The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-13
SETTING sNAREs FOR wEEvILs

r SETTING. SNARES FOR WEEvILS It is now thirty-two seasons since the Mexican boil weevil made it's entry into the cotton fields of southeast Texas. From the beginning its menace was per ceived by the scientists interested in ag- riculture, but their uneasiness was not readily communicated to state govern ments to arouse them to defensive ac- tion. For fifteen years, however, the state of Texas has made a campaign of research against the weevil and has been backed up by the federal government and by the, agricultural agencies of many states. Many millions have been spent in this effort, but the total expended throughout the whole period of such en- deavor does not begin to equal the dam age done by the weevil in just one year. In fact, it. is held that the weevil now costs the cotton growers three hundred million dollars every year. Beside its annual loss of millions every year the offer of fifty thousand dollars by Texas for a successful remedy against the weevil seems paltry enough. The appro- priations of cotton-growing states for weevil control is equally negligible in comparison with the cost of maintaining the weevil.
 Now the weevil has spread all over the South,ss cotton area, with the excep- tion of noFthern Virginia, northern Ar kansas, poftions of Oklahoma, the north western pat of Texas, and New Mexico. That eventually the boil weevil, unless checked, will take possession of the en- tire cotton area is inevitable. But it now appears that the careful and intensive research of scientists for a reliable method of weevil control is about to be rewarded. Already planters have suc- cessfully applied calcium arsenate to the leaves, which poisons the dew which forms the only drink of the weevils. This has been successful as a means of con- trol only. It does not and cannot ulti- mately exterminate the weevil, for there will always be drops of dew that will not receive the poison, and there will always be weevils to drink only of such drops of dew. Hence, there would always be weevils to carry on the succession.
 It is therefore apparent that some thing more potent must be found; some thing that will catch the weevil between seasons, so to speak. Since the weevil does not make his appearance ir num- bers until after tie feast is already pre- pared, and since he eats only cotton, it lis evident that no competing attraction can entice him away from his chosen and specialized diet. Any measures ap- l. piled during the season of cotton bolls, therefore, can be only partially effective. But it is conceivable that there is time late in the fall, after the plants have ceased to produce his food in quantity an4 before the weevil is ready to go to roost for the winter, when competitive lure might entrap him, and reduce his numbers almost to extinction.
 At any rate, scientists and chemists for years have been trying to discover such a lure. When it was finally deter mined that scent is the sense through which the cotton plant makes its lone ap- peal to the weevil, the problem centered in discovering what particular ingredient sence so irresistible to the weevil. After months and years of stewing, boiling, distilling, analysing and disintegrating of the cotton plant both structurally and chemically, and of trying the results on the weevils held in hungry custody for that purpose, the scientists finally be- lieve that they have triumphed. The weevils, enclosed in traps provided with runways leading to other vessels contain ing various essences, brews and soups of cotton plants, have ignored all such lures except one and possibly two. To these lures they have repeatedly re- sponded with true weevil eagerness, in test after test, so that the scientists now believe that they have only to dis cover a practical means of joining the lures to traps to win the victory and to begin to turn the tide back towards Mexico.
 This is a most encouraging prospect for the South. With traps set in the cot ton fields after the seasonal peak of boil production is past, it is believed that the surviving weevils will still be active and will find their appetites urging them to follow this inviting scent, thus falling an easy prey to the traps. At any rate, progress has been made, and there is confidence that, if the problem is not yet solved, it will be solved in the not distant future.