The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1916-12-14

ed to be more devoted to vegetative
growth during the same period Of
time.
Seed selection is generally believ-
ed to be long process, ,one where a
little progress toward Improvement
is made each year and in the course
of several years the desired result
may be obtained. This breeding
work with cotton has shown that in
the first selection, from the right
kind of plants, a marked increase can
be secured in early fruiting, rapid
fruiting and productiveness, combin-
ed with good sized boIls, good ave.
rage per cent Of lint and good
length of staple. So in the first
years selection, cotton can be es-
tablished whose crop will success
fully escape serious boil weevil dam
age. There is a disposition on the
part of many growers to judge the
yielding quality by the eye when all
the bolls are open. The practice is
extremely deceptive with small boil
medium-leaf cotton. The latter
shows less bolls than it really has be-
cause of its larger leaf, and it may
have fewer bolls but exceed the yield
of the smaller boil cotton. Only with
scales can a considerable difference
in yield be determined. There are
several standard varieties that have
been found of value in weevil-in-
tested territory. Among them are
Rowdsn, Triumph, Cleveland Big
Boil, Cooks Improved and King.
The drying out of infested squares
soon destroys the immature weevils
and makes it so we can cultivate 80
as to destroy many Of the weevils in
the field. There is always some she'd
ding when the grubs begin to feed
on the inside of the boil. There has
been an implement devised by the
Department of Agriculture with
chains placed in a triangular shape,
so that when it is drawn between
the rows of cotton the bolls of cot
ton that have fallen will be drawn in
the middle of the rows. When they
are placed in the middles so that the
sun can get to them the weevils in
side will not live very long. The i'm
plement can also be used as a cult
vator to form dust mulch and also
to kill the young weeds. (Plans for
this implement can be gotten at this
office; any blacksmith can make i).
Without nature to assist US in
combating this pest we would not
have much chance in raising cotton
for profit. There are as species of
insects that are known to be enemies
of the boil weevil. Of this number,
there are % species which place their
eggs on the immature stages of the
weevil within the squares or boil.
When the eggs from these insects
hatch they feed upon the immature
boil weevil, which destroys the wee
vii. 1t has been estimated that in
field near Robson, La, the mortality
due to these insects was II per cent.
The insects never feed upon vegeta-
ton. 1t has been suggested that the
bolls that dropped from the stalks
and held young weevils be placed in
wire cages Q6 to the inch), so that
these insects would breed upon the
young weevils, and the weevils could
be held in captivity at the same time.
The ants also do great damage to
the weevil. There are II species that
attack this pest. They do not attack
the old weevils but feed on the i'm
mature weevils in the squares. In
few cases it was estimated that these
ants destroyed rs per cent of the
immature weeyils.
The weevil has but little ability to
get out of the ground when covered
with wet soil. This can be done by
fall blowing just after the cotton is