128 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL.84 



it more than a temporary delay ; and after the Mississippi bottom 

 lands were invaded it became apparent to all thinking and far-sighted 

 men that the situation of the cotton l)elt was little short of des- 

 perate. But the mass of the planters paid little heed to the warnings 

 and advice of the experts. Wise prophets were scouted as alarmists, 

 and very many took the stand that measures should be taken when 

 the weevil should come and not before, apparently feeling that 

 something indefinite would happen 10 retard or stop the spread and 

 so save them. It is true that a delegation of prominent men from the 

 Carolinas and from Georgia visited the infested regions and the 

 government laboratory in Louisiana at one time and grasped the 

 seriousness of the situation and foresaw the future disastrous results 

 of the do-nothing policy. These men issued advice and warning to 

 the planters of their States. But their prophetic wisdom met with no 

 adequate response, and impoverishment, failure, and suicide marched 

 steadily along with the weevil's progress. 



It is true also that, under the urge of the Federal Government and 

 with the support of congressional appropriations, a great campaign 

 was started " to meet the emergency caused by the advent of the boll 

 weevil," and that strenuous efforts were made to start new agricul- 

 tural industries, to vary the crop, to draw the South from its abso- 

 lute dependence on a single culture. This movement was the begin- 

 ning of a wave which has run over the South and laid the ground- 

 work for the rapidly growing activities now to be seen all through 

 that portion of the country. 



Nevertheless, history repeated itself again and again. After a few 

 years of weevil, that is to say, a few years of failure and despair, 

 an invaded State or section of a State began to recover hope, to vary 

 its crops and to continue to grow cotton, at a greater cost it is true, 

 but with the spirit of enterprise and fight that carried it once more 

 into a condition of comparative prosperity. Poor cotton lands have 

 been abandoned ; better ones have been more intelligently worked, 

 and good crops have been grown in spite of the weevil. 



All through this era, and in spite of the discouragement due to 

 apparent lack of appreciation on the part of the i>ublic, the entomolo- 

 gists have worked manfully. The original headquarters of the inves- 

 tigation at Victoria, Texas, were early removed to Dallas and later to 

 Tallulah, Louisiana. As the northea.stern part of the cotton belt was in- 

 vaded a substation was established at Florence, South Carolina, where, 

 in cooperation with the State, careful investigations were carried on 

 to decide the variations in the life history of the extremely adaptable 



