14 



era in the eA'ohition of methods of insect controL Such a simple 

 expedient as dehiying the time of phinting- wheat so as to avoid 

 injury from t]:fe fall swarm of the Hessian lly has been the means of 

 saving millions of dollars to the wheat growers in the territory 

 infested Avith this insect. The important Avork on this species by 

 Doctor Hopkins jiermits the determination of the normal time of 

 appearance of the fall brood for any latitude or altitude. Professor 

 Webster, by observations extending over many years, has been able to 

 chart the State of Ohio into belts indicating the safe jjeriods for the 

 planting of this crop. 



The recognition of the value of late fall or winter ploAving, of rota- 

 tion of crops, of certain classes of fertilizers, and of better cultivation 

 in the conti-ol of noxious species will make this class of Avork ver}^ 

 important in the future. During the last few years the importance 

 of ini])roved cultural methods has been demonstrated on a large scale 

 in the control of two serious pests of the cotton plant, namely, the 

 boil AveeAdl and the bolhvorm. 



In the case of the cotton boll Aveevil its advent in the cotton fields 

 of Texas coincided Avith conditions of cotton culture Avhich greatly 

 aggraA^ated its destructiveness. The natural fertility of the land 

 and the tenant system largely in Aogue had brought about an indilfer- 

 ence to those economical methods of farming found necessary in older 

 sections, AA'here the fertility of the land is less and the diiRculty of 

 [)roducing profitable crops is greater. Indifi'erent preparation and 

 cultivation of the land, the use of unselected and more or less run- 

 doAvn seed— often from the public ginneries and of absolutely un- 

 knoAvn \''ariety — had placed the cotton-groAving industry in a condi- 

 tion to be seriously threatened by the introduction of any inimical 

 factor. The remedial measures noAV found necessary are along the line 

 of better farming, and Ave have the not unusual case of entomologists 

 shoAving the farmer Iioav to farm. The success Avith Avhich this Avork 

 has been carried out must in part be attributed to the readiness of 

 landoAvners to adopt methods Avhich they recognized as .i)racticable 

 and desirable in themselves, to say nothing of their value in circum- 

 venting Aveevil injury. In a recent communication from Mr. W. D. 

 Hunter, in cliarge of the cotton boll Aveevil investigations of the 

 Bureau of Entomology, he mentions certain pliases of his Avork which 

 are pertinent here as bearing on tlie methods and extent of this cul- 

 tural Avork as applied to Avliat is one of our most important present 

 day insect problems. He Avrites as folloAVs: 



During the several years that the Biu'eaii of Entomology of the Ignited States 

 Department of Agriculture has carried on investigations of the Mexican cotton 

 boll weevil it has been i)ossible to perfect a system of avoiding damage by the 

 pest. This system, founded upon a careful study of all the habits of the insect, 

 is now generally known as the " cultural system." Its basis is in the fact 



