The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1918-02-27
FREEZES AND THE BOIL WEEVlL
No Reason to Believe that the Cotton
Pest Has Been Exterminatcd-
Caution to Farmers

unwise for cotton farmers to assume
that the freezes Of the last few weeks
have rEterminN>d tn; cotton boil wee.
wi, says the Department Of A@ricul-
tIrc. IN answer to many nuui"ics
fr:m the South
DLr'ng the past wint:c the tempe.
! "tlrc has Jccn lower th,r ut any time
since E"9, and there .:n ha, llv be
any doubt that this extreme cold has
reduced the numbers of wcevis in
many sections of the South. The i'm
preston has been gaineI by many
planters that the wccvil has been re-
duccd to negligible numbers. if not
altogether exterminated. 1t is 900
much to expect that the temperatures
have been uniformly cold enough to
absolutely eXterminate the wccvil
from large areas. The records of the
Department Of Agriculture Indicate
that there is at least to per cent
survival of the wecvil in those sec
tlons which have been thoroughly
studied as against normal of 7.G
per cent survival. This percentage of
surviving wccvils is sufficient to re-
stock the cotton fields of the South
before the end Of the growing season.
! There is always possibility that
there may be some snccially sheltered
spots even in the more northcrly IN
Tested REGIONS where some wcevils
Will be able to survive. The instinct
of the wc.vil leads it to seek the
Warmcst shelter available in the Vi
cinity Of its breeding ground. 1t will
shelter itself under the bark of trcccs,
or in thick hanging moss upon the
trees, under the thatch Of roofs, and
. III straw stacks, in seed storchouscs
and gins, and in other hu!dinYs. 1t
! is therefore quite easy to soc that no
matter how cold the Xtnrnal tcmpcra-
turcs are thnrc is always a nrobabli
! ty that there will be wccvils s,lrviv-
] ing in each field sheltered securely
enough to carry them through the
winter.
The cNn"ri"ncc Of 25 years with thu
boil wc"Nil III this country has shown
That one or two Wccvils surviving in a
field can easily produce enough off
spring to destroy all but the earliest
/ portions Of tho crop.
No reliable prediction can be made
on .hc basis Of what hnnpcnCd durin,r
the winter. Frequently $cas sons in
which very fcw wrcvils pass the viii
ter have been followed by great injury
to tn" crop by the wccvil. This has
been du" to favorable conditions
brought about by heavy rains during
the early part Cf the Grovimg seas
on, which permitted the wrcvils TO
overcome their losses during the win
ter, or to early dispersion Of the wee
wills from the warmer sections Of the
cotton belt, and sometimes to severe
tropical storms which Frequently
sweep over the Gulf states. 1t is
therefore apparent that the conditions
of tn" sprin" and summer will large
~ determine III" extent of damage
due to the wrcvil, rather than the
number of wc"Eils which survive in q
given locality.
In the opinion Of the Department
Of Agriculture, it would be very I'M
Fortunate if The nrrVpilin" imDr".Sior
concerning the boil wccvil should in
crease the acreage Of cotton n the en-
pens" of food cronS. At the present
time, what is most 'r~"ntly needed
throughout the Soi;h is an Increased
prodEctlon of food and feed cronS.
lh"r" Is every indication that the nor
ma acr"a"c i'm cotton, with proper
cult, alton. will give Il supply of the
stable sufficient fer AL purposns. II
Is clearly matter Of patriotism as
we'll as sound JUDGEMENT for the plant
crS TO Increase the acrrawc in fool
CROPS. The nian'"r VII" increases his
coLton.Acr"'!gc cannot be assured that
The bell wr"vil nttaclH. and will BE- %,i!-
.Tl"" his land in = wAv which |ors not
serve best the necessities Of the coun-
try.
Director General McAdoo has al
ready ISSUED a warning that transpor-
l";i"" 'iffic"'ti"s in 1918 may n!a&r
it difficult, if not impossible, 60 S'Io-
I NY food and feed promptly 10 com
! m"ni,i"S 'hn. n"g,~ct TO proVi.lc their
| Wn m"cr#si;i"S. T &3r The l2ls., the
| 'raiU &" trAnSnoYatinM is so hc2v
] that any exceptional requirements fl'
! hurting f"od and ir"1 TO tn, ~,l.h
] will b" an actual embarrassment 10
/ the Government in the prosecution Of
| the war. The Department of Agricui-
| turc is not asking the South to con
! tribHt" mntcrial'y 10 the Nations food
/ and feed supply, bat is asking the
| South only +" Feed Itself so chat it
; MAN not become = burden upon tn"
/ producing sections Of the country
| which must Strain their energies to
! the utmost in order TO feed the Arm
| les and maintain the civil populations
! ha ind tbnr,