Greenwood daily commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1919-1926, 1920-04-16
POISONING The
BOIL WEEvIL
Extensive Trials Show That CAL
cium Arsenate Properly Ap.
piled Is q Profitable Means Of
Controlling the Boil Weevil-
Method Perfected by Govern
ment Experts.
G. A. Whittie Soil Improvement
Committee.

Calcium arsenate, the boil weevil
poison, was applied to more than
loo. 900 acres OF cotton in Mississippi,
Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas dur
ing the season of 1919, under the di-
rection of government experts. The
results obtained lead them to state
that a saving of 500 pounds of seed
cotton to the acre were not an IN
usual matter, and, in some cases, as
much as 1000 pounds were protected
from the weevil.
These savings have been made at
an outlay of from $500 to $1,000 per
acre, which includes cost Of materials.
labor and reasonable charge for de.
probation of machinery. At the price
at which cotton is now selling this
would indicate that it is we'll worth
while to poison the boil weevil,
1t is advised by those who have per-
fectedl this means of holding the vice.
vii in check that the additional cost of
growing cotton should not be assumed
on very low yielding acres, therefore
cotton should be grown on the better
land and be fortified so as to pro
duce maximum yields.
In combating the weevil with poi.
son, it is not possible to exterminate
it, but the object is to control it so
that they will not destroy more squares
OF the cotton than would naturally
shed. This, it has been found, can
be done, thus assuring the farmer
that he can grow a full crop under boil
weevil conditions.
When to Begin Poisoning
Poison is not applied until about
10 to Is per cen of the squares have
been punctured. The time to begin
a be determined by going into the
field in various places, counting a
hundred squares taking all on each
plant, and if ten to fifteen out Of
each 100 is destroyed, the spraying
can begin. In large fields it is fire.
quently found that the weevils be-
gin near the woods. The poisoning
should begin there and need not be
put all over the field until the in
festation has extended to all parts of
1t.
How Frequent and Often to Poison
It has been found that if the spray
ing begins when about 10 per cent of
the squares are punctured and if re.
peated every four days that as a rule
three ~sprayings are all that is neces,
sary. If weather interferes and the
applications are more than four days
apart, then more of them must be
made.
Amount Required Per Acre and Cost
From five to seven pounds of cal
cium arsenate are required to thor
ougbly dust an acre. At the present
time the cost of calcium a%rsenate is
Is cents per pound. With expert
ence in applying the poison, and
good machine, five pounds of cal
cium ~arsenate can be made to do the
work satisfactorily.
Applied When Dew Is On
Since the weevil is poisoned by
drinking dew which has been poison
ed, it is necessary to apply the poi
son while the dew is on the plants
It is customary to put it on at night
using 8OOu 1ISuCS Will Wu1CA " SCI
how to do the work.
Machines Required
Unless a farmer car get a desirable
machine, it is better not to undertake
to use poison. The calcium arsenatt
must be forced into the atmosphere
from a machine that will form a dus
cloud. This dust will settle on al
parts of the plant.
Three types of machines are to b.
had, a hand gun that is suitable TO
twenty-five acres and under, car
sprays and power sprays for large
operations. Various types Of machine
are tested by Professor Coad and as
~sociates at Tallulah, La, and they viii
give information as to which are sal
isfactory. In this connection, thes
government men will also analyz
samples of calcium %arsenate withou
charge to see if they conform to spec
ifications. 1t is essential that the MI
terial conform exactly to specifics
tons.
A few simple precautions are Al
that is necessary to prevent harm I
farm animals and operators of tn
machines, such as muzzling the horse
and the men washing before eatin,
II Calcium Arsenate is not all use
one season 1t can be carried over tn
next and be just as good for use thel
It does not deteriorate il kept in
dry place.
Some few farmers have tried ca
cium arsenate and claim to have ol
tanned no desirable results. A nun
Der Of these failures have been inve'
tigated and almost invariably 1t ha
been found that the reason they faile
Is that they did not follow instruction
It is not considered advisable for
group Of farmers to cooperate l blu,
ing a large machine to apply the, pc
ION for the reason that the period whe
poison must be applied is brief, an
Il weather i~nterferes to some exten
It would be found that all b farmer
would want the 8 Of b machir
It the same time.
Everybody who can possib
do so should contribute liberal
to the relief fund for the suffe