The Columbus weekly dispatch., 1908-11-19
A BOIL wEEvTL LESSON

at baton Rouge, where there wer.
assem- bled a thousand of the ra,ra
sentative planters of that section who
were earnest and enthusiastic in the
SUBJECT. The convention was disf;n.
guished by many strong and instruct
I've talks, chief among these being
the address of DR.. w D. Hunter
representative of the United States
government, in its fight against the
Weevil in this section. DR.. Hunter
IS the highest authority in this coun.
try on the boil weevil, and as IT was
/ the first time that he had addressed
the planters OF Louisiana on this sub
Ject, and as his address referred to
conditions unlike those in Texas and
largely like those in this State, we
deem it Of value to reproduce some
| OF the salient points of his address.
which lasted four hours, and cannot
| be reproduced here in its entirety.
In discussing the subject DR.. Hunter
said in part:
Now that the planters of Louis
lana are face to face with the great
est enemy of the cotton crop. they
turn naturally to the region that has
been suffering for some time and ask
what has been the experience of Tex
as, what is the actual present status.
of the boil weevil In that State. 1t
is therefore my intention to state
briefly and exactly what the expert
ence of Texas has been.
To summarize, the boil weevil has
caused loss of about 2,5O0,00o bales
OF cotton, worth approximately s125,-
00O,0 It has caused the abandon
ment of large areas of land and has
revolutionized the cotton-raising sys-
tenn of Texas The insect has not
abandoned any portion of the State
that has ever become invaded There |
is great variation from year to year |
in the amount of injury done, due to |
conditions.
THE question now arises as toll
what lessons the planters of Louis
ANA can learn from the experience
If other regions. The most. conspie-
lous fact bearing on this point is
hat the seasons of various damage
ire those of the heaviest precipita-
ion. 1t is well known that the rain
all increases greatly from the west
o the east in the cotton belt. In the
otton-producing area of Texas the
verage annual precipitation Is 3S3
n Louisiana computed by averaging
he figures from Shreveport, Monroe,
alexander and Baton Rouge, it is
0.8 This means an increase in the
ainfall through the season of about
5 per cent. This has bearing on |
-eevil damage, for the reason that
he ground is kept moist SO that the
reat effect of heat in killing the
stages of the weeviI in the I
allen squares canot operate The
rainfall also causes great
rowth sof weed, which shades the
round completely. This one factor I
excessive rainfall viii make the
.eevil problem more difficult in Lou
iana than elsewhere.
Another important local condition
| Louisiana is the presence of an
bundance of timber. The statistics
low that 45 per cent of the total
otton acreage in Louisiana is in
mbered regions, as against % per
int. in Texas. The presence of tim
ar gives weevils an opportunity to
ibernate successfully. 1t is there
IRE safe to say that the presence of :
mber will add materially to the
Ificulties that confront the planter.
Texas only 16 per cent. of the cot
N acreage is in the valleys, while
ouisiana shows SIS per cent. of the
,tton acreage in river bottoms.
here are no large prairie acreas in :
lie State such as have shown the :
asst damage in Texas.
"A third factor in complicating the !
-ainage. Generally the land of the :
ate is fat and intersected by in :
4Inerable streams and bayous. The 8
ck of drainage operates to make :
asons late, simply because it is ;;
lpossible to work the field until a !,
rtain degree of dryness has been :
ached, and also because the plants :
ow slowly in saturated soil. The :,
lportance of this feature which, :.
ough not generally in Louisiana. is :.
is to make it difficult to OBJ !,
in an early cotton crop. Certain !.
nds are slow or late and cannot be
used under present conditions to
oduce an early crop that Is de-
anded under boil weevil conditions.
s.1rbe manner of control of the boIl