The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1910-05-07
BOIL WEEVIL PEST.
Instructions for Fighting the Destructive In
sect-Foree Cotton to Early Maturity
and Remove all Punctured
Squares

EDITOR CHIEF:
Through the columns of the newspa-
pers of the parish would like to bring to
the attention of the farmers few timely
facts. There is quite prevalent in north
ern Louisiana and other newly infected
territory the opinion that the cold
weather this winter has meant exter-
mination to the boil weevil While it is
probably true that the mortality of the
over-Wintered weevils has been great,
there is no possible reason for believing
that it has been total. AS the general
infestation of your parish by the weevil
came late last season, the following
facts should be needed by the farmers.
The method of producing cotton under
weevil conditions falls into two parts: { y
the forcing ofthe cotton to early maturity,
and (2) the fight against the weevil. es-
pecially the oyer-wintered weevil.
By this time every farmer should be
familiar with the cultural method of pro-
ducing cotton under Weevil conditions.
Briefly stated, it means O. thorough pre-
paration of the soil for a gool seed bed,
E(2) wider rows than before the weevil
came, (3) as early planting as is safe
from cold, az planting good seed of an
early maturing variety, (5) fertilizing to
force fruitage without forcing stalk
growth, (6) rapid, shallow and late cult
walton.
The object of all this is to force the
cotton to make the lower and middle
crops before the boil weevils become so
numerous as to puncture every square
This occurs generally about August TO-
So the cotton raiser is in a fight against
time as well as the weevil For that
reason, he must try never to let his cot
ton suffer for cultivation. Before the
weeviI came, cotton would stand quite an
amount Of bad treatment and with a
favorable August make a good yield
Under weevil conditions, the August
crop after the 10th to 18th belongs to the
weevil.
Cultivation should begin just as soon
as the cotton is up. and before if the soil
/ is crusted or packed by heavy rains.
The best and cheapest way t. give this
early working is with the ordinary "
shaped smoothing harrow BY taking
out one or two of the teeth, these har-
rows can be run on top of the beds, thor
oughly stirring the soil and giving the
little cotton a start to growing. A double
section harrow with teeth set slanting
/ backwards can be run diagonally across
the rows, doing this work faster and
more economically than the V-shaped
horse harrows. This is a very i'm
portant working.
Unless the soil is badly packed or foul
with grass and weeds, the old barring
of" should not be practiced; but cultiva-
ton should be carried on rapidly with
some form of cultivator best adapted te
local conditions.
Now as to the weevil! The old saying
that "the early bird catches the worm
can now be changed to the farmer that
catches the early weevil gets the cotton,
When the cotton begins to show fouI
or five leaves, the Weevils begin to come
out into the fields and are found in the
terminal buds, which they puncture and
suck the juices for food. This is the
time in newly infested territory when the
farmers become discouraged and panicy
and want to plow up their cotton. This
is not the time to surrender, but to fight
If it is dry, drag brush over the young
cotton to knock the weevilS off. Or use
poison of some kind, either acetate Of
lead or Paris green. The safest thing tt
do where labor is cheap is to pick the
weevils and destroy them. The over
wintered weevils continue to come ou
for some weeks Continue the 6ght
against them until the cotton begins II
square; and then fight them by picking
up and burning all the punctured squares
A large number of the old Weevils vii
die of old age before the cotton square:
enough to permit them to reproduce; anc
if the fight is made earnestly against the
old weevils, it is comparatively easy tt
make a crop before the young weevil:
have multiplied sufficiently to take all the
squares. But remember that it is tht
fight against the old, oyer-winterec
weeyils that counts A dead weevil or {
peck of squares in May is equal to hun
.dreds of weevils and bushels of squares
in July.
This fight against the weevil is not al
expensive as it looks at first blush
Early weevils and squares can be picket
for the season for $3.50 to So per acre
VARYING with the labor cost.
Remember that it may mean the differ
ence between a profit and loss, between
success and failure. | could name yol
hundreds of cases in 1903 where farmer
who picked as many as 500 TO l00i
weevils per acre and picked up all TIL
first punctured squares made from 800 t
400 pounds of seed cotton per acre.
There is no question that cotton can b.
produced profitably under boil weevi
. conditions; but it can not be done unde
. the old slip-shod way of farming. Tn
: boil weevil means a smaller acreage Q
S cotton better worked and the production