Gunnison news-champion., 1920-06-18
THE ALFALFA WEENIL
LARGELY : BtGABDO

ApUtE"ae Int. rpr..s.-
last SG4r.-. tao Newspaper
gvIJsT-, tu-r farmers, County Agri-
clstlFl. agent King and several
other na..r q mp 70 PlDuia 70 OBJ
-eHrs aEat l h.uE done az that
pIarr tn 0nH-~1. u. eEt.ruiuats the
At paoaa ,nr state maintains an
s1 pJr.la.ural station Tor the Purpose
OF anGlug "a. best methods of con
trolling .ruf trre pests. poison milk
aasd and the alfalfa u,rFN-
Nr'g . fa.v hylr5 could bo devoted
b. lha ,f.t1rz 90 studying the results
uf the ,vp,uu,uts and that short
time aar uys Uisd 10 experiments with
Tho ae.s.I.
The ru4c. .-i0n arrived at was that
under the kuUau methods of easy
control The alfalfa wceyil is largely
a 5ugabpl.
one ur .h. important modes Of
warfare against the bug is spending
fugty cents for material and L haif
an hour with man and team to spray
an acre Of ground once . year.
But what appeared to the visitor
20 be- the most hopeful feature Of all
ls another bug that Is now making
war on the wcc,il. Il is a parasite
that lives by killing wecvils.
The wc'Vil parasite resembles :
small black ant and is armed with =
long, sharp and formidable Etinger
The female OF the parasite uses tn
singer 10 pierce the larvae Of thc
wecEll and deposits the eggs OF III,
parasite in the center OF the weeyi
laTya, with the result that the larva,
is consumed in developing the larvas
Of the parasite.
Thus the parasite larvae develop.
at the expense Of the weeyil larvae
while the spraying kills the old lar
vac because It feeds upon the poison
cd leaves Of the alfalfa plant, Will,
the parasite, not feeding on the plant
escapes death And, then too, as w
understand il. the adult parasit'
preys upon iHECCtivcrOus life for it
existence. II Is slim, long -lcgge'
black swlft-trayeiling carnivorous bus
which It would appear only need
time to put the wceyil out Of eXtsn
sivc business.
But il does not appear that tn,
parasite can accomplish the total eX
tension Of the wccvil, but IL has KEEP
the weeHI down in Europe TO n poin'
where the wceyll ceases to be form
idabie problem.
Another mode Of fighting the wee
vi is better farming. More HEALTHY
plants withstand all attacks Wit
better results More cultivation witt
the sprsngtnoth harrow and McCafety
marker viii greatly help nature IN
its constant fight against disease and
pests.
Alfalfa that has been sprayed once
Z year for three years shows compara-
no damage from the wee
vii. The spraying arrangement makest
a sEath twenty feet wide. The VISIT
ors saw half mile away Il strip oil
green alfalfa thru a badly infected
field. where the spraying wagon had
gone. \ closeup examination Tr-if
vealcd that the spray would n"aTiy
double the coming crop.
The farmers must regard the para
site as but a help to keep the number
of weeyIis down. No parasite ClnI
its only host and con-
unue to live. Where there is a par a.
site there must be host. No W. -
vii parasite can be propogatcd wIia-I
out the presence of weeviI larvae.
Hence the co-eNistence of the t"ot
and hence the necessity of good farm
ing, good spraying and the strct I;
regulations. 1,
Whether or not the parasite cH-i
lists in Montrose county is not known. |
Mr.. King is going to determine 1t. III
there are none, some Will be brought /,
here and turned loose as was done
in the Paonia district.
The alfalfa weevil is about four
times the size of Il corn meal weeTil ,
and about one-fourth the size Of 4
lady bug.