The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-12-13
HEEVIL POISONING
PROBLEM PERSISTS
Daxid r. Coker Surveys Results Obtained IN
ConfroIof the Gotten Pest by Various
Methods and Submits Certain Con-
clusions That He Has Reached
8 fhe E,a;t,oI,r,, OF The STATE:

10 the EGitOT OF Ihe SIdIs.
our editorial Of December q
SEEMS to call for some further IN
formation from me as to fhe suc-
cess Of the calcium arsenate-nao-
lasses method OF weevH control.
Let ne say first. however. a few
words as to my whole attitude on
the subject of weevil control: For
more than a dozen years ! nave
been studying the subject. have
b6en Breeding varieties that might
{ be expected to successfully meet
the weeFif and have been endeay-
ering 10 work out methods Of farm
practice which might prove sue.
cessfuf under weeTl condftio ions. I
carefuliy watched the govern ment
WORK On weevi1 control and when
he arrived III force last spring puss
these methods into operation on
the majority Of our cotton areas.
also ii limited way tested the
moIasses-cale1 le1uni arsenate method.
OF WHICH NE had heard good re-
Cur experiments With the dus.
ing method were comparative faii-
uses as these fields became heavi=
isy infested with a sulaR yelloN
plant louse following the busting
and these lice severely damaged the
cotton No damage Infesta ton
fos7owed the noIasses method and
good results we're obtained where
1t Mas used This season we again
treaEed one field with the dt,sting
method and Observed the same re-
acsion Of heavy plant louise in
festatlon. which we checked by an
appIicatio lof sulphate Of nico-
tine. s.,
notwithstanding our unfortunate
experience With the dusting meth-
od and that OF several other farm
crs IN this section. freely admit
that the busting method has
usually proved to be profitable and
that it apt to save large pro-
portion xof the cotton crop where
properly applied
There are several very serious
objections TO It. however, and feel
nat some method Of weeyil con-
troll must BE worked out which
viii overcome these objections
Z Erltii such a method is put before
the people there is no hope that
weeyH control viii become general
ard that any large proportion of
the cotton crop can be saved.
Objections to DustinS
The principal objections to the
austins methods, as reconnend-
|. Ell by these ii charge of the wee
control work last spring, are:
1t does not advocate pois-
|, olling of the weevils until they have
had an opportunity to reinfest the
fields by ptncturing the first ap-
pearing squares.
It requires that the poison
! be applied under certain condi-
tons OF moisture and absence Of
wind, which conditions are not
usually present except at night and
-ssre not present every night.
More or less expensive. ma
chineyy IS necessary for its. appli-
cation
The government recipe re-
quires the application Of large quan-
titles Of calcium arsenate various
" estimated at 20 to 40 pounds
Sand under certain conditions
much ntore) per acre. 1t is esti-
stated that the available supply
OF calcium arsenate present AID
prospective will treat not more
than 10 per cent. of the cotton
acreage
5. The expense and difficulty of
-sshe government method put it
gconpictely out of reach OF the av-
erage cotton producer.
seems perfectly evident that
is lad VIXEN the. bureau of ento-
1gclogy succeeds IN convincing any
largo proportion os the cotton rais-
er.s that their method OF control is
Necessary to sucecssfua cotton rais-
i.sg under boil weevi1 conditions, an
Immediate scramble for the avail,
able supply OF calcium arscnate
Fslr occur tie price viii be lifted
sly high, rot aDothers acre viii or
cSn be treated by their method.
than was treated the pas. year,
Only a comparatively few of the
more able planters can secure
their share OF. the material and
the whole cotton industry will be
worse off than It now IS, just to
the extent of the advance in price
OF calcium arsenate.
Cacium Arsenatc supply
The above viii not be true if an
unlimited supply OF calcium arse
nate were arailable. but as the en-.
tire available supply was exhaust
ed this year and as there is no
likelihood Of a great increase in
production, the above statements
kore evidently true.
+. has for some months. there
fere. seemed TO me absolutely nec-
essary that some cheap and simple
method of weevil control be de-
vised. Some form Of the calcium
.arsenate and molasses method, I
believe. offers this remedy.
I have read the Florida bulletin
No. f65 referred to in your editor
siaI and thirk it recounts one Of the
most constructive pieces of expert
mental work ever done. Mr..