THE ]\JEXICAN COTTON BOLL-WEEVIL. 



By Edwin Mead Wilcox. 



Iiitrodnction. 



In tweutv veai'S the Mexican cotton boll-weevil (An- 

 tlionomiis grandis Boh.) has developed from a rather 

 obscnre species to one of supreme importance with res- 

 pect to the production of the world's supply of cotton. 

 The infested regions are taking desperate measures to 

 destroy the pest or to adjust and modify the present 

 methods of cultivation in such manner that cotton may 

 still be grown at a fair profit in the infested regions. 

 The recent appropriation of >r25(), 000.00 by the Congress 

 of the Ignited States for the exhaustive studv of the boll- 

 weevil problem from all points of view has given to the 

 boll-weevil a national importance. 



It seems desirable to present to Alabama cotton 

 growers our present information upon this very impor- 

 tant snl)ject together with the suggested methods of 

 controlling the boll-weevil should it ever become estab- 

 lished within the borders of our State. This bulletin 

 may therefore be said to result from an application of 

 the old adage, ''forewarned is forearmed." No claim 

 for originalitv is made as to the facts stated, but the 

 reader is referred to the papers mentioned in the Biblio- 

 graphy at the close of the bulletin for the most recent 

 original investigations of this subject. The facts given 

 in the papers cited have been freely drawn u])on in the 

 preparation of this bulletin. 



Introduction and Present Distribution of the Boll 



Weevil. 



The boll- weevil probably crossed the Rio Grande river 

 into Texas about 1892 — at least that is the opinion of the 



