The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1912-06-08

4th of July will Make a Coco
Crop More Than Half OF the
Time, Says Or. Dodson-severa
/ Varieties Recommended,
/ The following timely article is from
I the pen of Prof W. E. Dodson, dean
Of the college of agriculture OF the
Louisiana State University and, di
rector of the state experiment sta.
lions:
| Inquiries about planting late corn
are coming to the experiment sta.
ton in almost every mail, therefore
some general statements regarding
this subject would seem opportune.
My observations and experiments in
planting corn in May, June and ear
| ~ July have now extended over a
period of eighteen years. and some
Of the best crops I have seen, as
well as some of the most complete
failures, have been made from corn
! planted in late June or early July.
The latest crop of corn that has been
/ planted at the experiment station, SO
lar as [ know, was planted at Baton
Rouge July s. 1903. This crop would
| have been damaged by frost, had the
| frost come earlier, but it SO hap
| pened We had a late frost that year
and the corn matured and met every
! requirement for feeding purposes,
making nearly fifty bushels to the
acre, which was considerably in ex-
cess Of the yield of any early corn
in tho neighborhood. On the other
hand, we have had some crops of
late corn that were SO badly dam
aged by the ear worm that the
yield %Yas not more than half tha~ (
secula from early planting. Howl
ever, s1in a general average, corr Il
planter from the 2ot1l Of June t.
the 4th Of July will make a good
crop more than half OF the time, and
will always pay for the labor. and
other expense involved, provided
one plants Mexican June, Laguna,
or Yellow Creole. In case these va
rieties cannot be secured, the Hast
ings Prolific will probably be one of
the best varieties that can be plant
ed
IN the section now. salvs,.Fated there
is some danger Of ..ssfl,gSa I{q,as follow
ina. fha sgs-sffld usual Srs ~
they he sonetirss sassn. DESTROY /. rlD
The crop. Thesa{ers o1Isr are ordi-
narily kept in .subj5seaf0n by their
natural enemies, chief Of which are
the ground beetles. which feed upon
both the larval and the adult stages
of grass worms. These beetles are
destroyed in overflowed areas, and |
after the subsidence of the flood |
regain possession Of the territory
slowly. The adult Of the grass worm
is a little moth that lays its eggs
on the young blades of grass or
corn, phere they hatch in about
three pfIys and grow rapidly, reaclne
ing ms aurity in about ten days. TIL g 9
ChTysesSs stage Lasts for eight or nin>S.1f'
days, SO that the entire life cycle is
passed in three weeks, and with this I
apid reproduction they soon take |
complete possession Of territory
where their enemies have been kill
cd out.
The habit Of the grass WORN is
such that it drops from its place Of
i is the custom Of some farmers to
attach d device to the plow that will
Irag the corn in advance Of the
9loW, causing the caterpillars to
drop off and be covered. They can
also be poisoned by using Paris
green mixed with five or six times
is weight of air-slacked lime and
lusted on the corn either with a
blow gun Or in the ordinary way Of
shaking It from a. porous bag, as
;ottou planters ordinarily poison cot
on against the cotton caterpillar.
It is very possible that the damage
hat accrues to small areas that
lave been Inundated, where most OBJ
on this insect have been
made, will not follow in cases where
arge expanses of territory have been
lnder water; at least, it is not prob
.ble that there are aough Of these
Insects On the high lands to become
! serious pest after they are dis
emnated, even shUuld they invade
he territory now inundated. I,
therefore,, do not contemplate any
erious damage over widespread
treas from this insect. 1t is, how