Paragould soliphone. (Paragould, Ark.) 1918-1950, 1922-06-16
BOIL WEEVlL
SITUATION IS
VERY SERIOUS
Phillips County Planters
Hear Unusually Alarming
Reports-Means of Com
batting Pests Discussed.

10NAhhk = $cNc
Helena, June 14.-The boil weevil
situation has become a serious mat
.er in Phillips county.
This fact was developed at meet
ing of the Agricultural Committee of
the Chamber of Commerce here when
planters and business men not mem
hers of the committee attended and
participated in the discussions. There
also were several present from other
counties in eastern Arkansas. They
,ame 70 hear the discussion aud
learn what had been accomplished
in this and other Southern counties
toward combating the weevil.
Several planters. of Philips county
who had visited the boil weeVil tS
pertinent station at Tallulah, I'D.
told cs what they learned there, and
heir message was far from "eas
surins SO far as the 1922 infa5ta-
ton is concerned 1t will be the
heaviest, they said, since the weevil
irst appeared in north Louisiana
nd southern and eastern Arkansas
rhe fight is going to b. for the
cry existence of the cotton planters
they said.
Two tyres of anti-weevil machines
we're suggested ae the nest effsc,.,3
weapons to use. One of these is the
one ho:5o mst lime for dis ributing
calcium arSenate the most effective
poison the Tallulah exporimentorl
have Yet discovered, and ano'her one
horse machine which uses no poison
The latter machine, specimens of
V,bIcl. ilreadv i've be ~ used in
Phillips county, shakes the weevjls
rom .ae cotton that j; knee high
and less into a pan, from which
Where cotton more than knee high
is infected. only the calcium arsenate
machine will suffice. Such cotton
is too large for the other type of
machine.
Infestation Is Alarming.
Members of the committee. recent
ly returned from investigating Jour
neys through the cotton fields, said
that infestation was worse than ever
before and that the entire Phillips
county crop was threatened. One
planter reported examination of a
stalk of cotton which had already
produced II squares, and Is of
these had been. punctured by weevils
The degree of infestation varied
according to locality. but in all To-
calities the infestation was alarm
ing.
So serious has the situation be-
come that Chairman G. #. Black
wood of the Agricultural Committee
has appointed special committee
to prepare pamphlet for general
distribution among the cotton farm
ers. This pamphlet will explain the
situation succinctly and give infor-
nation as to what poison and non
poison machines will do toward ex
terminating the pests. The man
power and mule back poison ma
chimes will not be recommended ex
cept for small acreages, because ex
periments at Tallulah have shown
that they will not be effective on
large areas.
Work Has Drawbacks.
The poison machines must be used
at night and this is drawback in
this section because farm labor OBJ
jects to night work. Negro tenants
also object to using the poison ma
chimes because they are afraid that
they will themselves become poison
ed, Another objection is that if a
rain should fall within "a hours
after the poison machine is used
another application of poison must
be made Immediately to be sure
that the weevil are destroyed, The
first application would, therefore,
he in the nature of a useless ex
rense.
The nonpoison machine has none
of these objections, it was said. but
it is not effective on cotton above
knee high. For this reason many
planters have purchased both types
of machines TO make their fight
against the weevil as effective as
possible.
Proper use of anti-weevil ma
chimes, it was said would result in
saving so to So per cent of the
cotton crop from destruction with
out the use of preventive measures
be reduced to the minimum
The French bastile was founded