St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1912-07-27
ARMY WORMS RAVAG-
ING SOUTHERN COTTON
Congress Recommends Immediate AppropFi.
alton oi $4,000 to KilI the Pest.
POISON SAVES THE COTTON
The Wsrm, nav Principally In Mississippi,
said TO Dr. the D4aalIest Enemy Of
tha Great Staple.

Washington, j July "a. The
House committee on agriculture
to-day recommended an imme-
date appropriation of $4,000 to
stop the ravages of the arm y
worm in Southern States. Sec
rotary Wilson asked for it.
Representative Hefiin, OF Ala
bama, told the committee the
worm was stopping al W a y
trains in his district. The COM
mittee will try to rush the appro-
priation through before the agri-
cultural appropriation bill is put
through.
DEADLIEST ENEMY TO CROP.
jackson, Miss, July M-Ac-
cording to a special bulletin is
sued to-day by State Entomolo-
gist DR.. E. w. Harmed, the cot
ton worm, one of the deadliest
enemies of the South,s great
staple, has made its appearance
in several counties in Mississ-
sippi. He has received speci-
mems of the worm from LoWndez,
Noxubee, Oktibbeha and Monroe
Counties, and it is feared that
they exist in many other counties
of the state.
CONDITIONS ARE SIMILAR.
The cotton worms made their
first appearance this year in prac-
tically the same places as last
year. They are about ten days
later, but this is Offset by the
fact that the cotton crop is at
least two weeks behind the crop
of 1911. The worms have ap-
peared in Alabama and ha e
already done considerable dam
age in Texas. In all probability
the worms will increase rapidly
and the next generation, which
will appear early in August, may
be large enough to do consider
able damage. It is likely that
every county in the state will be
infested before the close of the
season. No one can be sure
what these insects are going to
do, but we have last years ex-
perience to help us. Last year
many planters lost heavily sim
ply because they could not buy
poison. The demand W a S so
great that the supply of Paris
green and powdered arsenate of
lead was soon exhausted.
RESULTS ATTAINED IN 1911.
Last year experiments were
carried on to determine the value
of poisoning for this insect. The
poison was applied tWice-Aug.
90 and Aug. 80. The cotton
that was poisoned averaged !, Ala
pounds Of seed cotton per acre.
The cotton that was not poisoned
averaged only 767 pounds per
acre.
POISONS SUGGESTED.
The two poisons to use are
Paris green and powdered arse
nate of lead. Paris green is an
old poison and is well known. It
is more poisonous than powdered
arsenate of lead, and one pound
is usually enough for an acre of
cotton. It it likely to burn the
foliage if applied too strong.
Each pound should be mixed
with at least two pounds of flour
Ito make it stick better and to
get it more evenly distributed
over the cotton plants. Last
year the persons in charge Of
poisoning the cotton worms at
the Experiment Station thought
the Paris green was more salts
factory than the powdered arse
nate of lead. Experiments in
other states have shown that
Paris green will materially check
the fruiting of the cotton, and is
therefore not recommended as
highly as the powdered arsenate
of lead. The powdered arsenate
of lead is q new poison that is
rapidly replacing Paris green as
an insecticide. It does not in
jure the plants and it is there
fore not necessary to mix it with
flour or lime. It is necessary to
apply at least three pounds per
acre, but there is no danger of
getting j ton too thick, as there
is with Paris green.
NAnW NkNRr MrxlCrDEF