Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-07-20
FIGHTING BOIL WEEVILS
WITH CALCIUM ARSENATT
BY ANDREW NJ. SOULE,
President of Georgia State College of Agriculture.

The boil weevil is in our midst In
many places he is doing serious dam
age. This is affecting our farmers
in various ways. Some are pessi-
mistic, others Indifferent. Some are
making vigorous fight against his
depredations and others are sort of
drifting with the tide. In meeting
the onslaughts of this pest, action
must be our Watchwrod. In no 9TH
er case is eternal vigilance more like
ly to be rewarded with success. We
need now to be actuated by the same
spirit with which those Georgia boys
enlisted in the marines and in the
regular army met and hurled back
the victorious advance of the Ger
mans at Chateau Thierry. 1t is a
fight to the death with most
formidable and persistent foe; but
| the rewards are certain and will we'll
repay the effort expended. Let us
| be up and doing, therefore, for we
| have a battle to fight and a victory
to win. In making this fight, we
should use every agency at our com
mand. Therefore, let us be diligent
in picking up and destroying squares.
Every pair of weevils eliminated
means the destruction of a host of
descendants.
In this connection it is we'll to
remember that squares may be pune
tured by other insects than the boil
weevil, such as the cotton square
borer and other incidental caterpil-
lars and insects. Even under nor
NAL conditions a considerable per-
centage of the squares set on by the
cotton plant shed off. In Georgia
this may even reach above 20 per
cent Of all those set on by the plant
Hence, all the destruction one may
witness in a field may not be due
to weeyil damage. This is said by
way of information and encourage
TOlnt TO the faint hearted
In many parts of Georgia. there
is good stand of cotton. Most of
the fields that I have seen are clean
and the plants now grow vigorously.
1t is true that the crop is late, but,
under existing conditions, there is an
opportunity to concentrate the effort
and energy of the plantation work
ers on the fight against the WeeVil.
Whenever there is a 10 to 20 per cent
infestation, begin the use of calcium
by counting the number of punctured
or fallen squares out of each hun
dred as you come to them in the
field. busting before the period in
Dictated will not likely pay. After
the stage advised has been reached,
once a week until from five to six
applications have been made. Use
about five pounds per acre at each
application. The busting should be
done early in the morning or late IN
the evening when the dew is on the
plants. Hand busters should be used
on the one-horse crop and power ma
chimes of approved type on larger
areas. There may be difficulty in
securing power machines, but there
seems to be an abundant supply of
hand machines. The hand machine
is not so efficient or so economical
in the use of material, but it is in
finitely better than nothing at all.
1t is of the utmost Importance that
every part of the plant be busted.
Competent supervision of careless or
indifferent labor is of the greatest
Importance. The landowner should
stay in the field to see that busting
is properly and effectively done. Be
economical in the use of the poison
for the cost of the material is a
great item of expense. Poisoning
alone is not likely to prove effec-
tive. Remember that all other con-
troll measures should be utilized. AS