The Little River news., 1922-11-15
TESTS CONDUCTED
 BY, COUNTY AGENTS
Various Methods of Controlling BOu Weevil Are Being
 Tried Out.

County Agent ByFOH w. Dueloi' l"ee spring tried several methods of con- trolling the boil weevil, which was present in larger numbers this year than in previous years.
 John Goodman, successful farmer I in the southeast portion of the coun- ty. tried the calcium arsenate poison ling. Leroy Bailey. in the same neigh borhood, used the thick and thin spac- ling method; A. B. Campbell picked and destroyed the punctured bolls 1; Jasper Cooper, residing near Clifford, ] tested four varieties of cotton to find (which had the best yield when infest- ed by the boil weevil. Other farmers tried the frequent and shallow meth- ods of cultivation. According to re- ports given MT Butler the results were as follows:
 Poison Proves Profitable.
 MT. Goodman reported the tract where he used calcium arsenate yield cu OUO POuloo liioi t oL oOOo SotIoiA an acre than the tract where he did not use the poison. The cost of the material, labor and wear on dust-gun was estimated to be $3S0 per acre. Figuring the cotton at seven cents a pound, the gain amounts to $21, or $17.20 clear profit. Mr. Goodman us Jed only two applications Of the cal- cium arsenate because he could not secure the poison until July. He or dered 400 pounds for a 14-acre tract, and dusted the poison On the plants at night, using a dust-gun made especial fly for the purpose. Mir. Goodman has agreed to conduct another demonstra- tion for the county agent next year. He is going to heavily fertilize five acre tract, and use the poison much Eearlier. Also he will use the approv- ed methods of intensive cultivation.
 MT. Bailey. who used the thick and thin spacing methods, found that leaving the plants thicker in the TOW than usual has a tendency to hasten maturity and produce larger crops under boil weevil conditions than when greater space is left between plants. Where the plants were left thick in the row they produced fruit ing limbs instead of spreading "veg- ,etative or woody limbs" so often seen ,where plants are left from IS inches tc three feet apart in the row. He dem- Onstrated that where the plants were left in thick hedge row the first pick ing was larger, the plants grew more rapidly.
 MT. Campbell could not control the weevil by picking and burning the Ipunctured squares. Although he us ed a very heavy application of ferti- lizer on the best of Hot Spring county land, he grew only 500 pounds of seed cotton On an acre, estimated to be one- third of what that soil should pro- duce. MT. Campbell will use calcium arsenate next year.
 f Test of Varieties.
 Jasper Cooper tested four varieties of cotton on his farm two miles north of Clifford. In one field he planted the Triumph and Rowden, both introduc- ed in this county in 1897 and belong ing to the big boil group; the Express an early variety of long staple up land cotton, and the Acala, a medium early cotton brought from Mexico in 1906, He found the Express thrived best under the infestation of the wee- vii, but it requires heavy fertilizing He also conducted a fertilizer test with the following results: Where nc fertilizer was used he gathered BPS pounds of cotton from each acre; with 100 pounds of nitrate of soda the yield on an acre was 600 pounds; with 25C pounds of acid phosphate the yield was 480 pounds. With combination of acid phosphate an acre yielded 52s pounds, He also found the use of potash did not increase the produc- ton.
 MT. Cooper says he is convinced q more liberal use of nitrogen in needed for the farms of Hot Spring county especially on the ridge land
 Sim Sesser, age 13, demonstrated what club boy could do when he raised 1,250 pounds of seed cotton De, acre under the direction of the coun. ty agent, although the average yiel6 of Hot Spring county this year was only 25O pounds. He did not use Dol. son, but relied on late and intensive cultivation to control the boil weevil
 His cotton grew on sandy hill land.