474 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 14 



in Arizona, a survey of the distribution of the plant was made in certain 

 districts adjoining cultivated lands near Tucson in the summer of 1919. 

 It was expected that this survey, when completed, would serve in con- 

 nection with entomological surveys as a basis for determining what, if 

 any, protective measures might be practicable and advisable. Ignor- 

 ing very elementary factors in the insect problems as set forth in the 

 several publications on the subject, the Arizona officials planned and be- 

 gan in October 1919 a Thurberia eradication campaign near Tucson. 

 Eradication work was referred to as follows in an official statement issued 

 in November, 1919: "This office is actively engaged in the eradication 

 of the Thurberia. . .in the washes of the Santa Catalina moimtains. . . . 

 The problem is well defined, the plant in the lower altitudes grows only 

 in the washes and canA^ons. A competent man to superintend the work, 

 a number of Mexican laborers, picks and a bar constitute the necessary 

 equipment. The plants are being pulled or dug out and root and top 

 burned." In a statement made public on May 11, 1900 the eradication 

 work accomplished and plans for further activities were described as 

 follows : 



"Last summer a survey of the wild cotton plant and its eradication in 

 the washes of the south and west slopes of the Santa Catalina Mountains 

 and the west slopes of the Santa Rita Mountains was undertaken under 

 the direction of the State Entomologist. 



"With a view to safeguarding the cotton industry of the districts 

 adjacent to where Thurberia grows, the Commission has decided to 

 continue the work of eradicating the wild cotton plant and as an addition- 

 al safeguard, to establish a zone within which no cotton may be 

 planted during the coming season." 



For the information of business interests related to the cotton industry, 

 the writer, early in 1920 began an investigation of the wild cotton sit- 

 uation and discovered that a condition very dangerous to the cotton 

 industry of the Southwest had been created. In order to reduce the 

 problem to its simplest terms and show the unprejudiced views of pro- 

 fessional entomologists concerning the action of the Arizona authorities, 

 a questionnaire was prepared and sent to several members of the 

 Association of Economic Entomologists. The conditions stated in the 

 questionnaire were carefully compared with the literature on the wild 

 cotton by two other members of the Association. The answers to the 

 questionnaire were all in agreement and written statements were 

 secured certifying that the conditions as stated, agreed with the literature 



