22 THE BED SPIDEE ON COTTON. 



Several insects have been discovered which destroy many mites 

 and are thus of great benefit to the planter. 



At the end of the cotton-growing season most of the red spiders 

 migrate afoot in search of greener plants. The majority of those 

 which are destined to survive the winter probably settle on either the 

 cultivated violet or on the pokeweed. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



(i) Clean culture. — Destroy, by burning and grubbing out, all 

 weeds and underbrush about cotton fields, being especially careful to 

 remove all pokeweed. Practice fall plowing so far as possible. 



(^) Control on violets. — Destroy or thoroughly spray cultivated 

 violet pknts which may be growing near cotton fields. 



{3) Resistant varieties. — In choosing seed for the crop avoid varie- 

 ties which suffer most from red-spider attack. 



(4) Broadcasted trap borders. — Thickly sow cotton along margins 

 of fields at points where infestation has appeared on former occasions 

 and plow these in about June 1, so as to intercept and destroy the in- 

 vading mites. 



(J) PidUng first infested stalls. — Maintain a careful watch of 

 fields from the time of the- earliest appearance of cotton above gi'ound, 

 so that the first attacked plants may be detected, removed, and burned, 

 thus preventing further spread. 



{G) Barrier strip. — In case a considerable area of cotton has be- 

 come affected before discovery, remove and burn the worst of it and 

 then plow a 10-foot strip completely around the extreme outside of 

 .the infested area. Keep this strip stirred frequently to make further 

 dispersion difficult. 



(7) Spraying. — Apply one of the insecticides recommended to the 

 infested portion of a field before infestation becomes too general to 

 prohibit its use. Choose the pump outfit which best suits the par- 

 ticular case. Two ap^Dlications should be made. The second, a week 

 after the first, is to kill the individuals which were eggs at the time of 

 the first spraying. 



Unlike many other pests, the red si)ider has no wings and spreads 

 mainly by means of its tiny legs. Migration does not extend far from 

 its winter quarters. This makes every man's problem virtually his 

 own. In other words, if his infestation always comes from a certain 

 spot upon his premises, proper attention to this spot will yield him 

 satisfactory results in spite of the negligence of his neighbors. 



Approved : . 



James Wilson, 



Secretary of Agriculture. iiiiiiii,„?"?i"f°';''*m.l!l^l'7'^™^'-'^''*'"^^ 



AVashington, D. C, January 22. 1913. 



O 3 9088 01272 8390 



