Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-08-30
FARM EDUCATION
BY DR.. ANDREW M. SOULE

oats. For hay production, we would
certainly seed them with oats. For
grazing down by hogs, it will be all
right to seed them by themselves.
In the matter of grain yield, their
cultivation has not proven desirable
from our point of view. Canadian
peas will do we'll on strong, heavy
land. There is some doubt as to
the other crops you can grow to
better advantage. We would prefer
to center our energies on the pro-
duction of alfalfa.
Damage Inflicted BY Boil
WeeviI r.+.. 49,. '.
J. c. NJ, Gainesville, Ga,
writes: [ am sending you sam
pie of worm that is destroying
the cotton here after than the
boil weevil. OF the infestation in
my field. seventy-five per cent is
by the work, and twenty-five
per cent otherwise. Is there any
way of controlling this pest?
The insect to which you refer is a
| caterpillar. which belongs to the cut
worm family. It goes by a variety
of names. 1t is often called the
cotton boll-worm." The moth that
produces this caterpillar lays eggs
for the first brood in corn. AS there
are three generations of this insect,
in our latitude, it is not surprising
to find that the second and third
generations often attack cotton. This
is leaf-eating insect, and hence it
/ can be controlled by the use of poi
son. The thorough and complete
busting of your cotton should help to
bring it under control and keep it
satisfactorily in check during the
| balance of the season. Naturally,
| the best thing for you to use for this
purpose would be calcium arsenate
| Of g. standard grade. This, as you
doubtless know, is so compounded
| that there is no free arsenic in it.,
and hence the leaves Of the cotton
plant will not be damaged by rather
| liberal applications of the dust spray.
Land which is badly infested with
| this pest should, as a rule, be plowed
in the late fall so that as many of
| the pupae of this insect as possible
will be brought near the surface of
the ground and so destroyed by the
freezes of the winter season. AS a
rule, this insect does not do serious
damage to cotton. Its attacks are
more or less localized and sporadic
! rather than general.
Fungus Disease of Melons Hard to
Control
J.. w. K, Millen, Ga, writes:
I wish information as to how to
treat my melon vines. They die
at the root. They become rusty
and scaly and then die.
Inv IL H. hi
been attacked by what is known as
wilt disease or "black root" 1t has
been particularly bad this year in
many sections. This trouble arises
| from the presence in the soil of a
fungus which is exceedingly hard to
destroy as it will live in the land for
a number of years. This fungus
gains entrance into the roots of
! many of our crops and grows up
through the water-carrying channels
J and chOkes the plants to death
as it were. Watermelons should not
be lanted after cowpeas, and GER
tainly not after those varieties that
are most readily attacked by the
nematode worm. The strains that are
the most resistant to this trouble
are the Brabham and the Iron. These
varieties can be used for soil en-
| richment with much less chance Of
the land becoming infected with men,
atodes and the wilt fungus than if
other strains of cowpeas are plant
ed. | regret to say that there is moth
ing [ can suggest that will be of ser.
vice to you under the circumstances,
This is due to the fact that the wilt
fungus is already resident in the
soil. There is no practicable means
of eradicating it. You should remove
all the diseased plants from the
land and burn them as quickly as
this disease is evidenced so as to pre-
vent the further spread of the wilt.
producing fungus.