Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-08-02
CONTINUE TO FIGHT THE BOIL
WEEVIL

WEEV1L
The boil weevil is now in the
height Of his glory and ready to do
the greatest possible amount of DAM
age to our cotton fields. What shall
we do in order to minimize his ef-
forts and save anywhere from 40 to
60 or even 80 per cent of the crop!
This is question Of vital 1mpor.
lance and concerns the welfare or
every man, woman and child in Geor-
gia. 1t has a direct bearing on the
degree of prosperity which we shall
witness in the state next fall. There
fore, any reliable information along
the lines indicated is certainly wei
come at this time.
Let US begin by, picking up the
adult weevils. Then use calcium
arsenate effectively, doing the work
with energy and dispatch. Pick out
cotton as soon as it is open and de-
stroy the stalks as soon as the bolls
have been picked out. The methods
of procedure to follow and the bene.
through the Inauguration and car
rying forward of such campaign
are outlined in this article; they
~epresent the best information and
advice which the State College of Ag-
riculture and its extension specialists
are in position to offer at this time.
The adult weevils begin to come
out Of alternating quarters as soon
as the weather is warm. Many OF
these come out before there are any
squares on the cotton plant H., I aof
ton plant, eating. away parts or the
plant STEM, or of the stem OF Ten,
der leaf The bud or leaf affected
been killed : by frost. When, the
plants are small it is not hard
matter to see these weevils perched
in the bud of the plant and they may
be caught and killed by dropping
them in small bottle or can con-
tanning little kerosene. Children
can do this work best because their
eyes are keen and being small their
eyes are close to the plants without
STOPPING. Many farmers get emil,
dren to pick them by paying q sma!l
sum for. each adult WeeX1! collecte a.
any great expense to have these Wee
wills caught and killed until week
or two before the plants begin 10
put on squares, for the damage zone
before the squares are formed IS
very little and many of the weevils
appearing early will die naturally
before squares come. A study or a
great number of htbernated weeVlls
feeding on young plants In the carry
spring shows that the average len lgl,a
work Of gathering them just. before
suuaring begins is well worth while.
for the eggs are not laid except in
squares and adult weevils killed pc
fore that time leave no progeny to
s1ntinue to PaSd bos a One Female
weevil in the field June Is when
squaring begins may, under 1deal
conditions, leave as many as a mil
lion descendants by the last OF A Al
number, the progeny of one hiber-
mated female, is capable of destroy
ing squares at the rate of three or
four million per day, or at the rate
of 20 to % bales of cotton per day.
A day or two after an egg has been
turns yellow, and finally falls to the
ground. 1t takes an average of about
20 days for the egg to develop into
a weevil. About ten days of this time
the square is on the plant and then
it falls to the ground. If these
stroyed before the adult weevils
emerge This work is very important
later squares. Since the squares are
hard to find except when they are
on the ground, and the average time
spent on the ground is only ten days.
Squares should be picked up careful
" Fat least every seven. days so as
to get them before the weevils
emerge. This work is ferry important
early in the season when there are
few of them and should be done very
carefully at that time since one
square left may produce. a weevil
which may be the progenitor of sew
eral generations of weevils amount
ing to a million or more before frost.
In many cases children and women
can do this work while the men con-
tinue the cultivation.
A great many different poisons and
different combinations of poisons
used in a great many different ways
have been experimental with, but
most of these have not proven to be
successful control measures. The
only one of these that has given uni
formly' good results is calcium arse
nate applied as a dust while the dew
Is on and applied at frequent inter-
walls. This is the most effective di-
rect method of control, where it is
used properly. If not done properly
the control may not amount to much,
while the expense may be rather
heavy.
To be effective the calcium arse
nate should be applied as a finely
divided dust cloud by special busting
machinery while the plants are moist
nJ1ctino chnI11d hQ hQU1In