The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-04-16

American cotton bolt has U|"ftu
it, invasion ~ tho southern states.
and the battle from This time ON
is 10 be ono OF determination, It that
be- possible. nud N not ono for con
troll n is q baltic between q little
bug. about four times tU. size rf a.
mosquito on tho 1901 hand. ana Tho
Bureau % Entomology of the depart
ment OF agriculture, supported boy
millions Of farmers aud h]lHiu,ss
mon, on tho other. ~ is IoiuE To- ho
n long flrht and 10 g. g0irs tO test 10
tho limit tho genius uf the mon who
urc Zoo command NJ tho human clio
tu,uf. onE1hcd Don the struggle.
Because OF conditions lur 10 the
war" said Dr. L. -. Howard, chief
Of tho Bureau Of Entomology iu
W~ashIuEfUu. the other day. "tho
people OF the United States have not
awakened 20 ~ seriousness Of the
bon woovil sit4htion iu our cotton
belt. Put for the fact hat our for
cign trade since the war ended has
hocn almost ~ % |stHu1otIll they
would long ago have realized that iu
this Mexican insect We hay, nu enc
my hero at homo tho control or oN-
termination uf which o. a problem
the solution Of which concerns tho
wellbcing and prosperity not only
Of the farmers Of the south bat OF
our people generally"
Doctor Howard had before him MS
he talked n map Just completed by
the bureau OF entomology which,
for tho first time, shows the boll
weeviI ]rntreuchod along tho very
northornmost edges OF the cotton
growing bolt.
Tho Losses said Doctor Howard
~ he surveyed the wcCvil situation,
"hrc both direct ana indirect. and
the total would be I'm the billions Of
dollars ~ ~ wcro possible 10 cEti-
mate all the damage, direct ne well
rs indirect, that has followed tho in
%festation Of our southern states by
this insect. In the fan OF i02O the
Bureau OF Crop Estimates 81 the de-
partment OF agriculture estimated
that the loss for the four years.
1917 60 1890 inclusive, Appropriated
$500, 600. 900 annually, OF n total loss
for those years. due to wcCvll opera
lions IN the cotton belt, OF about ST.
0 10000, 900. Tho 1921 loss has been
N%ariouSly estimated all tho way
from $tOO. 600, 900 TO 500, 900, 600.
which puts tho total for the last
five years at somewhere between
81. 900. 00O, 900 and 1900, OOO, 900.
Add to this tho losses OF the 2b-yoar
period ia 1914 the losses due To de-
probation In the value OF farm lands
and other properties related to the
Cotton-grOwiug indsutry, the closing
down or part time operation of tex
tile and ~cottonseed oil mills, the
transportation loss, and other losses
trnceable directly or indirectly to
this little Mexican pest, and the sum
would stnggcr the Imagination.
Battle Line Against WccNil.
but the past Is past. so far as
other years are concerned the water
has gon owe the dam. our con.
Germ now Is FOR tho present and Tor
the future. Some OF the ablest cN-
perts In the employ of tho govern
mcnt are devoting their entire TINA
TO the problem. and much OF what
! am about to tell you Is based on
the. official reports OF these men,
among them II. Il. Cond, Director OF
the United States Boil Weevll In
Nestlgation station at Talulnh. La;
W. ID. Hunter Chief Bntomologlst In
charge; Il. S. Tucker. w. u. VIII
liams, and many others. all OF whom
are working day and night 60 find
n way to definitely turn the tide OF
battle. Already they have made
much progress. In the oud-whcn
that win he ! viii not phophcsy-
they and those associated with
them In this great work must and
will solve tho problem.
II have before me n report from
MIR. Coad relating to the t92i-22
wecvll Information. II rs not pleas
ant reading. hut this is n matter 80
serious that only the exact truth
should be spoken, Tho number of
wocvils cmerging from hihcrnation
each spring depends on two things
the number entering hibciuation In
Vfa f.l aYN H. y.-..gs.... - H..
hat survive tho winter months. Last
fan the conditions were such ~ to
permit an unusually large number
Of woovilS 10 enter h@ibcrnutiun. This
Was duo to the fact that the mild
winter Of 1901 and the wet SUM
NOR OF last year favored nm ahnor-
NAL multiplication OF the wccvil
throughout the entire infested south.
Because Of the weather conditions n
high rate OF weovil survival was To
he expected and reports TO tho
bureau OF entomology have con
firmed our worst fears In the matter.
THE Information records are
made in n number OF ways, but the
best comparable criterion IL based
on the number OF wccyils that are
found alive IN Spanish moss in ccr-
tain selected sections OF Louisiana
each year. Nc have boen keeping
these records since 1915. Within
the last few weeks Mr., Coad aud his
assistants have examined over $500
pounds ~ Spanish moss from 10 diff
ferent points In Louisiana.
This nos ~ examined with the
greatest care and the number OF
weeylls, alive and dead, noted. From
this II computed the ratio OF sur
Nival pcr ton OF moss. and past OK
Tericncc shows that this provides
a very fair Index of the spring omer-
gency which may be expected, Tho
most striking feature OF the 1A22
report Is that Il shows more than
five times as many live wcevils In
Information as I'm tho highest pre-
ceding year since 1915, For instance,
In 1915 a ton OF spanish moss Yield
cd 4li dead and only 10 live vice.
Wis; IN 1916 u yielded "a live aud
1856 dcnd; In 1917 the ratio was s
alive to lS4 dead, the ratio varying
with the years, the highest ratio of
alive TO dead wCeyils, previous 20
this year. being the winter Of 1920.
1921, when the ratio was 20 live
TO 20 dead. This year Is the first
I'm which the survlvais have outnum-
bered the dead. The i022 report
gives 127 alive to every 90 dead
That tells It's own story.
However, "a should he borne In
mind In considering the slEniticance
Of the 1922 ropOrt that Whun a.