The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1916-04-19

| the season from June 10th to NoYem-
Der 9Th. From these figures we get
an idea of the possible destruction OF
the pest to the cotton plant.
1t must be borne in mind that
there are many species of weeyils
and some of them closely resemble
| the boil weevil. Many farmers have
mistaken other species for the boil
! Weevil.
Sucks It's Food.
We have mentioned the above in
describing the egg laying of the wee
vii. one way in which they injure the
cotton plant Every square in which
an egg is laid is destroyed, and eV-
cry young boil in which an egg is
laid is injured. Another way in
which they injure the crop is the
way in which they obtain food. The
adult weevil obtains its food from
the tender squares, the tender grow
ing buds of the cotton plant and even
the tender young bolls. The WeeVil
has no biting mouth parts, hence 1t
feeds by sucking" its food. 1t
thrusts it's long snout into tender
young square or boil and sucks the
juicy substance from the inside. EV-
cry square thus fed upon II few
days falls to the ground, and oil ten
der bolls injured in like manner pro-
duce very little cotton, if uny.
Many Perish in Winter.
The weevil passes the winter N
the adult or mature stage, and fort
unately a very small per cent of those
that go into winter quarters live
through the winter. 1t is not only
estimated but has been tested cut by
experiment that only between 2 and
3 per cent of the weeVii5 entering
Information survive the winter Ill der
normal conditions. Work of the
United States department of agricult-
ure shows that in a test under con-
ditions as nearly like those the Wee
vii would encounter in the field dur
ing the winter out of %. 900 WeevilS
ESP per cent survived the winter of
1905-06 A similar test was made
during the winter of 1906-07, and it
was found that out of Z 900 wee
wills 115 per cent survived. 1t must
be emphasized, however, that the
winter of 19O6-O7 was abnormally
warm. The most accurate estimate
is that less than per cent of the
weevils live through the winter.
Where They Hide.
AS soon as cold weather ap-
proaches in the fall the weevils begin
to seek out some place of protection
during the winter. Many of them fly
away to the woods and hide them
selves under the fallen leaves and
bark and moss; some hide them
selves in the empty cotton burrs, in
the grass, under leaves and trash in
the cotton fields; some crawl under
trash and weeds and grass along the
edge of the fields and in fence cor
ners; some in moss hanging on the
trees, and still others around in the
buildings, in haystacks, cOrntields
and blackberry patches. In cases it
has been found that several thousand
weevils per acre have hibernated
right in the cotton field. The ma
jority Of weevils that pass through
the winter successfully do not hiber-
nate in the cotton fields, but else
where The weeViis remain practj-
cally dormant during the winter and
take in no food. Over 81 per cent
of all that go into winter quarters
die naturally. are eaten by birds o
are destroyed by cold weather.
Vast Damage Done.
We have mentioned already how
many weevils may come from one
pair and successive generations dur
ing one season. The damage done
by the boil weevil has been enormous
and is still enormous. When inyau-
ing territory for the first time the
production Of cotton is often reduced
one-haIf 1t is estimated that in
Texas alone the yearly loss from
1902 was $4,000, 1000. Conserya-
lively it is estimated upon the whole
that since the weevil entered the
United States in 1892 it has caused
loss of $3.50, 900 bales of cotton.
about 1925, 100000.