116 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 1 



ordinary seasons they would be killed by frost, even were the plants 

 not destroyed. Copperas, or iron sulphate, may be purchased in 

 quantity at from 1 to 1% cents per pound, hence weak solutions of 

 it are not expensive. 



"We have made no attempt to experiment with these solutions on the 

 scale of field operations, as time did not permit. There still remains 

 the problem of applying this copperas, or other solution, to the cotton 

 plants with a mechanical sprayer, making the application thorough 

 enough to be effective in destroying the weevil's food supply and at a 

 labor cost sufficiently low to make the method practicable. In this 

 connection, however, it should be borne in mind that the lint contained 

 in the grown and nearly grown bolls at the time fall destruction of 

 the plants must be practised, constitutes a considerable part of the 

 crop in weevil-infested sections, and by the amount of lint secured 

 from such bolls, if the spraying prove otherwise successful, must we 

 compute the loss or gain from such an operation. 



From the foregoing it will be noted that destruction of the foliage, 

 squares and blooms on the plants sprayed with the various solutions 

 was usually followed in a week or ten days by new shoots and leaves 

 being put out by the plant. Our experiments were made during the 

 early part of September, just after the period of intense summer heat 

 and just prior to the time Avhen the second growth normally appears 

 in all cotton fields. Should spraying to destroy the foliage be found 

 efficient such spraying would be done, not in September, but between 

 October 15 and November 1, at a time when little if any second growth 

 would ordinarily be induced. We do not think therefore that the 

 factor of rejuvenescence in the plants following the spraying would, 

 under field conditions, militate against the success of the method. 



The discoloration of lint in bolls open at the time of spraying 

 would not be a difficulty hard to overcome, as it would only be neces- 

 sary to have the spraj^ing machine follow the pickers, thus spraying 

 the cotton when no bolls are open. 



THE FIRST AND LAST ESSENTIAL STEP IN COMBAT- 

 TING THE COTTON BOLL WEEVIL 



By W. E. Hinds, Auburn, Ala. 

 (Withdrawn for publication elsewhere.) 



Mr. Sanderson remarked that these papers bring out in detail the 

 fact which he had previously demonstrated, that the cotton stalks 

 must be destroyed in the fall. 



