Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1920-10-13
Destroy the Cotton Stalks and
Starve the Boil Weeyil.

With the present price of cotton
less than 25 cents per pound, the
bears talking 20 cent cotton and the
boil weevil said to do its worst dam
age the third year many farmers now
think they will not plant much cotton
if any next year. But as sure as next
wear comes we will see large crop
OF cotton planted and perhaps too
much for weevil conditions.
As stated above, the third year is
supposed to receive more damage
from the boil weevil than other
wears. This of course is due to the
fact that it takes time for the weevil
to get thoroughly established in
section or county and for farmers to
learn he cannot grow as many acres
per plow as he did before the weevil
came. We had mighty favorable
weather this year for the weevil and
unfavorable for cotton. The late cold
spring delayed planting from two to
four weeks (and two weeks under
weevil conditions is likely to mark
success from failure) and the three
weeks of rain in Augusta caused the
weevil to do severe damage in parts
of the county. Some farmers who
had prospects for bale OF more per
acre failed to get one-half bale. The
best prospects were the ones in most
cases to, fall short, due to the heavy
foliage and large stalks which were
more favorable for the weevil. The
small or medium size stalks are MAX
ing the largest yield in most cases
this year.
The weevil has worked in some
sections of the county to cause al
most failure and some parts the crop
will be as high as 70 per cent. Taking
it as a whole, it now looks like
around So. per cent of normal crop
for the past three weeks have been
favorable to the cotton and most OF
the weevils gone north in search OF
food. However, many weevils are be-
ing fed and Matched from the squares
coming from the second growth and
this is the main purpose of our writ
ing.
Most of us know that the only
plants found in this section of the
state upon which the boil weevil lives
and thrives are cotton, okra and Hi
discus. We are not familiar with the
species of Hibiscus here, except as
aficwer pot plant, but under stand
it grows wild in the southern part of
the state and in Florida. DR.. D. w.
Pierce, of the U. S. Bureau of Ento-
mology has found the boil weevll at
work in Arizona on the Thurberla,
the most closely related of all plants
to cotton plant. Recently they have
been found living on the purpla NAL
low (Callirrhoe involucrata), but
this plant is not common to US. So
we very seldom find the weevil feed
ing on any plant except cotton and
the important thing to be done now
or as soon as possible, it to destroy
the cotton stalks.
Why and How to Destroy the Cotton
Stalks.
The second growth on cotton fur
nishes tender buds and squares for
the weevil to feed upon and multiply
When frost comes (Which is uncer-
tain but shows an average for No
vember the 9th, in the county,, the
weevils find the best available for
protection through the winter. they
live on food stored in the tissues of
the bodies. According to government
data the average life of the weevil
is around sixty days Except those
which nature provides to carry
through the winter to start the race
again) and this means that most of
the weevils alive today will have died
before cold weather drives them to
winter quarters. This means that if
we turn under stalks within the next
thirty days we will starve, cause to
fly away or force into winter quar-
ters in such a weak condition they
will have a poor chance of surviving
the winter. By destroying the stalks
early we not only cut off the food
supply of the weevils but destroy
millions of eggs and worms that
would otherwise develop into wee
IL hoforo frost NThe earlier the