The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1909-02-20
Close Planting
Recommended
Stat; Board of Agriculture Issues
Bulletin Covering Boil
WeeViI Conditions

Louisiana by the Doll WeeVli, tne
planter has been generally advised
to plant his cotton III extra wide
rows and to place the plants far
apart in the drill, upon the assump-
ton that plenty of sunlight should
be allowed to reach the fallen
squares on the ground and destroy
the weevil larvae within them.
The authorities of the United
States department of agriculture
have laid stress upon the impor-
lance of planting the rows far apart
and this recommendation appears
frequently in the printed pamphlets
of the department. We formerly
made the same recommendation
ourselves, but for the past two
years we have been in doubt as to
its wisdom.
In their commendable desire to
bring about the destruction of as
many of the weevils as possible,
the leading planters have quite
generally accepted this recommend
dation. In fact, it is quite safe TO
assert that extra wide planting and
chopping is in general vogue i'll
the weevil-infested sections at the
present time, being looked upon as
a necessary stepin the fight against
the weevil.
That the admittance of plenty of
sunlight to the ground does result
in high mort.lity among the
young weevils in the fallen squares
there can be little doubt, but have
for some time held the opinion
that extra wide planting, to secure
this result. is expensive in practice.
In widely planted cotton, a far
greater area in proportion to each
individual plant must be cultivated
and cared for than i'll cotton where
the rows are placed close together
and the plants near to each other
in the drill. A perfect stand of
cotton with boil weevils present is
very different thing from what
constituted perfect stand be-
fore the advent of the weevil. We
wish to submit the following prin-
ciple, which So far as we know, has
not heretofore been advanced.
Formerly each cotton plant grew
and continued to put on fruit until
September or even October. There
fore each individual plant required
that amount of space which would
afford it growing room. plaut food
and light until October, or practi-
cally throughout the season.
COTTON PRODUCTION LIMITED.
Under present conditions the
boil weevils do not permit the plant
to make" during the entire sea-
son. On the other hand, the weev-
lis reach such numbers that no
bolls are made after August 10, and
oftentimes none after August L.
Therefore each plant requires, not
sufficient space to promote fruitage
through an entire summer, but
only enough growing room in which
to produce bolls up the date of
"maximum infestation," about Aug.
18th. This means that so far as
the production of hollis is concern
ed, each individual cotton plant
really needs less cultivated space
than it did under the conditions
which existed when there were no
boil weevils. If, for example the
boil weevil permits the formation
of no more than Is bolls to the
plaut on all average, then the more
plants producing Is bolls each we
can get on the acre of land the bet
ter will be the yield.
WHAT THE PROBLEM is.
An out-and-out recommendation
to the effect that all cotton in the
weevil-infested section should be