Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1920-01-02

| three-fourths Of one per cent of wa
| ter soluble arsenic. If it contains
| less than 40 per cent arsenic, it
won't kill the boil weevil. If it
| contains more than three-fourths of
per cent water soluble arsenic it
will kill the plant.
From .heseN effects, you see how
absolutely necessary it is to have
| the right mixture.
1.-THE boil weevi1 is native of
Mexico, coming originally from the
| Laguna, the crater of an extinct
volcano. but whale of a place,
| about 60 miles in diameter. Cotton
grows wild down there and the boil
weevil has grown up along with it.
"Tn the early COS the weeviI cross
ed the Rio Grande, and was first dis
| covered in a semi-circle around the
mouth of the river. This semi-circla
has widened until it covers the whole
| cotton-growing section of the United
| States.
Take the effect on the sea island
| cotton crop. The first year the boil
| weevil got into it, sea island was
| cut from 10000 to 10000 bales, and
| last year it was so nearly put out OF
existence that the government quit
estimating the crop.
with things shaping this way,
government experts ten years ago
! began seeking a means to kill The
boil weevil. State departments and
college experts co-operated, but most
of the work has been done at the
governments laboratory at Tallulah
La, across the river from Vicl1s-
burg, Miss. The land there is owned
mostly by big planters, making it
possible to carry on extended expert
ments.
Between rs and 100 government
men have been at work there, ex-
perts of all sorts-entomologis
chemists and engineers.
THE first thing was to find
poison that would kill the bug and
not hurt the plant. The next thing
was to devise an apparatus that
would distribute the poison over
the plant
Everything under the sun was
tried and it all ifailed-lead poison,
raris green, this thing and that. But
either the substance tried wouldn't
kill the bug or it would kill the
plant.
FINALLY, calcium arsenate was
discovered and It worked-it killed
the bug and it did not harm the
plant.
"rhen the problem was tofind
practical, economical way to dust it
over the cotton. There is a room at
Tallulah as big as factory loft full
of discarded busters. They range
from hand busters to power machines
the size of tractors.
Finally as the most practicable
means of busting the fields we hit
upon the two-wheeled cart PROPOSE
ton so arranged that sprockets run
fan which will blow the calcium
arsenate in a cloud over the cotton.
These busters are being manufac-
tured, but not in sufficient quantity
There is a good opportunity for man
ufacturers to get in on the ground
floor and turn out such machines.
busters will be in as common use in
a few years as moving machines are
now.
"One of the small difficulties we
had to solve was an effective light
for the machine. One that would
stand the hard jolts and Jars, as the
buster is hauled over the fields. T.
Elimination, of course, is necessary,
since the busting must be done at
night. Finally we solved the prob
lem by using pressed carbide cakes;
and by hard work over months and
years most the other difficulties have
been worked out, making it possible
for the department to announce to-
day that the boil weevil problem has
been met"
DO It Right or Not at All
Following is a written statement
of agriculture bearing out the inter
view with Mr.. Merritt and emphasiz-
\ ing points made by him:
~ 1.-THE first thing for every farmer
~ remember is that poisoning the
/ IL weevil is not May-day flirta-
-. It is an until death do us
proposition. If the farmer is
willing to go about it in the
and faith and sure intent
q would better leave it alone
-better for himself, not only,
his neighbors. He has no
egin the thing and, through
IS or inability to carry It
botch of it and probably
ghbor who, if he under
would do it right.
ng some calcium arse
he cotton field some
E summer does not
ling the boil weevil.
not control the
cumulative effect
busting at the
the season that
is faced with
I'm poisoning
ant a mat
A. ,rrI,<