The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-05-09
IMPRESSION
MISLEADING
TWO MEMBERS OF THE CROP
PEST COMMISSION ON
PARIS GREEN APPLICATION
A Brief Review of Experiments With
Poison-Desire to Go on Record as
not Endorsing the Marston Method.
Caution to Conservative Planters.
(To The Caucasian

Baton Rouge, La, May 3, Ioo7.-We
note from the press dispatches the ac-
counts of meeting of planters held at
Shreveport on the 3rd instant for the
purpose of discussing the advisability of
using paris green against the boil
weevil, and we note further that reso-
luton was adopted by the meeting en-
dorsing "the resolution of the Crop Pest
Commission" and pledging the planters
to poison their cotton for the boil
weevil.
The press dispatches convey the i'm
preston that the planters in Northwest
stand that the eptire State Crop Pest
Commission has unqualifedly and unre
servedly endorsed paris green as boil
weevil remedy, and that all the men,
bers of the commission have recon-
mended its use as such.
Any impression of this kind is mis-
leading and should be corrected, as
there are at least two members of the
commission who do not care to have
saddled on them the responsibility for
useless waste of money and labor, and
perhaps serious injury to the cotton
crop, which is likely to follow the gen.
eral application of paris green as a
weevil remedy Hence we take the lib
erty of addressing you for the purpose
of placing the true facts before your
readers.
At its last meeting on April II, 1907,
the Crop Pest Commission adopted the
following resolution:
Resolved, that the boil weevil infec-
tion, as is now apparent, in Western
Louisiana is very severe, indeed alarm
ing, this commission suggests that every
producer of cotton in the boil weevil in
fected section is advised to immediately
proceed to poison them with paris green
and to keep up the poisoning process
until the cotton takes on grown
squares
This resolution was proposed by Cap
tain Marston and its adoption secured
by majority of but one vote. The
entire membership of the commission
was not represented at the meeting on
April II and had all the members been
present it is quite safe to say that such
a recommendation would not have been
made to the cotton planters of the
State
This resolution is simply Captain B.
w. Marston's 5 recommendation pure and
simple, and it is not based upon any
experimental data whatever or upon
any of the results obtained by the Crop
Pest Commission in its careful expert
mental work during the past three
years.
The hundreds of experiments which
have been made by the Bureau of In
tomology of the United States Depart
ment Of Agriculture an the. many more
made by the Crop Pest Commission have
merely shown that it is possible to kill
some of the boil weevils by applying
paris green before squares are formed,
but none of these experiments have
shown that enough additional cotton
Ican be produced as result of the pois-
loning to repay the planter for the extra
lexpense involved in the application OF
1.-THE poison. The application of paris
green to the young cotton may, and N
some of the experiments have, resulted
in few more pounds of seed cotton te
1.-THE acre, but these additional few
bounds of cotton have cost the planter
liar more than he could ever receive foi
them in any market on the face OF the
earth. and the data are entirely insufh-
lcient to Justify recommending the gen
teral use of paris green against tht
iweevil
The experiments which were con
1ducted under Mr.. Newelfs direction
Hast year, in which all chances for erroi
Iwere eliminated and the exact nunlbel
lof weevils killed by the poison were de
.ltermined with certainty, were of mucl
Interest; and as the results have no
Ibeen published by the commission on ac
lcounf of insufficient funds, a summar,
|of them may not be without interest t
yourself and to the planters who are a
present so enthusiastic over poisoning
for the weevil.
q In these experiments, of which ther
lwere seventeen, paris green was applie'
Ito cotton before squares formed, wit
1.-THE result that the following percentage
lof weevils present At the time poiso
Twas applied, were killed, each percent