The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-07-11
IF YOU KNOW OF BLACK WALNUT TELL UNCLE SAM
Wade's Letter

The farmers of Alabama were asked not to increase their cotton acreage in 1918. They were later urged to destroy by hand picking and machines all the over-wintered boil weevils before the plants began fruiting and a crop of eggs were deposited in the squares. This many of them failed to do, as indicated from the complaints now being circu- lated.
 Many reports are reaching us from over the state which tell of the heavy damage being inflicted on the cotton crop by weevils in many localities. The S1nount of damage which will result from the weevils during the season will depend upon the amount of rain and cloudy weather that occurs during the next four weeks. If the rain fall is light. and shallow cultivation is kept up regularly through the month, the dam age will be light. Should the July rain fall be heavy and cultivation hindered. the damage from weevils will be great Tn many sections. As usual, the heavy uaElageywill be in spots or communities where no early fight was made
 When weevils appear in large num- oers in the cotton fields after July ], there IS no remedy other than shallow cultivation and dry weather Boil wee vii machines may help some but are not sufficiently effective after the plants are
 
 are infested. The weevils get down in the squares and the machines will not take them out. Picking weevls or pick ing up infested squares is not practical after the plants are fruiting and bloom ing freely. The shedding of blooms and falling of young bolls and squares from weather conditions makes picking upl scuares expensive and difficult There is no practical way of distinguishing in- fested squares from those which have fallen from other causes without carefu examination. To make such examina- tions or to collect all fallen forms is a too great a task and too expensive to lbe profitable after July 1. Chemical rem edies calculated to poison the weeyils or to run them from the fields with bad odors are failures founded on supersti- ton, lack of knowledge, or intent t( make money by faking. Any poison that will kill the weevis will kill the plants when applied strong enough and in suf ficient quantity to force the weevils te eat it. The idea of driving the weevili from the fields with bad odor is funda- mentally wrong and absurd.
 J. B. McDuffey, colored minister living near Montgomery, has boil wee. vii remedy which he is advertising ex- tersively. He has seen fit to clip from newspapers interviews coming from me and incorporate them in his advertise ments. This would appear to many peo pie that I was either indorsing his rem edy or connected in some way with it In justification to myself, l must say that I have been watching this remed! for three years and am of the opinion 4 that it is fundamentally wrong and with out merit I have about as much --eonfi- dence in the effectiveness of this remedy as I would have in heating a2poker to silence the screech of an owl; to hang up a dead snake to make it rain, or to carry a rabbits foot for luck. The in- secticide and fungicde board of the United States department of agriculture passed upon the remedy and pronounced it of no value and it's sale prohibited in interstate commerce. pr. Thomas, assistant entomologist, of Auburn. made all investigation of the remedy and con cluded that as a boil weevil remedy il was without merit. I am of the opinion that the advertising and sale of this remedy is in strict violation of the Shapiro act, No. SIS, civil acts of the legislature of 1915, and is a problem prop erly belonging to the grand jury.
 J. A. WADE, Commissioner of Agriculture and Indus tries.