The Marietta journal. (Marietta, Ga.) 1918-1944, 1921-07-21
HOW BOIL WEEvIL
CAN Be DESTROYED
State Agent Tells Methods Where.
by Cotton May Remain Best
Money Crop.

agriculture, at Athens, addressed q
small but Interested gathering of
farmers in the Marietta court house
Friday, July 8, at 2 o'clock, on
the subject of the boil weevil and
other matters of interest to farmers.
He stated that cotton could be made
the best money crop in Georgia de-
spite the boil weevil and that the pest
could be so handled that its damage
to cotton could be made very negli
gible
The fight upon the boil weevil he
said, consisted of an indirect and a
direct fight. The indirect fight consis-
ted of six highly important steps, as
follows:
First-A self sustained farm; ev
cry farm should grow cotton only as
its money crop and should grow
enough of all food crops to sustain
both men and animals on the farm
Second Selection of Land, all cot
ton land should be we'll drained.
Third There should be a we'll pre-
pared seed bed
Fourth-An early fruiting and ma
turing variety of cotton should be
planted so as TO produce the earliest
possible crop of cotton; the Cleveland
Big Boil and College No l varieties
are the best for this section, he sta
ted, the King variety not having prov
en- as satisfactory as either Of these
varieties. asst
Fifth-Put in enough seed to get
good stand; much more seed than
usual is necessary so as to insure
stand at the start; best cotton yields
on ordinary soil can be secured by
leaving two or three stalks to hill
with distance of only seven inches be
tween hills, in rows from to #
apart; this plan always produces
more cotton on any kind of soil
than a thinner stand.
Sixth-Harrowing and cultivation;
great success can be secured through
narrowing field before cotton comes
up and often after it is up; contin-
ue cultivation intensely to rush
growth of stalk and speed maturing
of crop
The direct fight consists of four
main divisions. as follows:
First-Locate weevils early and
kill; the woods or trash piles nearest
to last years cotton crop should be
searched early for weevils as it IS
in such places that the wevils house
during the winter.
Second-Picking up of squares; as
soon as squares appear they should be
picked up once week, preferably on
Mondays; every square should be
picked up and burned no matter how
small or insignificant; this should be
continued in this section until about
the middle of August
Third-Spraying; after above date
if weevil infection amGnting to ten
to fifteen percent should still remain,
spraying of calcium arsenate should
begin, providing the cotton will, with
out weevils. produce one half bale
or more to acre, otherwise the cost
of spraying will be greater than the
advantage gained; in all small crops
hand sprayers are best; good makes
of sprayers are the Springfield, Cleve-
land and preferably the DENY, pri
ces range on these from $1,000 to $lS
the cost of calcium arsenate runs
from So to ST per acre per season,
seven pounds should be used each
application per acre; arsenate IN the
powder form is the best and can be
secured from the Georgia Farm Blu
reau Exchange, GIG Chamber Com
merce Bldg, Atlanta at l2c per.
pound in 200, pound lots f. b, At.
lanta, in order to destrop weevils
from four to six applications should
be made at from three to six days
apart, the best time for applying
being when the dew is on the cotton;
should rain come within "a hours
after application another application
will be necessary
Fourth-Pick crop as early as pos
sible; picking should be rushed thru
as fast as cotton opens in order that
stalks may be turned under and IN
this way destroy the weevil food sup
ply thereby sending them into winter
quarters earlier than otherwise and
cutting off their chances of living
through the winter; stalks should be
turned under long before frose, from
four to six weeks. if possible.
Mr. Oliver pointed out that these
methods had been tried along with
numerous other methods and that they
had proven the most efficient Of all
and that there was no longer any
doubt as to the satisfactory results
that could be derived from them
In regard to fertilizer he stated
that 9 8. or 10 2 would prove
highly satisfactory, and that all should
be put in before the cotton is planted
in order to rush the growth OF the
stalk.
He further stated that the matter