The Port Gibson reveille. [volume] (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1890-current, 1922-06-22

hi5 ~ t-ANAu = tremendously rapid In
crease IN the weevil damage, and this
will have an important bearing on the
program to be followed By those us
ing calcium arsenate for the control
Of the weevil.
In the first place it should be re-
membered that we recommend start
ing poisoning when from ten to fif-
teen per cent Of the cotton squares
have been punetured by the weevn.
As a general rule this condition does
not arise until after the newly bred
weevlls have started to emerge from
the squares. This year, however, we
have found many fields where there
are already sufficient weevils present
to destroy practically all squares as
fast as formed. In other words, such
cotton will never start blooming un-
less the weevils are controlled, and
from the very outset 509o or more Of
the squares are punctured. Under
such conditions it is undoubtedly og-
ing to be necessary to poison earlier
than ever before. OF course, there is
no advantage in poisoning the cotton
before the squares form, as the wee
wills are continuing to emerge from
Information during this period and
furthermore they are doing the crop
no harm. However, where such heavy
infestation occurs it will be advisable
to make the first application just as
soon as the cotton starts squaring
freely, or about the time the plants
average from to squares each. The
regular poisoning schedule should be
started at that time and continued
along the lines Of the usual recon-
mendations for controlling this early
infestation Of weevils.
Another very important effect Of
this heavy infestation will be felt
later in the season. When the Wee
wills first emerge from Information and
reach the cotton field they move a
round very little as long as they can
find an ample supply of unpunctured
squares for their use, but just as soon
as the infestation becomes sufficiently
heavy to puncture practically all
squares these weevils start to move
in search of fresh pastures. In an
season this means that you
have only the weevils bred
in your own cotton to contend with
until some time from the latter part
of July to the last Of August, depend
ing on the locality. This year, how-
ever, this movement Of migration Of
weevils will probably start several
weeks earlier than usual. Conse-
quently, it will not only be necessary
for you to start poisoning earlier to
control your own infestation, but you
should also expect that, before you
have had time to mature the fruit
which your plants have set during this
period Of protection, you will begin to
experience an immigration of weevils
from imprisoned cotton. Of course,
this condition would not arise if ev-
cry one in district was successfully
his cotton; but this will not
be the case this year, and just as soon
as all. squares in the imprisoned crops
are punctured the migration to the
poisoned fields will commence. This
means that every day large crop Of
new weevils will move into these pois-
oned fields, and it is going to take
thorough poisoning to pro-
tect to maturity the crop which has
been allowed to set by the earlier aP-
plications.
These two facts mean Just this:
weevil control this year is
going to require more effort ana more
poison per acre than has ever been
the case in the past. On the other
hand, wherever the land is sufficiently
fertile to justify such an effort, there
is much more assurance Of profit from
the operation than is usually the case.
The increase in the cost per acre
brought about by the Increased num-
ber Of applications necessary will be
far more than compensated for by the
fact that the weevil damage without
poisoning will be far greater than nor
NAL, and thus the margin Of profit on
the operation is tremendously increas--
ed. In other words, heavy weevil
infestation such as we have this year
means a greater expenditure per acre
for poisoning to successfully control
it, but it also means a-greater actual
net profit in dollars and cents per
acre from the poisoning operations
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