The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1922-10-13
FIGHT THE BOIL WEEVEi.


i;.sc great oarrage in the batti"
,,gainst the boil weevil. Many t!2lds
are now bare of cotton ard Just as
soon as we have sufficient rain 50 that
the land can be plowcd a.. stalk;
should be turned under. If you can
not turn them unde: Il vii do much
good to rip them up with a middle
buster so that here will DC no second
growth cotton for the wcev;i to feed
on. The life Of the weev;l is net so
very long and if we can send him
into winter quarters l:t,le earlier
and send him in hungry the greater
portion Of them viii de before cot
ton grows again.
If practical. plan a rotation. 1t is
rot best that cotton should follow
cotton. But if YOU have only q small
acreage on the farm that is suited to
cotton and YOU i.2d it necessary to
Plant it year after year, by III means
rip UP the stalks as soon as yoa can
AID pu. in cover crop Of rye and
yatch or rye and clover. About go
pounds Of aoruzzi rye and 20 pounds
of either crimson clover or hairy
vetch should give you a good winter
cover crop. This green crop growing
during the winter will benefit you in
several ways.
First. 1t vii! help you in your
fight against the boil weevil. 1t has
been found that the weevil must
eyaporate much of its moisture in or
der to keep from freezing during the
winter and in order that he may be
aole to do this he must have good
dry winter hotel He finds this hotel
in hay stacks, hedges, old stumps,
etc. If you have a green crop grow
ing in your cotton patch such as rye
and clover, the weevil can not winter
there. 1t is too moist for his health.
Second. Cover crops will largely
prevent teaching. Experiments indi-
cate that no less than so pounds per
acre of valuable nitrogen may be
saved from teaching out in the drain
age water during one winter by
means of a green winter cover crop
such as rye and vetch or rye and
clover. This means a saving of nitro
gen of an equivalent of 300 pounds
Of nitrate of soda per acre. Nitrogen
is the most expensive part of the fer
tilizer we buy, costing annually S15,-
000.000.00 in South Carolina and it
is estimated from teaching expert
ments. that approximately one half
of this is lost in the drainage water
Third. If the winter cover crop is
a legume like vetch or clover or con-
tains a mixture of about 20 pounds
Of these seed, it will not only pre-
vent large amounts of nitrogen from
teaching out but will add many
pounds taken from the air free of
charge. Often $4,000 worth Of nj
trogen per acre will have been added
and saved during the winter months.
Soils treated il the above manner
Will soon cease to need applications
of nitrate of soda in order to pro-
duce satisfactory crops.
Fourth. The winter cover crop
will add humus. Most South Carolina
soils are very low in organic mat
ter without which it is impossible to
have productive soil. Large crops
of rye and vetch turned under will
supply much vegetable matter. This,
when rotten, is called humus.
We are, told that pound of hus
mus holds and one half times as
much moisture as a pound of sandy
loan and will hold it 3 and one-half
times as long. Hence large supply
of humus in the soil helps to control
moisture. This explains why land
that is well filled with vegetable mat
ter will withstand drouth or a wet
spell much better than a thin soil de-
pleted of its vegetable matter.
Ninety per cent of the nitrogen in
the soil, so per cent of the phosphor-
ic acid, II per cent of the potash and
large amounts of other minerals are
held by the humus (rotten trash in
a quickly available form for feeding
a crop.
a we'll drained soil with large
supply of humus and sweetened with
lime is always known as rich, pro-
duative soil on which crops can be
produced economically. Economical
crop production is impossible on de-
pleted soils low in humus and as