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Show WEEVIL ENTERS IDAHO. The spreading of the alfalfa weevil wee-vil hay caused the United States department de-partment of agriculture to issue a bulletin containing a warning to all . alfalfa growers in the west. The weevil was Imported from Italy In 1904, by Immigrants who located near Salt Lake. For the first three or four years, the activities of the pest were confined to Salt Lake county. Since then the spreading of the weevil has been a source of alarm to the owners of alfalfa fields in al parts of this state. The bureau of entomology reports that the weevil has been found this season at Malta, McCammon, Poca,tel-lo Poca,tel-lo and Blackfoot, Idaho, all well within the Snake River drainage system, sys-tem, and at Duchesne, Utah, in the Colorado River system, which, like that of the Snake, slopes to the Pacific. Within the Great Basin the weevil has spread as far south as Richfield into the alfalfa fields of central Utah. The insect, in spreading' across the continental divide, department depart-ment entomologists say, is to be regarded re-garded merely as passing a convenient conven-ient landmark rather than as surmounting sur-mounting a barrier, for experience has not shown that it spreads faster along rivers than across mountain ranges.. Nevertheless, it is now many miles nearer to Important alfalfa-growing alfalfa-growing districts which have hitherto felt safe from Its attack.. A description of the alfalfa wee-' vil and methods of combating its ravages are contained in a new publication pub-lication of the United States department depart-ment of agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin 741, from which the following is extracted: ex-tracted: ThG spread of the pest has, as a matter of fact, been slower than was ot one time feared, but its progress has been steady. In Utah and in small portions- of Idaho and Wyoming, where it now exists, it has caused at times a loss of 50 per cent of the first cutting of alfalfa and a total loss of the second cutting. The alfalfa weevil does not hlber-nate hlber-nate definitely. When the weather is cool the adults are quiet, but with . warmer temperatures they quickly re- sumc their activities. Egg laying begins be-gins In early spring and is usually ended . by June 10. Ono efficacious method of controlling the pest, therefore, there-fore, 1b to destroy tho eggs by pasturing pas-turing the first crop up to that time. A similar result may be obtained by cutting tho alfalfa green and feeding it as a soiling crop. If this Is not dono the larvae hatch In large numbers about the last week of May or earlier and eat the alfalfa leaves so rapidly that the plant is unable to outgrow the injury. After tho field is cut the larvae which have been feeding upon the first crop gather gath-er upon the buds of the stubble and froquontly consume all of tho second crop. By that time most of the insects in-sects havo completed their growing period and have gone into the pupal pr resting stage. Tho later growth of the crop, therefore, does not suffer suf-fer from them. To protect the crop, pasturing Is effective in the early part of the season. sea-son. The field should be divided into in-to two or three lots and each -lot should be pastured alternately, the animals being left in it until the alfalfa al-falfa has been eaten down close to the ground. The number and size of the lots should be proportioned to the producing power of the field and the .,w of animals to be pastured, so that each lot may be grazed about once in two weeks. Pastured, so that each lot may be grazed about once in two weeks. Pasturing should be continued until most of the weevil wee-vil eggs have been laH. which, In practice, means a little later than the usual cutting time of the first crop. This method has the additional advantage ad-vantage of providing an economical method , of fattening live stock combined com-bined with the proper feed of grain, alfalfa pasture is excellent for putting put-ting on weight and it is said that many farms would probably be more profitable if their management centered cen-tered about the pasturing of stock on alfalfa with the growing of enough other crops to provide grain and forage for-age throughout the year. If the weevils are not killed early InUho year, they may be destroyed after the first crop has been removed remov-ed by getting rid of all the vegeta-tlon vegeta-tlon in the field, crushing the clods, and filling the cracks so as to expose the entire surface to the sun. This is best done by covering the field with a dust mulch, tne oust umb an additional means of killing weevils. wee-vils. Success obviously depends upon doing the work when the ground is dry and the weather warm and bright. The second crop may also be protected pro-tected by spraying the stubble. Spraying Spray-ing may also be resorted to in the spiing. From 50 to 100 gallons per acre of a mixture of arsenite of zinc and -ftater in the proportion ot pounds of powder in 100 gallons are used for this purpose. The apparatus appara-tus best suited for alfalfa spraying is described in detail In the bulletin already al-ready mentioned. Still another recommendation made in this bulletin Is the stimulation of the growth of the alfalfa by cultivating cultivat-ing the field in the spring. This does not destroy the weevils but It serves to produce a larger and earlier yield when their attacks make early cutting cut-ting necessary. |