BOLL WEEVIL CONTROL BY USE OF POISON. 19 



areas of plant tissue are devoured by the insects and the chances 

 of poisoning considerably increased, but it will not furnish a suffi- 

 ciently thorough distribution to result in control of the boll weevil. 



A special Farmers' Bulletin (1098) has been issued by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture on the subject of dusting machinery for the 

 cotton boll weevil, and everyone contemplating poisoning is advised 

 to secure a copy of this and study it thoroughly. 



So far only three types of satisfactory dusting machines have been 

 developed and placed on the market, namely, the hand gun, the wheel- 

 traction machine, and the engine-power machine. 



HAND GUN. 



Several satisfactory models of hand guns are now on the market 

 and may be purchased at from $15 to $25 each. Each machine con- 

 sists of a small hand-operated fan and hopper slung from the shoul- 

 der of the operator, which is carried through the field, poisoning a 

 single row of cotton at a time. Unfortunately these machines are 

 very difficult to operate. The labor involved is strenuous, to say the 

 least, since the operator must walk through the field at a very fair 

 pace and bear the strain of carrying, directing, and cranking the 

 machine. It has been found that operating for a short period of 

 time, a man can cover about an acre an hour with one of these guns, 

 but he can not continue at this rate for more than an hour or so. 

 Owing to the necessity of poisoning when the plants are moist with 

 dew, hand-gun work can usually be conducted only during the early 

 morning or late evening. Generally speaking, this means from about 

 4 or 5 o'clock until 8 or 9 in the morning, and from about 6 o'clock to 

 dark in the evening. About the best speed that can be attained is in 

 the neighborhood of 5 acres per day for each man. If two men are 

 available for each gun, it is possible to change occasionally and thus 

 speed up the work so that the area covered by the single gun during 

 the day is somewhat increased, but even under such conditions it is 

 hardly safe to count on an average of more than 5 acres per day for 

 each machine. Figuring on a four-day time interval, this would 

 mean that each machine would cover about 20 acres, but in reality, 

 with loss of time due to various causes which is certain to be ex- 

 perienced, and with delay due to inability to operate under unfavor- 

 able conditions, it is certainly not safe to figure on an average allot- 

 ment of more than 15 acres to each hand gim. It would undoubtedly 

 be much better to figure on about 10 acres for each hand gun, and, 

 if possible, to distribute the operation of this gun between two dif- 

 ferent laborers. 



In many cases farmers planting from 40 to 100 acres of cotton do 

 not feel justified in purchasing large machines and desire to under- 



