The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1920-05-27
Cotton Under Boil Weevil Conditions.

The following suggestions if intelli-
gently followed out will enable the
cotton producer to realize profitable
returns under boil weevil conditions.
/. Plant only properly standard
lied, rapid fruiting, early maturing
varieties. If you have wilt infested
land, Councils Toole is the best va
riety to plant; otherwise the
Wannamaker-Cleve is the most
suitable. 1t is we'll that continual
fruiting variety be selected so that the
weevil will not have to fall back on
the bolls when forms are no longer
available.
2. Plant On we'll drained soil of
good fertility.
3. Fertilize literally and in ac-
cordance with the grade and charac-
ter of soil selected for planting.
Don't apply nitrogen to a soil that
has plenty in it and lacking some
other plant food material. An excep-
ton is in the case of rolling the seed
in nitrate of soda or applying soda to
the bed before the cotton comes up in
order to hasten an early growth OF
the crop.
4. Put alt fertilizers under the
drill row and mix throughly with soil
at or, before planting time. 1t has
been found that rows should be 1-2
feet apart and plants IL inches in the
row.
5. Side applications can be made
very early in the season but not al
ways available. The idea is to double
the amount of available plant food
that is ordinarily used under cotton.
6. Chop cotton to a stand as early
as possible having the cotton choppers
look closely for weevils. Go over
the field Systematically every Monday
morning and pick the weevils as they
come out of their winter quarters.
This is neither hard or costly as wee
wills do not appear in great numbers
during the spring. They will make
their first appearance in the field near
the place that furnished the most
favorable hiding place; such as barns,
out buildings, trash covered areas
and woods. Destruction of the Weevil
early in the season is very important
work which can be accomplished. The
weevils should be picked until the
fruit begins to form and if necessary
pay something extra to have this work
done effectively.
7. If the picking Of the Weevils
is not properly supervised it is wasted
effort.
8. Pick up all fallen forms every
Monday morning and burn them, this
is not hard to do as infested areas are
scattered when the Weevils first ap-
pear. This practice must be kept up
until the middle of July or until the
weevil begin to migrate.
9. 1t is important that the cotton
acreage be limited to about 5 acres
per plow, depending on how much
you can take care of following out
the principles.
10. At present poisoning is recon-
mended in limited way. If you are
going to use Cal-Arsenate get litera-
ture On it's use from reliable source
before using. But do not depend on
it's use alone if you expect to raise
cotton successfully and profitably un-
der weevil conditions. It is only one
means to an end.
II. During the fall is the most
favorable and successful time to fight
the weevil. AS soon as the cotton is
gathered rip up the stalks immedi-
ately but do not burn them as this
will destroy from 20 to 40 pounds of
nitrogen per acre. The best practice
is to bury the stalks with a disc plow.
-. Stalks must be destroyed be-
fore frost falls hut September is the
most effective time. This causes the
weevil to go into winter quarters
hungry and much weakened, and the
chances are that he will not survive
the winter.-John D. BBrandon, Agt.