Circular [June 1918]

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Georgia State Board of Entomology

CIRCULAR 28

JUNE 1918

FACTS OF INTEREST
About The
GEORGIA STATE BOARD OF ENTOMOLOGY

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ATLANTA, '

GEORGIA

GEORGIA STATE BOARD OF ENTOMOLOGY
ORGANIZATION
HON. J. J . BROWN, Chairman, Commissioner o f Agri cultur e, Atlanta.
H ON. R C. BERCKMANS , Macon
HON . JNO. A. COBB, Americus
A. C. LEWIS, Stat e Entomologist and Secretary of ths Board, Atl a n t a
W . W. CHASE, Assistant State Entomologist , Atlanta.
W. V. REED, Assistant Entomologist, Atlanta.
W. F. TUR NER , Assistant E ntomologist, 'I'homasville.
IR A W. WILLIAMS, Cotton Specialist, Thomasville.
C. A. McLENDON , E xper t in Cotton Breeding, Atlanta.

FACTS OF INTEREST ABOUT THE GEORGIA STATE BOARD OF ENTOMOLOGY
By
A. C. LEWIS,
State Entomologist.
The Geo r gia State Bo a rd of Entomology was established in 189 8 with an appropriation of $2,500.00 per year. T he staff con sisted at that ti me of the State E ntomologist a nd a stenographer. From this meager beginning twenty years ago the Department h as grown steadily, and the appropr ia tion increased eve ry few years un til now the ann ual appropriation fo r the State Board of Entomo logy is $50 ,000 .00.
The Board of Entomology, as n ow organized, is composed of th ree members, the Commissioner of Agricult ure, who is ex-officio Chair man of the Board, a nd two members wh o are appoin ted by the Gove rnor, one of whom m ust be a practi ca l horticulturist, and the oth er a n agriculturi st or be closely a ffil iated wit h agricu ltural interests. The m embers of the Board a re Hon. J . J . Brown, Commissioner of Agricult ure and Ch air man of the Boa rd, R . C. Berckmans, h orticulturist, Macon, Ga. , a n d Capt. J oh n A. Cobb , agriculturist, Americ us , Ga .
T he working staff n ow consists of the State Entomologis t , Assist a n t Stat e Entomologist, two assistant entomolo gists, two cotton experts, two Stati on superintende nts, two field a gents, two stenog raphers at the Atlan ta offi ce and one stenog r a phe r at Thoma sville, sub-station , one a r tist , and the se cr etary to t he State Entomologist , who is also the bookk eeper ; a to tal of fifteen , eleven men and fou r wo m en, who are now employed by the Geo rgia State Board of Entom ology.
WOR K CONDUCTED BY THE GE OR GIA STATE BOARD OF ENT OMOLOGY.
The work conducted by the Georgia Stat e Board of Entomology may be classified as fo llows : in sp ection w ork, en forcement of quarantine r egula ti on s, inves tigation s on the life history a n d contr ol of inj ur iou s in s ect s, experiments for the control of plant dis eases, cotton breedin g, t h e public ation and distribution of bulletins, active participation in Farmers ' Institutes and agricult ur al rallies.
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INSPECTION WORK
T he inspection work performed consists of the annual inspection of t he nurseries in t he State , now 115, to determine if the plants t hey h a ve for sale are free from in ju r ious insects and plant diseases . All t he fo reign ship ments of plants into t he state are inspected upon a rrival, for the gypsy moth and other injurious insects and plant diseases. The lot shipments made by individuals must be in spect ed before they are shipped . Each year a number of peach and apple orchards are inspected at t he owners' r equest for injurious in sect s and plant diseases , and if any are found directions are give n for their con t r ol. Many private gr oun ds in the city and co untr y are inspected at th e owners' request. Tr uck far m s are exam in ed and sugge stion s made in r egard to the co n t r ol of injurio us insects and plant dis eases. Many cotton fie lds are inspected each summer for the boll w e evil , cotton wil t and oth er in sects and plant dis eases.
ENFORCEMENT OF QUAR ANTINE REGULATIO NS .
The quarantine r egulations t he Board enfo rces are: 1. Those in r egard t o the sh ipment of nu rser y st ock in the state, and that fr om oth er states a n d foreign co un t r ies into Georgia. 2. The r eg ula ti on s in r egard to t he bo ll weevil and co tt on products from in fest ed sections. 3. The pine blister rust. 4. The sweet potato w eevil. 5. R egulations in r egard t o t he fou l brood of be es. (Ac t to be passed this summer.)
INVESTIGATIONS ON T HE CONT R OL OF INSE CT S .
The expe r im en t s con du cte d a n d bulletins published by t he Board of Entomology on in juriou s in se ct s a n d th eir con t r ol cover the following cr ops and in sect s as en um er a ted :
1. App le insects, such as codling moth, flat-headed and round-headed borers, apple aphis , wooly ap his, San Jose and ot.her scale in sect s .
2. P each insects, such as cu rculio, peach t.ree borer, shot.-hole borer, and t he San Jose scale.
3. Pecan insects, leaf case-bearer , nut case-bea rer , etc. 4. Garden a nd miscellaneous insects. 5. F ield crops, Hessian fly of wh eat, corn -bill b ug, etc.
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PLANT DISEASES A?\D THEIR CONTROL.
E xp erimen t s fo r t h e contr ol of plant disea ses h a ve b een -give n. a g reat deal of ti m e and attention by the Georgia State Board of Entomology. They m ay be en u merated as fo llows:
1. App le disea ses , bitter r ot , scab , lea f spot, ceda r rust, a n d cro wn gall.
2. Peach diseases, brown rot, scab, lea f cu rl, cr own gall, a nd nem atode galls .
3. Pecan diseases , scab , mildew, rosette, etc. 4. Diseas es of fi eld a nd garden crops, s uch as potato blight, toma t o wilt, and black rot of cabbages, etc. 5. Cotton disea ses , wilt, anth racnose, bla ck-arm , etc.
P UBLICAT IONS.
The Georgia State Board of Entomology h a s published fr om 1898 to date, June 1918 , fifty-one bulletins, twentyeight circulars, two press bulletins, a nd a numb er of articles on diff erent phases of insect con tr ol a n d plant diseases h a ve b een fur n is hed t he papers from time to time. T w o bulleti n s , one in 1910 an d one in 1912 , have been pub lis hed in co -operation wi th the Expe riment Station at Experiment, Ga. A lif e hi st ory chart of the boll w eevil in co lo rs h a s a lso b een pri n t ed and dist r ibu t ed ver y widely over t he state. The fo llo wing paragraphs giv e t h e scope a n d field of wo rk a n d t he insects and plant dis eases mentioned in these pub lica ti on s .
WORK ON P E ACH AND APPLE INSECT S AND DISEASES .
On account of t he im por ta n ce of t h e peach and apple in dust r y in t he state peach and apple in sect s and diseases h a ve been given special attention . Four bulletins an d two circulars on peach in sects and diseases, and t hree bulletins on apple in sect s and disea ses h a ve been issued.
T he w ork on peach and a pple in sects a n d diseases by W . W. Chase , Assistant State Ent om olo gist , h a ve been of g reat value to the fr uit g r ower s of t he state. We began exper imen ts on dusting pea ch es in 1906, an d in Febr uary 1917, is sued Circular No. 21 on Dustin g a nd Sp rayi ng of P ea ch es . This ye a r m any of t he large peach growers a t F ort Va lley a re du sti n g peaches as r ecommended by the Georgia Boar d of E n to m ol ogy.
Bulle ti n No . 38, is sued Ma y , 1913, on Principal Insects and Diseases of t he Apple in Geor gia, has been exhausted, t he
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demand for it bein g so great. Ext en sive sp r a ying ex pe ri m ent s ar e now bein g conducted on a pples in Nor th Georgia , and we hop e t o issue n ext fall a new bulletin on the co ntr ol of apple insects and diseases.
PECAN INSECTS AND DISEASES .
Bulleti n No . 49, Pecan In sects a nd Dise ases, by Wm . F'. Turn er and C. G. Crittenden , gives in det ail t h e results of studies a nd exp erimen ts .t hat h a ve been condu cted fo r t h e past five years This is t he first b ulletin eve r pub lish ed in Georgia on pecan in sect s a nd diseases . Wh en it is r em emb er ed t hat t h ere are probably a bout 1,500,000 pecan trees in t he state th e va lue a nd im porta n ce of t his work is a t once appare nt.
GARDEN INSE CT S AND DISEASES.
The Geo rgia State Boar d of Entomolog y ha s issued on e bulletin a nd one circular on garde n insect s a n d dis ea ses. This wo r k on gar den in sect s and diseases has been co ndu cted by Assista nt E ntomologist W. V. R eed . The m ost import ant in sects a n d plant disea ses cov ered by th ese bulletins are su ch a s the follo wing on gard en crop s: the Harlequin ca bbage bug, sq uash bug, web worm , pickle worm, squa sh vine bor er , a nd ca bba ge worm , etc. Specia l attention h as been given to the cotton r ed spi der, a nd B ulletin No . 92, Geo r gia Ex per iment Statio n , has been issu ed on t his su bj ect in co -operation wit h the Experiment Station. Also sp ecial wo rk a nd lif e hi stor y studi es have been made on the m ole cricket, which wa s also in co-operation with the Georgia Experim ent Statio n a nd issu ed as Bulletin No. 101 of the Geo rgia Experi m ent Sta ti on.
The diseases of gar de n cr ops , su ch as to mato w ilt. blossom end r ot, etc., h av e been studied. Diseases of the m elon , cuc u mbe r, a n d cantalo upe ha ve also been studied and dir ecti on s give n for their trea tm ent.
This year special w ork is bein g conducted u pon th e Mosiac diseases of pimento pep pers at Griffin.
A n ew sweet pota t o pest, the sw eet pot ato weevil, (Cylas formi carius ) , h as been foun d in one cou nty (Charlton) of this stat e. This sweet potato weevil is as se r ious a pest to th e sweet po tat o as the boll we evil is to cotton . A special effort is bein g made to keep this weevil from spreading over the state and it will be exterminated if possible.
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LNSE CT S AT TACKING F'IELD CROPS.
Wheat insect s, es pecia lly the Hessian fly, h a ve been st u died fo r .sever al years. Cir cula r No . 7 gives in a brief wa y t he life hi st ory of t he Hess ia n fly and t he r emedies to use in order to avoid loss from t h is inse ct. Anyon e cont emplating sow in g wh eat this fa ll should send fo r a copy of this circula r .
The ri ce or co r n weevil. as it is co mmo nly called, ann u ally destroy s much co r n in Georgia . Cir cular No . 22 gives m ethod of fumigating corn wit h carb on bisulphide to kill this w eevil.
T he Army w or m t hat fr eq uently ca use s so m u ch dam ag e t o alfalfa and other hay crops is de sc r ibe d and metho ds of control give n in Cir cula r No . 12 .
COT T ON WILT.
Since 1905 the Georgia State Board of E nto mo logy h a s been giving specia l attentio n to cotton dis ea ses , suc h as wilt, a nthra cnose, a nd lea f sp ot or black a rm. The wr it er h as devoted a great deal of hi s time ea ch se ason sin ce hi s con nectio n with the Boa r d of Ent omology in 1905 t o th e pres en t t ime (19 18) to cotton wilt and it s cont r ol. Wh en the work was b egun it wa s a common sight to see 'ma n y cotton fields in south Georgia where over a cr es a nd ac res ~5 t o 75 per cent of t h e cotton was dead fr om t he wilt disease. The loss in 1905 to the cotton growers in Geo rgia from this disease was es timated a t $1,500,000 . In 1910 th e loss was esti m a ted a t $1,000 ,000, a nd n ow in 1918 it is figured from correspon den ce a nd r ep orts r eceived t h at th e a n n ual loss fr om wilt disea se in Georgia is n ot more than $500,000, or in oth er wo r ds only one t h ir d of w hat it was in 1905. All this reduction in the a nnual loss fr om the cotton wilt in Georgia is due directly to the work th e Georgia State Bo ard of Entomology h a s condu cted on th is dis ea se.
COT T ON BRE EDING.
The author has bred up , by crossing a n d selec tion, four hybrid strains of wilt r esistant cotton as follows : Dix- Afifi, a cr oss between the Dixi e and the Egyptian Mit -Afifi ; Lewi s 63, a cr oss between the Dixi e a n d Dillon: Dillon -Hybrid, a cr oss between th e Dillon and T exas Oak; a n d H endley 's Choice , a cr oss between the Madella and Half and H al f. By continued selection h ave also secured two n ew strains of wilt r esi stant cotton n ow known as the Mod ella and DeSoto. Have also greatly improved the Covington-Toole strain by selection, which is now known as the Council-Toole.
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These wilt r esistant strains of cotton that w ere originated,

bred up and distribut ed by th e Georgia State Board of

Entomology are now saving t he cotton g r owe r s in Geo rgia

thousands of dollars each year.

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The cotton breeding w ork m entioned in the above para-

graphs is bein g con ducted on Hon. M. B. Council's plan ta-

tion at DeS ot o.

COTT ON VARIETY TESTS.

C. A. Mcl.eudon , Cotton Expert, is con d uc ti ng cot t on breeding and variet y tests a t Wa yn esboro, S pa r ta, Washington , Atlanta , Rome, and Cor nelia . I-Ie a lso h a s general su pe rvis ion of t he co u nty tests in ea st an d n orth Georgia . The foll owing B ulletins, Nos . 40, 46 and 50 give t he results secured in thes e variety tests.
Variety tests are al so bein g con du cte d by t he author at Americus, Lumpkin, Vienna, and Brunswick,
Our variety t ests, ex te nding in some places a number of years, have prov en beyond a doubt t he g reat value of the wilt resistan t cot t on . Thus, for in s tance. in t he va-
ri ety test at Vie nn a in 1917 , Lewis 63 yi eld ed 2,464 lbs. seed cotton per a cre , while t he Kin g made only 586 lbs. of seed cotton- per a cre ; and in other t ests, (s ee Bulletin No . 50) the difference in yi eld between the wil t r es istant var ieties and the ordinary varieties was about t he same.

SUB-STATION S AT THOMAS VILLE AND VALDOSTA.

The work on the S ub -Station s at 'I'h ornasv ille and Val-
dosta under t he dire cti on of Ira W. Willi ams has been of great value to the co tton gr owers of Ge org ia . At Thomasville there ar e being conducted a numb er of ex pe rim ent s on cotton under bo ll weev il con dit ion s on la n d in fect ed with cotton wilt and n ematode worms. These expe r imen nt s are briefly as foll ow s : A vari ety, fertilizer, and distan ce test; a sy s tem of rotation for t he elimin atio n of t he n em a tode worm from the soil ; and expe r iments on cotton a n t hr acno se arid leaf spot, or black arm. At the Valdosta Station, which is devoted entirely to Sea Island cot t on, the work has b een mainly breeding u p an early wilt r esi st a nt strain of Sea Isl an d cotton t hat can be grown profitably und er bo ll weevil conditions. A variety test, etc., is conducted coveri n g the same points as those on short cotton at Thomasville. The results already secured from th e ex pe ri m en ts on cotton breeding are ve r y encouraging, an early strain of Sea Isla n d, No . 24, having b een secured, which in 1917, u n der boll weevil condit ions, yielded 680 t o 820 lb s . of seed cotton

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per a cre, while in the variety test some of the other varieties yielded as low as 140 lbs, of seed cotton per acre.
COTTON WLLT AND COUNTY BOLL vVEEVIL TESTS .
For the past ten years th e Georgia State Board of Entomolo gy has been distributing their wilt r esistant cotton s eed t o the farmers in Georgia in the counties where cotton wilt has been doing more or less damage. At first only a few hundred bushels of wil t r esistant seed were sent out each year, but for the past four or five years fr om two to four thous a nd bushels of wilt resistant cotton seed were distributed. Th e Boa r d decided last year t hat this m ethod of ge tting wilt r esistant seed distributed over the state was costing too mu ch for th e r esults secured, h en ce another plan of distributin g th e seed has be en a dopted. In brief t his m ethod is as foll ow s: The Boa r d has em ployed three m en who are known as Fi eld Age nt s. These m en , in th e boll weevil sect ion, a re und er th e sunervision of Ira. W. Williams. They 'visit the differen t coun tie s and in each cou nty s elect on e or two men to whom , fr ee of cost , fiv e to ten bushels of cotton seed is furni sh ed. In t he coun ties wh ere th e cotton wilt is present the seed of on e of the wilt r esistant strains is furnished. The main wilt r esistant strains of which s eed has been se nt out are the Dix -Afifi , Lewis 63, Counc il-T oole , and DeSoto.
In the counties where the boll we evil is pres en t , but where the wilt dis ease does no t exist, seed is sent a nt of a variety which w e believe will do well for th at county under boll weevil conditi ons. Further north in Geor gia where the boll weevil has no t ye t app eared seed is furnished of a vari ety whi ch. a ccording to our judgmen t , is well ad ap t ed to tha t co unty, our opinion bein g based upon our ob servations, expe r ience, and variety t ests conduc te d in th a t section of the stat e. This year we are conduc ting work of this nature in 125 cou n ti es. These tests are of great value, to ea ch cou nty, as we hope in this way to find out which variety of cott on is best adapted to that section . We furnish the best seed we ca n procure of the variety selected. . This seed is usually gr own by some on e with whom we have be en workin g for a number of years, and is what is known as pedigreed seed. That is , it ca m e originally from on e stalk of cotton which was selected for its good qualities, such as ea rliness, productiveness, and disease resistance. By furnishing one or two men in a county five to ten bushels of this pedigreed s eed , the party may grow enough cotton to be able to save pure seed, and in a year orLwo
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plant his who le farm in this variety, if h e so desires. He can in this way become a source from which the farm ers of that community may purchase good seed which has been grown in their county. Y-le are making a sp ecial effort to instruct ea ch of t h ese m en h ow to im pr ove cotton by s elec tion a nd also im press upon the m the va lu e a n d imp ortance of pure se ed. This will enable them not on ly to k eep the variety of cotton up t o its present hi gh sta n da r d, but to im prove it still further by co n tin ue d selection.
In the boll we evil s ection special instructions a r e give n in r egard to fighting the boll weevil , th ese m en visiting the fa r ms eve r y month durin g t he gr owin g season to see that our instructions a r e car ried out. \Ve hop e in this wa y t o dem on state t o the cotton gr owe rs in th e boll w eevil section th at cotton m ay be grown su cces sfully and profitably und er boll w eevil conditi ons if the right kind of a fight is mad e on the boll w eevil and pe dig reed seed planted of a variety well ad ap t ed to that se ction.
DUSTING T O CONT R OL THE BOLL WEEVIL.
This season th e Georgia State Board of Entom ology is conduc ti ng exte n sive exper im en ts in dusting cotton with a rse na te of lead and other materials to contr ol the boll weevil. These tests are being made on both the up la nd and Sea Island cotton . The expe ri me nt s are bein g con du ct ed near Valdosta on A. B . Smith's farm , and at Ca iro on J . B. Wight 's farm. The Boar d ext ends an invitation to all int erest ed in th e r esults of t hese t es ts t o visit the fields and see for themselves just what r esults are secured . This wo r k is bein g done to determine if it is possible t o dev elop a more thorough, ef ficie nt and ch eaper m ethod of con tro lling th e boll w eevil than that now usually recomm ended.
BULLE T IN S AVAILABLE FOR DIS TRIBUTIO N.
The Georgia State Board of Entomolo gy is making a special effor t this se a son to a ssist everyone t hey can in th e control of in sects and plant diseases, so as t o r edu ce the loss from these so urces to a minimum. At this tim e, wh en it is so important that w e raise all t h e food cr ops w e ca n, every effort should be m ad e to make each acre produ ce as much as possible, a nd not let 10 to 20 pe r cent of the crop be de stroyed by ins ect s or plant diseases. Hence, we urge u pon eve ryone who finds an insect or plant disea se working upon their crops to se n d a specimen at once fo r identi ficati on to
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the Board of Entomology. Speoimens of insects should be sent by mail in a tin box so they will not be crushed en route beyond recognition.
The following Bulletins are available for free distribution:
Bull. No. 36-Control of Army Worm and Cotton Caterpillar.
Bull. NoAO-Cotton Wilt in Georgia Bull. No . 41-Truck Crop Pests. Bull. No. 43-Peach Insects and Diseases Bull. No . 44-:Mexican Cotton Boll Weevil. Bull. No. 46-Cotton Variety Tests for 1916 . Bull. No . 47-Growing Cotton Under Boll We evil Conditi ons. Bull. No . 49-Pecan Insects and Diseases.
CIRCULARS.
Cir. No.7-The Hessian Fly in Georgia. Cir. No. 12-Army Worm and Cotton Caterpillar. Cir. No. 17-The "V" Cotton-stalk Cutter. Cir. No. 20-Directions for Making First Year Cotton Selections. Cir. No. 22-Control of Corn Weevil. Cir. No. 24-Helpful H in t s on Dusting Peaches. Cir, No. 25-Boll Weevil Quarantine Regulations with Map showing dis tribution of th e Boll Weevil in 1917. Cir. No. 26- Ma int a inin g the Purity of Cotton Seed.
PRESS BULLETINS.
No. I.-Common Insects and Diseases of the Iri sh Potato . Colored Chart-s-Illustrati ng t he Lif e Histo r y o f th e Bo ll Weevil. If you wish to have your name placed on the mailing list, or if you desire an y of the above publications, or to s end in specimens of insects or diseases, address them to
A. C. LEWIS, State Entomologist, Atlanta, Ga .
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Variety test, Am eri cu s, Georgia. Two rows on left DeSoto. two rows in center King; tw o rows on rig.ht Lewis 63. Plat uniformly infected wit h wilt.