The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1904-07-07

L
during the past year. have avoided.
for the most part. the weevil-infested
area
WHAT THE WEEVlL Is.
The adult weevil is a brownish bee
tie varying from three-sixtee nths to
three ei0hths of an inch in length. 1t
is provided With long "snout" or bill
and IS not unlike the common acorn
weevil in appearance. In color the
boil weev.ls vary from light gray to
chocolate brown or black. AS a
usual thing the older the beetle The
darker in color it becomes owing to
the minute hairs wearing off the BODY.
The boil weevil is a not distant rel.
alive of the strawberry weevil and the
plum curculio. There are many com
| mon species of weevils which so close
ly resemble it that the novice can
tell them apart only with difficulty.
The adult beetles pass the winter in
trash, rubbish, cotton bolIs, etc, about
the cotton fields, and also in the leaves
wecvjls appear in the spring at about
the time the rlrst cotton plants appear
above the ground, and having tasted
since the previous autumn, now feed
to considerable extent upon the
tender buds and stems of the young
cotton plants Later in the season.
however they feed but little in the
adult stage.
AS soon as the Srst squares appear
the female beetles commence egg de-
position. The female eats a hole in
to the square or form and deposits
an egg therein. This process is then
repeated upon the next square, form
or bloom, and so on. Each female
deposits from so to rs eggs in this
manner, and with few exceptions eacn
egg is deposited in a separate square
ol foIm,
The egg matches in two or three
day after being deposited, into a mi.
NUT footless worm" or larva which
Immediately commences feeding on
the interior of the square. The square
OF form invariably falls to the ground
at this time, and the larva continues
its development therein. In from IA
20 IL days this larva reaches full
growth, becoming about three-eighths
Of an inch in length, and is white and
plump. 1t now passes into the pu.
PAL stage, still remaining in the square.
During the pupal stage 1t takes no
food, and this stage lasts from seven
to ten days, at the end OF (which time
it changes to the adult beetle and
again commences the life cycle. We
thus see that an entire generation OF
weeYils is developed approximately
every SC days during the entire grow.
ing season OF cotton. During the win.
ter season a large percentage of the
weeviis are killed by unfavorable
weather by the attacks of birds and
animals etcs SO that early in the
spring there are comparatively few
Of them. Their damage to the cotton
early in the season is, therefore, hard.
ly noticeable, but as each thirty-day
period brings an increased generation
the weevils are abundant enough by
July 18th or August 1st to sting and
destroy every square formed upon
the plants. So long as plenty of
squares are at hand, the eggs are de.
posted in these in preference to the
bolls, but when the weeviIs have be.
como so abundant that the supply of
squares does not equal their demands
eggs are then laid in the green bolls
Bolls set early in the summer es.
cape injury from the weevil but af
ter about July 18th in the weevil-in-
tested district, every square is de-
slroyed as fast as formed.
REMEDIES.
No really satisfactory remedy has
been found for this pest. The fact
that the insect feeds very little except
in the laval stage, and the fact that
this stage is entirely protected within
the square or boil, makes it impos.
cation of arsenical poisons to the
plants. The first brood which appears
in the spring-from winter quarters
feeds &c some extent upon the young
cotton plants and some of them can be
killed by applying poison at this time!
The adult insect has a hard and
1orny covering making it impractica.
BILE to destroy 1t by contract insecticides
However, the government entomol-
ogists who have experimental against
tais pest extensively the past few
years in Texas have found several
means by which the ravages of the
pest can be reduced and a profit-re-
turning crop made in spite of the wee
VIZ. These measures are all simple
and can be applied by any farmer. In
the first place no 'top-crop" can ever
be made in a weevil-infested district
Ii cattle and mules are turned into