The log cabin Democrat., 1911-04-03

ly 3 per cent. The fall, therefore, is 1 the time to strike the first blow at 1 the weevils. At this time great hordes are entering winter quarters, many of which can be killed by the follow ing methods: Pick out the crop early and never mind the top crop which cannot be secured under weevil condi- tions. Burn all the immature bolls and rubbish in and about the fields in October. Not later than November 1 blow the remaining stalks under deeply unless all have been burend. This keeps the weevils from feeding in late fall on sprout cotton and from wintering under the debris. The long CT the destruction of the plants IS postponed, the more weevils will live over the winter to ruin the early crop. Once every three or four weeks dur ing the winter cultivate the land with a section harrow or disk so as to get it in good shape for planting in the spring. Those that do succeed in win tering alive will not become numer- ous enough to do any harm until the bolls are past the danger size, if an early crop is secured.
 Therefore take the following steps to get as early a crop as possible: Plant as early as you can after the danger of frost is past and before the spring drouth might retard germina- ton. Select only early maturing, wig orous varities of cotton that put out short -jointed fruit limbs near the ground This does not make it inn possible to grow large-bolled varieties in the south. The first cultivation should be deep and followed by shal- low cultivatlons, one every week dur ing the season, thus tilling the ground 15 times or more before the time to pick out the cotton. The seed should be planted on well-drained land to render frequent cultivation possible. Apply commercial fertilizers, acid phosphate and potash, to hasten the maturing of the crop and to increase the yield (For information in re- gard to the quantity to use for your land write to the Agronomy Depart ment of this experiment station.) Plant the rows far enough apart to allow the sun to reach the fallen squares and thus to kill many of the grubs. It has been found that it pays well to pick up the squares and de- stroy them This prevents many wee wills from developing. Since you can not get a top crop under boil weevll conditions, it would be a saving to increase the lowest and middle crops by barring off or topping before the plants get too large. It IS reconN mended to agitate the plants by at taching brush to the handles of the cultivators so as to hasten the falling of the infested squares. Improve the energy and condition of the soil by crop rotation so as to encourage the rapid development of the plants. Ro- tate cotton with corn and coWpeas, blowing the latter under for humus. Cotton following cotton year after year reduces the fertility of the land and thsu delays the maturity of the crop. It is a good plan to plant one half of your land to cotton and the other half to corn and cowpeas, rotat- ing these crops every year. Evident ly it requires more labor to manage an acre of cotton when the boil weevll IS DaQ Undn Wnen lneIe lS iio WCeNii Therefore, the grower would do bet ter to plant no more land than he can take proper care of and use the rest of his farm for other purposes; thus he can easily secure the desired rota- tion of crops which in itself IS dis couragement to the weevil, since It feeds only on cotton.
 HOW TO CONTROL THE BQLLW0RM.
 The methods above outlined for the boil weevil also include two of the most important measures against the bollworm, namely, fall blowing and securing an early crop of cotton. In this caes fall blowing is very import ant, since it breaks up the earthen cells of the pupae, which are the ten der age of the insect, and exposes these forms to the winter weather which they are not used to. They can not stand this change in conditions, whether the winter storms are snows or merely cold rains. Wherever the weevil is not bad, fall blowing for the bollworm can be postponed until late fall or early winter, The boil