Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-07-24
ARSENATE URGED
ASAPREVENTIVE
OF BOIL WEEVIL

That the farmers of south Georgia
should begin the use of calcium ar
senate Immediately when dry wealth
er returns, and that the farmers of
north Georgia should Immediately
pick boil weevils off the cotton
plants, and pick all purctured squares
from the plants and from the ground,
and destroy them, following this up
with calcium arsenate, is the advice
of Ira w. Williams, cotton specialist
in the state department of en-
tomology, given in a letter to J. j..
Brown, commissioner of agriculture,
concerning the boil weevil situation.
Mr.. Williams expresses the opinion
that Georgia can make a good crop
taken without delay to combat the
boil weevil. His letter covers the
situation in detail. Commissioner
Brown is giving the letter the widest
possible circulation for the purpose
of informing the farmers what to
do. He has received hundreds of in
uuiries touching the points covered
in the letter. He believes that the
life or death of the cotton crop Will
hinge upon the work done by the
farmers in the next twenty days.
Combating the Weev1
Mr., Lewis letter is as follows
'I beg to hand you an additional state
mont in regard to the cotton crop In TINS
state; more particularly in regard to me
supreme importance Of busting cotton WIN
calcium arsenate. 1870
II have recently travelled over the state
and noted the fact that, while the crop
is late, growers have a good chanee ~
make a fine crop; provided, they wage
vigorous war ON the boil weevif.
I'm the southern part OF the state; tns
time has passed for picking the weevll ana
the punctured squares: The only thlng 10
he done now is thoroughly to dust the cotton
plant with calcium arsenate.
IF, in early spring, the weeVlls nnu p zen
.picked and all the .pupnctured squares hau
been gathered and destroyed, there would
have been very few weevils in the fields
at the present time notwithstanding me
fact that continuous rains were hlghly IA
yorable to their development.
''Throughout the entire state the uIy
weather which prevailed during the early
stage of the development of the cotton
plants was very detrimental to the Weevll
and beneficial t5; to the Infai R5aaoS'
Eat the cotton experiment stations, tne
blocks not busted in the early part Oh me
season are showing comparatively nlsh
per cent of infestation. Unless calclun calcium,
arsenate is applied very soon, the weev1l
will do great damage. Until the now daily
showers cease, it will be practically lmpoS-
sible successfully to dust the plants
1--WE recommend that busting should begin
lust as soon as the first brood of weevils
makes its appearance. Destroy them be,
fore they can deposit eggs which will send
out another generation of Weevlls mat WIZ
Immediately begin destructive ,N work on
the remainder of the crop. The weevn
can be controlled by the proper use or cal
cium arsenate. Therein lies our safety.
while experiments conducted nave not
shown notable difference between DAY anu anu
night in treating the plants we Suggest
that the busting be done at night or IN the
early morning. Atmospheric conditions are
most favorable for the work at the Time
in the morning. If the plants have been
busted as suggested, you will get the pest
North Georgia
s'In the northern part of the state weev1ls
have appeared in spota Oh NUMBER OF
farms. 1t is very important that farmers
should pick and destroy every weevil posi-
BILE and gather and destroy all punctured
squares, whether on the plants or on the
high order. In applying calcium arsenate
to small areas. we recommend that hand
machines be used. In the case OF large
acreage, traction busters will be found to
be more SATISFACTORY. All THESE ulachlHes
can now be secured, also all the requisite
material for the work. Do not delay;
prompt action is prerequisite to success.
"Fu1l instructions as to the proper use or
calcium arsenate and the machines availa-
BILE for the work, be obtained by writ
ing to the undersigned. care of the state
board of entomology, state capitol, Atlanta,
or at Thomasvile.
Attention is directed to the fact that
there will probably be another generation
of army worms very soon. In combating
this pest, busting with calcium arsenate
will be very effective. Use it as in case
of cotton, but a smaller quantity will an