154 



between Cajabon and Sepacuite and is inhabited only by primitive In- 

 dians and a very few Spanish speaking " natives" of mixed blood. 



The Ii dian variety of cotton seemed very small and unpromising, 

 only one or two bolls being borne on a plant. It seemed very strange 

 also that so small a variety should be planted while the large tree cot- 

 ton was so ready at hand. It was learned, however, fr m Mr. Kensett 

 Champney, who has most thorough acquaintance with the agricultural 

 habits of the Indians, that this was the only variety of cotton planted 

 by them in this district and the one exclusively relied upon to furnish 

 material for their nat ve fabrics The absence of the weevils from the 

 small Indian cotton was reported when the specimens of the beetles were 

 brought back to Washington, but the diminutive size of the plant seemed 

 to forbid any recommendation of probable utility in the United States. 



Later on, with the increasing acuteness of the boll weevil question 

 end the voting of an especial appropriation by Congress tor the study of 

 means of protection against the ravages of this insect, the existence of 

 a variety of cotton in Guatemala which seemed not to be subject to the 

 attacks of the bll weevil was recalled, and it seemed to the authorises 

 of the Buteau of Plant fndustry that every clue should be followed up. 

 The Secretary of Agriculture authorized an inrestigation of the Indian 

 cotton of Alti Vera Paz, to ascertain whether it p ssessed in reality any 

 quality ( nabling it to resist the boll weevil, or to learn other causes of 

 its immunity from the attack of the insect. The custom of the Indians 

 to plant their crops every year in tracts of land recently cleared by 

 burning suggested an alternative possibility that if not actually resis- 

 tant to the weevil the cotton might have an almost equally valuable 

 tendency to quick growth, thus enabling a crop to be obtained before 

 the weevils had time to become injuriously numerous. The importance 

 of securing early varie'ies has been emphasiz d as the result of the in- 

 vestigations of the boll weevil in the United States. 



In this part of Guatemala the present season has been much more 

 rainy than that of 1902, and the cotton is much larger. Well grown 

 plants bring to maturity from ten to twenty bolls of fair size, and even 

 naore. A thorough search show.s that the w. evil is presen and able to 

 mjure tl.e cotton, but reveals also an active enemy which keeps it in 

 check This i>^ a large reddish brown ant which is attracted to the cot- 

 toh by the food wi^iich it secures from three sets of extra-floral necta- 

 ries EiHch leaf has a nectary on the under side of the mihib, from 

 1 to 2 centimetres from the base. Each of the large bracts of the in- 

 volucre has a circular or broadly oval nectary c'ose to the stem, and 

 there is a third series of three nectaries at the base of the calyx, between 

 the pair of small bracts alternating with the larger divisions of the in- 

 volucre, of which th< y seem to be morphologically speaking, the sti- 

 pules. Necta is also to be found between the calyx and the corolla, 

 but no bees, flies, or other winged insects were observed visiting the 

 flowtrs except beetle.'*, sometimes the boll weevil, but much more often 

 a small black staphylinid of very active habits. To these and to the 

 very small black ants which are also occasionally pre-ent in numbers 

 on the cotton, the large browa ant pays no attention, but the weevil is 

 attacked on sight and becomes an easy prey. 



The ant's mandibles Hre large enough to grasp the weevil around the 

 middle and piy apart the joint between the thorax and the abdomen. 



