The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1919-11-27

way the wind is blowing is the way
he goes. He flies until tired, then de-
scends. and if he lights in cotton
field there he stays. If he lights IN
fields other than cotton he rests
while and then starts out again, and
continues this until a cotton field is
found. As soon as the squares begin
to form the females begin depoSiting
eggs in them. Usually only one egg
is placed in each square. The weeVli
punctureS the square, lays the egg,
and then seals the puncture up. Zach
female weevl is capable of laying
about twelve eggs per day. The pro-
geny from one pair of weevilS in
season is something over three mil
lion. If the seasons are favorable 1t
usually takes only about two
weeks for the eggs to hatch out into
the adult weevil The egg first hatch
es out into a small grub; which eats
the contents of the square. This white
grub (Which is the larva stage)
changes into the pupa stage. In the
pupa stage it doesn't take in any food.
In the pupa stage they are yellowlsh
in color, and have wings and legs.
They next change into the adult wee
vii and work their way out of the
squares.
Now let's see how we are going to
control the weevil so that we can raise
some cotton. First we must combat
him in the fall of the year by de-
stroying his winter quarters. Then
we must plant only six to eight acres
per plow, and plant as early in March
as possible Plant cotton upon beds so
that it will grow off faster. Use heavy
applications of fertilizer, being care
full to have your nitrogen in readily
available form, such as nitrate OF So
da or sulphate of amonia. Apply this
when you plant your cotton so as to
get quick growth. Also make heavy
application of acid phosphate so as
to make fruit mature early. The
amount of fertilizer to use will depend
upon your land. If your land makes
good stalk without much nitrogen,
YOU wouldn't use as much as you
would on land that requires nitrogen
in large quantities to make the stalk.
Chop out as soon as possible, then
cultivate every week to ten days. BY
cultivating every week to ten days
you cover the punctured squares with
dirt. and the weevils die. The old
adult weevils should be picked off
when they first appear in the spring.
Do this every week Also pick up any
punctured squares that you may find
and burn them.
The boil weevil is hard to poison
due to the fact that he eats the inside
of the squares, and there's no way OF
getting the poison on the inside OF
the squares. There is only one way
left for US to poisson him, and that is
to poison the water that he drinks.
This water is the dew drops. Calcium
arsenate has been tried out in several
experiments and has given fair re-
suits. The poisoning of the boil wee
vii is still in the experimental stage
but feel sure that by next spring
powder guns that will meet all re-
ouirements will have been perfected
and manufactured in such numbers
that farmers can secure them at rea-
sonable prices. These guns will prob
ably cost from $500 to S25.0O. CAL
.cium arsenate is selling for about
thirty cents per pound. 1t requires
about five pounds to go over an acre,
and four or five applications are re-
quired during the season. The poison
powder is blown over the cotton plants
late in the afternoon, and is dissolved
in the dew. The weevils drink this
dew in the morning, thus killing them.
This will not kill all of the weevils
though. There will be plenty left to
do considerable damage, but it will re-
duce them enough so that fair crop
of cotton can be made.
Plant just the amount OF cotton
next year that you can afford to loose,
for it will take one year to convince
some and for the others to learn how
to handle the new visitor.
Grow Livestock
Livestock means success in spite OF
the boil weevil. To succeed in boil
weeHl territory we must have cattle,
hogs, and poultry, and grow corn'
,o,+. oou,nooc yalyet heanS DOtatOeS,