The Marietta journal. (Marietta, Ga.) 1918-1944, 1919-09-26
Combating the Boil Weevil.

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In the spring the fight against the
boil weevil must start as soon as the
weevils emerge from winter quarters.
This may occur before the squares be-
gin to form, depending upon the earll-
! ness of the spring. If so, the weevIis
will locate in the cotton field, or the
part of the cotton field nearest where
they have spent the winter. This will
be next to a strip of woods, around
buildings. stumps or thick hedges. A
search should be made around these
places when warm spring weather
arrives. If no squares are on the
plants the old weevils will be found
in the terminal buds of the little
plants. They will not appear in great
numbers this early; the infested spots
may be a hundred years or more
apart. The weevil is grayish white at
this season and is not hard to see
sticking in the top of the little plant.
Just as many of these old weevils as
is possible to find should be destroyed
before the squares begin to form. 1t
is a good scheme to offer the labor
little reward for all the old weevlls
found before the squares begin to
form. The writer last year offered
five cents for every old weevil found
during this period on his farm. 1t so
happened that he did not have to pay
out anything as not one was brought
! in, although the offer was not made
until three old weevils had been To-
Gated. This was a southwest Geor-
gia farm and very few weevils ap-
peared early last year there.
After the squares form the squares
should be picked up once week and
burned. This job should be done
thoroughly as the most insignificant
square left is the most dangerous one
! to leave for the reason that the young
weevil should likely have emerged
from this square before the next
week. The best time to do this is the
first thing Monday morning. Do the
lob, then go about other matters until
the next Monday. This is not such
hard job. The squares will not be
all along the row, only in the infested
spots. which for the most part, have
been located. But a close watch
should be kept for new spots as the
wevils come out of winter quarters
few at a time, just as they happen
to thaw out. Keep these squares
pickle donce week, until about the
middle of July at about which time
the weevils begin to fly. Before this
time they will stay close around
where they first located. If these
squares containing these eggs are not
destroyed and two or three genera
tions of young weevils get out, then
the hard job comes. This is the i'm
portance of keeping up with the
squares each week This is the rea-
son it is not safe to have more acres
in cotton than one knows he can be
sure to get over quickly, and do this
thoroughly. You may swear you will
not pick up squares as / have describ-
ed But you will. Do not spend your
money for a boil weevil catcher un-
less you are first absolutely convinced
that you are buying something that
has already proven its ability to do
, the job before you buy. See if for
yourself, take no ones word for it.
Then if you buy any way, it would
not be a bad idea to go behind it and
pick up any square it may leave.
The last direct control measure is
that of poisoning with Calcium Ar
senate. This is yet in the expert
mental stage. The Federal Depart
ment of Entomology has been work
ing with it at Tallula, La, for the
past five years. The College of Agri-
culture is trying it out in several
counties in south Georgia this year.
But neither of these institutions are
ready to say use it extensively yet.
Some individuals have used it SEEM
ingly effective while others have not
been benefited so much. Use this on
small areas if desired and convince
yourself before going too heavy until