31 



inij. ;ni(l to ronliol (lie \vc(>vils most clVcclivcIv and 

 economically, wc strongly recommend llie praclices ol 

 prodncing an early maturing crop of cotton, harvesting 

 as soon as the cotton can be picked out and then 

 innnediately turning under the stalks. 



Weevils Breed in Colloii Vnlil Frosl Kills it. Wee- 

 vils are absolutely dependent upon cotton lor feeding 

 and breeding. As a rule, the number of weevils in 

 the field is considerably reduced during the period 

 while cotton is opening because the nund)er of avail- 

 able breeding i)laces is then reduced as s([uares be- 

 come scarce and most bolls are too large for the wee- 

 vils to infest them. After the crop is matured, if favor- 

 able rains occur, there is usually a considerable growth 

 of late scjuares with blooms and many small l)olls 

 formed. This condition is remarkably favorable for 

 the development of w^eevils, and the number of weevils 

 increases very rapidly until frost destroys the cotton. 



Establishes Speeies in New Territory. — Migrated 

 weevils, which have flown many miles into new terri- 

 tory, are likely to iind just this late growth of squares 

 in which they may reproduce and thus establish the 

 species in the new^ territory. It is possible for two or 

 three generations to be thus produced before frost. 

 The danger is that planters may not realize the pres- 

 ence of the weevils, as the fields are usually neglected 

 after the cotton is picked out, and thus the conditions 

 most favorable for the weevils are left without a single 

 efl'ort being made to change or remove them. Natur- 

 ally not as many weevils" are likely to be produced 

 during the first season in the new territory as may be 

 found during the fall in older infested fields, but the 

 danger to the crop of the following year may be nearly 

 as great under certain conditions. 



Slanij Thonsands of ^Yeevils May Occur on Each 

 Acre of Cotton.— In old infested fields, it is by no 

 means unconnnon to find from one to four or five 

 weevils for each ])lant growing in the field. This 

 means that from five to twenty-live thousand weevils 

 per acre may be found at the time of the first frost. 

 More than 50,000 weevils per acre have been found 

 in the late fall in some cases where careful collections 

 of weevils were made. 



Late Developed Weevils Most Likely to Snrvive.^U 

 is a well established fact that the weevils developing 

 and becoming adult late in the fall are those which 



