Full text of Agricultural News Letter : Vol. 10, No. 5

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AGRICULTURAL
NEWS L E T T E R
F E D E R A L ___ R E S E R V E
Vol. 10, No. 5

B A N K

OF

D A L L A S

DALLAS, TEXAS

May 15, 1955

CONE-TYPE INSECT-SPRAY NOZZLES MORE EFFECTIVE
During the 3-year period 1952-54, tests
were conducted by Texas A. & M. College
to determine the best type and arrangement
of spray nozzles for applying insecticides to
control cotton bollworms and boll weevils.

The yields of seed cotton obtained in 1954
by using the different types of nozzles and
nozzle arrangements are shown in the ac­
companying chart.

A six-row, rear-mounted tractor sprayer
was used in the tests. There were two types
of spray nozzles; four nozzle arrangements
were compared. One nozzle produced a
hollow-cone spray; and the other, a flat, fan­
shaped spray pattern.

In the 1954 test, insecticides were applied
at the rate of 4.5 gallons of spray an acre.
The per acre plant population in the seven
plots ranged from 28,050 to 31,950, with an
average of 29,800 plants per acre. The dif­
ference in the plant population of the vari­
ous plots was not significant.

Equal amounts of active insecticidal in­
gredients were applied with each of the
nozzle arrangements or treatments. The dif­
ferences in the number of nozzles used for
the treatments required that the sizes of the
nozzle openings be varied in order to apply
uniform amounts of spray material.

The results of these tests show that the
sprayed plots yielded approximately half a
bale more per acre than the unsprayed plots.
Yields of cotton were higher on plots sprayed
with nozzles producing a hollow-cone spray
pattern than on plots sprayed with nozzles
producing a flat, fan-shaped spray pattern.

E F F E C T OF N O ZZ LE T Y P E AND A R R A N G E M E N T - 1 9 5 4
FAN-TYPE N O Z Z L ES

CONE-TYPE N O Z Z L E S
CHECK
PLOT
NO
SPRAY

ONE N O Z Z LE
P E R ROW

TW O NOZZLES
P E R ROW

N O Z Z L E SPACED N O Z Z L E S PA C E D
TH REE NO ZZLES
2 0 A P A R T ON
2 0 A P A R T ON
P E R ROW
BO O M
BO OM

5T

l

|

t
% sk
1 4

k4w

1

i

ONE N O ZZLE
P E R ROW

iwv^/mV'VvTz//

2

Hif

kt

Y IE L D P E R ACRE - POUNDS OF SEED COTTON
565

1148

1079

1024

1118

968

979

IN C R EA SED Y IELD OVER CHECK PLO T-PO UN D S OF SEED COTTON
583

514

459

553

403

414

4^

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AGRICULTURAL NEWS LETTER

Also, yields were greater when the insecti­
cide was applied with one hollow-cone spray
nozzle directly over the cotton row than
when it was applied with two or three hollowcone spray nozzles to the top and sides of
the row of cotton plants.

Additive for Milk-Replacer
Formulas
A discovery by R. E. Leighton of the
Texas A. & M. College Dairy Husbandry
Department will make it possible for new­
born calves to be raised more economically
and safely.
An additive for milkreplacer formulas has
been developed which
provides needed fa t
and, at the same time,
prevents scours. The
material is a derivative
from a by-product of vegetable-oil refining.
Feeding a calf whole milk costs about 50
cents per day, while the formula with the
new antiscour additive costs about 15 cents
per day. The change from colostrum milk
to the milk-replacer formula can be made
abruptly.
Earlier tests using a replacer formula
showed that calves gained better and more
steadily than when they were raised on
whole milk. The replacement formula with
the antiscour additive is being tested on
calves to determine its effectiveness in pro­
moting growth.

Field counts to determine insect infesta­
tion should be the guide for determining
whether control measures are needed on in­
sect-infested small grains.

Low-Calcium, High-Phosphorous
Diets Reduce Milk Fever
Cows fed a low-calcium, high-phosphor­
ous diet a month before freshening are less
susceptible to milk fever, says E. E. Ander­
son, dairy specialist at New Mexico A. & M.
College.
Scientists believe that milk fever is caused
by a shortage of calcium in an animal’s
blood stream shortly after calving and that
the parathyroid glands help regulate the dis­
tribution of calcium between the bones and
the blood. A cow needs large amounts of
calcium when she is being milked, but, at
other times, less calcium is required and the
parathyroid glands become inactive.
When a calf is born, there is a heavy and
sudden withdrawal of calcium from the
cow’s blood. Because the glands do not ad­
just readily to this sudden change, proper
regulation of the calcium supply may not
take place rapidly enough and the cow may
get milk fever. Lowering the amount of cal­
cium in the feed a month prior to freshening
forces the glands into action in order to
build up calcium in the blood.

Under actual farm conditions, cows were
tested in a herd which had been particularly
troubled by outbreaks of milk fever. None
of the cows fed a low-calcium diet of oat
Mr. Leighton’s replacement formula now hay, barley, and phosphorous supplement
includes 55 pounds of dried skim milk, 35 for 30 days before calving showed any symp­
pounds of dried whey, 10 pounds of anti­ toms of milk fever. In the herd used as the
scour additive, 1 pound of an antibiotic control group, several of the cows fed a highsource, and about lA pound of stabilized calcium alfalfa diet contracted milk fever.
vitamin-A source.

Tips on Coastal Bermuda
The highest forage yields by Sudan in 3year tests at the Blackland Experiment Sta­
tion near Temple were made by Tift, Piper,
and Sweet strains.

Coastal Bermuda grass offers an excellent
opportunity to increase forage production
in areas where it is adapted and managed
properly, according to E. M. Trew, Exten-

AGRICULTURAL NEWS LETTER

sion pasture specialist at Texas A. & M.
College.
The advantages of the taller-growing
Coastal Bermuda grass over the Common
variety are as follows. Coastal Bermuda —
♦ Produces more hay or provides more
grazing per acre.
♦ Is deeper-rooted and more droughttolerant.
♦ Makes a better hay plant because of
longer and larger stems and leaves.
♦ Is more resistant to disease.
♦ Uses water and fertilizers more effici­
ently.
♦ Is established more quickly under good
growing conditions.
♦ Provides grazing later in the fall.
F arm ers should
sta rt w ith a sm all
nursery p lo t and
g ro w t h e i r ow n
p la n tin g material.
From 9 to 12 bushels
of sprigs are required
to plant an acre in
rows 3-feet wide.
Sprigs s h o u ld be
s p a c e d 12 to 18
inches apart in the
ro w f o r n u r s e r y
planting and not more than 3 feet apart for
field-scale plantings.
Hand-drop the sprigs into a shallow fur­
row, pack the soil around them, cover the
sprigs with 2 to 3 inches of soil, and then
pack the soil again. Coastal Bermuda sprigs
should be planted in moist soil or watered
after planting.
Coastal Bermuda gives exceptional re­
sponse to fertilizer and produces well under
“medium fertility” but does not grow satis­
factorily on poor soils. Best results are ob­

3

tained by planting sprigs in a clean seed­
bed. Coastal Bermuda sprigs should not be
planted in sods of Common Bermuda, Dallis, or other established grasses.

Reseeded Ranges Profitable
The reseeding of ranges should be planned
as carefully as a cash crop, states G. O. Hoff­
man, Extension range specialist of Texas A.
& M. College.
Many Texas ranchmen have felt that re­
seeding is not profitable. Reseeding attempts
have failed as a result of planting at the
wrong time, improperly prepared seedbeds,
lack of seedling protection and weed control,
and grazing reseeded pastures before plants
become well established.
It is recommended that new grass not be
grazed the first year or until the plant crowns
are at least 1 inch in diameter. Pastures
should be grazed only after new grasses have
a firm foothold, and then care should be
taken not to overgraze them.
Seeding of adapted grasses gives the
quickest response in fields that have been
out of cultivation for long periods. The
grasses should be planted in rows and packed
with a roller or cultipacker. The best time
to reseed in west Texas is April, May, or
June.
The range specialist advises farmers that,
if as much as 15 percent of the native key
grasses are still present, deferred grazing is
a better and cheaper method of improving
pastures than reseeding.

Plan Now for Grain Harvest
Farmers should plan now for the storage
space they will need for grain crops this
year, advises W. S. Allen, Extension agri­
cultural engineer of Texas A. & M. College.
The grain producer should consider his
acreage and crop prospects and check the
availability of storage space at local com-

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AGRICULTURAL NEWS LETTER

mercial elevators. Officials of the county
Agricultural Stabilization Service may be
able to provide information on current stor­
age facilities and the construction of farm
storage units.

Wheat grown in Louisiana may be pur­
chased from producers without requiring
them to have wheat marketing cards. If they
plan to ship wheat outside the State, market­
ing cards — stamped with the words “Non­
commercial Area” — may be obtained from
the Agricultural Stabilization Committee.

The United States Department of Agricul­
ture recently announced that the 1955 wheat
crop must meet minimum standards of the
Federal Food and Drug Administration in
Egg producers who are interested in in­
order to be eligible for price support loans creasing efficiency should have flocks o f
or for delivery under price support agree­ 1,000 or more hens, according to Ben
ments. The standards require that the grain Wormeli, Extension poultry husbandman at
be kept clean and free of rodent and insect Texas A. & M. College. As the flock size in­
damage.
creases, efficiency rises and the cost of pro­
ducing eggs is reduced.
All empty bins should be cleaned and a
residual spray applied to walls, floors, and
overhead beams. The recommended spray
Hybrid Sorghums
contains 2Vi percent DDT or methoxychlor
applied at a rate of 2 gallons for each 1,000
The new hybrid grain sorghums are ex­
square feet of surface area.
pected to yield 30 to 40 percent more grain,
according to specialists at the Texas A. & M.
In order to reduce contamination of grain College Experiment Station. The first com­
by weevils, commercial feed and seed should mercial hybrid grain sorghums produced
not be kept in buildings used for grain stor­ anywhere in the world will be grown in
age. Junk piles, fence rows, and stacks of Texas this year in 1-acre crossing plots on
wood near the granary should be eliminated, selected farms.
since they may harbor rodents. Traps or
poison should be used to control rats and
Foundation seed stocks will be distributed
mice.
to seed growers in 1956, and the new hybrids
will be available to farmers for large-scale
Check storage bins for cracks and other planting in 1957.
openings through which grain may be lost
or rodents may enter. Weeds should be
Since 1927, research has been under way
cleared around the buildings, and the soil on the development of hybrid grain sor­
should be sterilized.
ghums at the Chillicothe Substation of the
Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

Wheat Marketing Cards
Unnecessary in Louisiana
Louisiana farm ers may harvest and
market wheat without incurring penalties
under the crop control program, according
to the Louisiana A gricultural Stabilization
and Conservation Committee.
In Louisiana, most wheat is grown as a
spring grazing crop; consequently, last fall
the State was declared a noncommercial
wheat area.

A recent estimate shows that 14 percent
of Texas cropland is irrigated, and from it,
comes 35 percent of the State's income from
crops. According to a release from Texas
A. & M. College, 5,439,603 acres on 33,937 farms located in 225 Texas counties
are now under irrigation.
The Agricultural News Letter is prepared in
the Research Department under the direction
of J. Z. R owe, Agricultural Economist.