Oklahoma Farmer (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 4, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 10, 1908 Page: 1 of 16
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Every Member of the Family Reads the Classified Advcrt'iscmcnts in The Farmer, They're Result-Getters
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"Let the Farmer be Honored, for they who Labor in the Earth are the Chosen People of 6cd." /,# *
• Vol. XVII. No. 4
GUTHRIE, OKLAHO >■ , JUNE 10, 190 8.
50 Cents per Year
r. "
Stringent Quarantine
Measures Advised
ROLL WEEVIL
Government will Aid
Fight on the Pest
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The ffsiit on the Mexican boll wee-
vil In Oklahoma is on. Tliis pestifer-
ous insect which has been creating ha-
voc with the cotton crop in the south
for the past twenty years, entered upon
Its work of destruction in Oklahoma
last year. When the department of
agriculture first heard the report of
the boll weevil's appearance in the ex-
•treme southern end of the state, it
first refused to believe the story, but
to make certain at once caused an in-
vestigation, with the result that the
report was verified and the informers
vindicated.
Ten thousand dollars has been made
Immediately available for the fight in
Jn Oklahoma. The entire Oklahoma
delegation had hoped to make this ap-
propriation much larger, but owing to
the retrenchment policies of the pres-
ent administration their efCorts met
•with little encouragement, and it was
only through hard work and large ef-
fort that the small sum of $10,000 was
procured. It is understood that an ex-
pert entymologist who has successfully
coped with the boll weevil in Texas
and Louisiana will be sent to the
(Stricken boll weevil zone in Oklahoma,
Which includes Bryan, Carter and
Atofoa counties.
It Is said that, the boll weevil has
made rapid progress in these counties
and spreading rapidly in a northeast-
erly direction. To check its spread and
to minimize the destructive force of
this pest will be the chief aim of the
dejmrtment of agriculture. A cam-
paign of educating the farmers as to
how best fight the weevil will be one
of the important features of the de-
partment's work.
Already thousands of farmer's bulle-
tins have been sent broadcast over the
stricken area informing the farmers
what to do and how to best preserve
and protect their cotton from the wee-
vil, and much good as been accom-
plished as a result. It is understood
that the state will co-operate with the
government in this undertaking- While
no specific appropriation was made by
* the state for this purpose it is under-
stood that a contingent fund Is avail-
able and which will be used by the
stata authorities in this connection.
Appropos to the destructive work of
the weevil, attention is called to the
fact that the government strongly ad-
vises uniform quarantine laws against
the boll weevil. The administration
hopes that# a uniform law will be en-
acted by all the states in the stricken
belt, and in this connection in a re-
cent government report has this to
say:
"In the attempt to prevent the intro-
duction of the boll weevil several state
legislatures havo enacted law- which
either in themselves restrict the ship-
ment of commodities believed to be
likely to convey the pest, or authorized
state crop test commissions, or state
entymologists to promulgate and en-
force rules and regulations to this end.
Unfortunately there is very little uni-
formity in state regulations now in
force. Some states have quarantined
articles that are admitted unrestrict-
edly by others and moreover from time
to time numerous modifications of thfc
regulations based upon these laws have
been made. This has resulted in end-
less trouble to shippers and transpor-
tation companies. In natural commer-
cial course of at least five thousand
carloads of Texas farm products* was
either interfered with decidedly or pre-
vented entirely by the operation of
these laws during the season of 1904.
In view of this situation the depart-
ment of agriculture suggests xne fol-
lowing plan for a state law providing
for quarantines, as well as for eradi-
cating possible isolated colonies that
may be discovered and also providing
a means of enforcing remedial work
at the earliest possible moment. It
would be decidedly to thq interests to
all the states concerned to bring their
regulations into conformity witn those
suggestions as soon as ^ossibe. The
department suggestions are based upon
careful study of the habits of the boll
weevi^ during several seasons, as well
into the state, or hir .v in possession,
live boll weevils should be included,
with a suitable penalty affixed.
Definite authority should be given
the officers in charge of the boll wee-
vil quarantine matters to establish
from time to time such rules and regu-
lations as may fee necessary.'
It is considered that the fo>r«galng
provisions are sutficien. for the law
itself. Many other matters growing
out of quarantine work deal with
changing conditions and consequently
should be covered by rules and regu-
lations which may easily be changed
as occasion demands. These regula-
tions should include an absolute quar-
antine against cotton seed, seed cotton,
cotton seed hulls, baled cotton (wheth-
er compressed or fiat), and corn in the
shuck from infested territory. The
basis for this recommendation is that
the weevil nas been found to be trans-
ported easily in cotton seed and other
cotton products. As will be specified
later, there is, tinder some conditions,
considerable danger in the shipment
of baled cotton. Cora in the sliuck is
THIS WAY IS NOW TOO SLOW.
The picture herewith shows Oklaho-
ma farmers hauling their grain to
market. A load for four horses is
about four tons on good roads and of
course each team requires a driver.
Traction engines are rapidly taking
the place of teams in this and alt other
heavy farm work in states where the
roads are uniformly good. A 40-horso
power engine will haul more grain
than a half dosen teams by hitching
wagons in trains and is easily operated
by one man and a boy.
as upon knowledge gained from a large
amount of inspection work which de-
volved upon the bureau of entomology
in consequents of the state laws now
in effect. It Is believed they will fur-
nish sufficient protection and at the
same time not interfere unneesessarily
with shipping. There are based upon
the suggestions toward a uniform quar-
antine system adopted by representa-
tives of practically all of the -principal
cotton producing slates who met at
Jackson, Miss., • recently with such
modifications that seem advisable as a
result of a subsequent study by the
bureau of entymology of the means by
which tl>t p t:l is disseminated.'
The followirfg suggestions for a uni-
form state boll weevil law is also
offered by the department of agricul-
ture.
"Plenary authority should be dele-
fcp.ted to a board, the executive officer
of which is to be an entomologist, to
take whatever stepa may be found nec-
essary for erad'ca'.lng 01 controlling
the boll weevil.
A prohibition nxfi Irn!. Uingtng them
Included for the reason that tt ofton
furnishes hibernating quarters for
weevils. This absolute quarantine
should be modified to the extent of
allowing the shipment of any of the
foregoing articles after- they have been
properly fumigated under the direc-
tion of the bureau of entomology. The
qauarantlno should be directod against
11 territory Infested or which may be-
come InfcoU'd, rather than against a
list of eertuln counties.
A long list of other farm products
have been quarantined by various
states, This list includes hay, wheat,
oats, eowpcas, fruit, vegetables, rice and
rice .products, The department of agri-
culture does n&l eonsldor that there Is
any appreciable danger in the shipment
of those commodities at any time of
the year Numerous examinations th it
have been made have fulled to reveal
the.-presence of weevils, and slnoe frora
Che previous extensive shipping from
infested portions of Tex*.* to all parts
the south no Infestation has been found
to have resulted, It cannot be consid-
ered necessary to extend quarantines
to cover these products. It !s trite that
there may be danger In sueh shipments
under certain circumstance®, oeverthe-
|eu there seems to be no more danstwr
ifi connection with these astietes than
there Is in the shipment of general
merchandise or in the Interstate move-
ment of empty box ears. The boll
weevil dives not feed upon any of those
articlea. {«peotme s may poKstbly oc-
cur among them, but their presence
S-eema no roofe likely in such situ-
ations than In any articles of commeiva
Which may be stared In the neighbor-
hood of cotton fields or which may
pass through regions where cotton
fields from which the weevils might
fly at any time are situated In the
vicinity of the railroad. The wo*k tiaa
been conducted hy the bureau of ento-
mology, in co-operation with the 1 .o*t-
luiana crop pe*t commission, has given
mfiWy opportunities for determining
\vhe>.ther certain farm products are
likely to convey the boll weevil. EJvery
ealvfly found in Louisiana during 1 $ '>t
has been studied carefully. In no case
has there been any suspicion that the
peat was conveyed to new regions In
{tny commodities except those against
Which provisional absolute quarantine
is suggested.
it dties not seem feavisile to allow
the shipment ef certain commodities
during some m % ths and exclude them
during others, Hume of the rules atnl
regulations now Jn effect quarantine
hay, for Instance, except during July,
August and September, "J he supposi-
tion in these ea*es has been that dur-
ing those months the weevils will be
found in the cotton fluids, while during
the remainder of the year they may
have taken flight to hibernation quar-
ters, thus infesting a large number of
commodities that would be uninfested
during (he ether months. As a mat-
ter of fact, it has been found that
there Is usually an extensive llight of
Weevils as early r.s the middle of Aug-
ust, Shipment of hay or moss would
therefore be practically as dangerous
during summer as at any other time of
the year. However, It Is not consid-
ered that sueh clangor at any time is
great enough to warrant the Incon-
venience that is caused shipping inter-
ests by the enforcement of quaran-
tines.
Some of the stales have also quar-
antined bedding used b> eommen car-
riers with shipments of livestock. The
department does nvt consider that
there would be any daugor whatever
in the use of hay or straw for this
purpose.
Household goods have caused great
confusion in quarantine regulations,
The origin of the quarantine of house-
hold goods on the part of several states
was the knowledge of very extensive
emigration of negro tenants from in-
fected portions of Texas to all parts at
the south, It Is the custom of such
emigrants to carry along small quan-
titles of special cotton seed or seed
cotton In packing furniture and other
(Continued on pugo lfl)
The farmer is the backbone of the nation, while the city man who speculates
in stocks and sells grain he hasn't "got," is the jawbone.
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Greer, Frank H. Oklahoma Farmer (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 4, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 10, 1908, newspaper, June 10, 1908; Guthrie, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc88190/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.