WHOLE VOL. APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY HOWARD I29 



weevil which might have been brought about by its invasion of new and 

 somewhat different territory. 



Able minds of trained men were constantly searching for new light, 

 and every suggestion that was made, not only by men familiar with 

 the cotton crop but by ingenious individuals all over the country and 

 in fact in many parts of the world, was tested by the experts. And 

 these experts included not only the men in the Federal service but also 

 the official entomologists of the different States. As to these last 

 men, it may be stated that, although at the beginning of the cotton boll 

 weevil investigation there was hardly a single trained economic ento- 

 mologist in the South and in fact no educational institution that 

 trained such men, the lack was soon noted, and the southern colleges 

 and universities took up entomology and began to turn out strong 

 and well trained young men. 



At the time of present writing (1928), in spite of the enormous 

 loss which has been caused by the weevil, conditions in the South are 

 immeasurably better than they were 25 years ago. It is true that 

 the abolition of the menace of yellow fever and the practical aboli- 

 tion of the hookworm have been tremendous boons, but the boll 

 weevil experience has probably been a blessing in disguise — in a very 

 terrible disguise, but nevertheless a blessing. Appreciation of this 

 fact is slowly coming. In fact, in at least one locality, it was realized 

 a number of years ago, when a statue was erected to the boll weevil 

 by the citizens of Enterprise, Alabama, with the legend " In profound 

 appreciation of the boll weevil and what it has done as the herald of 

 prosperity." 



The very competent cotton planter and economist, Mr. Alfred 

 Stone, of Mississippi, in an address before the United States Cham- 

 ber of Commerce in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1924, advanced the idea that 

 " The boll weevil is not the dominantly controlling factor in cotton 

 production which it is thought and claimed to be by the average man 

 who considers or discusses the subject." He goes on to say that if 

 this were true " it would follow as a logical sequence that the final 

 control of the weevil would mean such an over-supply of American 

 cotton as would glut the markets of the world. If this were true then 

 the control of the weevil would be a calamitous thing for the cotton 

 grower, instead of a benefit, for his product would share the inevitable 

 economic fate of the extreme over-production of any commodity." 



As early as 1924, Dr. Clarence Poe, the Editor of the Progressive 

 Farmer, summarized nine clearly indicated and logical results of the 

 boll-weevil investigation in addition to the obvious result that the one- 



