Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-09-25
NOT MEXICAN WEEVlL.
Report That Pest Exists In This State
Is Erroneous

|
Carolina experiment station at Glenn
son college, and Mr.. A. H. Conrad, en-
J tomologist Of the experiment station,
will prove of interest to the farmers
Of the state, in view especially of the
recent reports that the boil weevil had
been found in this state.
Mr.. Barre's statement concerning the
cotton pest is as follows:
"Anthracnos a Boil Disease"
| Articles have appeared in the va
rious newspapers Of the state within
| the past few weeks stating that the
Mexican boil weevil was present in
some sections of South Carolina and
was causing an immense amount of
damage to the cotton. On investiga-
ton these reports, without exception,
| have been found to be erroneous and
the trouble has been found to be due
to a fungus disease which is known
as anthracnoSe.
| "Anthracnose is kind Of boil rot
which is caused by a minute vegetable
organism, fungus, and is in no way
connected with any insect work The
| symptoms of the disease are such that
it can be readily recognized. 1t first
appears on the bolls as small oval or
round, dark -colored, sunken areas.
These spots or diseased areas increase
| in size until they sometimes cover one
| fourth Of the surface Of the boil, or
several spots may occur at different
points on the boil at one time, and
these as they increase in size converge
and form large irregular diseased
areas In the later stages Of the dis
ease these spots are covered with a
pinkish, powdery mass. This pinkish
coloration is very characteristic Of the
disease. The powdery looking surface
| is mass of the fungus spores (tiny
seed-like reproductive bodies).
"Bolls affected with the disease open
poorly or not at all. Where they do
open, the locks Of cotton are stained
and rotten so that the diseased bolls
are a complete loss. In some cases
| practically all Of the bolls on a stalk
VIII rot III lnlS way.
THE organism which causes the dis
case, as indicated above, is tiny, par
asitic, thread-like plant, or fungus
which penetrates the tissue Of the boil
and ramifies it with filaments which
are so small they can not be seen ex-
cept with the aid Of a compound mi
croscope. The growth Of these thread
| like structures in the boil either cause
the tissue to be broken down or Sc
cretes some poisonous substance and
| retards the growth Of the boil. This
causes the affected parts Of the boil to
rot, the general effect being somewhat
| like Erots Of fruits, potatoes, etc. The
fungus is reproduced by the little seed
like bodies or spores, which are pro-
duced by thousands in the pinkish
areas on the surface Of the diseased
bolls. These tiny spores are blown by
the wind, carried by insects or washed
by rain to neighboring bolls and there
start the disease anew.
with this very efficient means of
reproducing itself, the disease spreads
rapidly when weather conditions are
| favorable and is truly characterized as
contagious disease. This makes 1t
hard to fight, for anything that blows
about everywhere in the air or is wash
ed about by rain water readily spreads
at will 1t can not be controlled by
spraying, because it would be too ex-
pensive to spray large cotton fields.
| Like seed plants, though, these fungi
pass through a dormant period. They
thrive during warm, damp weather,
| but their growth is checked when the
weather is dry or when winter comes
on II is when they are in the dormant
condition that we must fight them.
| The anthracnose fungus lives oyer the
winter in the dead bols and stalks and
in the soil, and it is there ready to at
tack the cotton when it comes up in
the spring. BY rotating crops in such
a way as to not plant cotton on the
same field two years in succession we
can starve out the fungus and in that
way get rid of it. At the same time 1t
| or from fields which are not affected
with the disease, for if seed are planted
| from diseased stalks the fungus will
germinate about the same time the seed
does and infect the Seeding plants as
soon as they are up.
I'VE find also that some varieties of
cotton are more susceptible to the dis
case than others. In the variety tests
at the experiment station we find some
varieties badly diseased and some
scarcely affected at ALL Information
will be given out later to those inter-
ested as to what varieties show most
inclination to become immune to at
tacks of the disease.
"Anthracnose is becoming a serious
pest. 1t occurs to n certain extent In
every section of the state and unless
some effort is made. to check its spread
and to blot it out, it is sure to become
ever more destructive. The botanical
division of the South Carolina expert
ment station are making special
study of this disease and will be glad
to give out any further available in
formation to individuals by personal
letter. II. w. Barre,
"Botanist South Carolina Experiment
station"
Mr.. Conradi has this to say about the
insect which has been found in cot
ton bolls in this state:
Cotton Boil Weevil.
There have been reports in the
newspapers of the state concerning the
occurrence of cotton boil weevil on
cotton plantations of South Carolina.
These reports have been carefully in
vestigated and personal inspection
made as far as possible by the botan-
ist and entomologist Of the South Car
olina experiment station. These insects
proved to be the acorn weevils,- which
are very common all over the southern
states at this season Of the year. They
breed prOfusely in acOrns and emergel
from them at this time to go into