boil weevil. There
fore the matter effects not the south
alone, but everyauser of cotton goods
The pest Is likely to grow worse anc
cause grater damage every year unles:
some way is found to check its rava
ges. In spite of two boil Weevil con
ventions, the organization Of boil
weevil commissions in Texas, Louisi
ana and Mississippi, the liberal sums
appropriated by these states and by
the Federal government for fighting
the boil weevlls. and the $4,000 prize
for a remedy offered by the Texas leg
islature, no method of getting rid O.
the destructive pest has been found,
At best it has been possible to make
certain suggestions whereby, at great
Expense and labor, the amount of dam
age caused by the weevil is reduced.
From the start a vague hope has
been ex expressed that some other insect
would be found that would kill off the
weevil. Is the "kalep'' to be the de-
~liverer? The chronological bureau
and the agricultural department say it
ia and ask for a chance to prove it.
The have gone to considerable expense
to search the world over for an enemy
to the weevil, and declare that they
have at last found 1t in the Guatemalan
ant. They stand ready to make wal
upon the cotton eater, but the cotton
people hesitate to commit the ants to
their fields.
The planters are like the European
powers in the Russo-Japanese wal
who wanted to see the japanese whip
the Russians, but were afraid of the
complications the war would lead to.
Or perhaps they remember their
Aesop, and the fable telling how the
horse secured man for her ally in the
war with the stag. Admitting that
the "kalep'' will do all that is expect
ed of it, may not the ant itself prove q
more dangerous peril than the weevil?
This is the question the planters are
asking.
This has led to a, very general dis.
cussion in the southern press of
American and other improvements on
nature and the results that have fol-
lowed. The strongest argument ia ia
vor of the "kalep" ia the success of the
department of agriculture in the i'm
portation of ladybugs from Australia
as a cure or antidote for the San Jose
scale.
The latter pest had seriously infect
ed the California orange crop, invaded
Texas and was making its way to-
ward the orange groves of Louisiana
and Florida, when its ruinous course
IN the south was stopped by the Aus
tralian ladybug. The experiment was a
complete success, and no one has yet
q bad word for the Australian visitor.
On the other hand, Senator Baily,
of Texas, Ross Clark, Of Lavaca, the
leader in the fight against importing
Central American insects and turning
them loose on the community, and
many other planters cite other expe-
.riences against the proposed expert
ment.
They call attention to the importa-
ton of English sparrows for the pur-
pose of getting rid of the worms and
bugs in New York and to their spread
all over the country, abandoning their
insectivorous habits, driving out ma
tive birds and becoming very trouble
some themselves and great destroyers
of fruit. +
The Injunction recites that it is pro-
posed to bring in this ant and turn it
loose at the United States government
experiment station at Victoria, Tex.
They say the ant would spread to all
parts of the State, would become 80
numerous in time as to prove an in
tolerable pest, would sting the labor
ers in the field and then would rem
der it impossible to pick cotton, ulti-
mately destroying the cotton crop and
all other vegetation.
The injunction has delayed the
opening of the Kalep-Weevil war.
The ants will spend some time in New
Orleans, until the department of agri-
culture decides what to do.
The collection of these ants cost
several months of hard work in Alta
Vera Paz, Guatemala. The insect
has no scientific name, but is known
to the natives or Indians as the kalep.
1t is red, and about twice the size of
an ordinary ant. .
DIR. Cook has some 5000 ants; or
forty colonies, including a number of
queens. They are now in first class
condition. active and full of fight, and
eager to be allowed to attack their ene'
my.
DR.. Cook denies all the charges made
against the ants. They are %insectivo-
rous, and will not hurt cotton-and the
Mexican boil weevil is their dearest
foe.
The weevil stands no show with the
Guatemalan kalep. The latter stings
the weevil, producing paralysis, and
then carries it's victim to its dwelling
house, where the weevil is torn to pieces
or put in cold storage for the winter:
Four ants to each stalk of cotton will
keep it wholly free from weevils. So
effective has the warfare of the kalep
proved that it has already completely
destroyed the weevil in Vera Paz and
other departments which in lnhaDlts.
The boil weevil, after practically de.
stroying the cotton crop of Mexico, in
vaded Texas on the north and Guate-
mala on the south. 1t seemed tosweep
everything before it until it reached
the country of the kaleps. The latter
have turned the tables on it and re-
morselessly.
AS for the argument presented by
Mr.. Clark that it would render cotton
picking impossible by singing the
negroes on their bare feet, DR.. Cook
calls attention to the fact that the
Guatemalan natives never wear shoes,
S,ot l,,ya nayor o,ff,rad from ant stinps,