The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1909-09-10
A Way to Exterminate the Boil
WeeVil

A Way to Exterminate the Bol
Weevil
/ PREPARED By the Greenwood Business League
The recent hot spell, lasting
three days, killed 50 per cent of al
boil weevils in Mississippi, Louisi-
ana, Texas, Arkansas and Okla.
homa Over vast areas Of badly in
tested districts as high as 80 pei
cent were literally cooked In the
blistering rays Of the sun.
By concerted effort the planters
can kin the balance. It is "A vast
undertaking to get all planters to
to do just the one thing necessary
this fall Next year we will be too
late Hasten the picking Of the
crop and just as soon as it is picked,
cut down and burn all the stalks,
trash and weeds That's all If II
is done over the entire infested area
and also in the adjoining territory
we shall be rid Of the pest and the
danger from this grim destroyer
will be reduced To a minimum.
Now Is the time to prepare for the
crop Of next season.
1t has been repeatedly pointed
out-in fact, told over and over
again i'm publications of the Depart
ment Of Agriculture that the most
important step in controlling the
boil weevil Is the destruction in
the fall Of the plants in the field.
To fully acquaint our readers
with the conditions of Texas this
year, we give the following bulletin
Just received from DR. Hunter, in
full
A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR COTTON
PLANTERS.
The Cotton farmers of Texas and
Oklahoma have the opportunity of
their lives to down the Boil Weevil
This is the result of two facts. one
Of them well demonstrated and the
other self-evident. They are:
First: The terrific heat of the
last few days has killed more than
80 per cent of the weevils in Texas
and Oklahoma.
Second: The heat and the dry
ness Of the season have every where
caused small plants on which the
bolls will soon open so that the
crop can be picked at an abnormal
ly early date.
If the farmers will accept the
opportunity that nature has pro-
vided, hasten the picking of the
crop, up-r root and burn the plants.
there Is no possibility that there
will be many weevils left next year
in fact, if the cotton plants are de-
stroyed generally in Texas by the
middle of September. which is
easily possible on account of the
peculiar conditions prevailing there
will be no boil weevils in Texas
next year.
In Dallas, while this Is being
written the thermometer registers ia
degrees in the shade, breaking all
records. On the surface Of the
ground the temperature is 145 de-
grees Similar conditions prevail
throughout Texas. Every imma-
ture weevil in a square that falls to
the ground is killed in few min
utes. Every weevil that falls to
the ground is killed in a second.
Thus nature has almost annihilated
the pest. Will the farmer add the
final stroke and complete the de-
Sfr11afian Cf tho yyaax-iI2
The early destruction of the
cotton plants in the fall even in an
ordinary season has so controlled
the weevil that, in a large practical
test, the crop of cotton the sason
was increased by an amount worth
almost $40 per acre. This year it
is not a question merely of control
or reducing the mum mbers of weevils,
but of driving then out altogether
1t rests with the cotton planters Of
Texas. There will never be a bet
ter opportunity.
w. d. HUNTER.
In Charge Southern Field Crop
Insect and Tick Investigation.
Dallas, Bexas. Aug Is, 1909.
Two things are to be borne in
mind while reading the above
statement.
First. The crop is picked in
Texas much earlier than it is only
a short distance further north, so
the time when stalks can be burned
will be later as we go further north
and into tho bottoms.
Second The weevil has not
been checked in Mississippi and
Louisiana as it has i'm Texas,
probably not over so per cent hav-
ing been killed in these two states
by the sun, hence the complete de-
struction this fall of every vestige
of stalk and cover that will afford
hiding and alternating places for
these bugs. even in communities
presumably free from infection is
absolutely essential.
By leaving tke cotton plants
standing after the middle of Decem-
ber the farmer invites certain de-
struction of next years crop. If
you cannot pick out the crop early
enough To destroy the cotton plants
before Christmas in the northern
parts of the five states known to
contain weevils, and before Novem-