The New York herald., 1922-09-18
Concentrate Rays Down.

Heavy sheets of lead, properly bent
and placed over the tubes. would shield
the operator. concentrating the X-rays
down and producing sterility In every
egg and weevil on the plants.
"B. You have mentioned In your let
ter that some one has discovered that
adult weevils are killed by electrical cur
rent having a potential of six volts. III
such is the case, 1t would be very sim
pie matter to spray the plants with
dilute solution of salt and water.
mounted on a vehicle stradding the
rows. tho tank being connected to one
terminal of an electrical circuit Of prop
er potential, the other terminal OF
which is connected to the ground through
tho wheels A little experimenting would
be required to determine how much cleo
tricity should be passed through the
spray, but this is a matter OF detail
&C. I understand that the weevil can
not live In a temperature exceeding lzo
IN 40 degrees Fahrenheit. In the bright
sunshine II Is known that the closer TO
the ground you approach. the higher the
temperature, and that at normal tenn
peratures in the South, at distances OF
is inches from the ground. tempera-
ture of 120 TO 130 degrees Fahrenheit
exists.
things in plant life, and the question
arises. WHY not see what can be done
toward inducing the cotton plant not
to exceed eighteen inches In height,
thereby keeping all parts OF the plant
within the temperature OF 120 to 13O
degrees? This would undoubtedly cut
down the amount of cotton that would
be obtained per acre II the boil weevil
would cease operations: but what Is the
use of raising a lot Of cotton to feed
the boil weevil? I think the balance
would be on tho side of the small plant.
'If, as its name implies. the American
Cotton Association Is an association Tor
the protection OF the raw cotton indus
try, II seems to me 1t is very 'remiss II
II does not embody In its organization
a trained corps of technical experts
capable OF meeting and. to a great ex-
tent. overcoming the influence OF the
boil weevil.
IT realize the difficulty Of getting a
large number of men thoroughly TO ap-
preciate the value of such coordinate
action Best results are achieved by
one man empowered to proceed with
ample backing and FREQ to select his
assistants. To place such work in the
hands OF a board or committee is fatal.
1 think II was Admiral Goodrich who
Sal0s "A DOhTu Is something tnAt Is
long, narrow and wooden Herbert
Spencer once delivered brilliant cpl
gram to the effect that the net result
accomplished by committee is equiv
alent to that which could have been ac-
complished by the least intelligent MEM
Der of such committee acting alone.
And was It not Macaulay who said that
the success of any enterprise Is but the
lengthening shadow Of one man?
Our Government Department of
Agriculture 10 indeed a wonderful or
ganization. but the manifold demands
made upon that department render Il
virtually impossible for any one subject
to receive as much and as intelligent
attention as can be given by an organ
ization concentrating upon that one
subject alone"
The use OF poison gas as an elminat-
Ing agent DR.. Hutchisoi does not think
feasible, though the suggestion has been
attributed to Brig Gen. Amos A. Fries.
chief of the Chemical Warfare Service
of the army. II used In sufficient
volume to penetrate the cotton boil, Or.
Hutchison believes the gas would pros
trate everything and everybody else in
the vicinity.