252 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



should be planted as early as possible with safety. A liberal use 

 of commercial fertilizers will hasten the growth of the crop even on 

 fairly fertile soils, and on poor soils their use will return a hand- 

 some profit. Early varieties of cotton should be planted, among 

 the most satisfactory being, Rowden, Triumph, Cleveland Big 

 Boll, Cook's Improved, King, Hawkins' Early Prolific, and Sim- 

 kins. Seed should be secured from the originators of the varie- 

 ties as far as possible. Chop out the plants as soon as possible. 

 Frequent light cultivation will be found of the greatest importance 

 in hastening the crop. Deep cultivation and cultivating close to 

 the plants should be avoided as causing the squares to shed, and 

 the old practice of " laying by " by running a broad sweep down 

 the middles should be avoided. The lightest possible cultivation 

 to keep the surface soil stirred is the best. All of these methods 

 which aid in hastening the maturity of the crop are commonly 

 called " cultural methods " of preventing loss from the weevil. 

 They are not directed againts the weevil itself, but are merely the 

 best agricultural methods for securing an early crop, and on light 

 upland soils attention to these methods will alone be sufficient to 

 secure a good crop. 



It has already been shown that the immature stages in squares 

 falling on the hot soil will be killed by the heat. To aid in this 

 the rows should be planted fairly wide apart, and varieties pro- 

 ducing a minimum of shade are preferable as are those which 

 readily shed their squares when injured. As most of the squares 

 drop beneath the plants where they are shaded, any means of 

 scraping them into the centers of the rows will aid in their de- 

 struction. For this purpose a chain cultivator as described by 

 Hunter (I.e.) (Fig. 215) has proven very efficient for this purpose. 

 The chains may be attached to ordinary cultivators by special 

 attachments. 



During 1909 Professor Wilmon Newell and his assistants 

 demonstrated at several places in Louisiana that the weevil may 

 be successfully poisoned by the use of dry or powdered arsenate 

 of lead, though previous experiments with dry Paris green and 

 arsenate of lead as a liquid spray had not proven of practical 

 value for various reasons. An increase of 71 per cent of the crop 

 was secured on considerable areas and the results were duplicated 

 by practical planters. Professor Newell recommends that the 



