The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1907-02-16
BOIL wEEwL ouTwlTTED.

/
Summarizing Results of Cultural
Experiments in the Growing of
Cotton Valuable Recon-
mendations to Farmers.
The Louisiana crop pest commission
has issued very interesting bulletin
giving detailed account of the Gull
tural experiments conducted at differ
ent points throughout the state during
the past year with view to demon
strating the possibility Of alternating
the ravages of the cotton boil weevil.
The results of the experiments are
summarized as follows:
ttIn cooperation with the federal
bureau of entomology, the crop pest
commission conducted cultural expert
ments at three points throughout the
state, viz: in the heavily infested Sec
ton at Logansport, in the lightly-in-
tested section at Alexandria, and in
the non-i infested Mississippi valley at
Bachelor.
f'The early maturing varieties OF
cotton, Triumph, King and cotton from
seed purchased in southern Missouri,
were grown for comparison with native
Louisiana cotton at each of the three
places.
s'In the experiments at Logansport,
where the boil weeyils were exception
ally abundant, on good soil, the en-
ployment of the cultural method re-
suited in a production of 1155 pounds
of seed cotton per acre in the case OF
Triumph, 1927 pounds in the case
of King, and 1006 pounds in the case
of south Missouri, while the native
cotton produced 948 pounds OF seed
cotton per acre.
sin the experiments at Alexandria,
on Red River valley plantation, with
fewer weevils present, all OF the varie-
ties yielded in excess of bale per
acre, Triumph producing upwards OF
2200 pounds of seed cotton per acre.
SIN the experiments at Bachelor,
Point Coupee parish, on Mississippi
valley plantation, with no boil weevils
present, Triumph produced 22l7, King
1888, south Missouri 1914, native fer
tilted 1896, and native unfertilized
1870 pounds of seed cotton per acre.
1.-THE results point to Triumph as
being the best a1l-round variety for
use in boil weeyil infested sections,
followed closely by King and cotton
grown from northern seed, (south
Missouri or northern Oklahoma).
Northern grown seed, though pro-
ducing an early maturing crop, does
not retain its quality of earliness, and
the seed must be renewed from north
ern points at least every two years.
"The use of 200 to 300 pounds of fer
tilizer containing high per cent o.
available phosphorie acid in most
cases hastens maturity. The increased
| yield on the upland soil was sufficient
to pay several hundred per cent profit
on the cost of the fertilizer. =
| The following recommendations are
made:
Thorough preparation of the soil,
The land should be well plowed and i
necessary gone over with the discus
harrow and drag. so that by planting
time it will be loose, friable and a.
near like garden seed bed as possible.
Too much emphasis cannot be placed
upon the Importance OF doing this
work early, so that when the proper
time for planting arrives the later
work can proceed without delay. Fall
and winter blowing should be practiced
far more1than it is, not only because
winter blowing opens and aer ates the
soil, but because it cultiVates, and
Guilty. ation breaks up and exposes the
underground cells in which the boil
worms mot weevilsl pass the winter,
resulting in their destruction by the
action of the weather and putting them
on the surface where they can be
picked up by birds. A large part OF
the damage with which the boil
weevil has been charged has been done
by the boil worm, hence the import
ance of practieing measures which
viii reduce the numbers of both insects.
Early planting. To produce an
early maturing crop the seed must be
planted early. We do not, however,
advocate extreme early planting. Last
year some few planters overdid the
early planting idea and put seed in
the ground at such an early date that
! The stand suffered severely from the
cold and frosts. The seed should be
planted so that the plant will be up by
the time most of the danger of frost is
over. 1t is better to incur slight
risk of frost injury than to delay plant
ing too long, as the boil Weevil dam
age to a late planted crop will be much
greater than the loss due to afrost in
juring an early stand.
Early varieties of cotton. In view
of the past years experience, Triumph
seems to be slightly preferable to King
or to cotton grown from northern
seed. King still continues to be a
valuable variety for use in the weevil
section, but does not possess any ma
terial advantage over the cotton pro-
| dunad from ecssd rI,r.eh cod in coukha,sy1