The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-03-26
PLAN DEFEAT OF
COTTON WEEVIL
Secretary of Agriculture Mere
dith Tells How War Can Sue
cessfully Be Waged.
MUST WATCH ALL IMPORTS
Regulated Zones in Infected
Areas Suggested as Means
of Combating Pest.

Columbia, S. c., Mar. 25.-An in
ate will make it possible for farmers
to wage war against the boil weevil
this year on a greatly enlarged scale.
Secretary of Agriculture Meredith told
the members of the South Carolina
branch of the American Cotton Asso-
citation in an address here today The
eradication of the pest will be hindered.
he said, by an inadequate supply of
busting machines, but added that man
ufacturers were increasing the output
of the machines and that Sin no great
while the supply probably win be suf-
ficient to meet the needs"
Regarding efforts the department of
agriculture is making to confine the
pink boil weeviI to the infested areas
in Louisiana and Texas he asserted
the departments willingness to place
a federal quarantine Everybody in
terested in cottoa4 ought to realize,
however" he said "that the thing must
be done now or not at all. Extermin-
alton is possible only at the beginning
of infestation, when the insect occupies
only very restricted areas. Unless the
pink boil work is exterminated now
and it cannot be exterminated except
by absolute cooperation of the states
concerned-it will sweep over the en-
tire cotton belt and will inevitably in
flict much greater damage than the
boil weevil has done"
Mr.. Meredith said the test of calcium
arsenate as a poison that would elm
mate the ordinary boil weevil was tried
last year on an abandoned farm. ''The
department divided the field into three
strips" he said THE Imprisoned strip
on one side produced AZ pounds of
cotton. the strip on the other side pro-
duced so pounds of cotton and the
strip down the middle where the drink
ing water was poisoned, produced 4s0
pounds of cotton"
More than 5000 acres of cotton land
in Eastern Texas were cleared of cot
ton plants and even the bolls and
leaves, the secretary told the members
of the association in order to check
the spread - he pink boil worm. Since
then the same tactics We're used in
the Pecos valley and the Great Bend
district and cotton and regulated
zones established in the infested areas
and buffer strips beyond them and
also along certain portions of the Mex
lean border to prevent infestation
from Mexico.
migation houses were established
at points of entry all along the Rio
Grande" Mr.. Meredith said, land every
carrier that crosses the line, from a
freight car that may be fouled with
cotton to a Mexican tramp with pos
sibIe handful of cotton seed in his
pocket or wrapped up in his bundle,
is cleaned or disinfected before being
allowed to enter the United States.
Quoting from a preliminary report
the secretary gave some of the figures
on the cost of cotton production. No
bodv has known just how much it has
cost TO produce cotton" he said. The
department of agriculture undertook
to find out. The office of farm man
aeement began a series of studies in
the cost of producing cotton under
yarving conditions. The work has just
been completed and the preliminary
report shows that for the 1918 crop the
cost varied from soc to s1.03 per pound.
IT is interesting TO note that S5 per
cent of the cotton on the farms
studied representing Sc per cent. of
the producers, was grown II a cost
of % cents per pound or less, The
average cost of production was % cents
a Mound The average selling price
was % cents and even at this price
ane-fourth of the farmers produced
their cotton at a loss. Owing to re-
duced Yields and Increased wages the
cost of producing the 1919 crop has
been considerably larger