RS 
ae 
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 anc 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 gun. 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- 
