The Colfax chronicle., 1904-06-25
FARMER AND PLANTER.
THE NEW BOIL wEEvIL.
How Poison is Applied md the Help
1t VIII Give in Destroying
the Pest.

the Pest.
The boil weevil is row being poison
ed successfully and cheaply by farmers
In Fayette and Caldwell counties. e.
w. Marston, of Louisiana, the man who
first used Paris green in this country
to kill the army worm, is leading in the
work Poisoned cotton has no live
weevil left on it, but there are dead
ones found under it.
Poisoning is simple. Paris green OF
guaranteed purity is put in a sack
made of eight ounce osnabnrg, and
this sack tied to stick, is shaken over
the young cotton having weevjl on it.
1t must be done when the wind is not
blowing The weevils are hungry for
fresh food after a winter of fasting
and they feed upon the tender bud"
and the stems of young leaves until
the squares come. These leaf parts
are easily busted with poison and will
kill the weevils within "a hours after
eating. We watched, under micro
scope, a weevil busily gouging
trench with his DILL. He was working
ON a tender leaf stem and bent to the
work most earnestly, succeeding in
cutting a hole one-half inch long and
one sixteenth deep and wide. Dead
weevils may continue to be found for
four of six days after the cotton has
been properly poisoned. The cotton
should be freshly poisoned every week
or oftener, until fresh weevils- quit
coming to the cotton or the plants be-
gin to form squares. When the squares
begin to form, poison will have little or
no effect
Apply enough green to show plainly
on the foliage. It should be put on
when no wind is blowing. Poisoning
early in the season means that the
farmers can reduce the winter broods
now coming from their hiding places,
and protect cotton TO large extent.
This adds a new step to the tested
cultural methods" 1t may entirely
take the place of picking up squares or
picking OF the weeyil which has proved
SO expensive Early poisoning will en-
able the cotton to mature ahead Of the
great swarm of late summer weeviis.
especially if given thorough midsum-
mer cultivation Paris green may not
be the best poison, but it is certainly
reliable The entire method is cheap
and farmers can put it into use at
once. On small cotton half pound OF
Paris green per acre is sufficient This
does not solve the bell weevil problem,
but it will help to solve it.
With long winters in north Texas
and Paris green to kill part OF the
first crop appearing in spring, we have
a new opportunity to fight the .weevila
and run<them out of north Texas.
| Cotton growers must wake up to this
new situation and make the fight The
United States government appropriate
| ed a quarter of million dollars with
which to fight the weevil- The gov
ernment agents are actively at work
But this great work can not be done
unless intelligent farmers and business
men give the state and national ex-
perts their cordial cooperation
When the weevil reaches the Red
river counties it will go straight
through the Arkansas and Louisians
valleys to the Mississippi cotton valley
lands, according to the views Of al
experts Here the cotton crop Of tns
south hangs by thread. The state'
east of us are interested in this figh1
to crowd back the weevil, from nortf
Texas. as much or more than from
east Texas, and will lend us their sup
port. if need be, with the United States
department of agriculture. So
County meetings should be held il
Texas at once and these facts dis
cdssed. In these mass meetings new
facts about poisons and blotting on
weevil on freshly infested farms cal
be fully discussed. Resolutions call
ing on Secretary Wilson for the he'll
of the United States department Of az
riculture can be adopted, carrying as
surances of intelligent cooperation be
tween the people and the government
| OIUcl6iS. Sdll tuc lCAdo 840Ao tNA y ~
special session, as did Louisiana,
need be. Certainly this is the first op
portunity to check the northwar
march of the weevil. Will our peopl
fight the pest? 49,.
Consider these facts: % In mort
Texas the winters are colder an
longer, resulting in fewer generation
Of new weevils in summer and muc
smaller crop of weevils that com
through the winter: (2) the weevil ne
been noticeably checked in bis travel
northward for two years, a statemer
to which DIR. Hunter assents: I'D b
use Of poison we can further reduce tn
north Texas hibernated weevil; q
Louisiana has eradicated the weev
from two parishes; t5) the Red rive
valley of Texas, if once infested by IL
weevel, It's Introduction into Louisian
and Mississippi will be soon accon
pIished by natural agencies. .-Texs
Farm and Ranch.