BOLL WEEVIL IN ALABAMA 



By 



W. E. HiXDS. Enloinoloijist. 



WKKVIL SPHKAl) THUOUGH ALABAMA. 



SiiK'i' llic boll weevil lirsl cnlcrcd soulhcrn Texas in 

 1<H*)2. it has been an increasingly iniporlanl lactor in 

 our annual i)i'C)(lueli()n oT c-oilon. Its advance north- 

 ward and eastward, at an average rale of Inlly .")() 

 miles ])er year, has continued steadily until it has now- 

 crossed our o\v!i State, and occurs in more than thirty 

 counties in soutlnvestern Georgia. 



]]^('ri)il Entered Alahanut ii} 1910. — On Scptemhei- .'J, 

 li)l(). the first specimens of this much dreaded pest 

 wire found on the western ei\gQ of Mobile County, in 

 Alabama. The weevil advanced so that by the middle 

 of September the .line of infestation included about 

 three-fourths of Mobile County. Ten days later, wee- 

 vils were found in the southern part of Choctaw Coun- 

 ty also. 



^Veevils Entered Six or Seven Alabama Counties in 

 1910. The spread of the weevil in 1910 was checked 

 lullv a month earlier than usual on account of killinii" 

 frosts occurring during tin- latter i)art of October in- 

 stead of about the middle of Xovendx'r as is usual in 

 that section. I ndoubti'dly this ])revented a considerable 

 extension of the newly infested area. As it was, the 

 weevils entered live counties in southwestern Alabama 

 and may have occurrtd also in the extreme corners 

 of Monroe and Escambia. This area (see map, Plate 

 T) is not important so far as cotton ])roduction is con- 

 cerned as it produced less than 15,000 bales of cotton 

 annually upon the average before infestation occurred. 

 The yield in this area for 191,") was about 2,000 bales. 



1911 Movenicnl. In 1911 the weevils began to move 

 about the middle of August and continued until kill- 

 ing frosts occurred about the middle of Novend)er. 

 Ibis advance brought 12 Alabama counties, wholly or 

 partly, within the infested area. The movement was 

 very evitlently checked by the formation of immense 

 numbers of stpiares. following the stripping of the 

 plants by the SepttMuber generation of cotton worms. 



