The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1907-08-09
PROTECT AGAINST
THE BOIL WORM
Planters Advised to Apply Paris
Green Between August
5th and 18th.


advising the cotton planters to
protect their cotton crop against
the boil worm (not the boil
weeviD by planting trap rows of
corn through the cotton fields at
such time as to bring this corn
into the silking stage early in
August. This was to attract the
August brood of moths and cause
them to deposit their eggs on
this trap corn instead of on the
cotton.
As supplementing these recon-
mendations and to further protect
the crop against the attacks of
this pest we now advise the plant
ers to make light application of
Paris green to the cotton between
August 9Th and l5h. This recon-
mendation can be adopted to adj
vantage by the farmers who did
not plant trap rows of corn in
their cotton fields as we'll as by
those who did. The object of
this application of Paris green at
the present time will be made
plain in the following paragraphs.
In the minds of some, consid-
cradle confusion exists regarding
the three important cotton insects
known as the boil weevil, the boil
worm and the cotton caterpillar.
To combat these insects intel
ligently, and to take practical
advantage of the local conditions
on his own farm, the planter
must distinguish carefully be-
tween these three different insects
and their habits.
The boil weevil is the little
beetle which has entered Louis
lana from Texas since 1903 and is
each year gaining territory to
the eastward. The adult beetle
punctures the squares with it
beak and feeds, through this lit
tie opening, on the pollen inside
of the square. The eggs of the
female are deposited within the
square, through similar small
openings-made with the beak of
the insect, and the "grub" which
matches from the egg develops
inside of the square where it can
not be reached with poisons.
The boil worm is the larya or
"worm" of q moth resembling
the so-called s'candle-fies" which
are attracted to lamps at night).
The moth deposits its eggs on
corn, cotton and other. plants
and these eggs hatch into the
small boil worms which in early
life wander where they please
and feed here and there instead
of on the inside of any one square
or boil. The large round holes
found eaten into the green bolls
in August and September are
made by these boil worms. This
insect has been in the cotton belt
since before the Civil War.
The cotton caterpillar, or leaf
worm, is also the Iarva of . moth,
but a very different insect from
the boil worm. Instead of eating
into the bolIs. the leaf worm
''strips" the leaves from the
entire plant and is most abundant
from July on towards frost.
To clearly understand why an
application of Paris green at the
present time will be effective
against the boil worm, it is neces-
ssry to review briefly the devel-
opnlent of this insect. As with
most of the six-footed creatures,
the boil worm passes through
four stages in its development,
the insect in each stage being
designated as follows: the egg;
the larval or sworn" stage, in
which the insect feeds and attains
its growth; the pupal or chrysalis
stage (Which corresponds to the
"cocoon stege" of q butterfly, in
which the insect takes no food,
is quiet and undergoes its change