The Boll-Weevil Problem. 19 
given to the indirect means of control, since they reduce the amvunt 
of poisoning which might be necessary and increase the profit which 
may be secured. 
FALL DESTRUCTION OF INFESTED PLANTS. 
One of the most important steps toward reducing the weevil in- 
festation, when it ¢an be practiced, is the destruction of the cotton 
plants in the early fall, before the weevils have hibernated. To be 
of the greatest value, however, the plants must be completely de- 
stroyed by fire or plowed under deeply before the first killing frost, 
and this limits the use of this control measure to the districts where 
conditions are such that the entire cotton crop can be picked in time 
to permit such an early plant destruction. 
For many years preceding the development of the calcium-arsenate 
method of control, removal of the cotton plants from the field as 
early as practicable in the fall was advocated by this department as 
the most important step in controlling the weevil. The purpose of 
this operation is to destroy as many as possible of the immature forms 
of the weevil still remaining in bolls and squares. These immature 
forms, if undisturbed, transform into weevils which live over winter 
and lay eggs the following spring. Fall destruction of plants like- 
wise eliminates hibernating places of the weevil in the field. (See 
“ Destruction of Weevils in Hibernation,” p. 20.) 
GRAZING. 
In some districts where it is impossible to practice fall destruction 
of the plants, somewhat the same results can be accomplished by 
grazing the field with cattle, sheep, or goats. This is only a local 
measure, however, since the supply of live stock in regions where 
the bulk of the cotton crop is produced is insufficient for the purpose. 
Even where poisoning is practiced fall grazing is still advisable, and 
no danger need be apprehended of poisoning the stock, since there 
is rarely sufficient poison on the plants to injure stock, even imme- 
diately after application, and, furthermore, a considerable period of 
time generally elapses between the last poison application of the 
season and the earliest grazing. 
SPROUT AND VOLUNTEER COTTON. 
Considerable local difficulty in the control of the boll weevil is 
experienced in southern Texas and occasionally in Louisiana, owing 
to the presence of stumpage or sprout cotton. Sprout plants are 
sometimes encouraged because they produce a small but very early 
crop. This may have been defensible before the advent of the boll 
weevil, but at present the practice is undoubtedly the worst that 
