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The Boll-Weevil Problem. 95 
the cotton plant, and it is very easy to bring on absolute disaster to 
the crop by improper cultivation at this time. Consequently, all 
carelessness at this season should be avoided and the plow should not 
be run too deeply or too close to the plant, or excessive shedding will 
result. Careful late shallow cultivation is to be very strongly 
recommended. 
DRAINAGE. 
The foregoing paragraphs have dealt largely with the necessity of 
an early crop and have emphasized the importance of expediting the 
crop by early preparation of the seed bed, early planting, and fre- 
quent cultivation. These operations, however, can only be success- 
fully conducted under conditions of good drainage. It is practically 
impossible to raise a profitable crop of cotton on poorly drained 
land. On the other hand, the value of good drainage is everywhere 
apparent. It makes possible the earlier planting of cotton, early 
germination, and rapid, frequent cultivation. Furthermore, the 
ground dries out more rapidly after a rain, which increases the con- 
trol of the weevil by sunshine. 
INEFFECTIVE METHODS OF CONTROL. 
The extreme seriousness of the boll-weevil problem has called forth 
hundreds of suggestions in control. These have included changes in 
manner of planting, attracting the insects to food plants or lights, 
soaking the seeds to make the plants distasteful, sprays, machines, 
chemical fumes, and the planting of various plants supposed to be 
repellent. In many cases these suggestions have been made without 
due understanding of the habits of the weevil. In other cases prac- 
tical features, such as the cost of application, have not been consid- 
ered. The following paragraphs deal with some of the principal in- 
effective methods that have been proposed. 
LATE PLANTING. 
Late planting is foremost among the futile means of control. At 
various times it has been suggested that late planting, especially if 
following early fall destruction, would so lengthen the hibernating 
period that no weevils would survive. Very numerous experiments in 
the field and in cages have proved that the weevils in considerable 
numbers are able to survive from any reasonable time of early de- 
struction in the fall to beyond the date in the spring when any return 
whatever could be expected from planting cotton, even if the weevils 
were entirely eliminated. In a field experiment in Kerr County, 
Tex., the plants were removed very thoroughly early in November. 
Neither stumpage nor volunteer plants were allowed to grow during 
