Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1909-12-24
SUCCESSFUL POISONING OF THE
BOIL WEEVIL.

has been taken, Is the frank opih-
ion OF the few who have been per-
mitted to examine the manuscript
of a large bulletin::shortly to be is
sued by the State Crop Pest Com
mission, under the authorship OF
Entomologist Wilmon Newell and
his assistant, Mr.. G.. D. Smith. The
bulletin comes as the sequel to many
months Of tedious investigation and
experiment, in the course of which
Messrs. Newell and Smith have de-
veloped a successful method OF pois-
oning the over-wintered boil .weevils
in spring and early summer. The
bulletin in question is Circular No.
SO of the State Crop Pest:COmmis-
sion, entitled Powdered Arsenate
Of Lead as Practical Boil Weevil
Poison" The contents OF the man
uscript have been closely guarded,
as its writers did not wish to make
any public announcement until per-
fectly sure of their ground.
A long list Of experiments, in dif-
ierent parts OF the State, are de-
scribed in detail. All were so ar
ranged that the production OF cot
ton treated with powdered arsenate
OF lead in a proper manner could
be accurately compared with that
oflthe same kind Of cotton not treat
ed. In some experiments the cotton
production was more than doubled
by the intelligent use OF powdered
arsenate Of lead. In others the mar
gin Of profit was small, but a def
mite, :unquestionable profit from the
use OF the poison was obtained in
IL experimentssout::of 10. The av-
erage increase in the crop where the
poison was used was II per cent.
The average production Of the cot
ton, all experiments, which was
treated with the poison, was 673
pounds of seed cotton per acre. The
average production Of similar cot
ton, not poisoned, was 1872 pounds
per acre.
The bulletin makes it clear that
success does not depend alone upon
the use Of this poison. As much,
or more, depends, upon the manner
OF application to the cotton plants.
The amount applied, the time Of
application and the carefulness with
which the work is done all 60 tow
ards determining whether the use
Of the powder is a success or a fail
ure. Applications Of the powdered
lead arsenate made, for example, by
busting the poison onto the cotton
from a sack, as 10 done in poisoning
thegleaf worm with Paris green, al
ways prove to be failures. The au-
thors think they have unearthed a
new principle in the application of
insecticides and particularly in the
application Of this poison for the
boil weevil. The applications, in
all the experiments, were made with
dusting.guns, machines which force
the powder into the terminal buds
Of the cotton plants with power
full blast Of air.. By this means the
poison is made to reach many OF
the feeding places Of the boil weevil
that could not be reached by any
other means.
Powdered arsenate of lead is a
poison which has been developed by
Mr.. Newell during the course Of his
investigations Of the weevil during
the past four years. 1t is a white,
impalpable powder, having the same
chemical composition as the paste
lead arsenic, hence can be applied
to the cotton plants themselves. In
some OF the experiments as much
as 90 pounds OF the poison were ap-
piled to each acre of cotton between
June lst and August LIST. These ex-
periments showed a profit from its
use, but the greatest amount Of net
profit was obtained where about 10
to 20 pounds per acre were used in
the course of five applications.
The authors do not claim that a
full cotton crop can be made by the
use OF the powdered arsenate; nor
do they claim that it will make a
crop on land that is totally unsuited
to the growth of cotton under boil
weevil conditions. The experiments
do make clear, however, that prop
er and intelligent use of this poison
will materially increase the crop and
do it at a profit under all conditions
where crop is now possible.
The writer's Of Circular 33 frank
ly predict that nine farmers out of
every ten will fail in the use Of this
poison at the first attempt. Success
seems to depend upon the farmer
understanding perfectly the pginci-
Piles upon which successful poison
ing OF the boil weevil is based and
upon the work of poisoning being
done with. extreme" care and with
the proper machinery.
The adoption Of this new agent
for destroying the weevil pest does
not call for any change in the i'm
proved cultural methods as now
practiced. On the contrary, it proves
TO be the long-desired weapon which