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Show The Alfalfa Weevil In Sanpete County METHODS OF CONTROL By T. W. Bennion, County Agricultural Agricul-tural Agent. Every t'iwn in Sanpete county has the alfalfa weevil. This year only part of the fields are injured by It. Even in the same town some fields are very much infested, while others remain comparatively free from the pest. It is doubtless true that the weevil has come to stay. Next year it will only be more numerous and more evenly ev-enly distributed. In the past many farmers have concluded that it is impossible im-possible to profitably grow alfalfa in weevil-infested section, and therefore have plowed up their fields and seeded seed-ed to other crops. Where this has been done it has usually been a mistake. mis-take. Our western conditions are very favorable for the production of alfalfa. We have no forage crop that is its equal. Timothy, red clover, brome grass, etc. in most cases fail to give the returns. It has been demonstrated demon-strated that the weevil can be controlled. con-trolled. It is no longer an experiment. The Utah Agricultural college has just formulated a set of directions for the western farmer, to aid him in handling this pest. These directions are as follows: "When the first crop of alfalfa shows signs of serious Injury, itshould be cut and removed from the field as fast as possible. Then the field should be gone over with a spring tooth liar, row or alfalfa cultivator. This treatment treat-ment should be followed with a heavy brush or wire dragging. If the field is heavily infested with worms it may pay to cross drag it. This treatment if properly carried out, should leave the field with a fine dust mulcli over the surface and thealfalfastems bare, all the leaves being torn off Lliem. Several benefits accrue from this method. The ground is in better condition to carry a second crop and the harrowing and dragging have killed kill-ed many of the larvae and tender pupae. pu-pae. The larvae that survive have t crawl through fine dust to reach the , stems, and the few that re'ally get to the stems find little to feed upon. A few hours in the dust or unprotected on the stems by shade, gives the ht s.un an opportunity to kill the larvae. It is well not to irrigate for one or two days in order to allow the sun and dry dust to kill them. The second crop will now start qulckiy and unmolested un-molested by weevil. On land treated by this simple method the gain has been from one to one-half to three and one-half tons )-er acre for the two cutting, produced at an outside cost of a $1.25 per acre. DRAGS There are many forms of drags and not all are successful. A drag made by tying together at the butts a number num-ber of pieces of brush might as well be kept off the field. There is no means of holding this brush down on the ground closely. In making a successful suc-cessful brush drag keep the bn sh ;s tlat as possible. Keep the butts low and let each be separately fastened on top of a plank or pole, or pushed through holes bored th rough the pole. The butts may be nailed, bulted or wjred into place, and another plank laid over the butts and firmly fastened fasten-ed down will aid in making thh brush more secure. An ordinary harrow laid on the brushy part of 'the drag will aid in evenly weighting it aud will help to drive the brush into the hollows and crevices and to tear the leaves and stubble. If desirable, a plank or log may be laid across a drag on which the driver may stand, in case the brush needs weighting down in some manner. WIRE PRAG A wire drag is made by taking a piece of chicken wire and a piece of hog wire and fasteuing them under a spiketooth harrow, allowing the wire to extend back ten feet behind the harrow, and weight down the back of t!:e wire. This makes a very effective effec-tive drag. |