22 RELATION OF DROUGHT TO WEEVIL RESISTANCE IN COTTON. 



exerted by dry Aveather are ascribed to early planting alone there is 

 danger that the farmer may rely too much upon the date of planting 

 and fail to appreciate the still greater importance of tillage and other 

 means for securing an uninterrupted development of the crop. 



That the production of cotton has been maintained in Texas has 

 been taken generally to mean that the weevil menace was exaggerated. 

 This may be true to the extent that the susceptibility of the insect to 

 dry weather Avas not at first appreciated. In some localities the first 

 seasons of weevil infestation were unusually wet. The destruction 

 Avrought by the weevils in the Avet seasons Avas expected to continue 

 every year, and the very existence of the cotton industry seemed to 

 be threatened. At present the tendency is rather to the other ex- 

 treme of optimism, on the assumption that the same results are to be 

 expected over the whole cotton belt as in Texas. Such reasoning 

 may prove erroneous, especially in regions that are subject to con- 

 tinued rain or damp weather in the early part of the groAving season. 

 Continued wet weather is always unfavorable to the cotton crop, no 

 matter how satisfactory the other conditions may be. The losses 

 occasioned by Avet weather become the more serious if AA-eevils are 

 present to preA'ent the setting of any later crop of bolls. 



In many cotton-growing districts the soils are so heaA-y and ad- 

 hesive that the fields can hardly be entered for tAvo or three days 

 after each rain. In localities Avhere the soils are varied much can be 

 gained by choosing the driest and best drained land for cotton, but 

 rain may still interfere Avith the cultivation of the fields and preA^ent 

 the gathering of the weeAdl-infested squares. 



EA^en in places where good yields can be obtained in favorable sea- 

 sons the growing of cotton may become unpopular if the crop be- 

 comes too precarious. In the more humid sections of the coast belt 

 of Texas, for example, some of the most progressive farmers con- 

 sider the future of cotton culture as doubtful. Those who have been 

 careful to clear their fields and destroy their stalks early in the fall 

 and giA^e their land good preparation and tillage haA^e found it pos- 

 sible to raise good crops of cotton in spite of the weevils. In other 

 seasons, Avhen too much rain interfered with cultivation and the 

 plants grew too large and shaded the ground before the bolls Avere 

 set, the crop Avas seriously reduced or became a total loss. Xeverthe- 

 less, the prevailing high prices haA^e encouraged the taking of larger 

 chances on the cotton crop, even by fanners AA^ho previously declared 

 their intention of abandoning cotton altogether. 



EARLIER LONG-STAPLE VARIETIES. 



The practical questions of Aveevil resistance vary in different re- 

 gions, like other cultural problems. In the Texas short-staple dis- 

 tricts an immediate advantage Avas obtained by the use of earlier 



220 



