The Southern farm gazette., 1908-10-31
The Boil Weevil is Here!

true report is published 1t Is likely be received
with unbelief But the following statement of
the spread of the weev in Mississippi is based on
the report made by Professor Hunter, the boil
weevii expert OF the United States Department of
Agriculture. According TO Professor Hunter the
weevil Is In fifteen Mississippi counties. fifteen
That raise "a total of about half a million bales
yearly. The insect Ia In part OF Bolivar. Wash
ington and Yazoo Counties. and In all of sharkcy.
Issaquena and Warren. These are ak of the lar
gest cotton-producng counties I'm the Delta. 9th
er infested counties are Kinds copiah. Claiborne.
Jefferson. Adams. Franklin. Wilkinson. Ami,e,
and Lincoln
In sections that have ordinary local conditions
such cultural methods may be followed an will
force cotton TO early maturity but in a consider
able portion OF the Delta ovcrnows may cause late
planting and late development. while late develop
mens OF the crop means that II viii no, make be-
fore tho wecsii becomes numerous enough 10 de-
stroy the crop. This circumstance may have a
tendency get large drainage enterprises organ
lied and drainage put In where practical. II viii
be useless 10 plant cotton on moist black lands
that drained or that are poorly drained.
for the that the crop cannot bc forced To
maturity early enough and the ~eesil wiii ruin
II before the bolls open In that section tho high
and drirss lands viii have To BIO used for cot
ton. whether the high land should be the poorest
the richest tho plantation. Varieties of cot
ton that mature carly ~ili have to be planted.
Phosphate Will be needed In the fertilizer. as II
will hasten maturity ton days or s~o weeks. Ten
days or TWO weeks are long time in race In
making COTTON before tho ~eevn can destroy II.
How so CnuslsAs H.
The rows should bc nvc and onc-haif 10 six feet
apart and the plants houid be- far enough apart in
the dsiil they viii lap uii tn. plants mature
Hot sunshine II OF the best things To nghi the
wccvis ~ish: and II tho spacing IL wide enough
10 Let the under the plants. the squares that
have been punesured and drop oa with youax
~-evis ~iil dry up and The ~ccsii will be- Killed
before IL natures.
II wiIi depend very largely the farmer
whether he make living By raising cotton
In ~~cvil territory. Certainly he cannot by fol-
lowing the old cotton-ncid methods. Tn. ground
viii have tn De- prepared. with great Tho
seed should be- selected with tho utmost caro-.
Without fail use a variety that natures early.
Plant early and shallow. usc acid phosphate.
Have wide and thin tho plants welt In tho
Then cultivate cultivate. cultivate. keep
cuitivaiing. Six eight civilizations should be
common. Ten eleven viii not be- unknown.
The cultivation will be for t~o purposes. i) To
stimulate the plant 10 rapid growth and ts) TO
jar many ~eevila on m possible Sticks or
brushes may be- fastened 10 tho cuitivators to
knock and Jar each plant IL In passed over.
What wecyis knocked 10 the ground viii be
killed by bright sunshn. IL the spacing IN what
IL should be- Puncturcd boiia and squares that
have been knocked To the ground may b. picked
up and burned TO destroy tho weesiis they con-
tain.