Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-07-11
EARLY POISONING NO GOOD
Clemson Insists That Process Is
Waste of Time and Effort.
BOIL WfEVIL SITUATION RESTATED

From Most or the flelos; out I'e
Will Come Back and Do More Dam
age if Conditions are Right, Poison
or No Poison.
Clemson College, July S.-At the re-
cent annual meeting Of the Clemson
Board OF Trustees a very interesting
conference was held with the college
officials in regard to the boil weevil
situation.
1t may be recalled in 1915 the
board of trustees sent a commission
to study the situation in Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama, and, as an
outcome of this investigation a bulle-
tin was published in 1916, which with
slight revisions has been printed and
distributed off and on ever since.
The trustees have always had very
intense interest in the boil weevil
situation and wanted the latest view
held by the college experts.
Despite the fact that both the gov
ernm. Mt and the college have been
sending out information through the
press, county agents, specialists, bull
lctins and circulars almost every day
for several months, the statements
made by the experts to the board of
trustees last Tuesday are of much
public interest In substance these
college experts made the following
statements:
We believe that the value of early
poisoning is greatly exaggerated. Such
is the testimony by the best expert
mcnters in Alabama, Louisiana, Mis-
sissppi, Texas, and Oklahoma, which
states have been longest infested with
the weevil. Reports are now being
received from farmers from all sec
tions of the state to the effect that
the weevil has disappeared from many
of their fields. Some of these fields
have been poisoned with calcium ar
senate dust, some with sweetened poi
son, and others not poisoned at all.
This emphasizes our oft repeated
statement that early poisoning is not
material factor in boil weevil con-
troll.
The early weevils are but the
skirmishers Of the hordes Of over
wintered weeyils that continue to
come from winter quarters from
March to July. They keep coming
out even after the squares have be-
gun to form. Most of these old
weevils die a natural death before
square formation begins. Therefore,
little is gained, and often much lost
through neglect of other farm opera
tions on account of efforts to destroy
these early weevils. These early
weevils can he killed by applications
of any kind of arsenical poison.
whether in liquid or dust form. This
was demonstrated as far back as 1902.
The weevils want squares to feed
on and lay in. There being no squares
early in the season, they confine
themselves to the buds of the young
cotton plant and are practically sur
face feeders, something like the po-
tato beetle or the cabbage worm, only
less so. Little injury is done to the
cotton plant from this feeding on the
bud.
If all the over -wintered weevils
would come out at the same time, as
chickens come off the roost in the
morning, then we could no doubt de-
stroy them with profit by early poi
soning. But when we kill hundreds
of weevils with one kind of poison or
another in early spring, thousands are
still in their winter quarters ready to
come out later. BY no manner Of
poisoning or other control measures
yet discovered can we kill all the
weevils that are out, and the survivors,
together with those coming ont after
the squares are formed, discontinue
feeding on the cotton buds and begin
to punctre and cat the inside of the
squares and lay their eggs there.
From this time on the only effective
poisoning method known is through
the use of calcium arsenate properly
applied i'm dust form.
General Control Methods Again Urged
The farmer must remember that it
Is at this point that the battle for the
crop really begins. 1t is now that the
following control methods repeatedly
published, should be diligently and
thoroughly followed.