The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-20
Danger to the Hill Farmers of western
 Louisiana.

Cotton boil weevils are now so nu- merous in Western Louisiana that the crop of 1906 Is seriously threatened. The Louisiana crop pest commission sends out warning from which we extract the following statements:
 On the upland farms in the western portions of De Soto, Sabine. Vernon and Calcasieu parishes the cotton boil wee vii has now become fairly abundant. so abundant in fact as to have destroyed practically all of the top crop in those sections. The weevil also occurs, al- though in smaller numbers, In the east ern parts of these same parishes and in Caddo parish, as we'll as in the western parts of Red River, Natchitoches and Rapides parishes. The boil weevil oc- CUTS practically in every cotton field in the territory mentioned.
 Although last winter was a very cold and wet one. and although 1t gave the weevil severe setback, the present wet summer has offered almost perfect conditions for the rapid increase of the weevil to enormous numbers.
 The farmers should not allow them- selves to be misled by the supposition that the boil weevil will not thrive in Louisiana, for 1t will thrive, and will do untold damage If allowed to multiply
 unchecked. Nor should the farmer be | indifferent to the weevil in the hope | that some new fangied' remedy will be brought forward that will dispose of the weevil without work or expense on | the part of the farmer.
 Of all the steps included in the cul- tural remedy, the early fall destruction
 of the cotton stalks is of more import ance than all other steps combined. The | last generation in the fall produces | more boil weevils than all of the pre- ceding generations put together. If the stalks, with their squares and l leaves, are destroyed from two to four | weeks before the first killing frost, the development of this last brood of wee wills Is prevented. Right here. then, the farmer has an opportunity to reduce by
 more than one-half the number of wee wills that would normally be present to enter hibernatlng' quarters upon the ar rival of frost.
 The hill farmer in Western Louisiana, as far as cotton production Is concern ed is now facing an emergency. and he must rise to the occasion and meet it successfully. If good crop of cot
 ton is to be produced upon the hills of
 this section next year, the cotton stalks must be destroyed now. The farmers in many parts of the weevil-infested
 section of Texas could not learn this lesson without hard experience-expe-
 rience that cost them three or four crops of cotton. It is not necessary for the Louisiana farmer to repeat this costly experience. with the sacrifice in credit and prosperity which it necessa- rily means
 In cotton fields where the cotton has already been completely stripped of leaves and squares by the caterpillars, blowing and burning the stalks over the entire field is necessary. for with the total destruction of squares and leaves, the weevils' main food supply is gone Tn all such fields, however. there is usually square or green leaf re- mainins here and there. Such fields should be carefully gone over and every such square or leaf picked off by hand and burned up. The cost of doing this does not exceed few cents per acre.
 If profitable crop of cotton is to be made by the hill farmers of Western Louisiana next year. the stalks must be destroyed at once, in order to cut off the weevils food supply now, and pre- vent the development of the late fall generation which furnishes the major ity of all the weevils that pass through the winter successfully. Destroy the cotton stalks. Do 1t now.--Wilmon Newell, Entomogolist Louisiana Crop Pest Commission. Shreveport, La.