The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1918-08-30
TO.
The COTTON MEN .
OF LOUISIANA
AGAINST TEXAS
PINK BOIL WORM

ton pink boil worm at several points
in Texas has aroused intense inter
est among all men connected in any
way with the cotton industry, as this +.
IS one of the most injurious pests of /.
The world and it's establishment with .
in the United States would probably ,
mean the elimination Of cotton
planting. There is no known method !
to control this pest once it becomes
established, and consequently, every
effort is being made to stamp out the
infestations now known. This can be
done when the infestations are coll
fined to small areas, as is now the
case. However, the Department OF
Agriculture is not at all sure that all
infestations in the United States
have been located and it is essential
tc scour the courtry Thoroughly 10
detect any infestatioEs which may he
present and stamp them Or- hefoEt
they get beyond control, OHCe the
ha; been thoroughly secure! ami ~
Fluctuations erat,rarei he system If
nuarantines Whicn are COW being en-
forced should prevent any further IL
PRODUCTION.
One feature which makes a spe-
cial search for this pink boil worm
necessary is the fact that it's injury
so closely resembles that Of the boil
weevil and the ordinary boil worm
that it is apt to breed for several
years in a field and become thor
oughly established before it's pres
ence is detected. However, upon a
close examination it's injury can be
distinguished from that of other in
sects. Early in the season the pink
boil worm breeds in the cotton
squares like the weevil, but is its in
jury to the boil is much more typical
it is much easier to detect later in
the season. The injurious stage Of
the pink boil worm is a small larva or
worm somewhat larger than that OF
the boil weevil which reaches 4 MAJ
imum length of about three-quarters
Of an inch. This worm is at FIST
whitish, but when nearly full grown
i: assumes a deep pinkish color This
worm feeds largely on the immature
seed of the boil, but in moving about
through the boil it makes numerous.
small, clean cut, perfectly circular
holes through the walls separating
the different locks and also through
the outside of the bell. These holes
are much smalled than those made by
the ordinary boil worm, are much
more regular in shape and are rs
ual.y very clean instead of beng
surrounded with eXcrement as is as
ualIv the case with the ordinary boil
wo~nl. The boil is usually deforn
| ed and where the injury is severe the
lock of cotton of course fails to
open This injury may be detectes
in the burrs at any time during the
winter.
| another characteristic Of this pink
Dol. worm is it's habit of making cells
within the cotton seed. Late In the
| fall the worm eats out the contents
of one or more seed and forms eel
within which it spends the winter
" here it selects a single seed its
presence is very hard to detect ,but
II, a graf number of cases it takes twt
ls.ed and fastens them together. These
pass through the gin in douol'
seeded condition end careful ex
animation of the cotton seed from
any i:eld will show the presence D
} these double seed il the worms hav
: ben attacking this cotton during TIL
season.
+ The two most important things t
l look for in addition to the worm itsel
. are the holes in the boil and the see
cells. Whenever small pinkish worm
J., are found in the cotton bolls or boil
T containing holes such as have bee
II described, or cotton seed cOntainin
worms are found, they should be fol
S warded at once to the u. S. Rurea
Of Entomology, Washington, d. c.,
to the nearest State EntOmologis
However, before forwarding an
'' worms precaution should be taken
|. first kill them by dropping them
boiling water, kerosene, alcohol I
formaldehyde and the material SCI
should be very securely boxed in o
der to prevent the possibility of the
a loss in the mails.
9 -~-~
GIRLS! LEMON JUICE