Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-11-17
BOIL WEEVIL CONTROL
The Smith Method Stated And Ex.
plaiRed.
EXPERT COMMENT BY one EH0 KNOWS
Something in the Florida Experiment.
Station Idea But Farmers Will Prob
ably be Slow to Try to Put It IN

ably be Slow to Try to Put It in
Practice.
n. L. Willct in August Chronicle.
In the old days the culture of cotton
was sadly abused because 1T included
the growing Of other crops, but this
does not alter cotton's value. We now
understand that the farm must feed
itself and the farmers family. For
two years a large portion OF our cot
ton has been sold under cost of pro-
duction. The South needs and must
have a dependable cash crop.
Mr.. George D. Smith at the Agricul-
tural Experiment Station of the Uni
versity Of Florida, with vast accumu-
lated weev'l data at hand before him
and with thirteen years of actual
weevil field experience gives to the
South a who'll: new and reyolutton-
ary process OF weevil control. His
methods arc totally unlike all weevil 3
research work to date. The cost is not
over S1.25 per acre and the experiment
station says that If the Smith rules had
been universally followed in Florida
this year the outturn per acre in, cot
ton would have been increased over
$1,000.
A Great Advance.
This totally new line remedy is not
perfect but it is an advance and
Florida believes it will save ninety per
cent. of the normal crop. The gist Of
, the method may be put into two sent \
ences: First, remove all squares from
the cotton plant about June the fifth
land destroy them; second, follow this +
at once with thorough application Of
calcium arsenate, busted, using suit
able gun machine. This method Is not
effective unless all winter weevils are
out of winter quarters. In Florida this
| is about June the fifth. This work
can be done by women and children.
Each worker must be equipped with I
| tight well-made cotton cloth sack, net
gummy, provided with draw string
for keeping the mouth closed. AS the
squares and weeviIs are picked from
the plants they are placed in the sack
and later on taken from the field and
burned Not a single weevil on the
plant or in the bag must escape. The
work must be supervised by'an intellf-
gent person. The good Of the plan
comes only when every square Is des-
troyed at this particular time Square
pickers must begin at one side of the
field and take rows as they come and ;
as soon as possible after the squares
are removed the application OF poison
should be made. Both operations can
be carried on together successfully by
picking squares until late in the after
noon and then let the poisoning begin
over this picked area. Calcium ar
senate must be used Paris Green and
London Purple should never be used
on plants.
Precautions.
Animals working in the fields ten
days after poisoning should be muz- {
lied and operators should wash face
and hands, using plenty of soap. A
not horse power and strong enough to
force powder into the folds of the
bud The weevils in the fields deprived
of squares will attack the terminal
buds in a great host, many of them
going inside the folds. This poisoning,
therefore, is directed only at the ter
minal buds and il we kill the weevils
| in the squares and the weevils that are
eating the terminal buds why we have
destroyed the weevil population of the
| feld-hibernation, of course, having at
this tine all ceased. 1t is useless,
therefore, to scatter poison over the
whole field. Five to seven pounds or
calcium arsenate is all that will be Z
necessary per acre. Operators must
walk slowly and take pains to force {
! the poison into the small bunch OF 3
| tender leaves at the tip of the plant.
| Apply when there is no. wind and
early morning and late afternoon. 1t
is best that there be dew on the plants
but dew has nothing to do with the
poisoning under the Smith method or
the weevil. The insect is poisoned only
by eating the tender foliage and buds
to which the poison has been applied
Work of this nature cannot be done
we'll at night but only late in the after
noon or early in the morning. 1t was
found that practically all weevils are
killed within three days after the
poison is applied.
The Cost.
The Smith method cost is so small,
something like a dollar and twenty
five cents per acre, that it can be used
on poor land whereas the usual dust
! ing methods, seven or eight spplica-
tions, cannot be used except on the
richer lands. The Smith method is for
upland cotton.
The Terminal Bud.
In the past few years we have found
that we can kill the winter weevil by
poisoning the terminal bud. The Smith
method, however, waits until emer-