The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1914-06-26
ADVICE ON The BOIL
WEEVIL SITUATION
OF PEST RAVAGES
GIVEN BY ALABAMA EXPE-
RIMENT STATION.
ISSUED TO COTTON FARMERS
Says With Good Courage, Common
Sense and Hard Work 1t Is Posi-
BILE to Raise Cotton Probably i'm
Spite of Boil Weevil.

Sense and Hard Work 1t Is Posi-
bic to Raise Cotton PrOfitably in
Spite of Boil Weevil.
The steady approach of the boil
weevil in this direction makes the
following address by the Alabama eX-
pertinent station of interest to the
farmers of Southwest Georgia:
Reports from the United States
census bureau show that in the Ala
bama counties of Baldwin, Choctaw,
Clarke, Escambia, Mobile, Sumter
and Washington, the total cotton
yields were for 1911, 82,735 bales;
for 1912, 60,0S6. bales and for 1913,
1907 bales. This territory was first
generally infested in 1911 and the
! 1912 crop was the first to feel the
effect of the boil weevil. Such re-
auctions in yield will occur in other
sections as the weevil becomes fully
established.
''Weevils begin to emerge from
winter quarters usually during the
latter part of March, and while prac-
tically all will be out by the first
week in June, a very few may not
come out before the first of July.
There is a strong tendency for wee
wills to concentrate upon the earliest
cotton where one field has a lead of
two or three weeks over those around
it. Weevils feed upon the tender
foliage in the tip of the bud until
after squares begin to form. In ex-
treme cases they may be found upon
young cotton working in the bud to
the number of several thousand wee
wills per acre, even before reproduc-
ton begins, which is at the time the
first squares become about halfgrown
or by a rough rule at the time the
first bloom may be noticed.
Where present in noticeable num-
hers on the young cotton it will pay
Ito go over the fields carefully once
or twice and collect these over-win-
tered weevils from the buds, and this
can be done most economically and
effectively just before the squares
start to form. If done earlier than
this other weevils will emerge from
winter quarters later. If done at this
time with the utmost care the maxi
mum number of weevils may be
gathered before any eggs have been
deposited. Watch for wilted, or
black leaves, in the very heart Of the
tip, and where such occur, search
that plant and others surrounding it
within a radius of ten or twelve feet
until the weevil is found. The wee
wills may be killed by crushing when
caught, or by putting them into
bottle containing a little water with
film of kerosene oil on top. The
cowpea pod weevil and occasionally
other species, may also be found on
cotton early in the season and may
be similarly disposed of at this time,
but these species leave the cotton
later and do not breed upon it as does
the boil weevil. The collection of
weevils before squaring will not pay
where, on thorough search, less than
fifty weevils can be found per acre.
In the search for weevils one hand
should be horizontally under the tip
which is bent over slightly so that
the weevil, if present, may fall into
the hand instead of on the ground,
as it is their natural tendency to
drop and play possum' when the
plant is disturbed. Unless this is
done many weevils will escape by
dropping so quickly that tthey are
never seen by the collector.
'As a second step that should be
practiced under certain conditions we
may mention the collection of the
weevil infested squares. The boil
weevil female does not develop eggs
until she has fed for few days upon
squares. After the eggs are depos-
tied in the squares they require three
or four days to hatch. and then about
five or six days for the grub to be-
come half grown in the first genera
ton. By the time the brub is half
grown the injury it has done the
square becomes so great as to cause
the square to fare, turn yellow and
in two or three days more it falls to
the ground. AS a rule, weevil in
tested squares remain on the plants
for about seven to ten days after
the eggs are deposited so that first
half of the development of the wee
vii takes place on the plant and the
second half after the square has fall
len to the ground. Some squares are
never shed completely, but dry upon
the plant and may there give emer-
gence to the weevi1.
"Where square picking is attempt
ed, the following points should be
carefully borne in mind; First, the